Community Redevelopment Agency - Regular Meeting

Sounds like a lot of fun in here. All right, everyone. Welcome to City Hall here in the City of Hollywood. To everybody who's here and everyone watching, today is a regular Community Redevelopment Agency meeting. Today is July 7, 2026. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. All right. Hope everybody enjoyed July 4th, 250th edition. It was really special on Hollywood Beach. And thanks to all the staff that's here that had a part in producing such a successful weekend for people that enjoyed Hollywood Beach throughout the July 4th weekend. Roll call, please.

Board Member Shuham. Here. Board Member Hernandez. Here. Board Member Gruber.

Here.

Board Member Biederman? Here. Board Member Quintana?

Here.

Vice Chair Kalari? Chair Levy?

Here. All right. Any conflict disclosures today? If not, let's go to 9 AM citizen comments. No, Speaker. No comments. Moving on to the consent agenda, items 5 through 7 today. I'll entertain a motion to approve these minutes. second we have motion from board member quintana second from board member hernandez all those in favor say aye aye aye any opposed hearing none show those pass unanimously onto our regular agenda we've got three items item eight is a resolution of the cra authorizing the payment of fees to Circuit Transit to renew the microtransit services in an amount of $488,000 and change, providing for a total estimated annual cost of $1.49 million to be shared by the CRA and the city. And I know we've got some grant dollars applied for from FDOT to contribute to this. Executive Director, any comments?

This is primarily a renewal of the contract. Obviously, we continue to look at opportunities to expand and make the routes more efficient. The CRA contributes a portion of the dollars to this, the portion that covers the service within the CRA districts of the beach and downtown.

Any comments, any comment cards on item eight?

No speaker cards.

Motion to approve. Mayor, if I can add a comment to that is the circuit has been very nimble when it comes to some of the work that we've asked them to do. So I think that my hat's off to them for the work that they're doing when it comes to providing transportation for our local residents.

All right, we've got a motion. How about a second? Second. Second from Board Member Quintana. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, the item carries unanimously. Thank you, the circuit. And as Commissioner Hernandez said, thank you for continuing to tweak and improve. Item 9 is resolution of the City of the CRA. approving authorizing the appropriate syria officials to execute an amendment with ocean rescue alliance increasing the contract duration by an additional 365 days from august 29 2026 and further authorizing the executive director to execute all applicable agreements and documents to implement the project uh any speaker cards on item nine no speaker entertain a motion Motion from Board Member Hernandez, second from Board Member Quintana to approve Item 9. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Hearing none, item carries unanimously. Item 10 is a resolution of the CRA approving and authorizing the expenditure of funds in an amount of $2 million and change for a funding commitment between the City of Hollywood and Dixie Hollywood Apartments LLC, an affiliate of Affiliated Development LLC for a mixed income workforce housing development located at 400 south dixie highway within the downtown district of the cra this goes to our strategic plan focus area of quality of life and strong neighborhoods executive director

Mayor, this is a companion item to an item that will also be on the city commission agenda. But if it is the board's pleasure, we'd like to present the item this morning. This is an opportunity to team with Affiliated Development again. Affiliated Development built the Tropic project in Hollywood. which has been a successful mixed income project where you have both market rate units as well as income restricted workforce units. And that project is on the corner of Jackson and Federal Highway. This is a project that site had been put together a couple of years ago. Recently, they came forward to get the zoning in alignment for redevelopment. And Affiliated then acquired the rights to the project and has been working with staff to refine the project concept and bring forward this request. As you know, Affiliated sort of specializes in that what we kind of refer to sometimes as the missing middle segment. It is not the extremely low income or the tax credit funded projects. It is that segment where there is an income restriction, but it is at 100% of AMI, or area median income, and 120%, which falls into the workforce category under the state statute. With that, I'd like to bring forward our Housing and Community Development Director, Ryan Coote, to go over the request. And then we have a group from Affiliated Development here to also provide a presentation on some of their other projects and answer any questions that the board may have.

