Fort Lauderdale could see new 36-story towers under Florida’s Live Local Act

Fort Lauderdale’s old Winn-Dixie plaza off Southeast 17th Street could see a dramatic transformation: Three new residential towers with 765 apartments built under the Live Local Act.

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The $725 million Terrasse project calls for two 36-story condo towers that would stand 400 feet high. A third 19-story tower would stand 200 feet high and be entirely devoted to workforce housing, in keeping with the sweeping Live Local initiative designed to address Florida’s affordable housing crisis.

City officials are expecting pushback from residents already weary of traffic gridlock along Southeast 17th Street east of Federal Highway.

But developers behind Live Local projects don’t need approval from critics or commissioners.

Live Local projects are not required to seek approval from city commissions or planning boards. Instead, the projects are reviewed and approved administratively by city staff.

If the Terrasse project meets staff approval, here’s what’s coming:

Building 1: 36 stories at 400 feet; 222 luxury condo residences; 1,724 square feet of commercial space.

Building 2: 36 stories at 400 feet; 228 luxury condo residences; square feet of commercial space.

Building 3: 19 stories at 200 feet; 315 workforce housing apartments. (Under Live Local, 40% of the apartments must qualify as affordable housing for 30 years.)

Two separate parking garages would be built to accommodate the new residents. One would have nine floors of parking and the other would have eight.

If built, the towers would dwarf homes in the nearby Harbordale, Lauderdale Harbors and Rio Vista neighborhoods, Mayor Dean Trantalis said.

“It’s inappropriate,” he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “It’s in the wrong place. It will shade the homes around there. It’s going to have a severe impact on the infrastructure both above and below ground. We need to put a check on overdevelopment that seems to be creeping into our city.”

But Robert Lochrie, a land-use attorney representing the developers, argued this particular location makes for a perfect spot.

“The project transforms a vacant Winn-Dixie and Crown liquor store into a mixed-use project in a high-transit corridor,” Lochrie said. “It’s a very logical place for one of the state’s Live Local projects to be located because of its proximity to the airport, the port, I-95 and job generators like the convention center and Broward Health.”

As for the height, Lochrie had this to say: “The additional height is part of the framework the Florida Legislature built into the Live Local Act to encourage workforce housing and to make it economically viable. The law directs this type of development to commercial areas like this one.”

The Terrasse project is not the first to seek approval to build near Fort Lauderdale’s heavily traveled 17th Street under the Live Local Act.

The Quay, a Live Local project that calls for 521 apartments in the 1500 block of Southeast 17 Street, was approved in late 2025 and is moving through pre-construction planning. Once built, the 33-story tower will stand 380 feet and include 304 market rate apartments and 217 reserved for affordable housing.

The Related Group, BH Group and PEBB Enterprises are the developers behind the Quay project.

It’s unclear, however, just who is behind this new Live Local project.

For now, the investors behind the Terrasse project remain a mystery. Not even the city knows who they are.

“There’s no developer identified on the application, just the property owner,” said Kevin Pulido, a spokesman for the city.

The 3-acre parcel is owned by Amy Loos Mergler and John Thompson Loos III. Neither could be reached for comment.

Lochrie, the attorney representing the developers, declined to name them.

“I can say it’s a local group of experienced real estate developers, but I’m not at liberty to say who it is at this time,” Lochrie said.

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Because the project sits within a mile of downtown, there is no height cap, Lochrie said. Fort Lauderdale’s Regional Activity Center zoning district allows unlimited building height, subject to review by the Federal Aviation Administration.

“A letter of no objection from the FAA is forthcoming and will be provided to the city upon receipt,” Lochrie wrote in papers submitted to the city.

The project is still under review by the city, Lochrie said.

The projects do need to meet certain zoning regulations, with the exception of density, height and floor area ratio — a zoning rule that compares a building’s total floor space to the size of the land it sits on.

“The development team spent a lot of time submitting a package they think would get approved by staff,” Lochrie said. “It was designed without any requests for variances or waivers.”

If all goes as planned, the project could break ground as soon as mid-2027 or early 2028, Lochrie said.

Construction would take two years, with project completion taking place sometime in 2029 or early 2030.

The project’s twin towers would be the tallest in the neighborhood, the mayor noted.

“It creates a very imposing neighbor that’s not welcome here in Fort Lauderdale,” Trantalis said. “Think of all the traffic it would generate. The original infrastructure for that street was not built for this kind of intense development. It reduces the quality of life even for the newcomer. They’ll say, ‘I don’t want to live here. There’s too much traffic.’”

Vice Mayor Ben Sorensen said he had no details on the project, but expressed shock when a reporter called to get his reaction to the proposed height and number of residential units.

“Holy moly,” he said. “Oh my gosh.”

As the district commissioner for the neighborhood, Sorensen said he’s expecting to field plenty of complaints about the project as more people learn about it.

“Live Local is having horrible impacts on our city,” he said. “As a community we have to push our state representatives to change Live Local so we can actually have a say on our growth and development. I’m working with our city attorney to explore all options to make sure we as a city have as much say as possible as these projects move through the city’s administrative process.”

Sorensen said he, too, is worried about the impact on road traffic and the city’s network of underground sewer and water pipes.

“I’m also exploring the impact Live Local has on emergency response,” he said. “Live Local does not let the city use those criteria to push back and challenge Live Local projects. And that needs to change.”

The project would have a devastating effect on nearby neighborhoods, some community leaders told the Sun Sentinel.

When a popular Winn-Dixie on Fort Lauderdale’s Cordova Road closed last year, locals had a burning question: What’s coming next?

Some worried tall towers could be on the way. Turns out their hunch was right.

“This would be a bad thing for our neighborhood,” said Bob Ferencik, president of the Lauderdale Harbors Improvement Association. “Access is already problematic. If it’s four people per unit, that’s over 3,000 residents who would be just to the south of our neighborhood. If it’s just two people per unit, that’s 1,500 people. Double the number of people we have in Lauderdale Harbors.”

Mark Snead, treasurer of the Rio Vista Civic Association, asked a reporter how tall the towers would be.

“Four-hundred feet tall?” he said. “I think it’s going to throw a heck of a lot of traffic onto 17th Street, which is barely coping with what we’ve got now. I think it’s going to make life miserable getting to 17th Street.”

Susannah Bryan can be reached at [email protected]. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan

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