{"id":359874,"date":"2026-08-01T11:38:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T11:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/359874\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T11:38:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T11:38:09","slug":"live-local-project-could-rise-on-site-of-closed-winn-dixie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/359874\/","title":{"rendered":"Live Local project could rise on site of closed Winn-Dixie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fort Lauderdale\u2019s old Winn-Dixie plaza off Southeast 17th Street could see a dramatic transformation: Three new residential towers with 765 apartments built under the Live Local Act.<\/p>\n

The $725 million Terrasse project calls for two 36-story condo towers that would stand 400 feet high. A third 19-story tower would stand 200 feet high and be entirely devoted to workforce housing, in keeping with the sweeping Live Local initiative designed to address Florida\u2019s affordable housing crisis.<\/p>\n

City officials are expecting pushback from residents already weary of traffic gridlock along Southeast 17th Street east of Federal Highway.<\/p>\n

But developers behind Live Local projects don\u2019t need approval from critics or commissioners.<\/p>\n

Live Local projects are not required<\/a> to seek approval from city commissions or planning boards. Instead, the projects are reviewed and approved administratively by city staff.<\/p>\n

If the Terrasse project meets staff approval, here\u2019s what\u2019s coming:<\/p>\n

Building 1: 36 stories at 400 feet; 222 luxury condo residences; 1,724 square feet of commercial space.<\/p>\n

Building 2: 36 stories at 400 feet; 228 luxury condo residences; square feet of commercial space.<\/p>\n

Building 3: 19 stories at 200 feet; 315 workforce housing apartments. (Under Live Local, 40% of the apartments must qualify as affordable housing for 30 years.)<\/p>\n

Two separate parking garages would be built to accommodate the new residents. One would have nine floors of parking and the other would have eight.<\/p>\n

If built, the towers would dwarf homes in the nearby Harbordale, Lauderdale Harbors and Rio Vista neighborhoods, Mayor Dean Trantalis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s inappropriate,\u201d he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. \u201cIt\u2019s in the wrong place. It will shade the homes around there. It\u2019s going to have a severe impact on the infrastructure both above and below ground. We need to put a check on overdevelopment that seems to be creeping into our city.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Robert Lochrie, a land-use attorney representing the developers, argued this particular location makes for a perfect spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe project transforms a vacant Winn-Dixie and Crown liquor store into a mixed-use project in a high-transit corridor,\u201d Lochrie said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very logical place for one of the state\u2019s Live Local projects to be located because of its proximity to the airport, the port, I-95 and job generators like the convention center and Broward Health.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rendering<\/p>\n

Rendering shows a proposed Live Local project that could be built on the site of a closed Winn-Dixie store and a Crown liquor store on Cordova Road in Fort Lauderdale. (City of Fort Lauderdale\/Courtesy) \n<\/p>\n

\"Rendering<\/p>\n

Rendering of a proposed Live Local project on the site of the old Winn-Dixie store at 1625 Cordova Road and the Crown Liquors store at 1645 Cordova Road in Fort Lauderdale. (City of Fort Lauderdale\/Courtesy)<\/p>\n

\"Rendering<\/p>\n

Rendering of a proposed Live Local project on the site of the old Winn-Dixie store at 1625 Cordova Road and the Crown Liquors store at 1645 Cordova Road in Fort Lauderdale. (City of Fort Lauderdale\/Courtesy)<\/p>\n

\"Rendering<\/p>\n

Rendering of a proposed Live Local project on the site of the old Winn-Dixie store at 1625 Cordova Road and the Crown Liquors store at 1645 Cordova Road in Fort Lauderdale. (City of Fort Lauderdale\/Courtesy)<\/p>\n

\"Rendering<\/p>\n

Rendering of a proposed Live Local project on the site of the old Winn-Dixie store at 1625 Cordova Road and the Crown Liquors store at 1645 Cordova Road in Fort Lauderdale. (City of Fort Lauderdale\/Courtesy)<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 5<\/p>\n

Rendering shows a proposed Live Local project that could be built on the site of a closed Winn-Dixie store and a Crown liquor store on Cordova Road in Fort Lauderdale. (City of Fort Lauderdale\/Courtesy) \n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

As for the height, Lochrie had this to say: \u201cThe additional height is part of the framework the Florida Legislature built into the Live Local Act to encourage workforce housing and to make it economically viable. The law directs this type of development to commercial areas like this one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Terrasse project is not the first to seek approval to build near Fort Lauderdale\u2019s heavily traveled 17th Street under the Live Local Act.<\/p>\n

The Quay, a Live Local project<\/a> that calls for 521 apartments in the 1500 block of Southeast 17 Street, was approved in late 2025 and is moving through pre-construction planning. Once built, the 33-story tower will stand 380 feet and include 304 market rate apartments and 217 reserved for affordable housing.<\/p>\n

