South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Movie studio to rise on land owned by taxpayers
Commissioners approved deal on property at Sunrise and Northwest 31st
FORT LAUDERDALE — It’s like a reversal-of-fortune script out of Hollywood: long-overlooked parcel goes from incinerator to Superfund site to movie studio.
Fort Lauderdale commissioners approved the deal Thursday night, paving the way for a $164 million, state-of-the-art movie studio to rise on city-owned land where no one else seemed to want to build.
The property, 61 acres at the intersection of Sunrise Boulevard and Northwest 31st Avenue, was once home to an incinerator that left the ground contaminated. The site was cleaned up two decades ago but failed to draw any investors until now.
According to the business plan, the studio would be fully built by 2025.
“I think the idea of a movie studio coming to Fort Lauderdale will bring jobs and new business development and add a little bit of glamour to an already-exciting community,” Mayor Dean Trantalis told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Friday. “This is going to be a game changer. They’ll be making feature films, videos, TV commercials and everything in between.”
Under the deal, the investors will lease the land for what some might consider a steal: $50 for 50 years, with a 50-year renewal option.
The team behind the project: studio owner Christopher Ursitti, co-founder and managing partner of Los Angeles Center Studios, a 20-acre film studio in the heart of downtown Los Angeles; Michael Ullian, a redevelopment expert and specialist in Brownfield redevelopment for more than 20 years; and D.J. Viola, an award-winning director and producer in both film and television.
The proposal, submitted to City Hall in April, calls for a full-service movie, TV and streaming production studio with up to 12 sound stages, indoor and outdoor movie sets and a backlot for location filming.
Also in the plans is an office building and a mill, where film and production sets can be built. A full-time, accredited film school would also operate onsite.
All the buzz
Word is out that a movie studio is on the way, says Sandy Lighterman, the newly appointed film commissioner for Broward County who held the same role for Miami-Dade County for 14 years.
“I came here to market Broward County as a place to grow and bring in content creators,” Lighterman said. “I’ve spoken to Netflix, HBO, Warner Bros. They’re all interested. They want to know when it’s going to be built.”
The buzz about the new film studio has reached all the way to Los Angeles, New York and beyond, according to Lighterman.
“I was out in LA in June, and they were excited to know we are going to have state-of-the-art sound stages here,” Lighterman said. “Worldwide, there’s a shortage of stage space. They can’t build stages fast enough because there’s so much content being created.
“It’s going to attract a lot of attention and bring a lot of production to Broward County.”
Not only will the movie makers come, but so will the tourists, Lighterman said.
“About 23 percent of tourists come to the state of Florida because of what they’ve seen in movies and on TV shows,” she said. “It’s definitely a thing.
“Just think about ‘Miami Vice.’ That was the whole start of Miami being sexy. I aim to make that happen here.”
Fort Lauderdale tapped experts from Deloitte & Touche to vet the proposal. The consulting firm says the project is viable, with an expected rental income of $12 million to $18 million.
The report did come with this warning: Interest rates are unpredictable, and should they increase beyond 7.65% there may not be sufficient cash flows in the project under the proposed structure.
Risky business?
“We’re really chomping at the bit to get going with construction,” John Milledge, the attorney representing the investors, told commissioners.
The mayor asked what happens if they start construction on the 350,000-square-foot complex but never finish.
“If it’s vacated or abandoned or we go into bankruptcy, those are all breaches [of contract],” Milledge said. “We have to build it within three years.
“If we don’t do that, you get the property back. If they build it and go out of business, the city inherits the building.”
If the movie studio goes bust, the city could turn around and lease out the site for another use, Trantalis told the Sun Sentinel on Friday.
“These are huge sound stages,” he said. “Those vast expanses of indoor space can be used for other purposes.”
A statewide rebate program aimed at attracting film crews ended in 2016 after critics complained about it being a Hollywood handout that siphoned money from taxpayers.
But the mayor says there’s talk of bringing it back.
“There’s a move afoot in Tallahassee to bring back the incentive program they allowed to expire,” Trantalis said. “I’m hopeful that the governor and state legislators hear that call.”
In an effort to lure the film industry, Broward County has set aside more than $1 million for its own rebate program.
Any studio that films in Broward and spends from $500,000 to $1 million will get a $50,000 rebate check.
If they spend more than $1 million, they’ll get a check for $100,000.
“Broward is doing everything we can to help,” county Commissioner Steve Geller said. “I met with these people when they were looking to go other places.
“They looked at Buffalo, Nashville, Georgia, and they were impressed with Broward and how filmfriendly we are. They felt welcome here.”
‘A hidden gem’
Before the vote city commissioners asked for
more details on the film school.
“You can sleep at night knowing this is a real film school,” Milledge said.
But details are still being worked out, including the number of students the school would accommodate. The film school will be affiliated with a local college, but Milledge could not say which one just yet.
“We’re not far enough along to say how many students and whatnot,” he said.
Under current plans, the sound stages, production offices and film school
will not be built atop the capped landfill. The first sound stage could be up and running within the year, Geller said.
Lighterman says she’ll be doing her part to make sure Fort Lauderdale’s new movie studio stays busy.
“Broward is a hidden gem,” she said. “People just don’t know about it. That’s why I’m here.
“I want to make us shine. I want to put us on the map.”