Good morning, Mayor, Commissioners, Ryan Coote, Director of Housing and Community Development. The item that we're bringing before you today represents a significant investment in developing workforce housing in the city of Hollywood. So allow me to go through this brief PowerPoint before I call up the developers for them to answer any questions. And I'll be able to answer some questions as well, too. As the city manager mentioned, this represents a significant investment in helping us meet that gap that we're missing right now in the city of Hollywood. What they're proposing right now is 394 total residential units, 50% of which will be for up to 120% of area median income, which represents workforce housing. This is going to be a mixed income housing model. All the data proves that when you have mixed income models, people who are on the lower end of the financial spectrum actually do better. Their kids actually do better when they live in mixed income developments. In addition to that, the project also represents a significant investment for our initial investment. It brings back a lot of money back to the city in terms of the investment to make this project move forward and the tax increments that we will get over the years. What we're asking for right now is for the city to invest $6,014,205 into this development, which represents about 4.8% of the total cost, because this is a $122 million development that they'll be bringing back to the city. This gap is needed because construction costs have risen. And there are now constraints into developing feasible workforce and affordable housing. As such, to meet the gap, they need government investment to move forward. As you can see, the slide breaks down how this funding will work. So $4 million of it will come from our current ILA gap financing program, and it's going to be structured over two years, 2.5 the first year and 1.5 the second year. The other $2,014,000 will come from our CRA post-TIF funding, and as you can see, over the next three years, 28, 29, and 30, it'll be broken down as such. We are able to afford this because we do have funding right now in the ILA to afford this and we looked at it right now and we definitely can afford moving forward with this while still supporting other projects in the pipeline. Some of the benefits of this development right now are the Aside from the public investment, some of the short-term benefits will definitely be, there's going to be $122 million pumped into the city for development, which will create some short-term jobs. In addition to that, over the long haul, we conservatively estimate it will be over $18 million in tax revenue, up to $25 million based on different factors. In addition to that, it takes an area and it revitalizes an area and puts a new development that's going to bring a lot of energy, a better aesthetic to the community as well, too. And that's the end of my presentation. And I have some questions before I bring up the developers.

All right. We've got some questions by board members Gruber and Shuham. Let's go to board member Gruber.

Yes. Thank you, Ryan. On page two, can you pull that up? Sure. I just want to make sure. So 50% workforce housing up to 120% AMI. Isn't half of that going to be up to 100% and the other half up to 120%?

Well, right now the 50% workforce is all up to 100, up to 120% of AMI. So if you're at 80%, you can live there. It's up to, so you could live there if you could make the rent work.

The rent will be based on 120% of AMI.

Correct. Yes, sir.

So in my conversations recently, I was told that that's now going to become half of those are going to be up to 100 and half up to 120% AMI just because I wasn't that comfortable with all of them being up to 120%. Can someone comment on that? Sure. We have the team here from Affiliate.

We have Kisma from Affiliate here to address that.

Good morning, Chair, Board Member. That's correct. Half of the workforce units are going to be debt reserved for 100% up to 100% AMI, and the remaining half of the workforce will be up to 120% AMI.

Got it. So that means those rents for the half of them are based Up to 100, not up to 120, and then those other half. Correct.

Okay. So it's two tiers. Yes. Up to 120, well, 25% up to 100% AMI, and 25% up to 120% AMI. Rent's based on that. Correct.

So if we can just get that corrected, because that's not what it says.

It will be. Okay.

Yeah.

We'll present, and yeah.

Okay. But you saying it on the record, I'm fine with it.

And we'll make sure that if it needs to be adjusted in the resolution of support for the funding commitment, that that's very clear.

OK. Great.

Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Board Member Shuham.

So that was one question. The other is the other 50% is market. OK. And then on, I think it was slide 5 or 6, where you have the $18 to $25 million, Yes, right there. The return on investment, long term, how long of a term?

That's over 30 years. This is factoring in that they're going to take advantage of the state's tax incentive for affordable housing, the 50%. They're going to get the 75% of that. We factored that in. Conservatively, we're looking at about $18 million. But their slide will show up to $25. And that's a possibility, too. But we're showing between $18 and $25.

And so based on that, how many years until the city recoups its investment?

