The developer of a planned mixed-use project in Hollywood Beach is alleging the city illegally denied its Live Local Act application, according to a lawsuit filed this week.
The complaint marks another example of local governments clashing with developers over the state’s new workforce housing legislation, signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023 and amended last year. The law incentivizes developers with additional density and height, tax breaks and other sweeteners if they set aside a portion of their residential units to be designated workforce housing for a period of at least 30 years.
Affiliates of New York and Miami Beach-based Condra Property Group, led by Allen Konstam and Mark Drachman, sued the city this week in Broward County Circuit Court, alleging that the city delayed approving the project as it was “working unsuccessfully behind the scenes to change state law,” the lawsuit states.
Condra submitted an application for a 17-story, mixed-use project with 282 condos and apartments and about 35,000 square feet of commercial space. The $80 million project is planned for an assemblage at 2115 North Ocean Drive, on Oklahoma, McKinley and Nebraska streets. It calls for a 183-foot tower, a two-story beach club and a six-story parking garage.
Forty percent, or 114 units, would be set aside for tenants earning at or below 120 percent of the area median income. The AMI in Broward County is $88,500.
According to the lawsuit, Condra said the city knew the project met all the requirements of the Live Local Act, but it hired the law firm Gray Robinson to lobby state legislators regarding a section of the law that discusses project height, so that the height of a nearby resort couldn’t be used as a benchmark.
Hollywood approved every other aspect of the project except for the height. A city spokesperson said the city received the lawsuit on Wednesday and “will be reviewing [it] accordingly.”
Attorney Keith Poliakoff, who represents Condra in the complaint, said the only remedy left for Condra was to sue. The developer spent more than $1 million to plan and design the Hollywood Beach project to fit the Live Local Act’s guidelines, Poliakoff said.
Live Local mandates that the local municipality may not restrict the height of a proposed project below the tallest currently allowed commercial or residential building within 1 mile of the project. That doesn’t include buildings that have been granted variances, bonuses or other special exceptions.
Condra’s proposed height is based on Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort, which is eight inches taller and 17 stories high. In the city’s rejection letter provided in August, city staff said Margaritaville “is not an allowable height benchmark” because the building is in a governmental use zone, and projects located in these zones are approved “through a specialized process.”
How a judge interprets the law will set a precedent for how these projects are approved in Hollywood, Poliakoff said. He said the city hasn’t explained its defense.
“The state of Florida has preempted them and has told them you must approve this project,” Poliakoff said. “We’re not trying to harm the city. We’re just trying to say ‘approve what’s allowed under the law.’”
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