Related Group's Hollywood Beach tower faces height, setback vote

Hollywood’s Planning and Development Board goes before the specific dimensions of Related Group’s beachfront Live Local project on September 8, taking up a resolution to determine the height, setbacks and total site coverage the developer can build at 1301 S. Ocean Drive.

The item, File 25-RESO-73a, applies to the government-use zoned parcel through Related affiliate PRH 1301 S Ocean Drive LLC. Because the project qualifies for the state’s Live Local Act, the city cannot deny it on density grounds. What the board can still shape, and what residents opposed to a tower on public sand are watching, is how tall it rises and how far it sits from the property lines.

Why it matters

Live Local strips local boards of their usual density leverage, so the fight over projects like this one has shifted to the dimensional standards that remain within a city’s control. A determination on height, setbacks and site coverage functions as the closest thing Hollywood has left to a check on the design of a project it otherwise cannot block. How the board rules on September 8 will signal how much room South Florida cities retain to shape Live Local projects on public land, even when they cannot stop them outright.

The numbers

The program calls for 124 market-rate condos alongside 86 workforce rentals branded “Hero Housing,” a roughly 40 percent workforce set-aside that qualifies the project for Live Local’s expedited review track. The Hollywood City Commission voted 5 to 2 to amend its development agreement with Related to allow the condo and workforce mix on the city-owned site, which carries a 99-year ground lease. Opponents have organized against what they have described as a 20-story tower on public sand.

What’s next

The Planning and Development Board’s September 8 vote on height, setbacks and site coverage sets the physical envelope Related must build within. The resolution does not resolve the broader entitlement fight over the project, but it fixes the dimensions residents and the developer will be litigating and building against going forward.