Club site part of rental, retail project
Thecity of Oakland Park is hoping the site of a former strip club becomes a different type of attraction.
If the proposed project is approved, the old Pure Platinum location, at 3411N. Federal Highway, would make way for commercial and retail space and hundreds of rental apartments. City officials said the project is tentatively scheduled to come before the Planning& Zoning Board in July.
The project’s developer, Amos Chess, said itwould be a “magnificent environment for millennials” and others in the work force in this “urban, busy section of town.” The plan would include plenty of outside space with landscaping, he said.
“We are lucky enough we have the opportunity after years of working to buy the properties to come to the point thatwe can help to change the face of the city of Oakland Park on its east side and create a totally new environment on Federal Highway,” said Chess, who is partnering with Dan Deitchman.
Chess said he has been assembling the land for this project for about six years.
The plan calls for one section, called “O,” at 3101 and 3201N. Federal Highway, to be an L-shaped building and wrap around the existing Kenann and Chase Bank buildings. The Kenann building is Oakland Park’s circular-shaped landmark 1960s building with restaurants and nightclubs.
Owould include 274 residential units and 26,574 square feet of ground-floor retail facing Oakland Park Boulevard and North Federal Highway. It would rise 12 stories along Federal Highway and six stories along Oakland Park Boulevard.
The second section, called “O2,” at 3363 and 3411 N. Federal Highway, would have 165 units and almost 32,000 square feet of retail space. It would rise seven stories along Federal Highway and five stories along Northeast 20th Avenue. That’s the spot where Pure Platinum was located.
The O and O2 apartments
would range from 400 to 800 square feet, Chess said.
“The city is thrilled to see potential development of a site that, for too long, was an establishment that did not reflect our community, our priorities or our future,” said City Manager David Hebert. “The proposed project aspires to redefine Oakland Park on this critical corridor and provides exciting opportunities for new mixed-use development.”
Last year, the city of Oakland Park prevailed in its 30-year battle against strip clubs, forcing the mout and planning to replace them with family-friendly development. The city won decisively in federal appeals court in March 2017, and the now-consolidated clubs of Solid Gold and Pure Platinum moved to Pompano Beach months later.
The second former strip club, Solid Gold, at 3339-3347 N. Federal Highway, will become a Bahama Breeze Caribbean chain restaurant. Demolition has started, Hebert said. lhuriash@sunsentinel.com, 954-572-2008 or Twitter @LisaHuriash