Well, right now, the city is going to invest $6 million. So the $18 million represents almost 3% of investment. So when we looked at it last, I think at year 15, we were already at $12 million and change. So by year nine, we'd already be recouping our investment.

OK. OK, thank you.

No problem.

Board Member Quintana.

Thank you. I just wanted to clarify, is it $16 million we're investing or $6 million?

$6 million. $6 million, $14,000. I thought I was going to say $16. I apologize. 6,014,205. Okay. But what I would like to do now, if there's no more questions, if there's anybody else with a question. Yes. Okay.

Board Member Hernandez. Thank you, Mayor. I am in support of the project. I am in support of the funding. I'm both on the city level and the CRA level. But I'd like to caution us of continuing to have these kind of projects in a particular area where it just densifies the low to moderate income area. It doesn't help with what we're trying to do with the downtown at the same time. We need to strike a balance. I like the fact that this project has both low to moderate income, workforce housing, and market rate. And I think that's the goal of the long term for the area is to be able to have everybody to sustain itself. Because at the same time, we want to be able to house the people that need the help. We need to be able to help the businesses that we have in the downtown for the people to have enough money to be able to go and spend their money in the downtown. So I'm in support of the project because of what Ryan just said, strike to balance. And for future projects, I'd like to see that balance be strike, not just one or the other.

Thank you. So is that a motion to approve? Motion to approve. All right. Is there a second? We have a second from Board Member Shuham. I just wanted to mention obviously this is a significant investment on the part of the city and the CRA to assist in the gap financing of this project. I feel comforted by the fact that we will recoup the public dollars investment in the tax increment that this will create. And so that makes me feel a lot better. I know as well this will be an investment of of the city's retirees as well. And so it does accomplish a lot. It has the area benefit. Although we are stepping up with a significant dollar figure per each workforce unit, again, we'll recoup this, as you said, Ryan, in nine years. And so the big picture, long term, this would be a great success for the area and a great success for the city, even though it's going to cost us some ILA dollars and some post-HIF funding in the meantime. But we've obviously made that one of our key objectives is to create these types of units and to bring the area improvement. And as Commissioner Hernandez said, also bring additional people who will support the downtown and the area of Hollywood Boulevard. This basically abuts between downtown and City Hall. A great overall result. And so I'm in support of it and looking forward to it. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye.

Yes, I'm going to invite up the developers right now because they have a wonderful presentation to show you what you're going to be getting for your investment. I think it's important that the commission understand the full picture of what you're going to be receiving. Yeah, we've seen it, but go ahead. Sure. So I'd like to invite them up right now.

It may be helpful also for the public to understand it and also to see some of the projects that they've built in other communities in addition to Hollywood.

Sure.

Good morning, again, chair, board members. My name is Kamisa Collin. I'm with Affiliated Development. As Raelynn mentioned, we are a local developer here out of Fort Lauderdale. We specialize in workforce housing. and in public-private partnerships. A lot of the faces here are actually very familiar to me because the Tropic is one of my first projects in the city, and we've worked with staff. We love working with staff and your team so much that we had to come back and make another significant investment into this community, into this city. So I just want to say kudos to staff and your teams for being great partners. So I'm here to present the JAX. It is a project that is 394 units. It is mixed income. We are proposing 50% workforce housing. It is in a TOD corridor. It is pension-backed. Therefore, city, police, fire, and general employee will be invested into this project. As I mentioned, there is a workforce component. And with that, there is also a need for gap funding in order for us to make this project viable, financially viable. I will take you through those details a little bit further down the presentation. But for now, if we can play the animation, that would be great.

.

