Plans for A1A Hotel, Parking Garage, Supermarket Are Moving Forward

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

BY MARIE PULEO | POMPANO BEACH REAL ESTATE AND DEVELOPMENT REPORTER

POMPANO BEACH – The City is getting close to completing its negotiation of a development agreement with E2L Real Estate Solutions, the master developer of a large-scale mixed-use project slated for the Oceanside parking lot on the barrier island. The development agreement is expected to go to the City Commission for a first reading in April 2022. 

The project is a partnership between the public sector (the City) and the private sector (the master developer). The proposed City-owned and operated components are a public parking garage and a paver-brick road, or driveway, connecting A1A to Riverside Drive and running along the project site’s north side. The proposed developer-owned and operated components are a hotel with an event space/conference center; a pool and club deck; and a small grocery store. 

The 3.2-acre City-owned project site, located at 109 N. Ocean Blvd. (A1A), is southwest of the Pompano Beach Fishing Village, east of the Sands Harbor Resort and Marina, south of Fire Rescue Station 11 and north of The Plaza at Oceanside. The site is currently a surface parking lot with 279 spaces.

At present, it is estimated the new parking garage will have approximately 700 spaces and four levels, according to Assistant City Manager Suzette Sibble, who is overseeing the Oceanside mixed-use development project. Sibble, along with Mark Hefferin, president of E2L Real Estate Solutions, provided an update on the status of the project to the East CRA Advisory Committee in February. 

E2L’s conceptual design of the project shows an 8-story tiered hotel built on top of the western portion of the parking garage. The pool and club deck would be built on top of the eastern portion of the garage. The grocery store would be in a ground-floor retail shell of the parking garage, fronting A1A. 

Hefferin said he has “talked to all of the local small grocers already,” such as Joseph’s Classic Market, Living Green and Doris Italian Market & Bakery.

“We’re not rushing that,” said Hefferin, “because that’s going to probably be the last component we put in.” 

Hefferin said the hotel is currently projected to have about 200 rooms, although the property’s zoning allows up to 300 rooms. 

State-of-the-art technology will be used to manage and control the efficiency of the parking garage, said Hefferin. Tag readers will help keep cars flowing by eliminating the need for cars to stop and wait when entering and exiting the garage.

The City would be responsible for financing the costs associated with constructing the garage and brick driveway; the developer would be responsible for the cost of constructing the hotel, deck and grocery store. E2L’s team of experts – which includes an architect, engineer and a general contractor – would be responsible for constructing both the public sector and private sector components of the project.

“We think that this project is going to introduce some new and exciting amenities for the residents,” said Sibble, notably the small grocery store and the event space. 

The event space will include two levels above the hotel featuring 360-degree views of the surrounding Intracoastal Waterway and Atlantic Ocean. The event space is currently planned as 20,000 square feet indoors, and 10,000 square feet outdoors. The space will be designed to accommodate various types of events, including weddings, non-profit fundraisers and corporate functions.

Hefferin said most events will occur between 6pm and 10pm, with 80% of the attendees arriving between 6pm and 7pm. Those driving vehicles are estimated to be 50% of the attendees; others will park as guests of the hotel, or will use ride-share services or carpool.

Hefferin said he and his team have been meeting with the operators of the Hilton hotel in the Pompano Beach Fishing Village “trying to coordinate how we could be good stewards of each other’s efforts here.”

Hefferin anticipates that expansion of the Pompano Circuit micro-transit system will reduce vehicular traffic in the area. 

The City will be carrying out improvements along Pier Street West (NE 2nd Street), A1A and Riverside Drive that will improve vehicular and pedestrian traffic circulation around the site. 

Sibble said the City’s objective is to finance the public sector components with a combination of parking fees from the Oceanside parking garage that will be constructed; tax increment revenues generated from the private sector components; and developer lease payments for being able to construct on City-owned land. 

The final budget and financing plan are still being worked out, but Sibble estimates the City’s portion of the project will be in the “mid-$30 million” range, including about $26 million for the parking garage itself. 

The developer estimates the Oceanside mixed-use project will create approximately 400 jobs. Sibble said the City will work with Hefferin and his team to help place Pompano Beach residents in those jobs, just as the City partnered with the Pompano Beach Fishing Village, which created 500 jobs.  

Pompano Beach CRA Director Nguyen Tran noted that the economic spin-off from the Oceanside mixed-use development “will be just as much, if not greater than” the economic spin-off from the Pompano Beach Fishing Village, which was built mostly on a surface parking lot through a public-private partnership. 

Sibble said that, as a result of the Pompano Beach Fishing Village, from 2015 to 2021, there was a $134 million (38%) increase in the East CRA district’s valuation and an additional $1.7 million in the district’s tax increment funds. 

In June 2020, the City Commission gave its approval to negotiate a development agreement with E2L Real Estate Solutions. E2L, based in Winter Park, was one of three firms short-listed in the first phase of the search for a qualified master developer, which was initiated in early 2019.

According to a tentative project timeline, the development agreement is expected to go to the City Commission for a second reading and approval in May 2022.

In November 2022, the remaining design process and final pricing is expected to be completed. A contract with a guaranteed maximum price for the City’s components of the project (the garage and driveway) would go to the City Commission for approval in December 2022. All components of the financing would be closed by February 2023. Permitting would run simultaneously from November 2022 to May 2023.

If the City Commission approves the guaranteed maximum price contract, the developer would receive a notice to proceed in June 2023. Construction of the parking garage and driveway would be completed by October 2024. Hefferin said the garage should take nine months to one year to build, with the possibility of opening it ahead of the rest of the construction being finished.  

The hotel, event space/conference center and club deck would open in December 2025. Construction of the small grocery store along A1A would be completed in September 2026. 

For more Pompano Beach real estate and development news and things to do in Pompano Beach read Pompano! magazine and search our website.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”13034″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row]