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Developers present 300-room "Hill" resort plan; commissioners press on parking, pool access
Summary
At a Sept. 15 Lauderhill City Commission workshop, developers for the Hill Resort presented a revised plan that would build a 300+ room hotel, immersive domes and a convention center with job-training space. Commissioners and staff focused discussion on zoning, parking capacity and whether hotel amenities such as the pool should be open to the the
Developers proposing the Hill Resort presented an updated concept and timeline at the Lauderhill City Commission workshop on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025, saying a feasibility study supports a substantially larger hotel than previously planned.
The project team told the commission the feasibility study “supports at least a 300 key hotel, in the city of Lauderhill on that corner,” and said the revised plan would be built all at once rather than in separate phases.
Why it matters: The Hill Resort would sit adjacent to the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center (LPAC) and county sports facilities and is pitched as a public–private partnership that could add meeting space, job training, retail kiosks and public-facing amenities. Commissioners and staff emphasized parking, operations, and public access rules as the central implementation issues that must be resolved before zoning and site-plan approvals.
Developers described the revised concept as a mixed-use resort anchored by a large hotel, an expanded meeting and convention center, an on-site job training facility and a “Dome Park” of immersive projection domes. Project partner Greg Bridal said the team intends to hire local residents and subcontractors: “We will be bringing on, individuals from the community...we are committed to that.” Engineer Nate Hammond (Hammond and Associates) and a representative from LIC (job training) were introduced as local team members.
The presentation included renderings showing a hotel fronting State Road 7/441, a conference center to the south with domes above it, retail and kiosks linking the LPAC through the property, and pool and rooftop-restaurant amenities. The developers said the domes could host daytime educational programming in coordination with PBS and evening entertainment; PBS programming was cited as an ongoing discussion.
On operations and access, the lead presenter told the commission that the pool “will not be exclusive to just the hotel residents. If the residents of the city wanna get a day pass and get it in the pool, it's open to everybody.” Commissioners pressed for more detail about managing public access and guest privacy. Commissioner Campbell said he was concerned about mixing hotel guests and day visitors: “If I was in the hotel, and paid to be there, there's a sense of privacy that should be entertained and trying to flow the public in the private to me is somewhat concerning.” Developers replied that controlled entry points, wristbands and lifeguards would be used to differentiate hotel guests from day-pass users.
Parking was the most-discussed implementation constraint. The developers presented a massing/site plan showing several hundred surface spaces and an option for a 400-space parking garage; the consultant and staff gave differing counts during the discussion (figures mentioned ranged from about 400 up toward 600 for surface parking in various slides). City Manager Kenny Hobbs said the city has been meeting with Broward County and has raised the idea of using county dollars set aside for parking to expand capacity on the developer’s site: “they did have money set aside for parking and we were trying to negotiate with them to take that money and to invest it on our site.” Developers and staff said final parking requirements would be resolved during zoning and site-plan review and through coordinated demand studies with the county.
On approvals and schedule, the developer said the team is preparing a zoning change to create or amend a Commercial Entertainment ("CE") zoning district and expects concurrent work on site plans and building plans to accelerate the timeline. The developer estimated roughly 120 days for zoning and site-plan work if the city and developer coordinate, and said “I would say it's a 2 year process to get this built from today” once permits and financing are in place. The commission was told the team has identified a P3-experienced contractor but had not finalized the construction contract.
Commissioners also raised programmatic concerns: Commissioner Dunn sought detail on meeting space; the developers responded that the plan now includes roughly 25,000 square feet of meeting space to support conferences and events. City staff suggested the project should complement, not compete with, programming at the LPAC; developers said PBS had expressed interest in programming both the domes and the LPAC and that the two venues could be coordinated.
What happened next: Staff and developers agreed to continue monthly coordination and to bring a zoning ordinance amendment and formal site plan forward for review by planning and the commission. Developers will return to the commission with revised materials as the CE ordinance and site plan are prepared; Broward County meetings on parking and park access will continue.
No formal vote or spending authorization was taken at the workshop.
