Planning board backs 22‑story ‘class A’ office tower at 1800 Hallandale Beach Boulevard, forwards recommendation to commission

The Hallandale Beach Planning & Zoning Board voted unanimously to recommend approval of a 22‑story office building proposed at 1800 Hallandale Beach Boulevard, forwarding the major development plan and requested redevelopment modifications to the city commission with conditions.

Staff presented the PPG 1800 application as a 22‑story, roughly 236,000 square‑foot office tower with about 9,900 square feet of ground‑floor retail and a 696‑space parking garage that includes 111 electric‑vehicle charging spaces and 58 bicycle spaces. Christie Dominguez of the planning division summarized 12 recommended conditions, including a valet‑only requirement for car‑lift parking, payment of a $8,200 tree preservation fee and a $132,452 contribution to fund replacement of nearby bus shelters, traffic mitigation to be coordinated with FDOT and Broward County, and a 3% building bond prior to permit issuance.

Developer representatives told the board they reduced the project after community input, including shortening the parking massing and changing entry circulation to internalize stacking. Keith Poliakoff, counsel for the applicant, said the team had held two community meetings and revised the plan "to address neighborhood impacts." Developer Ari Pearl described the proposal as an effort to bring a high‑quality Class A office product to Hallandale Beach with tenant‑only amenities such as an indoor pool, fitness facilities and courts.

Traffic was the main focus during board questions and public comment. Michael Miller, the city’s traffic consultant, and the project’s traffic engineer, Karl Peterson of KBP Consulting, described a package of measures meant to limit queuing and preserve neighborhood circulation: extension of a westbound turn‑storage lane on Hallandale Beach Boulevard near Golden Isles Drive, restriping at Golden Isles and Lane Boulevard to create a shared left/through lane with signal timing adjustments, and internal circulation that routes ingress from Golden Isles Drive and egress to Lane Boulevard. Peterson said the trip distribution model run by the Broward MPO projects most site trips arriving from the west (I‑95/US‑1 corridor) with roughly 18% arriving from the east; he estimated about 247 vehicles would exit the site in the peak hour.

Several residents who live on Golden Isles Drive and nearby streets testified during the public hearing, citing concerns about increased traffic, potential cut‑throughs, loss of safe pedestrian crossings and ADA access across Hallandale Beach Boulevard, and the scale of the building relative to the small 1.3‑acre site. Heather (address given on the record) and others urged the board to reject concessions that deviate from the code and questioned whether community support changed between the first and second meetings.

In response, the applicant team described design revisions intended to reduce bulk and improve pedestrian experience, including 4,500 square feet of widened corner civic space, a 15‑foot setback on Lane Boulevard and a 5‑foot clear sidewalk in front of retail, landscape buffers on the south property line, and operational plans for valet lift maintenance. The applicant agreed to record a restrictive covenant running with the land to require valet operation for stacked/lift parking and to work with staff and FDOT on bus shelter placement and landscaping improvements.

After questioning and discussion, a board member moved to recommend approval as conditioned by staff and the applicant’s stipulations; the motion passed unanimously.

The board’s recommendation advances the project to the city commission, which will consider the development plan and related variances at a future meeting.

Next steps: the project will go to the Hallandale Beach City Commission for final action; staff and applicant will coordinate required traffic improvements and record restrictive covenants before any building permit is issued.