Hollywood, Florida invokes Live Local 4.0 to battle Broward County

Florida’s Live Local 4.0 isn’t law yet, but it passed the Legislature with near-unanimous margins. One Florida municipality, Hollywood, isn’t waiting for Gov. Ron DeSantis’s signature.

Next month, Broward County commissioners may decide how many units Related Group can build on a city-owned beachfront site. If they do, they will also determine whether the project includes workforce housing alongside owner-occupied condos.

That vote would reverse a February rejection. After Live Local 4.0 cleared the legislature in March, Hollywood invoked the bill’s forthcoming authority over government-owned land to revive the project. With the move, the city is effectively using state law to override the county’s decision.

It’s an irony embedded in Live Local’s three-year fight. The authority cities and counties battled to block is now the tool a city is using against the very county it inhabits.

Rather than no new housing, Broward commissioners will likely have to decide between a medium-rise with 111 condo units and no workforce housing, and a 210-unit high-rise that includes workforce housing. Approving the high-rise would make Hollywood the first city in the state to develop municipal land under Live Local.

DeSantis pushed for building more workforce housing across the state when he proposed Live Local in 2023. He may simply allow the latest revision to take effect July 1 without his signature, a common occurrence for laws that pass by wide margins.

“We’re waiting to see what happens,” Broward County Mayor Beam Furr, told The Builder’s Daily.

A four-year battle

In 2022, Related Group, known for condo development throughout Florida, struck a 99-year land lease with Hollywood for 1301 South Ocean Dr. and proposed the 111-unit condo. The city determined that it would generate $2.7 billion over that time, providing needed revenue to address aging infrastructure across the city.

Land-use plans dating to 1977 designated the site for medium density, where a community center now stands. Subsequent plans maintained that designation.

A handful of neighbors in the condo towers next door opposed the project, along with residents seeking to protect the beach, even though the building will rise amid existing development. Subsequently, Broward officials decided the land-use plans were in error and that only a community use was allowed.

After Live Local passed, Related Group revised its plan to meet the law’s conditions. The developer increased density, adding 84 workforce units priced for renters earning 120% of area median income.

Hollywood’s city commission approved the revised plan May 20 on a 5-2 vote, despite roughly 30 residents voicing their continued opposition. The Broward commission pushed its hearing on the plan to its August meeting, hoping for a DeSantis veto.

Keith Poliakoff, Related Group’s attorney, told The Builder’s Daily the county has an important decision to make.

“We’d be happy to build the 111 units,” Poliakoff said. “We’re going to be happy to build the 210 and give housing opportunities to those on the ocean who may not have had it before.”

Poliakoff noted that whatever the decision is, Live Local checkmated the opposition.

“They won a couple of battles along the way, but they’ve lost the war, and now they have to accept reality that this site will be redeveloped,” he said.