Plans to build homes, hotel towers in Bal Harbour meet with fierce resistance
BAL HARBOUR - One of the largest crowds in Bal Harbour council meeting history packed a ballroom to vent about plans to bring new hotel and residence towers to Bal Harbour Shops.
The Shops owners, Whitman Family Development, said they want to bring hundreds of affordable homes to one of South Florida's wealthiest communities. However, critics claim it is a move that perverts state law and gets around village construction rules.
"It's a shame," Jeffrey Freimark, Bal Harbour Mayor said during Tuesday night's meeting. "I am angry."
Council members vented during the meeting in the crowded Sea View Hotel.
"I was deceived, lied to by the developer," David Albaum, Bal Harbour Council District 4 representative.
"The disrespect that was shown to the council, to the residents is beyond reproach," Buzzy Skylar, Bal Harbour Council District 3 representative.
The owners of Bal Harbour Shops, a luxury shopping centerpiece for 60 years in the middle of a $550 million expansion, plan to build bigger. Armed with Florida's Live Local Act, developers revealed blueprints for towers more than 270 feet tall. One will house a 70-room boutique hotel. Another will hold 600 apartments of which 40% will be reserved for affordable-attainable housing. The Live Local Act allows such development without public hearings, provided the development meets state affordable housing standards.
However, Mayor Freimark and others claim the Shops' owners are perverting the law.
"Bal Harbour Shops has been a valued part of the Village of Bal Harbour community for 60-plus years," Matthew Whitman Lazenby said in a statement. "As the Shops have evolved, so too has the Village. Bal Harbour is a thriving community today, but too many hospitality and service workers, teachers, nurses, and first responders are forced to commute long distances into the Village because they can't afford to live within its boundaries. These are the very people who are working in the Village's hotels, condominiums, shops, and restaurants. Our family has envisioned a multi-use destination at Bal Harbour Shops for more than a half-century, and the Live Local Act will enable us to realize that vision while helping our labor force live closer to where they work and access everyday services. Bal Harbour's commercial district is already home to dense, high-rise development, making Bal Harbour Shops an ideal place to create a multi-use development with attainable housing for our local workforce."
Still, neighbors including people in Surfside and Bay Harbor are skeptics.
"What is the end game," Zach Okhah, a Surfside resident who lives near the Shops, said. "Thinking about this we were just referring to this process as like a dubious benevolence. They're trying to help the community but realistically it's a money grab."
Whitman Lazenby said his family long dreamed of the proposed development made possible by the Live Local Act.
Council members claim developers blindsided and ambushed Village leaders with the plans. The owners of Saks Fifth Avenue, who own a building in the shopping district, found out about the proposal through news reports and vow to fight developers in court.
"They're demolishing our store to put up a giant garage and a hotel," Darrell Payne, an attorney for Saks Fifth Avenue.
Homeowners vented too. They fear worse traffic and strain on village infrastructure. Two years ago, 90% voted against a measure that would have allowed the same developer to build above village height limits.
The mayor believes developers are breaking a contract that requires council approval to expand. The council agreed to an aggressive fight in every legal way.
