A controversial luxury high-rise with a cantilevered design sailed through approval by a city planning board Wednesday night despite spirited pleas from residents who objected to the height.
The Amalfi condo tower is expected to break ground in late 2026 on Fort Lauderdale’s barrier island at 2317 N. Ocean Blvd. The 39-unit tower is expected to open in 2028.
The project calls for a 21-floor tower that will stand 240 feet high — the equivalent of 24 stories.
Stephanie Toothaker, attorney for the developer, argued the tower will fit in just fine with the neighborhood.
“This is not next to a single-family neighborhood,” she told the planning board before the vote. “This is not a stand-alone building in the middle of a barren wasteland of single-family homes. It’s in context with all of the buildings around it.”
Nearby buildings include the beachfront Auberge Beach Residences, with one tower at 180 feet high and a second at 240 feet, and The Palms, with 32-story twin towers that stand more than 300 feet high.
“The Amalfi is by all accounts a small project from a density standpoint,” Toothaker told the board. “It’s only 39 units. That’s extremely small when you look at all the other buildings it sits around.”
The current zoning allows developers to build to a maximum of 120 feet by right. But developers have the right to request a conditional use permit that allows them to double the height to 240 feet, Toothaker noted.
The tower’s cantilevered design will help preserve the views of the nine-story Everglades Club Condo and other nearby towers, Toothaker said.
An earlier design called for a boxier building. The new design allows for more light and air, said Kobi Karp, the project’s architect.
“It allowed us to create villas in the sky, one stacked on top of the other,” Karp told the board. “It created a really nice luxury project. Our shadow line is as skinny as can be.”
After the development team’s presentation, activists from Fort Lauderdale and even Hollywood spoke against the project, saying it would overwhelm the neighborhood and pave the way for even more tall towers.
A handful of supporters also spoke, including the president of the nine-story Everglades Club Condominium, which sits directly to the west of the 0.84-acre site. The condo board negotiated a deal to ensure that any damage that occurs during construction will be covered by the developer.
Esther Schumann, president of the Everglades condo board, referred to the design as a work of art.
“I think the building is beautiful,” she said. “We hope the building gets built. It’s really avant-garde.”
John Spear, who lives near the site, argued the tower is too tall.
“It is a good-looking building,” he said. “Just make it lower. It’s too tall for the residents. It’s going to shade the neighbors. I don’t care how good looking it is.”
Ann Ralston, an activist from Hollywood, warned the board about building on the barrier island.
“My concern from Jacksonville all the way down to Golden Beach is these are barrier islands,” she said. “You keep building on them, they’re going to sink eventually. Nothing was mentioned about the environment, sea level rise and flooding.”
In the end, the city’s Planning and Zoning Board approved the project 7-2.
Hector DelaTorres, one of the nine planning board members, made the motion to approve the project.
“We’re not stopping the future from coming at us (if we reject the project),” he said before the vote. “We can’t stop people in the future who buy land here, if we reject this at 240 (feet). They still have to apply (for the conditional use permit) and they still have to come before us.”
The zoning itself paves the way for the taller height, said Shari McCartney, vice chair of the planning board.
“So while this may be the first project that is on that side and is of that height, it is not intended to be the last,” she said. “While we may not like a height, we have to apply the precedent of the zoning code. As I see it, it is in fact a compatible use. It comports with the law. And if it comports with the law, I feel we have no choice but to approve.”
The board’s vote is final unless the Fort Lauderdale commission agrees to call it up for a vote.
Commissioner Steve Glassman, whose district includes the neighborhood, says he had no plans to request the commission vote on the project.
“A 7-2 vote is a pretty strong vote,” Glassman said Thursday. “There has to be a good reason in our code and zoning to call it up.”
So far, he has not found one, Glassman said.
Correction: An earlier version of this news article didn’t make clear the number of floors the Amalfi condo tower will have. The tower will have 21 floors but will stand 240 feet high, the equivalent of 24 stories.
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan
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