{"id":425485,"date":"2026-10-12T12:22:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T12:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/425485\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T12:22:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T12:22:17","slug":"hollywood-commission-green-lights-divisive-condo-tower-on-public-beach-but-will-new-deal-with-related-hold-up-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/425485\/","title":{"rendered":"Hollywood commission green lights divisive condo tower on public beach \u2014 but will new deal with Related hold up in court?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"hollywoodThis is 1301 S. Ocean Drive in Hollywood, where the Hollywood City Commission voted Thursday to let the Related Group build a luxury condo tower that will rise 30 stories, higher than its neighbors. The site is currently home to Harry Berry Park, the city\u2019s Culture and Community Center and a Broward County library branch. Adjacent to the beach is a parking lot city residents use to access the ocean.<\/p>\n

By Noreen Marcus, FloridaBulldog.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Right before 4 a.m. Thursday, when the Hollywood City Commission approved agreements to put a private condo tower on a public beach, the few diehard opponents still in the room must have felt crushed.<\/p>\n

After six years of residents forcefully opposing their elected officials, the major developer Related Group has secured the city\u2019s blessing to build a 30-story tower called Portofino Hollywood at 1301 S. Ocean Dr.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited for the groundbreaking and the future opportunities this new development will have in store,\u201d Related\u2019s lawyer Keith Poliakoff told the Sun Sentinel. \u00a0On social media he merrily anticipated defeating the residents who are suing Related and the city to stop the project, then making them pay his side\u2019s attorney fees.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s too soon for Portofino\u2019s backers to rejoice and break out the champagne.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe developers\u2019 rush to celebrate is premature, as is the people\u2019s feeling of gloom and doom. The jury is still out. The resolution will come from the courts in due time,\u201d Brenda Lee Chalifour, a retired environmental and land use attorney, told Florida Bulldog.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is disheartening that the current city commission voted the way that they did, but not unexpected. This is part of the process where those blinded by developers\u2019 influence side against the people,\u201d she said. Chalifour, a member of Keep Public Lands Public, the nonprofit suing to stop what\u2019s called the 1301 project, spoke for herself, not for the residents\u2019 group.<\/p>\n

A judge might eventually cancel the revised deal that adds 84 Live Local workforce rentals to the tower\u2019s 126 market-rate luxury condos. The ongoing lawsuit claims that the original 2022 development agreement between the city and Related didn\u2019t conform to city and county plans. So it was illegal from the start and that illegality can\u2019t be cured by importing Live Local into the agreement.<\/p>\n

\"hollywoodLawyer Keith Poliakoff<\/p>\n

Also, an issue that came up at Wednesday\u2019s meeting will likely be added to the litigation. The city\u2019s comprehensive plan identifies the 1301 project site as a \u201ccommunity park.\u201d The city\u2019s code says \u201cNone of the city parks shall be used exclusively by any person \u2026 to the exclusion of the general public.\u201d And the Live Local statute says it doesn\u2019t cover \u201cpark and open space districts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Poliakoff\u2019s counting on a helpful trend. \u201cWhile anyone has a right to challenge any approval, the courts almost always side with the municipality,\u201d the Sun Sentinel quoted him as saying. And the City of Hollywood is Related\u2019s partner in the Portofino venture.<\/p>\n

Related\u2019s motion to dismiss says this: \u201cPlaintiffs evidently do not like the project and want to challenge it because \u2013according to them \u2013 it will allegedly impair their view, cause traffic and annoy them. The claims are bereft of legal or factual merit.\u201d The motion is pending before Broward Circuit Judge Fabienne Fahnestock.<\/p>\n

SHUHAM SLAMS \u2018GROSS OVERSTATEMENTS\u2019<\/p>\n

The low-lying barrier island where Portofino may one day stand is prone to severe flooding from king tides, not to mention hurricane impacts. A resident said building there means \u201cbuilding on limestone and shifting sand.\u201d Several residents described the traffic chaos recent king tides caused near the beach.<\/p>\n

