A high-end store selling Rolex and other luxury brands could be coming to Fort Lauderdale’s Las Olas Boulevard as soon as next year despite brewing controversy over the five-story height.
The project won unanimous commission approval Tuesday night before a packed room that included both supporters and opponents.
The Weston Jewelers store would open at 1117 E. Las Olas Blvd. as soon as December 2027.
“This is really a no-brainer,” Commissioner Steve Glassman said before the late-night vote. “This project should be approved. At some point in time, the city of Fort Lauderdale has to decide what we want to be when we grow up. I’m hoping we can say yes to this in a big way.”
A second and final commission vote is set for June 2.
Critics in nearby Colee Hammock and other surrounding neighborhoods have come out in force against the project.
They don’t like the height and mass of the building, saying it’s way too big for the parcel it will sit on. They don’t want the property rezoned, fearing it will drastically alter the character of the neighborhood.
They also worry the new store will create even more of a parking crunch along Fort Lauderdale’s most famous boulevard.
Under city code, the store is required to have 129 parking spaces.
Instead of building parking, the developer has secured 100 spaces off site and predicts customers will park in other lots nearby.
“We are not a large outside corporation coming into Fort Lauderdale,” Ed Dikes, the owner of Weston Jewelers, told the commission Tuesday night. “We are a local family business.”
Dikes described the project as a meaningful investment in Fort Lauderdale’s future and argued that the design and height are consistent with development already taking place.
“This project would bring new visitors to east Las Olas who would also support nearby restaurants, shops and local businesses,” Dikes said.
Nearly 80 people signed up to speak at the meeting, including more than 60 who supported the plan to transform a low-key corner of Las Olas into a sophisticated high-end destination.
One fan urged the commission to say yes to the project, saying that Fort Lauderdale and Las Olas must both continue to change and mature.
“I love the project,” said restaurateur Marc Falsetto, who lives along Las Olas. “I think it’s the missing piece. The missing component.”
Falsetto told the commission his steak-and-caviar restaurant Caviar Club will open on Las Olas in October and a second more casual restaurant called Pizza Queen will open in December.
Falsetto said he looks forward to having a high-end watch and jewelry store open nearby, saying other enterprising entrepreneurs will soon follow.
Gary Wasserman, a resident of Las Olas Beach Club, also spoke in favor of saying yes to the luxury-branded store.
“A project of this magnitude brings much-needed development to the east side of Las Olas,” he said. “It brings jobs. It brings money. It brings added value to our homes. It’s fantastic and it’s going to be a big asset to the community.”
The city’s Planning and Zoning Board narrowly approved the project 4-3 in mid-April.
One of the no votes was cast by planning board member Jacquelyn “Jackie” Scott, who also serves as president of the Colee Hammock Homeowners Association.
Scott did not speak at Tuesday night’s commission meeting, but plenty of her neighbors did.
“I’m not against the business,” J.K. McCrea told the commission. “But the fact that it’s so big changes the feeling of the community. It’s a nice building, but it doesn’t fit in with the community. Please don’t change the feel of a nice little neighborhood.”
Patti Bloom lives at the nearby Villagio condo.
“I feel a little bit like David and Goliath here tonight,” she said. “One of my concerns is the actual height of the building. I have a nice enclosed patio. Morning coffee. Evening glass of wine. It’s going to be overshadowed.”
The property is split between two zoning districts.
The southern parcel facing Las Olas Boulevard is zoned business and capped at 150 feet. The northern parcel is zoned residential medium density and capped at 35 feet.
The store would rise 74 feet high, more than twice the allowed height cap on the northern parcel.
To make way for a higher building, the developer is seeking a zoning change from residential to community business.
The height cap for the portion of the property next to Las Olas is 150 feet, noted Stephanie Toothaker, attorney for the developer.
During her presentation, Toothaker displayed side-by-side renderings of the project.
One showed a version of the proposed building standing 150 feet high. The other showed the current rendering of a building standing 74 feet high.
Original plans called for a building standing 90 feet high, Toothaker told the commission.
In a nod to neighbors, Toothaker said her client reduced the height to 74 feet and also decided against including two restaurants on site.
Toothaker argued that other projects nearby are just as tall or taller.
She pointed to The Whitfield, a hotel project that won commission approval five years ago. When built, the hotel will stand 150 feet high from one end to the other. The Whitfield’s address is 1007 E. Las Olas Blvd., just 400 feet away from the high-end watch and jewelry store, Toothaker said.
Minutes before the commission vote, Glassman schooled the room on the legal requirements of the city’s Unified Land Development Regulations.
“The answers to whether this project should move forward is found in the ULDR,” Glassman said before reviewing each item line by line, point by point.
“We just don’t make these decisions based on emotion, based on one item,” he said. “We make them based on our comprehensive plan. Based on our ULDR. Based on what we have in our law.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan
