Boat show moored at Bahia Mar

The Marine Industries Association of South Florida signed a 30-year lease extension with Bahia Mar resort and marina to keep annual boat show at site through 2050.

FORT LAUDERDALE – The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show won’t be sailing out of the city anytime soon.

The Marine Industries Association of South Florida announced Tuesday it has signed a 30-year lease extension with the operators of the Bahia Mar resort and marina to keep the annual boat show at the site through 2050. The boat show is an economic powerhouse for the city, bringing in more than $850 million annually, according to a recent analysis.

After the announcement was made, city commissioners voted 4-1 to allow the operators of the city-owned Bahia Mar to submit new plans to redevelop the site. The preliminary plans call for eight towers — a replacement hotel and seven 11-story apartment buildings — surrounded by dock space for yachts and boats, a grocery store, restaurants and a fishing village.

The 39-acre marina is on the barrier island along the Intracoastal Waterway south of Las Olas Boulevard.

Commissioners said their vote to allow Rahn Bahia Mar LLC to submit plans does not mean they will support any final proposal that comes before them.

A number of residents opposed letting developer Jimmy Tate, who heads Rahn Bahia Mar, submit his plans. They said the proposed 651-apartment project would completely change the nature of the hotel resort and marina and would be an unacceptable use of public property.

Resident Jack Malcolm complained the city might as well rename the resort “Del Boca Vista” or “Century Village by the Beach.”

But Tate, who last year withdrew a different set of plans for building two 29-story condo towers on the property, said he’s hopeful the new project will get a better reception.

“It’s going to be a beautiful first-class resort community,” said Tate, who holds a 46-year lease on the property.

The developer is not seeking any waivers from what’s allowed in the city’s land development rules.

The plans will first get a city staff-level review of the details and could undergo many changes during the review.

Commissioner Romney Rogers was the only vote against allowing Tate to move forward, saying he was not comfortable he had enough information to make a decision.

Even if the commission approves the plans, Rahn Bahia Mar would still need to renegotiate the terms of its lease with the city before construction could begin. A redevelopment plan approved for Blackstone Group, a previous leaseholder, died because it could not come to lease terms with the city. It sold its interests to Tate’s group in 2014.

Mayor Jack Seiler said he was pleased a deal had been struck with the boat show, which had been his top priority in any changes at Bahia Mar. There had been concerns the show might leave the city if it could not come to terms over the cost of the lease and space for the show.

He was assured that was no longer the case.

“We have the square footage we need,” said Phil Purcell, president of the Marine Industries Association.

Purcell and Tate did not discuss specifics of the new lease.