{"id":56119,"date":"2025-11-22T00:16:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T00:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/56119\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T00:16:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T00:16:08","slug":"as-florida-developers-embrace-carte-blanche-reality-sinks-in-for-cities-stripped-of-veto-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/56119\/","title":{"rendered":"As Florida Developers Embrace ‘Carte Blanche,’ Reality Sinks In For Cities Stripped Of Veto Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of Fort Lauderdale residents tuned in to a special town hall meeting last month, outraged about a planned development of nine 30-story towers<\/a> on the surface parking lots of\u00a0the Galleria at Fort Lauderdale, an 800K SF mall from the 1980s.<\/p>\n

The project, proposed by a team led by GFO Investments<\/a>‘ Russell Galbut and WeWork’s former CEO, would tower over the single-family homes just across the street. In the meeting, one resident described the 3,000-plus-unit proposal as \u201ca nuclear bomb.\u201d<\/p>\n

Locals had fought and won campaigns before<\/a>\u00a0to block\u00a0development plans around the Galleria. But this time, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis told them, will be different. \u00a0<\/p>\n

There is nothing the city can do to stop the project.<\/p>\n

\"Placeholder\"\/<\/p>\n

\n Developers plan to build 30-story towers at 2414 E. Sunrise Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale, a few blocks from a single-family neighborhood.\n <\/p>\n

\u201cThe neighbors did not want any of the previous proposals. They were intensive,\u201d Trantalis said at the Oct. 28 meeting<\/a>. \u201cThat was with regard to almost each proposal that came before us. And then Live Local materialized, and now the rules of the game have changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trantalis was referring to the landmark Live Local Act<\/a>, which was passed by the Florida Legislature in 2023. The state law allows developers to circumvent local zoning regulations as long as they dedicate a portion of their projects to workforce housing.<\/p>\n

Amendments passed this summer have effectively tied the hands of local governments and the neighborhoods they represent when it comes to height and density of multifamily towers, attorneys, developers and city officials say.<\/p>\n

State legislators amended the law in 2024 and again this year, each time closing loopholes that cities and towns used<\/a> to limit the scope of proposals coming in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a complete handout to the development community,\u201d Trantalis told Bisnow in a phone call last week. \u201cTheir lobbyists went to Tallahassee, stripped the existing statute of all the reassurances that a local community would have in trying to address new development, and this gave carte blanche to developers under the ruse that, \u2018Oh, you’re building affordable housing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Live Local Act incentivizes developers to build affordable and workforce housing by providing tax exemptions and allowing them to override local control as long as they dedicate 40% of a project\u2019s units as affordable for households that make between 80% and 120% of the area median income.<\/p>\n

The law\u00a0allows developers to build to the maximum height of any building within a 1-mile radius and to 150% of the maximum floor area ratio currently allowed or allowed on July 1, 2023, blocking cities that may have\u00a0reduced\u00a0their\u00a0allowable density\u00a0after the law was passed. Municipalities must administratively approve projects that meet\u00a0those requirements and local design and infrastructure mandates.<\/p>\n

The legislation was created to attack the affordable housing crisis that has become a dark cloud looming over the Sunshine State and to\u00a0prevent\u00a0NIMBYism from stifling development.<\/p>\n

Average multifamily rent had increased 39% from $1,238 in 2019 to $1,719 in 2023, according to a University of Florida Shimberg Center for Housing Studies 2025 Rental Market Study<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Miami-Dade County alone, there is a shortage of 90,181 units for households earning\u00a0less than $75K annually \u2014 about 80% of the area median income, according to Miami Homes For All<\/a>. Miami\u2019s median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $2,250, according to an October Zumper report<\/a>, and even though that is\u00a0a 6% decrease\u00a0from\u00a0last year, it is significantly above the $1,511 national average.<\/p>\n

But despite the immediate need for more housing, the law has been criticized for going too far to solve the problem.<\/p>\n

The mile-radius rule means developers can build 50-story towers in Wynwood<\/a>, which has a 12-story height limit, because of its proximity to high-density neighborhoods like Edgewater. It also means skyscrapers can rise above the historic Art Deco District in South Beach.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to destroy Miami Beach, you want to destroy our tourism-based economy, you want to stop Miami Beach being a destination to the wealthiest people in the world, line up Alton Road with 400-foot towers,\u201d Miami Beach Commissioner Alex Fernandez\u00a0said at a September Bisnow event<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Placeholder\"\/<\/p>\n

\n Roughly 200 residents attended the meeting in person and about 300 tuned in online to watch the mayor address the Galleria at Fort Lauderdale plans.\n <\/p>\n

After its initial passage, some municipalities imposed obstacles on Live Local projects, including adding extra fees and leveraging restrictions on residential zoning, Bilzin Sumberg<\/a> attorney Anthony De Yurre<\/a> told Bisnow\u00a0in March<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Others simply slow-walked the approval process.<\/p>\n

In January,\u00a0GFO Investments had eight Live Local project applications filed with Miami Beach, yet none had been approved, the South Florida Business Journal reported<\/a>. The city said the proposals, two of which are taller than 380 feet, didn’t comply with the law and that it was working with the developers. Galbut accused the city of \u201cfinding ways to stop any Live Local Act project.\u201d<\/p>\n

