A really bad deal for downtown Fort Lauderdale

Jeff John’s concert venue proposal in downtown Fort Lauderdale is a really bad deal.

This development would create a host of issues. The city would give the property to the developer for free, and a proposed agreement would not allow the city to collect property taxes for up to 150 years. The property is worth more than $40 million. As the agreement is set up, open containers of alcohol could be served inside until 2 a.m. and outdoors until 11 p.m. The developer wants to dig more than 20 feet to build an underground two-story parking garage, endangering trees.

Mayor Dean Trantalis told me in 2020 that “the property will remain open green space.” I take to heart what he said and feel he was sincere. But we need more than words. We need action to designate the site as a park. City officials voted to end spring break chaos in 1985 and this would bring it back. At Jeff John’s other venue, Revolution Live! in Himmarshee Village, crowds gather outdoors at all hours, drinking alcohol and causing problems. This project would create new burdens for police and fire-rescue.

If John’s proposed “cultural center” is approved, it will cause rowdiness and noise in a quiet residential neighborhood where across the street over 100 families with children live. Hundreds of hotel rooms are on either side of the property and across the street to the north about 1,000 people live in condos. Flagler Village residents deserve better than a developer hell-bent on destroying a pristine ecological treasure with over 50 old-growth trees without concern for quality of life.

Our message to city officials: Vote no.

Steven Peters, Fort Lauderdale