Hollywood finally reaching for skies

Building boom is transforming city’s downtown

HOLLYWOOD — The building boom long courted by downtown Hollywood is finally here, reshaping the skyline in waves as developers line up with plans in hand.

The next wave: Parc Place, a three-tower luxury apartment project geared toward the younger set, will rise where the landmark Hollywood Bread Building now stands.

“I wish you could start tomorrow,” Commissioner Traci Callari told the developer before voting for the sleek

433-unit project. “This is what we need in Hollywood to get things rocking and rolling.”

The ambitious project died a decade ago with the real estate bust, but is now back to life and expected to break ground in

mid-2019 on the southeast corner of downtown’s busy Young Circle.

It won final commission approval Wednesday.

If city visions hold true, a shuttered Publix shopping center on the east side of the traffic circle will also be transformed into something fabulous that will bring in the crowds — and the property taxes.

More of a beehive

“It’s going to be even more of a beehive,” Deerfield Beach real estate analyst Jack McCabe said of downtown Hollywood. “Young Circle is unique. There is no other place like Hollywood down here with a traffic circle like that.”

Altogether, more than 2,250 apartment and condos have already been built or are in the pipeline for downtown, Hollywood officials say.

Most of the units are concentrated along Young Circle at the core of downtown.

The 15-story Radius condo tower was the first to grace Young Circle, opening in 2007 on the northwest side with 311

units.

Hollywood Circle, a

25-story tower with 397 apartments and an adjoining

104-room boutique hotel, opened this year on the northeast side of the circle.

A third 19-story tower is now in the pipeline, on the west side of the circle.

Young Circle Commons — which is now going by the name Block 40 — initially called for 229 residential units but now also includes plans for a hotel, said Jorge Camejo, head of Hollywood’s community redevelopment agency.

It’s likely the project would break ground next year and open in 2021, Camejo said.

Nearby Parc Place will be built in three phases on 3 acres and take five years to build, said Keith Poliakoff, attorney for MG3 Developer Group.

“We look forward to transforming this part of Hollywood,” Poliakoff said. “It’s being marketed to young professionals looking to come downtown where they can live, work and play.”

From old to new

The Bread Building will be transformed into an apartment tower as part of phase 2. A 1930s-era movie theater that closed 22 years ago will be demolished.

The $200 million project calls for three towers of varying heights: 12, 17 and 26 stories, Poliakoff said.

The tallest tower, which he described as “the crème de la crème,” will be built last, with 7,000 square feet reserved for shops and cafes.

Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy says he’s not the only one looking forward to seeing a “reskinned, redone, reimagined” Bread Building.

“This has actually been celebrated, even by residents who are quick to criticize,” Levy said. “They look forward to the complete renovation of the Hollywood Bread Building.”

The newly revived Parc Place project will accomplish a long-awaited goal by finally eliminating one of the more obvious eyesores downtown, Levy said.

Commissioner Linda Sherwood, who said she’s been waiting a decade for the Parc Place project to return, has high hopes for better bars, shops and restaurants. “Everyone who’s been waiting for a Cheesecake Factory,” she said, “just might get it.”

Parc Place and all the other shiny new buildings coming to downtown Hollywood will change more than the skyline, said McCabe, the real estate analyst.

“They will attract new restaurants, new commercial projects, new office and retail to the area,” he said. “The silver lining is [that] Hollywood is in a process of gentrification. That has both good and bad connotations.”

Renovating and redeveloping downtown will upgrade the area, giving ugly buildings a date with the wrecking ball.

“But it will be at a price,” McCabe said. “Hollywood is experiencing a change from the old to the new — and that comes with higher prices. The flip side is many people won’t be able to afford the high rates and will be forced to leave the area. If you’re paying $550 a month now and the rent doubles, you’re probably going to move west.”