Yet city officials downplay resilience concerns in favor of focusing on the enormous economic benefits expected to flow from the city\u2019s deal with Related over the next century. On Wednesday city staffers presented charts and graphs showing \u201csix streams of value flow to the City.\u201d Ninety-nine years of \u201cthe City\u2019s receipts including its tax increment\u201d are supposed to add up to $3.01 billion.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Caryl Shuham, a construction lawyer who has the Portofino site in her district, called the projections \u201cgross overstatements\u201d with \u201cno basis in reality.\u201d Shuham is about to leave Hollywood City Hall because she\u2019s been elected to the Broward County Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Neither the county commission nor the city\u2019s planning and development board has welcomed the 1301 project. The last time the planning board considered Portofino, on Sept. 8, it recommended restricting building height to 15 feet, a single story to match the community center currently occupying the site.<\/p>\n

The Hollywood commission implicitly rejected that advice at Wednesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

The commission\u2019s 6-1 vote for Portofino is surprising in that Commissioner Idelma Quintana said yes along with Mayor Josh Levy and four others. Shuham opposes the project; Quintana seconded Shuham\u2019s objections to Portofino\u2019s planned \u201cpoor doors,\u201d separate entrances for renters and owners, along with different amenities for the two classes.<\/p>\n

Quintana said in an interview Thursday afternoon that she would have voted no, but City Attorney Damaris Henlon told her the state Live Local law prevents commissioners from interfering with a builder\u2019s selection of design features such as entranceways.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I were able to make a decision more in line with what I believe and still be operating within the law, I would have made a different decision,\u201d Quintana said.<\/p>\n

She noted that others argue people make choices based on what they can afford all the time, so what\u2019s the big deal? At the meeting Hollywood Commissioner Peter Hernandez expressed that viewpoint and scorned Shuham\u2019s label for poor doors: \u201csegregation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Hollywood City Commissioner Caryl Shuham<\/p>\n

\u201cI said that\u2019s fine if you\u2019re in a private setting, but this is a public building,\u201d Quintana said. \u201cWe should not be separating people because of income.\u201d The city is the landlord of the public beach property and Related is the tenant with a 99-year lease.<\/p>\n

LAST-MINUTE DOCUMENT DUMP<\/p>\n

At the meeting Quintana and Shuham said they hadn\u2019t learned that Wednesday\u2019s agenda listed up or down votes on voluminous new Portofino documents until the previous Thursday, the same day the public got to see the agenda.<\/p>\n

When commissioners consider taking significant actions, Quintana said, city lawyers and other staffers brief them about the details. For instance, she said this process helped them decide earlier this year to take several steps to limit stormwater and tidal flooding.<\/p>\n

Quintana was briefed about the 185 pages of Portofino documents, but only after asking for help, at the last minute and under deadline pressure, she said.<\/p>\n

Shuham said at the meeting she was \u201cshocked\u201d to realize how much material she\u2019d have to master quickly. \u201cI feel rushed and caught off guard,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Neither Shuham nor Quintana speculated about why they were left out of this particular loop, or why the mayor and other commissioners wouldn\u2019t delay the final Portofino vote as Shuham and several residents requested.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that any of us should have been making these kinds of decisions after 18 hours on the dais,\u201d Quintana said. \u201cFor us to be voting on 1301, that had been six years, that had been so much heartache in our community for that project, was really not wise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wednesday began with a 9 a.m. Community Redevelopment Agency meeting, followed by a memorial to mark three years since Hamas attacked Israel, and then a three-part Hollywood commission meeting with few breaks that lasted until almost 4 a.m. Thursday.<\/p>\n

By the time the decisive voting on agenda items 29 and 30 began, Quintana looked so exhausted, she was barely able to speak.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all exhausted,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a challenging day for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n


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