Mark Papa, Director of Urban Design for Lee and Associates, was asked by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) on behalf of the Beach Revitalization Committee, to serve on an Advisory Panel to study the Central Beach area of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. ULI provides this consultant service to cities across the country by assembling a team of real estate, development and design experts to analyze a project area and make recommendations as to market conditions, urban design, traffic and implementation. The one week charrette ends with a written report and public presentation to the stakeholder group.

The Central Beach is a 450 acre area on the barrier island directly east of downtown Ft. Lauderdale. While downtown is flourishing with new construction and reinvestment, the Central Beach has languished. Trying to reinvent itself since the City ordered a stop to “Spring Break”, the beach has suffered from an uncertain market and no clear vision plan from the city and stakeholders. The idea of an international, high end beach resort with high rise hotels never materialized. Instead, reinvestment has taken the form of condominium projects and restoration of low rise buildings built in the 1950s and 1960s. Aside from some low end beach shops and “Beach Place” (100,000 square feet) which is experiencing difficulty, the retail market has not materialized. Activities for families are limited and traffic is a concern of local residences. Financing for new hotel projects, in the current market, has been non-existent.

The eleven member panel recommendations included a more realistic development strategy targeting the family market and a “resort community with a beach lifestyle” building on the strong residential and family hotel market. The restoration of existing historic properties, an already strong market, was encouraged as well as a more predictable development review process by the city. Mr. Papa’s urban design plan tied the market program and traffic/transportation recommendations together into a cohesive vision plan that can be readily implemented. The plan included five beach districts, each with their own development and design theme. Fourteen “driver projects” were identified including a public market, civic plaza, beach promenade and scattered, friendly parking garages.

The recommendations were well received by the city and stakeholders and have been taken under advisement for implementation.