Pompano Beach Isle Casino Redevelopment: More than 4,100 Homes?; Traffic Study Offers Solutions?
LOCAL NEWS
September 9, 2019
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by Marie Puleo, Pompano Beach Real Estate and Development Reporter
POMPANO BEACH ISLE CASINO REDEVELOPMENT PART TWO: Plans for the Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park to become Live! Resorts Pompano – an entertainment, hotel, dining, retail, residential and office hub – advanced further when the Planning and Zoning Board, at its Aug. 28 meeting, unanimously approved the developer’s request to rezone the project site.
The 232-acre property is being redeveloped by The Cordish Companies in partnership with Eldorado Resorts, which purchased Isle of Capri Casinos and its 13 resorts in 2016. The Baltimore-based Cordish Companies develops, owns and operates Live! entertainment destinations across the country.
The project site, located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Powerline Road and SW 3rd Street (Racetrack Road), currently contains a harness racing track and grandstand (which will be razed), a 45,000-square-foot casino (which will be expanded), and 112,000 square feet of commercial space.
ISLE CASINO REDEVELOPMENT TIMELINE
Three phases of the Isle Casino redevelopment are planned. The first, expected to be completed in 2022, represents $400 million in development, including 679 multi-family residential units; 102,567 square feet of casino; 188,479 square feet of commercial space; an 18-screen movie theater; a 225-room hotel; a 300-seat jai alai fronton; a 36,750-square-foot Topgolf indoor driving range; and a 58,000-square-foot Live! venue with a large outdoor sports screen.
Construction on 450 residential units will start next summer: 325 units will be at “market rate” and 125 units will be for “active adults,” according to Abe Rosenthal, senior development manager with The Cordish Companies. Construction of the golf facility will also start next summer.
At full build-out, which could take up to 10 years, the goal is to have 4,100 multi-family residential units, a total of 950 hotel rooms, 142,182 square feet of casino, 470,000 square feet of commercial space, and 1,400,000 square feet of office use.
“If we can do between 500 and 1,000 residential units every couple of years, it will take 5 to 7 years,” said Rosenthal. Getting a company that wants to set up its headquarters in one of the two 400-foot-high buildings proposed for the project’s corporate district could also accelerate the build-out period.
Rosenthal said, assuming the project is very successful, if 10 years from now there is still some undeveloped land, and the 4,100 residential units have already been built, the developer could request more residential units.
>>>CLICK HERE TO SEE RENDERINGS OF WHAT THE ISLE CASINO REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT MAY LOOK LIKE
ISLE CASINO REDEVELOPMENT TRAFFIC
Some residents have expressed concern that the vehicular traffic generated by the project will cause congestion.
“From day one, we knew that traffic was going to be a key issue,” said Debbie Orshefsky, the attorney representing the developer.
The first phase of redevelopment is expected to generate 332 net new weekday A.M. peak hour vehicular trips and 1,231 net new weekday P.M. peak hour vehicular trips. Full build-out of the site is expected to generate 2,797 net new weekday A.M. peak hour vehicular trips and 3,859 net new weekday P.M. peak hour vehicular trips.
A traffic study completed by the firm Kimley-Horn, and reviewed by the City’s traffic engineering consultant, analyzed traffic conditions at 18 intersections throughout the area and determined that, upon full build-out, one signalized entrance should be added to SW 3rd Street (Racetrack Road), and one signalized entrance should be added to Powerline Road. Currently, one signalized intersection exists on each road.
At the intersection of Powerline Road and Atlantic Boulevard, a second right-turn lane would be added for eastbound traffic on Atlantic Boulevard turning south onto Powerline Road, and a third left-turn lane would be added for northbound traffic on Powerline Road turning west onto Atlantic Boulevard to head toward the Turnpike.
Additional turn lanes would also be added at the intersection of SW 3rd Street and Powerline Road. Further south on Powerline Road, a northbound right-turn lane would be added to the existing north project driveway, which may require relocating the existing power poles.
The expectation is that increasing the ability to turn would reduce some of the traffic along Powerline Road.
The proposed improvements would also include retiming the traffic signals at intersections as traffic patterns change.
MORE CITY/COUNTY APPROVALS NEEDED FOR ISLE CASINO REDEVELOPMENT
The rezoning application approved by the Planning and Zoning Board at its Aug. 28 meeting is scheduled to go before the City Commission for first reading on Sept. 10. The rezoning would create a Planned Commercial Development (PCD) district, providing more development flexibility than the current zoning, which allows for commercial recreation, commercial and industrial uses, but not residential.
Concurrent with the rezoning request, the developer submitted an application for a land use plan amendment, which was approved by the Planning and Zoning Board in July, and is scheduled to go before the City Commission for first reading on Sept. 10. The review process at the County level began in July and will continue until February 2020. A second reading before the City Commission is anticipated for March 2020.
The land use plan amendment would modify the entitlements of the project site’s existing “Regional Activity Center” land use designation by adding another 2,800 multi-family residential units to the 1,300 multi-family residential units currently permitted (for a total of 4,100 units), and by allowing more office space. It would reduce commercial recreation use, as well as commercial use, primarily retail space.
Pompano! Magazine and our website will be continually providing updates on the all-important Isle Casino Redevelopment Project.
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=”8682″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
