Council approves Plantation Square redevelopment: 307-unit apartment building with 40% affordable units, waivers and design approvals

Plantation City Council approved a multi-part application Aug. 27 to redevelop the Bank of America/Plantation Square site at West Sunrise Boulevard and North University Drive into a mixed-use project with a relocated bank and an 8‑story residential building containing 307 units.

The applicant (MMG Plantation Square, LLC) presented plans for an integrated development: a new multi-tenant building and bank on the north portion of the parcel, a 7‑story parking structure and an 8‑story multifamily residential building to the rear and center of the site. The developer told the council the structure would step down toward the property edges; staff said the 8‑story portion would be set well back from adjacent residential property lines and that mature canopy trees proposed for retention would screen most views from surrounding roads.

Key project facts approved by council: - Units: 307 total; 40% of units (123) restricted as affordable (mix of 80% AMI and 120% AMI restrictions per applicant’s commitment). The applicant proposed 77 studio units restricted at 80% AMI and additional units at 120% AMI as part of the affordability mix. - Parking: City code calculation required 679 parking spaces; the applicant proposed 540 (a 20.5% reduction) spread across garage, surface and off-site spaces, and requested a waiver for the reduced parking total. - Waivers: Council approved several zoning waivers including increased building height (requested up to an 8‑story/93-foot maximum where 5 stories/65 feet would typically be permitted for residential) and reduced setbacks, FAR/lot coverage increases and reduced LPZ (landscape pedestrian zones) widths and shade-tree counts in places where the plan retained mature trees or proposed hedges. - Traffic: A traffic-study and coordination with Broward County were required. The applicant committed to a traffic contribution for multimodal corridor improvements and $119,143 toward local traffic management improvements identified in the city’s multimodal transportation plan and the NW Seventeenth Court area.

The council also considered a municipal financing mechanism to support deeper affordability. Staff and the applicant discussed two options: a state-run “Live Local” tax-abatement program and a project‑specific tax-increment financing (TIF) rebate. The applicant requested a city rebate equal to 50% of the increase in assessed property taxes on the redeveloped site (the increment), rebated annually until a $6 million total rebate cap is reached; the applicant said the county would be asked for an equivalent contribution. The developer’s consultant estimated the post‑development taxable value of the project at roughly $87.1 million (current assessed value for the Bank parcel cited at $3.435 million), producing an increment the developer said would support a roughly $6 million rebate over about 19 years at a 50% rebate level. The applicant said it would not accept both Live Local and a project TIF — no double‑dipping.

Councilmembers pressed on height, design, parking and traffic. Opponents at the meeting expressed concerns about building height outside Plantation’s Midtown core and added traffic into Lauderdale West, while nearby residents and some business owners supported the redevelopment, praised façade upgrades to the shopping center and welcomed added housing that would be affordable to teachers, first responders and health‑care workers. Several nearby homeowners’ association leaders said the applicant had worked with them closely and that landscaping/hedges promising privacy were important.

The council approved the land‑use/zoning waivers, site plan and landscape plan (agenda items 25–27) by majority roll call votes; several votes were 4–1 with Councilmember Fadgen recorded as the lone No on several measures. The council later approved a related administrative resolution (item 21) to enable a local TIF framework; staff said the agreement would return in standard contract form with specific legal terms and conditions for a rebate and that county participation remained a separate request to Broward County.

Councilmembers directed staff to return with final development orders and to track implementation conditions including traffic improvements, tree preservation/landscaping commitments, parking monitoring and the detailed TIF agreement.