Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Hotel, shops, key to new beachfront
Pompano Beach is attracting even more new businesses to its beachside — the latest being the news of a restaurant and retail center that will start undergoing construction in a couple of weeks.
Steve Tsatas, chief executive officer of Group Tsatas, a Quebecbased company behind the project, said he’s going to start build-
ing the upscale center on the southeastern corner of the Atlantic Boulevard bridge, a short distance from where a hotel developer recently announced a Hilton would break ground within the next year.
“People are understanding that Pompano is an upand-coming place,” Tsatas said. “I think the city has really gone gung-ho wanting more businesses to be created by the beach and the pier.”
Tsatas’ center calls for a retail and dining complex that will be built in phases, called Harbor Promenade. One phase will be a dining destination called Harbor NYC at 101 S. Riverside Drive. The 2.2 acres Tsatas will develop include parcels that extend from the east side of the Intracoastal to the 3200 block of East Atlantic Boulevard.
Harbor NYC will have 150 indoor seats, as well as 350 outdoor seats, which will be shielded by a retractable awning that can be lowered in 90 seconds to shield diners from South Florida’s sudden cloudbursts.
The retail area — expected to open at the same time or shortly after the restaurant in late 2018 — will have businesses meant to appeal to tourists milling about and coming out of the restaurant, Tsatas said. After the retail center is built, Tsatas said he’s planning a seafood restaurant.
The 210 feet of waterfront next to the dining area will have room for at least 10 boats to moor.
Tsastas’ company got its start in Montreal, Quebec. He’s been involved in running scores of restaurants, including Madisons New York Bar & Grill in Boca Raton since 2013.
There have been many other Pompano Beach developments underway.
Tim Hernandez, a principal in Pompano Pier Associates, is developing the 6-acre fishing village on the north side of the Atlantic Boulevard bridge. His company subleased city-owned land to open two oceanfront restaurants. One is scheduled to open about Thanksgiving and another is expected to break ground soon.
He said he is convinced Tsatas’ development means greater potential for Pompano’s beachside to succeed, rather than a glut of dining options.
“We’re trying to make east Pompano a more interesting place,” he said. “The more options there are for people to go, it’s a good thing.”
This investment follows city projects such as a $24 million garage festooned with sails, a splash park, utility lines buried underground and widened walkways along the beach.
Also in the works by Hernandez is a Pompano Fishing Village, which is set to bring retailers such as as a Kilwin’s chocolate shop, a BurgerFi and a surf shop. It will be situated north of the Atlantic Boulevard Bridge, near the city’s pier, which is now being replaced.
Hernandez said there have been extensions to the schedule for building the fishing village. Originally, five of eight parcels should have started construction by now, city records show. Currently, one part of the fishing village is under construction.
He said it’s been necessary to accommodate delays. The pier construction’s completion, for example, will draw customers to nearby businesses. And the pier was held up nearly a year because of delays in permitting. That, in turn, threw off the timelines for the private development, he said.
“This is a very complicated thing,” he said.
Also planned is a water taxi service that offers rides along the Intracoastal Waterway from Lighthouse Point to Hollywood. It was scheduled to begin Oct. 1, but was held up by Hurricane Irma damage. It now is expected to start in December, said Horacio Danovich, city capital improvements project manager.