BAL HARBOUR, Fla. – An upscale shopping center in one of South Florida’s most upscale island communities could play home to workforce housing.
The owners of Bal Harbour Shops — home to brands like Fendi, Saks Fifth Avenue, Versace and more — have unveiled a plan to add housing to the luxury open-air mall, located at 9700 Collins Ave., they said in a news release Wednesday.
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Whitman Family Development would add 600 “high-end residential units,” 40% of them designated as workforce housing, under Florida’s Live Local Act, which allows developers to bypass local zoning regulations if they meet that threshold. The legislation was designed to boost Florida’s affordable housing supply.
The plan would also include a 70-room upscale hotel and 45,700 square feet of additional retail space, its news release states.
“My family has envisioned Bal Harbour Shops as a multi-use destination for 60 years,” company CEO Matthew Whitman Lazenby said in the release. “The Live Local Act enables us to realize that vision by delivering attainable housing that will serve our local workforce, a boutique hotel, and luxury residences alongside one of the world’s most exclusive retail destinations.”
Whitman Lazenby added, “If Bal Harbour Shops – the pinnacle of luxury and one of the country’s most productive shopping centers – can usher in workforce housing that helps solve our community’s affordability crisis, then our approach provides a roadmap for developers across Florida and beyond.”
The added towers would rise to 275 feet, similar in height to the nearby St. Regis Bal Harbour resort. The news release for the “attainable housing” project states that Whitman has filed plans with the village of Bal Harbour.
Once permits are issued, the project will get underway in multiple phases, according to Whitman, beginning first with an “attainable housing tower” on the southwest corner of the property, followed by luxury residential units and the boutique hotel.
“The residential components, which will reflect the premium design, finishes and features that characterize the luxury brand, will feature lifestyle-driven amenities including elevated swimming pool decks, resident lounges and entertainment areas, modern fitness centers, outdoor recreational areas and more,” according to the company.
One of the goals, Whitman Lazenby said in the release, is to “diversify the area’s housing market so that people who work in (Bal Harbour) can actually live here.”
But Bal Harbour’s mayor looks like a skeptic.
“We were notified of this yesterday, without the courtesy of any advance discussions,” Mayor Jeffrey Freimark said in an email to Local 10 News Wednesday afternoon. “This will not be received well in the community at large.”
Freimark said that while the village “will act in compliance with the laws in place at the time,” he said the plan will require significant study and noted that residents defeated a plan to raise height limits in Bal Harbour’s business district.
“While supportive of (the) Live Local (Act) in general, I do not believe it was intended to provide for residential in this type of setting,” he said. “Furthermore, it is a significant flaw to allow on a barrier island. This will materially add to the burden of dealing with rising sea level and climate change, as well as infrastructure needs.”
Other South Florida mayors have expressed worries over what types of development the Live Local Act could allow in their communities.
Freimark said he questions how the act will interface with — and whether it can take precedence over — an existing agreement between Bal Harbour Shops and the village and also said the plan would affect Surfside and Bay Harbor Islands, saying it “will have a material, negative impact on traffic in the area, which is already very problematic.”
He levied harsh criticism at mall management over how the announcement played out.
“Given the surprise attack that took place yesterday, there is a question regarding the trustworthiness of the partners we’re working with,” he said, noting the village’s past “collaborative” relationship with Bal Harbour Shops.
Whitman Lazenby released an additional statement through a company spokesperson following the mayor’s comments to Local 10 News:
“Bal Harbour Shops has been a valued part of the Village of Bal Harbour community for 60-plus years. As the Shops have evolved, so too has the Village. Bal Harbour is a thriving community today, but too many hospitality and service workers, teachers, nurses, and first responders are forced to commute long distances into the Village because they can’t afford to live within its boundaries. These are the very people who are working in the Village’s hotels, condominiums, shops, and restaurants. Our family has envisioned a multi-use destination at Bal Harbour Shops for more than a half-century, and the Live Local Act will enable us to realize that vision while helping our labor force live closer to where they work and access everyday services. Bal Harbour’s commercial district is already home to dense, high-rise development, making Bal Harbour Shops an ideal place to create a multi-use development with attainable housing for our local workforce.”
Matthew Whitman Lazenby, Whitman Family Development CEO
Bal Harbour Shops, which has about 100 stores, first opened in 1965. The village had a population of about 2,000 people by 1970, according to U.S. Census data; today, it has about 3,000.