No private condos on public land at Bahia Mar

As private land for development is rapidly disappearing in an overbuilt Broward County, developers and investors are voraciously eyeing public land. This is the case with Fort Lauderdale’s signature property: Bahia Mar.

In 1947, the people of Fort Lauderdale purchased Coast Guard Station No. 6 from the federal government. Municipal recreation bonds, approved by voters, were used to buy the property and pay for a recreation center.

A 1952 news article described an “out of this world” yacht basin known as Bahia Mar: “The largest municipal yacht basin in the United States, with three miles of reinforced docks and docking accommodation for 450 yachts. The area is called Bahia Mar and is the showplace of the Florida East Coast.”

This vision was enhanced with the opening of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in 1960. Now in its 62nd year, it’s the largest in-water boat show in the world, attracting more than 100,000 visitors and thousands of vendors from around the world and bringing in nearly $1 billion a year. The foresight that residents showed

70 years ago was instrumental in establishing Fort Lauderdale as the yachting capital of the world.

Sadly, city leaders are now considering a vastly different vision — a 100-year lease that will allow 350 condos and 60 “branded hotel residences” on the Bahia Mar property.

Many residents feel that building 410 private residences on public lands is just plain wrong. A recent poll revealed that

90% of voters oppose building condos on public lands, and 86% oppose leasing public lands for 100 years. This deal needs much more scrutiny before the Fort Lauderdale City Commission accepts a lease that will tie up the land for generations.

The devil is in the details. Consider: The commission on Feb. 1 voted against hiring Ernst and Young to conduct an independent financial analysis of the Bahia Mar deal. Why? If this is a great deal, why wouldn’t the city want to prove it with an independent analysis? Instead, City Auditor John Herbst was directed to verify the mathematical accuracy of the calculations. It was also suggested that another firm, Colliers International, review and opine on assumptions. Two weeks later, the auditor was fired before he could review the Colliers report.

Mayor Dean Trantalis said he would like to see the city get a 6% rate of return on the value of the land and added: “We need to go back and evaluate the appropriate rate of return without taxes.” Based on that rate, the city should be asking for more than $15 million a year, exclusive of taxes. At Bahia Mar, the city wears two hats, as landlord and city government. The landlord collects rent on its property, and the city government collects taxes for city services. The two roles should not be confused.

The Bahia Mar property was recently appraised at $256.4 million, nearly double what it was appraised at 10 years ago when the city asked for base rent of $2.6 million. Today the city is considering $600,000 in base rent. Ten years ago, the city wanted

4.75% of the proceeds from condo sales. Today that number is 2.25%. Ten years ago, the city was putting in safeguards and seeking penalties to protect the city if construction phases weren’t completed on time. Where is that protection today?

A lawsuit filed by the boat show against the Bahia Mar tenant/developer on March 14 stated, “Despite the substantial public benefits created by the boat show, its continued future viability is currently under threat.” The lawsuit seeks among other things to enjoin “Bahia Mar from attempting to enforce the gag provision” and “temporarily enjoining the city from proceeding with the upcoming vote on Bahia Mar’s Modified Site Plan.” Why doesn’t the city want to hear what the boat show has to say before rushing to a vote?

As a draft of the master lease states, “The Promenade and its use shall be and remain subject to rules, regulations and restrictions as the developer may impose from time to time.” What happened to the total public access commissioners promised?

In March 2021, a majority of the city commission said it would never support building condos on public land, yet a year later, they’ve changed their minds. Why? Under consideration at the April 5 commission meeting is a 100-year lease, to permit building condos on public lands.

This critical vote will forever alter the gem we know as Bahia Mar. Perhaps the city commission should allow voters to decide the future of Bahia Mar as they did

70 years ago. After all, we citizens of Fort Lauderdale are the owners of the land.

Anne Hilmer is a long-time Fort Lauderdale resident and board member of the civic group Lauderdale Tomorrow.

By Anne Hilmer