Fort Lauderdale, the trendy town known for its growing skyline, doesn’t typically argue over a developer’s request to build 10 feet higher.
But this time, the request concerned a 1.5-acre piece of land right in the heart of Progresso Village, a working-class neighborhood right next to Flagler Village, the hip, booming area discovered by developers more than a decade ago.
The project — which can’t move forward as planned without a rezoning — calls for five buildings, each with 15 apartments. Under the current zoning, the height would be capped at 55 feet. A rezoning would allow all five buildings to rise to 65 feet.
The developer can build 37 apartments under the current zoning for the site, a mainly vacant parcel located northeast of Northwest Third Avenue and Northwest Eighth Street. With a rezoning, the number of apartments allowed more than doubles to 75.
Progresso Village sits just west of Flagler Village, bordered by Sunrise Boulevard on the north, Broward Boulevard on the south, Andrews Avenue on the east and Northwest Fifth Avenue on the west.
Progresso Village does not have the tall towers that have sprouted up all over Flagler Village, partly because the zoning doesn’t allow for it.
As news spread about the five-building project, the response was mixed.
Some residents panned the idea, saying it would forever change the character of the neighborhood. Others disagreed, arguing the project would usher in much needed affordable housing along with new energy and fresh faces.
Fort Lauderdale commissioners will have the final say on whether the land gets rezoned.
During a recent City Hall meeting, they approved the rezoning 4-1 after hearing from several residents who both support and oppose the project. A second commission vote is required for the rezoning to become final.
A block in the core of Fort Lauderdale’s Progresso Village neighborhood is shown on Friday. Some say the neighborhood is ripe for development and allowing taller buildings might help spur growth. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Commissioner Steve Glassman, whose district includes the neighborhood, told the crowd why he was voting in favor of the rezoning.
“I think we have made amazing progress in Progresso Village, but there’s something missing still,” Glassman said. “What I see happening here with this rezoning is an opportunity to take it to the next level. It’s obvious the current zoning is not working or else we would have seen redevelopment (before now). I think the rezoning will make a big difference.”
In other neighborhoods throughout his district, including Flagler Village, people might chuckle at the back-and-forth debate over 10 feet, Glassman said.
“I understand that it’s troubling to people, but I’m cautiously optimistic that this is going to work out. I want to see this neighborhood prosper. I want to see this neighborhood be everything that it can be. And I think this is going to get us there.”
Commissioner Pamela Beasley-Pittman cast the lone vote against the rezoning.
“You say we’re not pushing anybody out, but it happens,” she said before the vote. “We who live in these communities, we watch it year after year, day after day. You say affordable housing. Affordable to who? One individual mentioned people coming from New York. What about the people who live in the community, who are third generation? There are families who have been here for decades.”
A man walks past a vacant lot on Northwest Second Avenue in Fort Lauderdale’s Progresso neighborhood on Friday. A developer plans to build five apartment buildings on the block but needs commission approval. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Courtney Crush, attorney for the developer, told the commission he is willing to cap rental rates to ensure the apartments remain affordable.
In Flagler Village, studios are renting for $2,100 a month. The studio apartments at the Progresso Village project would rent for anywhere from $1,600 to $1,700, Crush said.
A larger 1,200-square-foot apartment would rent for $3,000 a month, substantially less than the $4,500 being charged for similar apartments in other parts of downtown Fort Lauderdale, Crush told the commission.
J.J. Hankerson, president of the neighborhood civic association, warned commissioners the project would change the fabric of the neighborhood. As Hankerson told it, most residents would rather see the taller buildings go up on the edge of the neighborhood, not in the middle.
“It’s right in the middle of our community,” he told the commission. “Now they want to build right in the smack dab middle of our community. And we are totally against that. We ask you not to rezone.”
Alexander Florence, a five-year resident of Progresso Village, made the same plea.
“The people who already live there now aren’t going to be able to afford to live there,” he told the commission. “This (rezoning) will remove the people who’ve rented there for a long, long time. Why would we want not only one six-story building in the middle of our neighborhood — it’s not one. It’s five. Five massive buildings in the middle of our neighborhood.”
Others spoke in favor of the rezoning, saying it will bring in fresh faces and new energy to a neighborhood struggling with homelessness and illegal dumping.
“It’s the natural growth of Fort Lauderdale,” said Goran Dragoslavic, a developer who moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1981. “You can’t stop it. It’s a matter of time.”
Dragoslavic told the commission he is not involved with the Progresso project but owns several properties in the surrounding area.
Bryan Perez, a real estate agent who lives in the neighborhood, argued the project will bring welcome change to a struggling neighborhood on the verge of change.
“You have a lot of empty lots, a lot of crime going on sometimes in this area,” Perez said. “We have to take into consideration how the city is growing. We have FAT Village going up across the street. We have the Thrive Art District across the street. So this is going to happen no matter what. I think we have to support this. If it doesn’t happen today, it’s going to happen in two years.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan
