Pompano Beach delays action on Chetrit's mixed-use project

Sketch of Chetrit's project and Joe Chetrit

The city of Pompano Beach's design review committee on Wednesday delayed action on a site-plan proposal by New York-based Chetrit Group and local developer Ari Pearl, pending changes to their large, planned mixed-use development.

The proposed project, called Oceanside Pompano Beach, would span 360,989 square feet and would include residential apartments, hotel rooms, retail stores, event spaces and a parking garage.

The developers bought the 3.7-acre waterfront site at 20 North Ocean Boulevard for $42.5 million in 2009 from Bonita Springs-based homebuilder WCI Communities.

James Wurst of Wurst Wolfe & Associates, which is designing Oceanside Pompano Beach, said the development team will incorporate the comments by the design review committee and submit a revised site plan for approval.

The design review committee told the representatives of the developers that site-plan changes pertaining to fire safety and architecture, among others, are needed.

Pamela Stanton, a city design planner and a member of the design review committee, said the parking garage needs a high-quality architectural finish and that a vegetative exterior, or “green screen,” is inadequate.

Another committee member, city fire inspector James Galloway, said the design of Oceanside Pompano Beach requires the installation of additional water hydrants at the planned development on North Ocean Boulevard. “At a minimum, you're going to need four, one at each corner of the building,” he said.

In Pompano Beach, Chetrit is already approved for a 122-unit apartment project at 2629 North Riverside Drive and 2507 North Ocean Boulevard. Earlier this year, The Real Deal took a deep dive into Pompano Beach, Broward County's second oldest city, as it undergoes a significant transformation. Among new projects in Pompano is Sabbia Beach, a 19-story condo tower currently under construction.

Chetrit and Pearl are also working on two other large-scale projects in South Florida: a $1 billion development along the Miami River, and a complete hotel redevelopment in Miami Beach's Collins Park neighborhood. The 10-acre Miami River includes four towers, a hotel, shops, restaurants, and a public river walk with boat slips.