Las Olas Plans Recall History
Back in the 1890s, Henry Flagler was bringing his Florida East Coast Railway down on the coastal ridge, the first high land in from the ocean. But when he reached Fort Lauderdale, he found a formidable obstacle in Mary Brickell. She owned a large tract of land, which had heavy foliage, including a hammock of old oak trees. She was planning a shaded residential community.
She forced Flagler to reroute his railroad inland to its present location and the land she preserved became the prestigious Colee Hammock and parts of Rio Vista neighborhoods. Her action has remained a famous form of resistance to big business development.
Over the years, the Colee Hammock Homeowners Association has protected its territory on various occasions. One was stopping an expansion of the first Presbyterian Church facilities. Over the years, the city has recognized the unique quality of the neighborhood, closing some streets and altering others to protect some of the most attractive sections from the increasing traffic to and from the beach.
And today, Mary Brickell is invoked as part of the resistance to a proposed building on Las Olas Blvd. on the edge of Colee Hammock. Weston Jewelers has received preliminary approval for a five-story building with no additional parking in the 1100 block of Las Olas. Its first three floors would be for Rolex products and there would be a rooftop restaurant.
I need a caption for this
The building design is strikingly modern, a stark contrast to the charming ambience of the boulevard. It is receiving growing opposition from Colee Hammock and neighboring Beverly Heights homeowners’ associations.
Jackie Scott, President of the Colee Hammock organization, says the proposed 88-foot, 32,000-square-foot structure is too massive for the narrow 50-foot lot. The developer points out that there are other tall buildings nearby. The largest, 70-foot Himmarshee Landing, is five floors, but it has extensive covered parking and a residential component that does not open on Las Olas.
That was acceptable when it was built 20 years ago when the boulevard was redeveloping, and before all the high rises in center city worsened traffic.
Ed Smoker, who with his father Stan built the Northern Trust building in 1971 and later Himmarshee Landing, recalls the coordination that went into the latter building, “We took every bit of six months to a year” he says. “The city wanted us to have covered parking and that’s expensive, but we did every inch of that parking. And in the end, it worked out well for everybody.”
(Stephanie Toothaker input) -- not sure what you want here.
The proposed building is represented by Stephanie Toothaker, who has an impressive history of representing developers in zoning cases. She could not be immediately reached for comment, but it will be interesting to see how she does against Mary Brickell.
Bernard McCormick is a 50 year resident of Colee Hammock
