Hollywood board OKs eight condos in north central neighborhood

Rendering of condos at 2511 Pierce Street in Hollywood
Rendering of condos at 2511 Pierce Street in Hollywood

The Hollywood Planning and Development Board approved an eight-unit condo building, despite opposition from neighbors who say the developer has ignored their concerns on the project.

The contemporary two-story building, to be located at 2511 Pierce Street in Hollywood’s north central neighborhood, will include residences ranging from 707 square feet to 2,400 square feet.

A handful of neighbors registered their dissatisfaction with the proposal at the board’s meeting Thursday, saying their concerns hadn’t been taken into account by the developer, Alex Goihman.

Board member Cliff Germano grilled Goihman on requests from the neighbors to add more parking and to move a street-facing overhang.

Goihman admitted taking no action on those concerns, saying any addition to parking would have required a code variance, and that his architect had recommended against moving the overhang to the back, as the neighbors had suggested.

“We do not want to see people sitting out smoking, doing whatever they do,” said one member of the community, but during deliberation, board member Ed O’Donnell countered with a rhetorical question: “Is it legal to stand out in front of your building?”

The proposal finished with a bit of suspense, coming down to board chair John Passalacqua’s tie-breaking final vote. In the end, the proposal was granted with the condition that the developer add a privacy rail around the terrace.

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Far less controversial Thursday night was a re-zone request in the Liberia neighborhood, submitted by the Broward Alliance for Neighborhood Development, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to providing housing to low- and moderate-income people.

Rendering of Crispus Commons

The plans for 12 townhouses at the northwest corner of Evans Street and Southwest 12th Avenue are the second phase of a development called Crispus Commons. Each townhouse is set to include three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and a one-car garage, with between 1,400 square feet and 1,600 square feet of living space.

City Planner Alexandra Carcamo noted that the change — from medium-residential single family (RS-6) to low-density multi-family (RM-9) — does not significantly change the area density, and that the project’s design closely follows that of the first phase of Crispus Commons, a series of single-family homes across Evans Street.

“We wanted to keep something that’s very friendly to the neighborhood,” said Kemissa Collins, BAND’s real estate development analyst. “It’s nothing that would shock.”

That request was passed unanimously without any discussion from the board.