Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Now or never
Galleria Mall owners envision 1,900 housing units, ‘mixed-use district’ to revive aging enclave
“It would have to be this year. If not, I don’t know there will be long-term viability for the mall.”
— Stephanie Toothaker, land use attorney representing Keystone-Florida Property Holding Corp.
The owners of Fort Lauderdale’s aging Galleria Mall are taking another shot at bringing the 42-acre enclave into the 21st Century. It may be the landmark’s last chance for a long-term survival, its attorney said Wednesday.
The idea now is to create a village of sorts that would introduce 1,900 residential units, a grocery store, boutique hotel, green space with a pedestrian loop and “pocket parks,” as well as a mixed-use segment on the east end of the multi-block property on East Sunrise Boulevard.
Keystone-Florida Property Holding Corp. intends to file a development agreement with the city that would constitute a first step for an overhaul that is critical for the mall’s survival, said Fort Lauderdale land use attorney Stephanie Toothaker, who represents
the firm.
Will it pass muster?
In a telephone interview Wednesday, Toothaker said a development agreement with the city that provides an outline of the project must be reached “as soon as we can. We are at that critical point where the mall is going in the wrong direction.”
“It would have to be this year,” she added. “If not, I don’t know there will be long-term viability for the mall.”
Toothaker said a number of leases for tenants are approaching their expiration. It’s critical, she said, for an agreement to be advanced quickly so current and future retailers and restaurant operators will know the mall is on a path to modernization.
But a key to the equation is a residential component that will ensure a steady stream of business. In effect, it will likely take a village concept to restore the enclave to a modicum of commercial glory it enjoyed upon opening in the early 1980s.
That’s because e-commerce has wreaked havoc on large malls like the Galleria as consumers switched to online shopping and home delivery. Then came COVID-19, which further dampened consumer appetites for in-person shopping amid government-mandated lockdowns and other public health restrictions.
“We have a very large team of experts that specialize in bringing retail centers back to life,” Toothaker said. “They have done it many times and they always include residential because it’s the only way retailers today will sign longterm leases.
“What we’re seeing in the retail world is they can be brought back, but it has to be a multifaceted experience. It can’t be just the mall. It has to be a mixed-use or it will cease to exist.”
In recent years, the Galleria lost such major tenants as Saks, Lord & Taylor and Neiman Marcus. Its large food court has been reduced to a handful of quick-service eateries, though the restaurants Coopers Hawk Winery & Restaurant, P.F. Chang’s, Seasons 52 and The Capital Grille carry on.
Neighborhood outreach
The mall has posted renderings of its proposed project on its website, where it is inviting comments from the public and offering emailed updates to those who sign up. The presentation also carries the presumptive headline: “All buildings within land use and zoning guidelines.”
“Our innovative plans are transforming Galleria Fort Lauderdale into a dynamic mixed-use district, bringing the community new rooftop and sidewalk dining, ample green space, walking & biking trails, diverse retail, visionary brands, and contemporary mid-rise residential living,” the mall says in a statement.
Toothaker said company representatives have been meeting for the last several months with neighborhood associations in the Coral Ridge and Sunrise Intracoastal sections of the city, as well as with residents of nearby high-rises.
She said the company has also spoken with the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce and shared the plans with city commissioners and the Broward Workshop, the private non-profit organization of major county decision makers.
Heather Moraitis, the city commissioner whose district include the mall, said Wednesday she had scheduled a public meeting with Toothaker and the development team for next Monday at the mall to discuss the project.
“I believe something definitely needs to happen on this property,” she said. But she’s concerned that nearly 2,000 residential units on the property “is probably too much density,” and believes neighbors will raise similar questions.
She has also heard from other developers who are unhappy that one project might be allowed to insert that number of “flex units,” which is a term for residential units that are allowed to be inserted into an area zoned for commercial use.
“We have other developers really upset about this because it will impact other projects coming to city,” Moraitis said. “Our entire city only had 2,000 flex units left.”
She said the city attorney is checking to see if the 1,900 being requested by the mall can be reserved for a developer prior to having its site plan approved, which in the mall’s case has yet to occur.
Informed of the concern, Toothaker said only 1,100 units are being requested across the first phase of the project.
“The biggest difference [from other developments] is that this project is across 42 acres and contains a significant mixed-use component unlike the many multi-family projects that do not contain significant retail,” Toothaker said.
Moraitis also raised a concern about the serving of alcohol at outdoor restaurants until 2 a.m. The noise from partiers, she asserted, would quickly drift into adjacent residential areas.
Toothaker acknowledged that restaurants that are part of the project, “both existing and new,” will be operating with permits to serve alcohol, and that “those dining experiences exist currently.”
David Coddington, senior vice president of business development at the alliance and a resident of the nearby Lake Ridge neighborhood, said his association backed a 2016 redevelopment plan rejected by the city.
He is uncertain about where his neighbors stand with the latest plan, which he called “a phenomenal opportunity to continue a legacy retail facility and bring it up to modern times … It’s about job attraction and job retention,” he said. “What would it mean to the community to lose AutoNation? What would it mean to the community to lose the Galleria?”
The company’s development team, Toothaker said, just returned from a Las Vegas convention of the International Conference of Shopping Centers, where they spoke with retailers who are not presently in the Fort Lauderdale market.
“They’re all watching what the [city] commission does with the development agreement,” she said. “They’re not willing to sign a lease without getting a nod form the commission.”
A multiyear undertaking
The project would unfold in phases over a number of years, said Toothaker, adding that there are plans to take down more than 600,000 square feet of retail.
Macy’s, the original anchor department store on the mall’s west end, which is on a long-term lease, would remain where it is under the latest plan. So would Dillard’s, another major department store, which holds down the east end.
In between, the mall itself would undergo major upgrades. It is currently populated by major tenants such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Apple, AT&T, T-Mobile, LensCrafters, Mayors, Zales and the Sephora skin care, hair and beauty outlet, as well as an array of clothiers, shoe outlets and art galleries. The connecting strip of retailers, which also include various kiosks between the two big department stores, would be upgraded, according to the plan.
The residential portions would be scattered throughout the project, with the first phase on the east side where Saks and Lord & Taylor once stood.
Toothaker said it’s too soon to say if the residential components would be condos or apartments.
A boutique hotel would go up on Sunrise Boulevard.
Unrealized plans
Over the years, Keystone toyed with various renovation concepts to keep up with the times.
The developer had plans for a controversial $5 million aquarium attraction that would have publicly displayed 1,200 sea creatures, birds and reptiles in the space vacated by Lord & Taylor, but those plans stalled in late December 2020 in the face of COVID19 and a lawsuit by animal activists who sued to block its opening.
In 2016, the city rejected the owner’s plan to build seven luxury buildings around the mall that would have made space for 1,600 residences, 150 hotel rooms and senior living apartments.
The next step for the new project, Toothaker said, would be to “fully develop site plans” for vetting by the city’s development review committee, and to submit demolition plans to the building department.
Toothaker suggested there won’t be any more opportunities to remake the Galleria into a contemporary attraction.
“This is our last chance to save our mall,” she said.