Related's Hollywood Beach Tower on Public Land Faces Court Test
Hollywood voted 6-1 for Related's 30-story Portofino condo tower on a city-owned beach site under a 99-year lease. A pending lawsuit could still unwind it.
Hollywood’s City Commission voted 6-1 to approve agreements that let Related Group build Portofino Hollywood, a 30-story condo tower at 1301 S. Ocean Dr. on city-owned beach land. The vote came just before 4 a.m. Thursday, at the end of the Oct. 7 meeting marathon, according to Florida Bulldog. Our Oct. 9 report could not confirm a count. Commissioner Caryl Shuham cast the lone no vote.
Why it matters
The city is the landlord and Related the tenant under a 99-year lease. The site now holds Harry Berry Park, the city’s Culture and Community Center and a Broward County library branch. Residents have opposed the project for about six years.
The legal risk is the story. Keep Public Lands Public, a nonprofit, is suing Related and the city, arguing the original 2022 development agreement did not conform to city and county plans and was illegal from the start. Plaintiffs say the Live Local law cannot cure that. Florida Bulldog reports a likely new claim: the comprehensive plan labels the site a “community park,” and the Live Local statute excludes “park and open space districts.”
The numbers
The revised deal adds 84 Live Local workforce rentals to 126 market-rate condos. City staff projected $3.01 billion over 99 years from “six streams of value,” a figure Shuham called a gross overstatement. Lease payments and the math behind the projection were not detailed in the report.
Related’s motion to dismiss, now before Broward Circuit Judge Fabienne Fahnestock, calls the claims “bereft of legal or factual merit.” Related’s lawyer says courts almost always side with the municipality.
What’s next
Judge Fahnestock must rule on the motion to dismiss, and plaintiffs may add the park claim. Related expects to break ground, with no date given. A judge could eventually cancel the revised deal, Florida Bulldog reports. Process complaints add pressure: commissioners saw 185 pages of documents on the same day the public did. For wider context, see the South Florida hub.
On the record
What we checked ourselves, and where you can check it too.
- Our coverageOur Oct. 9 report on the Oct. 7 Hollywood meeting left the vote count unconfirmed; the Florida Bulldog account now puts the Portofino vote at 6-1Read our earlier story →
On the record
- Primary recordFlorida BulldogHollywood commission OKs divisive condo tower on public land; will it hold up in court?