Bahia Mar developer: Presales on luxury condos to start in October, just in time for boat show

Jimmy Tate, the developer bringing luxury condos and a five-star resort to Fort Lauderdale’s taxpayer-owned Bahia Mar, says he and his partners are ready to rock and roll.

“We hope to start construction of the sales center and have that done by the summer,” Tate told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “We plan to start sales in October, right around the time of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.”

Tate and his partners cleared a final hurdle Tuesday night in the long journey to break ground on their ambitious project, one Tate says will easily cost more than $1 billion to build.

On Tuesday night, commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of amending the master lease agreement along with several other requirements that pave the way for a groundbreaking that’s likely three years away.

“We need to have over 50 percent of the two condo towers in Phase 1 sold before we can break ground,” Tate said. “We anticipate achieving our presale threshold about 12 months after we start sales. Once we hit that, it would take another year to complete the construction plans and pull the permits and start construction. It will be either the end of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027.”

Here’s the plan already approved by the commission: Build a 256-room hotel that will rise 300 feet into the sky and four towers with a total of 350 condo units. The condo towers will be slightly smaller than the hotel at 270 feet.

The project also calls for a park and public promenade along with a new seawall, marina village, a waterfront restaurant, shops and offices. Bahia Mar’s 245-slip marina will remain untouched.

Two weeks ago, commissioners approved a controversial deal that requires the city to relinquish air rights to a 7-acre parking podium that will serve as a platform for the hotel and condo towers above.

Those air rights will not revert to the city when the developer’s lease ends in 100 years.

Commissioner Warren Sturman cast the lone “no” vote two weeks ago and again Tuesday night.

“I have a problem with the air rights,” Sturman told the Sun Sentinel on Wednesday. “The air rights gives the property away in perpetuity.”

Here’s why the air rights — the development rights in the airspace above the land — are so important.

With the city’s transferal of the air rights, it means buyers will own their condos in perpetuity. Fort Lauderdale will still own the land, but will never be able to take ownership of the condo units, the hotel or the podium.

Not one critic spoke before this week’s commission vote. But they’ve been out in force for years, objecting to what they call a giveaway of public land.

“The fact that condos are being permitted on publicly owned land just has a cascade of implications,” said Nancy Thomas, a longtime resident fiercely opposed to the project. “The bottom line is condos should not have been allowed to be built on public land, not without some kind of voter referendum.”

But Commissioner Steve Glassman says the new Bahia Mar will change Fort Lauderdale beach for the better while bringing in more than $2 billion for the city over the next 100 years.

“It’s going to be transformative,” Glassman said. “It’s going to complete the entire south beach area of Fort Lauderdale. It will be our first five-star resort. It’s a big deal.”

Some naysayers have asked why the city would say yes to more condo towers on the barrier island in the face of sea-level rise.

Glassman has an answer for that.

“Part of this first phase of the project is increasing the seawall height and the resilience piece,” he said. “Without it, who knows when this would be underwater. It’s a crucial piece of the project and it’s being done right away.”

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan