Pompano Beach CRA details McNabb House botanical-gardens plan; debate surfaces over TIF financing and oversight

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. — City redevelopment staff and private consultants presented detailed plans on April 15 for the McNabb House and Botanical Gardens, a proposal to relocate and restore the historic McNabb House within a roughly 3-acre botanical garden in the East Community Redevelopment Area (East CRA). CRA project manager Sarah Mulder said the project aims to pair public open space with a revenue-generating restaurant and event pavilion to sustain ongoing maintenance.

The presentation included a conceptual master plan, a proposed operations model and financing approach. “This bond does not rely on raising taxes to fund debt service,” Sarah Mulder, CRA project manager, said in the presentation, describing tax-increment financing (TIF) bond repayment from future taxes generated inside the East CRA boundary.

The plan presented by consultants called for preserving about 75% of the site as public green space, moving the McNabb House to the park’s north edge and adding a restaurant, event pavilion, classrooms, a garden store and playgrounds. Randy Hollingworth, one of the project designers, walked commissioners through a five-senses garden layout centered on an existing large ficus tree and said circulation would allow the public to use garden paths even during private events.

Sterling Hospitality, the hospitality consultant on the project, provided a conservative pro forma showing potential annual revenue from food, beverage and events. Tommy…