Developers, welcome: Pompano Beach accepting offers for downtown innovation district

Related Development, Arquitectonica among firms that have attended a pre-proposal meeting earlier this month

A rendering of the Pompano Beach area
A rendering of the Pompano Beach area

The city of Pompano Beach and the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency are looking for bidders to redevelop a 30-acre assemblage within the city’s planned downtown innovation district.

The city and Northwest CRA issued a request for letters of interest for a master developer to acquire and develop properties within the planned 70-acre innovation district, with lots ranging from 0.2 acres to up to 7.7 acres. Most of the land is along I-95 and the Atlantic Boulevard exit.

Potential bidders who attended a pre-proposal meeting earlier this month include Arquitectonica, Butters Construction and Development, Related Development, Kimley-Horn and Associates, Leo Daly and Zyscovich Architects. That does not mean they have submitted a letter of interest.

A map of the area

A map of the area

The master plan calls for 750,000 square feet of office/flex space, 165,000 square feet of retail space, 1,500 residential units, up to 420 hotel rooms in multiple buildings, 35,000 square feet of restaurant space, educational opportunities and a new city hall and government offices, the latter of which could be a public-private partnership.

Pompano Beach has long planned to redevelop the innovation district area, between I-95 on the west, Dixie Highway to the east, Atlantic Boulevard to the south and MLK Boulevard (Hammondville Road) to the north.

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Letters of interest are due July 10, and from there the city and CRA would issue a request for proposals for qualified developers to go onto the next phase of the process.

If the city and CRA work on a public-private partnership with a developer to build a new city hall and government offices, the existing city hall could be freed up for an adaptive reuse project or torn down for a new development, according to the request for letters of interest.

The CRA plans to sell the properties as a block or as individual pieces depending on the final development agreement, and is offering a 2 percent commission to brokers who secured the developer through their firm.

After the developers are ranked in the second phase, the winning bidder will provide the city with a $75,000 check within 30 days of the Pompano Beach City Commission and the CRA board’s approval of the rankings. If the development agreement is approved, the CRA will keep a combined non-refundable $100,000 deposit to cover its and the city’s cost of negotiating and processing the agreement.

The Pompano Beach CRA has moved forward with redeveloping other areas in the city, including the Pompano Beach Pier. Earlier this year, the Madhav Group of Naples closed on a $17 million loan from Centennial Bank to complete construction of a new dual-branded Hilton hotel at 3410 Pier Street.

Pompano Pier Associates is also working on leasing its Pompano Beach Fishing Village to a number of restaurant and retail tenants, including Lucky Fish, Cannoli Kitchen and BurgerFi. The developer holds a 50-year ground lease from the city for the site.