Developer Proposes Workforce Housing Near Seminole Hard Rock in South Florida

Florida’s Live Local Act continues to spur housing development projects, including a proposal for nearly 200 units up the street from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

The municipal Technical Advisory Committee in Hollywood, Fla., this week considered a preliminary site plan review for the property at 5200 South State Road 7. The proposal includes a 14-story residential building, 6,000 square feet of commercial space and 277 parking spaces.

The property’s owner is named Guitar View, a nod to the iconic guitar-shaped building at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Principals of the entity are Nicolas Mendizabal and Eloy Garcia, according to corporate records.

Guitar View in April paid $2.4 million for the 0.9-acre property, according to property records. The site now is occupied by Car Factory Outlet, a used car dealership. 

Florida’s Live Local Act, which took effect in 2023, aims to tackle housing affordability. As affluent new residents streamed into the state during the pandemic, housing costs skyrocketed.

In areas zoned for commercial or mixed uses, the law lets developers bypass local restrictions if they are creating mixed-use developments in which at least 40 percent of units are priced as workforce housing, defined as being affordable for people who earn up to 120 percent of the area’s median income. 

The original Live Local Act did not address floor-to-area ratio, a measure for a project’s density, which led to confusion and often delayed the approval process. Now, the new version bars local governments from restricting developments that are up to 150 percent of the current floor-to-area ratio, while shielding single-family home neighborhoods. 

The updated law removes parking requirements for transit-oriented projects and reduces parking requirements by 20 percent for those a half-mile from a transit hub.

The act also boosts tax incentives for developers. In addition to covering the residential component, the tax break now also applies to the property’s land and common areas, essentially doubling the tax benefit for developers and landlords.

Critics have taken issue with Live Local Act for stripping away the veto powers of municipalities, for not requiring enough workforce housing apartments, and for giving too many tax breaks to developers. When the original bill passed, a slew of municipalities, including Doral, pushed back by banning new developments. 

Jeff Ostrowski can be reached at jostrowski@commercialobserver.com.