Fort Lauderdale was once a place where the wealth floated through on its way to somewhere better. Miami had the parties. Palm Beach had society. Beyond the annual boat show and spring breakers, the Venice of the Atlantic Coast lacked the glue that comes with a sense of belonging.<\/p>\n
But suddenly, the money is staying, behind velvet ropes, as a private members\u2019 club boom gives yacht owners a reason to linger in Fort Lauderdale.<\/p>\n
\u201cFort Lauderdale has changed, and so have the people who live here,\u201d said local restaurateur Marc Falsetto. \u201cThey travel, they know great restaurants, and they crave something refined.\u201d<\/p>\n
Restaurateur Marc Falsetto\u2019s 80-seat Caviar Club is in high demand on East Las Olas. Courtesy of Falsetto Hospitality<\/p>\n
Falsetto\u2019s new restaurant, Caviar Club<\/a> at 833 E. Las Olas, is an 80-seat steakhouse that opened this fall. Its interiors are an ode to 1980s maximalism \u2014 but less \u201cMiami Vice\u201d and more burled walnut, brass fixtures and Dover sole filleted tableside. The design comes from New York\u2019s Garrett Singer Studio, the firm behind Torrisi and Gary Vaynerchuk\u2019s Flyfish Club.<\/p>\n While Caviar Club is welcoming to the public, Falsetto said he has already sold out of \u201cFounding 100\u201d memberships. Perks include a concierge-run reservation app with preferred access, a Hundred Acre wine library he claims is the largest outside of New York\u2019s Polo Bar, a vault by the Macallan and reciprocity with other clubs through the booking platform Dorsia. Falsetto sold out of memberships in three weeks, and the waitlist now hovers around 300 applicants.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody wants access right now,\u201d said Falsetto.<\/p>\n Across town, another development is taking a different approach. Pier Sixty-Six<\/a>, a 1950s resort and Fort Lauderdale landmark, was acquired by Tavistock Development Company in 2016 and quietly reopened in January 2025 after a sweeping renovation.<\/p>\n The private club at Pier Sixty-Six has a $75,000 initiation fee. Pier Sixty-Six<\/p>\n Part of the property\u2019s new era is the addition of a private club \u2014 with a hefty $75,000 initiation fee and $15,000 in annual dues. There\u2019s also a hotel, residences, a marina that handles 400-foot yachts, 12 food and beverage outlets and a 40,000-square-foot event space.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of beautiful buildings being built in Florida,\u201d said Pier Sixty-Six general manager John Myers. \u201cBut what separates us pretty substantially is that those buildings are beautiful, but there\u2019s no energy around their physical spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n