The Related Group, BH Group and PEBB Enterprises are the developers behind the Quay project.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear, however, just who is behind this new Live Local project.<\/p>\n

For now, the investors behind the Terrasse project remain a mystery. Not even the city knows who they are.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no developer identified on the application, just the property owner,\u201d said Kevin Pulido, a spokesman for the city.<\/p>\n

The 3-acre parcel is owned by Amy Loos Mergler and John Thompson Loos III. Neither could be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

Lochrie, the attorney representing the developers, declined to name them. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI can say it\u2019s a local group of experienced real estate developers, but I\u2019m not at liberty to say who it is at this time,\u201d Lochrie said.<\/p>\n

Because the project sits within a mile of downtown, there is no height cap, Lochrie said. Fort Lauderdale\u2019s Regional Activity Center zoning district allows unlimited building height, subject to review by the Federal Aviation Administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cA letter of no objection from the FAA is forthcoming and will be provided to the city upon receipt,\u201d Lochrie wrote in papers submitted to the city.<\/p>\n

The project is still under review by the city, Lochrie said.<\/p>\n

The projects do need to meet certain zoning regulations, with the exception of density, height and floor area ratio \u2014 a zoning rule that compares a building\u2019s total floor space to the size of the land it sits on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe development team spent a lot of time submitting a package they think would get approved by staff,\u201d Lochrie said. \u201cIt was designed without any requests for variances or waivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe closed Winn-Dixie store at 1625 Cordova Road in Fort Lauderdale, shown on Thursday, could be paved over to make room for a massive Live Local project. (Mike Stocker\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n

If all goes as planned, the project could break ground as soon as mid-2027 or early 2028, Lochrie said.<\/p>\n

Construction would take two years, with project completion taking place sometime in 2029 or early 2030.<\/p>\n

The project\u2019s twin towers would be the tallest in the neighborhood, the mayor noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt creates a very imposing neighbor that\u2019s not welcome here in Fort Lauderdale,\u201d Trantalis said. \u201cThink of all the traffic it would generate. The original infrastructure for that street was not built for this kind of intense development. It reduces the quality of life even for the newcomer. They\u2019ll say, \u2018I don\u2019t want to live here. There\u2019s too much traffic.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Vice Mayor Ben Sorensen said he had no details on the project, but expressed shock when a reporter called to get his reaction to the proposed height and number of residential units.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoly moly,\u201d he said. \u201cOh my gosh.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the district commissioner for the neighborhood, Sorensen said he\u2019s expecting to field plenty of complaints about the project as more people learn about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cLive Local is having horrible impacts on our city,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a community we have to push our state representatives to change Live Local so we can actually have a say on our growth and development. I\u2019m working with our city attorney to explore all options to make sure we as a city have as much say as possible as these projects move through the city\u2019s administrative process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA Crown liquor store and Winn-Dixie on Cordova Road in Fort Lauderdale, shown Thursday, closed last year. A Live Local project might take their place. (Mike Stocker\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Sorensen said he, too, is worried about the impact on road traffic and the city\u2019s network of underground sewer and water pipes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m also exploring the impact Live Local has on emergency response,\u201d he said. \u201cLive Local does not let the city use those criteria to push back and challenge Live Local projects. And that needs to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project would have a devastating effect<\/a> on nearby neighborhoods, some community leaders told the Sun Sentinel.<\/p>\n

When a popular Winn-Dixie on Fort Lauderdale\u2019s Cordova Road closed last year, locals had a burning question: What\u2019s coming next?<\/p>\n

Some worried tall towers could be on the way. Turns out their hunch was right.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would be a bad thing for our neighborhood,\u201d said Bob Ferencik, president of the Lauderdale Harbors Improvement Association. \u201cAccess is already problematic. If it\u2019s four people per unit, that\u2019s over 3,000 residents who would be just to the south of our neighborhood. If it\u2019s just two people per unit, that\u2019s 1,500 people. Double the number of people we have in Lauderdale Harbors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Snead, treasurer of the Rio Vista Civic Association, asked a reporter how tall the towers would be.<\/p>\n

\u201cFour-hundred feet tall?\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to throw a heck of a lot of traffic onto 17th Street, which is barely coping with what we\u2019ve got now. I think it\u2019s going to make life miserable getting to 17th Street.\u201d<\/p>\n

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fort Lauderdale\u2019s old Winn-Dixie plaza off Southeast 17th Street could see a dramatic transformation: Three new residential towers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359875,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[506,28,249,251,250,114,266,109],"class_list":["post-359874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-broward-county","tag-florida","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}