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Downtown Development
A Second Lease
Boca Developers plans to demolish the failing $55-million Las Olas Riverfront entertainment complex in downtown Fort Lauderdale and replace it with an upscale condo, hotel and office tower that aims to encourage a work-live-play lifestyle along the New River.
 ON THE RIVERFRONT: Boca Developers' plans call for a 270-room hotel with 18,000 square feet of meeting space and a 33-story, 253-unit condo. |
"Our vision is to create a welcoming, pedestrian-friendly setting that residents and tourists can enjoy," says Lysa Migliorati, project manager for New River at Las Olas. In the meantime, the Deerfield Beach developer will operate Las Olas Riverfront through 2007.
Known for its designs of New York's Battery City Park and Los Angeles' Gateway Center, Manhattan-based architect Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn designed plans for the development. The site will feature a cinema, grocery store, health club, several restaurants and a 40,000-sq.-ft. public plaza with an outdoor stage. The proposed plans would create a connecting point between the Riverwalk -- downtown's center for arts, entertainment and nightlife -- and the museum and historic districts.
"The residential component is what's been missing from the site," says Sam Poole, a board member of the Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale Trust, a band of local professionals committed to nurturing downtown's riverfront.
