The owners of 4.46 acres of property in Fort Lauderdale’s beachfront area, including the landmark Elbo Room bar, have offered the property for sale without an asking price.
Aiton “AJ” Yaari assembled the property with 500 feet of frontage along the beach over approximately 30 years.
The 4.46-acre assemblage extends north from the Elbo Room north to Poinsettia Street and west from A1A to Seabreeze Boulevard.
Yaari and his business partner Lior Avidor put the 4.46-acre site on the market Thursday and circulated a rendering of how the property could be developed.
The rendering, prepared by Jiro Yates and Joy Jasinski of FSMY Architects & Planners, shows a two-tower development with hotel rooms, residences and commercial space.
Yaari told the Sun-Sentinel daily newspaper that the rendering shows what a buyer of the property would be entitled to build.
An offering circular for the 4.46 acres describes it as a “trophy” property entitled for 1.6 million square feet of development.
No one has applied to the city for approval of a development on the beachfront property. Winning such approval could be difficult.
The newly elected mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Dean Trantalis, and two incoming city commissioners, Steve Glassman and Ben Sorenson, have pledged to protect the city’s downtown and beach areas from excessive development.
The Elbo Room
The Elbo Room at the corner of East Las Olas Boulevard and State Road A1A was featured in the 1960 movie “Where the Boys Are,” which depicted the old spring break scene in Fort Lauderdale.
In response to concern that the Elbo Room would be demolished, outgoing Fort Lauderdale Mayor John Seiler said via Twitter that the bar “will remain open and a treasured landmark on Fort Lauderdale beach. [Sun-Sentinel] – Mike Seemuth