The Hallandale Beach City Commission granted the developer of MG 100 Tower, a proposed mixed-use project on Federal Highway, an additional 12 months of vested rights at a meeting on Wednesday.
That means that, should the developer choose, it will be able to develop the project under old zoning rules that were replaced in November 2014 when the commission created a Regional Activity Center in the area that includes the 1.5 acre MG 100 property.
MG 100 Tower plans 294 high-rise residential units and 9,603 square feet of commercial space at 100 South Federal Highway.
The developer of the proposed project is MG 100 Federal, LLC, whose director is Enrique Manhard, a Uruguayan investor.
In a letter sent to Hallandale Beach‘s interim city manager by Hope Calhoun, the attorney for the developer, on Jan. 11, “It is our understanding that this is the only ‘vested rights’ parcel existing in [Hallandale Beach]; therefore the granting of the request does not set any precedent.” Keven Klopp, the city’s director of development services, who spoke at the commission meeting, agreed.
Calhoun said at the commission meeting that she and her clients had been going through the development process for almost two years. “We’ve gotten through planning and zoning, revised the site plan based on [the department’s] recommendations” and have already had the vested rights extended through Feb. 18, 2017, she told the city commission.
With another year, the developer will be able to meet with city staff and reevaluate the current development plan to come up with one that is satisfactory to both parties, Calhoun told the commission.
Also at the commission meeting, Klopp told the commissioners that, once vested rights are granted, the developer has the option to ask for a planned development overlay. “What [this] means is that the zoning is the site plan and no other regulations that are typically in a zoning ordinance apply,” he said. Or, the developer could choose to develop under the previous zoning regulations, Klopp said. Currently, the property is zoned for commercial use.
“If we grant them vested rights, but don’t approve the project in the future,” Vice Mayor Keith London asked interim city attorney, Andre McKenney, at the commission meeting, “will we be liable, either my colleagues or myself?”
“There is always the potential that the applicant could file suit,” McKenney said.
In response, Calhoun said that while it is possible that her client could file a lawsuit if there was a denial, their objective was not to do so, but to work with the city.