Alex Dambach, AICP

Planning Supervisor

Peter Schwarz, AICP

Assistant Director of Community and Economic Development

Brad Ostroff

Acting Director of Community and Economic Development

Case #CD20-20DMUD “Oakland Park Square – Additional Building Height”

A Public Hearing to present the application by Oakland Park Dixie LLC to use the Additional Building Height Program for the proposed mixed-use development to be located at 3701-3801 N. Dixie Highway.

Issue Statement: This is a request to use the Additional Building Height Program, available to properties in the Downtown Mixed Use District, for the Oakland Square Project, a mixed use development on the two vacant properties located at the northwest and southwest corners of N. Dixie Highway and Park Lane East (N.E. 38^th Street). 

Recommended Action:  The Planning and Zoning Board consider a recommendation to the City Commission regarding the request to use the Additional Building Height Program for the Oakland Square Project.

Background: On October 17, 2018, the City Commission passed Resolution #R-2018-154 approving the City to enter into a Development Agreement with Integra Real Estate, LLC. The corresponding Purchase and Sale Agreement for the site, referred to as the West Dixie Lots, was also approved by the City Commission that day. 

Securing an equity partner became a challenge for Integra due in part to the size of the project and to changes in the market. On May 20, 2020, staff updated the City Commission on the project. By then, Integra was successful in locating a developer who had an interest in assuming development of the project and whose financing structure was aligned for the success of the development.  The presentation introduced NRi as the new developer and outlined modifications to the program requested by NRi and its desire to expedite the timeline for the project’s delivery.  NRi is recommending modifications to the project’s program to ensure the financial stability and marketability of the project.

On August 6, 2020, City Commission adopted resolutions for Assignment of the Purchase and Sale Agreement to NRi and to update the Development Agreement accordingly.  Under the new agreement, the project has been updated to reflect the new Development Program to include 119 residential units, 21 Live/Work units, 16,242 Square Feet of Ground Floor Retail/Commercial space; 1^st floor and 6^th floor dedicated space to City Hall; and Parking for no less than 360 Parking spaces.  This application complies with the agreement.  

On September 3, 2020, the zoning regulations were amended to permit use of the Additional Building Height Program for up to three additional stories and building heights of up to 90 feet.  With this amendment, the project would comply with the new regulation if approved. 

Additional Building Height Program: Section 24-269 of the City’s Land Development Code provides the flexibility for projects within the Downtown Mixed Use District to construct additional stories above the minimum code standards within the North End Urban Residential, Boulevard Commercial, Park Place, Dixie Mixed Use and Civic Use Sub-Areas.  This project is within the Dixie Mixed Use Sub-Area. 

As an example, in December 2005, the City granted additional building height (3 additional stories) to the property located at 1201 NE 38^th Street (current location of Funky Buddha Brewery).  Soon thereafter, Broward County experienced one of the worst economic downturns in the country affecting housing and construction. As a result, the project was never constructed.  

For this site, on April 3, 2019, City Commission authorized additional building height to construct 2 additional stories for Integra Development.  The new developer, however, needs to construct a total of six stories for market reasons and in order to construct a pedestrian bridge to connect the two buildings, so one more story needs to be authorized.  

Site Description:  The site consists of two vacant city blocks on the west side of N. Dixie Highway separated by N.E. 38th Street.  The site is in the Dixie Mixed Use subzone of the Downtown Mixed Use Zoning District (DMUD).  The southern parcel (south block) is a 1.2 acre rectangular lot with frontage on N. Dixie Highway, N.E. 37^th Street, N.E. 11^th Avenue, and N.E. 38^th Street (Park-Lane Road).  The northern parcel (north block) is a 0.9 acre triangular shaped lot with frontage on N. Dixie Highway, N.E. 38^th Street (Park-Lane Road), N.E. 11^th Avenue, and N.E. 39^th Street.  These lots are city-owned and intended for redevelopment.    

Proposed Project:  The applicant proposes to construct a new building on each lot.  The south block is to contain a mixed use building that would include offices and meeting rooms for a new City Hall, street-level retail and commercial space, a 338-space parking garage, and 21 live-work dwelling units.  The north block is to contain a mixed use building that would include street-level retail and commercial space and 119 dwelling units.

Application Requests:  This agenda item is requesting use of the Additional Building Height Program under Section 24-269.  A corresponding item, under a separate agenda report, is requesting the allocation of flexibility housing units.  These requests will ultimately be heard by the City Commission.  The overall project is being reviewed in phases, and a full development site plan will be submitted and presented for review later. 

Existing Zoning:  Downtown Mixed Use District (DMUD) – Dixie Mixed Use Subzone.  This zone is intended to promote mixed use buildings and a pedestrian-oriented environment.

Comprehensive Plan Designation:  Local Activity Center

The building proposed by the applicant would have six stories and a height of 86 feet.  The by-right permitted height in this zone is 3 stories and 36 feet. The City permits additional stories and height if the developer provides one or more public amenities with a value greater than 0.5 percent of the construction cost of each story above three stories calculated with a pre-determined cost per square foot of $200.  Acceptable amenities can include public open space, infrastructure enhancements, public art, or public parking.  This applicant proposes to provide public parking in the south block’s parking garage, on street parking along NE 11th Avenue, a pedestrian bridge, and public plazas. The cost estimate letter from the applicant's engineer states the cost of the bridge would be $300,000, and the cost of the plazas would be $75,000. 

Regarding provided parking, the project requires 320 parking spaces, and the Developer is providing 360. The 40 additional spaces are proposed to be available to the general public as an amenity, of these 24 would be in the garage with 16 on street. These would be available for people using downtown businesses, going to community events, attending City Hall meetings, or other Downtown activities. Six guest spaces for the live-work units are also provided on street and publicly available, but those cannot be considered amenity spaces. The value of the 24 garage parking spaces is estimated to be $648,000 or $27,000 per parking space. The value of the on-street spaces is estimated to be $120,000 or $7,500 per parking space, for a combined value of $768,000. The estimated cost of construction for the additional floors in this project is $12,888,600, and 0.5 percent of that amount is $64,443.  

The Development Review Committee concluded that the value of the proposed plazas, pedestrian bridge, and parking amenities total $1,143,000, which exceeds required percentage of the construction cost of the additional floors by $1,078,557.  This information is provided for City Commission consideration.