The amendments passed in June included rules<\/a> forcing cities to issue administrative approvals within 90 days of an application,\u00a0barring them from shrinking projects and\u00a0mandating approvals of affordable and mixed-income housing on commercial, industrial and religious land.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cymbal DLT Cos. CEO Hector Delatorres said at Bisnow\u2019s Multifamily Summit last week that all of the company\u2019s projects this year have utilized Live Local.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is probably one of the best legislations ever passed,\u201d Delatorres said. \u201cIt\u2019s not easy to qualify \u2026 but if you’re a developer and you’re not looking to Live Local, you\u2019re missing out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Few South Florida Live Local projects have broken ground<\/a> thus far, but that hasn\u2019t stopped developers from proposing massive projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Calta Group proposed a\u00a030-story tower in Allapattah that would combine 210 workforce apartments\u00a0with 289 market-rate condos, which was approved in September. Livwrk\u00a0proposed three 45-story towers<\/a> in Wynwood in May, offering three times the number of units from its original, 12-story proposal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The developer of the largest Live Local project to receive approval said the extra density the law gave his project is critical to the affordability he plans to deliver.<\/p>\n

Spanish developer Pablo Castro and his development partner, Laura Taurber,\u00a0are planning\u00a0an\u00a0$880M project in Miami\u2019s West Little River<\/a> neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Dubbed The HueHub, the\u00a0plan calls for six 35-story towers that would hold 4,032 units on a\u00a012-acre site. The duo\u00a0signed an agreement<\/a>\u00a0with Miami-Dade County in August that would dedicate 3,000 of those units to essential workers.<\/p>\n

Units\u00a0are planned to\u00a0be fully furnished with rents fixed for 10 years starting at $1,300 for studios, $1,600 for one-bedroom units and $1,900 for two-bedroom units.<\/p>\n

He wouldn\u2019t have been able to do it without the legislation, Castro said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLive Local is like the proof that if the politicians give us the right tools, the private sector can develop affordable and attainable housing,\u201d Castro said. \u201cThis is a big issue in the U.S. [and] in most parts of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Placeholder\"\/<\/p>\n

\n Courtesy of The HueHub\n <\/p>\n

\n The HueHub, set to rise at 8395 NW 27th Ave., is the largest South Florida project using density bonuses through the Live Local Act to be approved.\n <\/p>\n

Most cities agree that affordable housing is needed, especially since 60% of Miamians spend 30% or more of their monthly income on housing, according to a Miami Homes For All<\/a> analysis of Census Bureau data.<\/p>\n

But the law’s effect of allowing developers to bypass\u00a0city councils or county commissions removes a key lever of a community to influence the identity of its built environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand the intent behind the Live Local Act and share the goal of creating more opportunities for residents to live closer to where they work,\u201d Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago said in a statement to Bisnow. \u201cHowever, the Live Local Act, now in its third year and amended several times significantly limits local authority over key aspects of planning, including height, density, and land use.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Coral Gables, which has received one Live Local development application, is still applying its design standards, Mediterranean architectural guidelines, landscaping requirements and historic preservation protections, Lago said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we implement the Live Local Act, our responsibility is to find balance complying with state law while upholding the beauty, integrity, and distinctive character that have defined the City Beautiful for a century,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For Fort Lauderdale, which received two more Live Local applications<\/a> at the beginning of November, feelings about the law are far more heated.<\/p>\n

Galbut told Bisnow in a phone call on Oct. 8 that he believed residents and small businesses would be supportive of the Galleria\u00a0project.\u00a0He said leveraging the act allows his team to fast-track permits, address affordability and increase foot traffic at the mall, which has struggled with occupancy in recent years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just have to go through an education process,\u201d Galbut said at the time.<\/p>\n

But, he added, that would happen \u201cat the same time using Live Local so that we can get permits as fast as humanly possible, so we can actually start to create the magic at this mall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three weeks later, the mayor hosted a special town meeting<\/a> at a local yacht club for residents to learn more about how the project would work under Live Local.<\/p>\n

Galbut and his representatives declined multiple interview requests following the meeting.<\/p>\n

This week, after the city requested a review of whether Live Local had been properly applied to the Galleria project, the Florida Office of the Attorney General ruled that Galbut and his development team are allowed to build it as is.\u00a0<\/p>\n

City Commissioner Steve Glassman\u00a0told the Sun Sentinel<\/a> following the decision that he is nevertheless \u201ccautiously optimistic that the developer will scale back.\u201d The developers’ attorney told the newspaper they have no intention of doing so.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a big development such as the Galleria comes before us, to take away the public participation, I think, denies the public the right to have a voice in what goes on in their own city,\u201d Trantalis told Bisnow. \u201cThe Live Local Act, as it’s now been amended, pulls the rug out from under people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of Fort Lauderdale residents tuned in to a special town hall meeting last month, outraged about a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[13776,249,251,250,14054,17473,34842,1017,14055,34843],"class_list":["post-56119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-dean-trantalis","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-gfo-investments","tag-live-local-act","tag-pablo-castro","tag-russell-galbut","tag-the-galleria-at-fort-lauderdale","tag-the-huehub"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56119","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=56119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}