A proposal for a five-story high-end jewelry store project that’s exposed downtown Fort Lauderdale’s growing pains sailed past approval.
Fort Lauderdale commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a rezoning and site plan for Weston Jewelers’ planned Arquitectonica-designed glass and wood panel building on Las Olas Boulevard, after more than two hours of presentations and public comment for and against the development.
This was the first vote needed, with the item headed for final consideration by commissioners on June 2.
Weston Jewelers, led by the Dikes family, proposes the building on a quarter-acre site consisting of two lots, at 221-229 Southeast 12th Avenue and 1117-1121 East Las Olas Boulevard. It would be Weston Jewelers’ flagship building, while the Dikes family will keep their original location at Weston Town Center, as well as their two outposts at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Seventy eight people signed up to speak at the meeting, many of whom supported the project or came from elsewhere in Broward County to speak well of the Dikes family.
Rezoning of one of the two lots from residential to commercial, plus the building’s height and lack of parking are the sticking points for concerned neighbors, many from the nearby Colee Hammock, Beverly Heights and Villaggio Di Las Olas communities.
Residents fear the rezoning would lead to more rezonings –– and development –– in the area.
“It sets a precarious precedent. It’s only natural the residents of our neighborhood feel threatened by it,” one homeowner said during the meeting, adding that a rezoning runs with the land and not its current owner or tenant.
Weston Jewelers already tweaked plans to appease residents’ concerns, including scrapping two previously planned restaurants and reducing heights, according to a presentation at the meeting by Stephanie Toothaker, Weston Jewelers’ attorney. The building will rise 74 feet, or 81 feet and 11 inches counting rooftop mechanicals, down from the previously planned 90 feet, or 108 feet with mechanicals.
Homeowners have called for further height decreases, with one resident calling to cap the project at 30 feet.
Yet, without the rezoning, Weston Jewelers can develop by-right a 150-foot tall building only on the south lot, though Ed Dikes, patriarch of the Dikes family, and his attorney, have said that’s not something the jewelry store is keen on.
The project will have zero parking spots on the site, where the code requires 129, though city development regulations allow for that mandate to be reduced to 119 spots.
“In what world are there 129 people in a jewelry store all at the same time,” Toothaker said at the meeting, calling the parking requirement “ridiculous” and adding that it was created prior to the rise of rideshare services and that Las Olas is more of a pedestrian street.
At the meeting, she revealed progress with securing 100 off-site parking spaces since a community meeting earlier this month with Toothaker, Dikes and concerned neighbors. Weston Jewelers has a letter of intent with the nearby First Presbyterian Church for the store to use 40 spaces at the church’s parking lot; another LOI with Demko Parking, a private lot owner in downtown Fort Lauderdale, for 40 spaces; and an LOI with Moss Construction for 20 parking spaces, Toothaker said. Also, staff members at Weston Jewelers will be prohibited from parking at public parking lots.
Some homeowners complained that employees at Las Olas businesses park in residential areas, and said they fear the issue will be exacerbated with the addition of another commercial building.
One resident, who said he’s lived in Fort Lauderdale for 70-plus years, urged commissioners to rely on the city attorney to ensure that representations made by the developer at the meeting are enforceable.
“If a promise is made, there needs to be some mechanism to ensure that promise is kept,” the resident said.
Brands that have committed to space at Weston Jewelers include Rolex, Cartier, Omega, Breitling and Chopard, as well as spaces for independent jewelers, a bridal jewelry section and a fourth-floor Dikes family office.
In recent weeks at community meetings, Toothaker has pointed out that nearby projects are of various heights, including a recently approved 12-story Whitfield hotel that will reach 150 feet. The Villaggio Di Las Olas condominium that’s across the Himmershee Canal from the development site also is five stories, though she conceded Weston Jewelers’ will be taller when measured in feet due to higher floor-to-ceiling heights common in modern construction.
Many of the restaurants and other commercial uses approved in the neighborhood also have received approvals for parking reductions, she added.
The proposed Weston Jewelers highlights Fort Lauderdale’s crossroads. While naysayers fear the loss of their neighborhood’s charm along with the issue of parking, supporters argue the store is necessary for downtown’s growth, after the area was largely overlooked during the recent boom in Miami and downtown West Palm Beach.
Commissioner Steven Glassman said Fort Lauderdale has to “decide what we want to be when we grow up.”
“It’s really important because I often hear the comparison with what is happening in Palm Beach and what is happening in Miami,” he said. “And yes, we are our little niche. But we cannot fall so far behind our neighbors to the north and south that eventually we will just lose everything we built up to this moment.”