All right. So the project is actually called The Jacks due to its location on Jackson Street and Dixie Highway. It is located just minutes walk away from the new proposed Brightline Station, downtown Hollywood, and Young Circle. We wanted to make sure we brought investment into the west side of the tracks, as it's located right directly west of the tracks here. What you're looking at here is our main entrance, the first image on the left-hand side, my left. It is our main entrance. It is actually looking at Jackson Street, the corner of Jackson Street and Dixie Highway. This is a direct result of extensive coordination with staff. We've also had two public participation meetings as well and have received great feedback. On the top right-hand corner, the north view, it's actually if, let's say you're standing on Jackson Street looking east. On the bottom right-hand corner is actually if you're standing on Dixie Highway looking northwest. All right, so I previously mentioned the GAP funding. So the request today is for $6 million. In order for us not to be overly cumbersome on the city's finances, we decided to break this request into two different buckets. Today, actually right now at the CRA, we're requesting about just over $2 million, and the city ILA will be $4 million. And this is spread over five fiscal year ends. Also, the workforce housing set aside. Actually, we took your feedback, Commissioner Gruber, and 50% of the units are designated for workforce housing. Half of the workforce housing set asides are going to be reserved for units up to 100% AMI, and the remaining half of the workforce will be reserved for units earning up to 120% AMI. Another interesting program that we have is for, we have a first look program for hometown heroes. So this is about 30 days ahead of the development being advertised to the general public. We will call on to our contacts at the VA for veterans, nurses, city of Hollywood employees, first responders, firefighters, law enforcement officers will reach out to them so that they can get a preview of the units and an opportunity for them to lease ahead of the general public. So this is an interesting part about our program as well. I'll drive your attention to the return analysis here. The first two charts basically show what your current tax revenue is with the property as is, which is $1 million over 30 years. With the new proposed development, you're looking at $24 million over that same 30 years. The second chart is basically the same, just explaining it on an average basis. But then that last chart is the return analysis. The city is making an investment of $6 million. However, the new tax revenues coming into the city over that same 30 years is $24 million, as I stated before. We have not requested any city or impact fee waivers. Therefore, at closing, we're paying close to $4 million directly to the city. So you're looking at a return on your investment of close to 370% and a 29% 30-year IRR. This is almost unimaginable in the current equity market and a great deal. This slide basically gives you an overview of the incentives that we've received across our portfolio. This demonstrates that workforce housing, there's a need for gap funding for every workforce housing project that we put on the market. This essentially just showcases what some of the neighboring cities have provided to us or have awarded to us for us to be able to build workforce housing in their cities. So I've talked about the merits of the project. I just want to point to a couple things. Here it shows, on the left-hand side, it shows the benefits of having the project versus no project. In addition to the housing benefits, there's a couple points that I want to make to you. The second box here is $12 million of new annual spending going into downtown. What that means is our local resident walking their dog and going to the smoothie shop, purchasing smoothie or coffee, or a couple going on a date night along Hollywood Boulevard. So this is actually new income that's being poured into downtown. Then there's about 800 lives that are being impacted by this development. Half of those are actually going to be impacted by workforce housing at a discounted rent. The other item that I want to point out, too, that I also mentioned previously is the fact that we have not requested any city or impact fee waivers. So we're paying $4 million in city impact fees at closing, and the city is investing $6 million. So net-net, you're looking at a $2 million investment for the city. This is the end of my presentation.

Thank you so much. I have some board members who might have some questions for you. Let's go ahead to Board Member Quintana.

Thank you, Chair. Hi. So I hadn't seen this before. I don't know. It sounds like some of you met with the developers. And somehow that didn't happen for me. So it was great to see. Beautiful. I would imagine you worked with our urban design staff. And I could see that their hands are in there. One of the images had a... that one. Top right hand corner has that beautiful painted wall. Is that, because as I read our agenda item, there's a request for a waiver of the public art component. Is that going to be in the final product?

Well, we work with an artist to provide artwork to the building. However, we have requested a waiver for the formal public art process. That's correct.

OK, so will it look like that?

This is just a sample. Pardon?

I love that. That's beautiful. I think it's wonderful that you aren't requesting any impact fee waivers. I think that's good. Your point was well made about the $2 million being the net investment that we're making. I do wish that the art component would not be waived. I remember when we had a similar issue come up before, whether there's a way to integrate art into the design of the building so it's not as much of a burden on the developer. And so it looks like that was the attempt here, was to just incorporate it into the building's design. I think it is a fine balancing act, right? We want to bring people with disposable income to support our downtown businesses, for sure. But at the same time, we know that only 25% of the people who live in Broward are at 120%. of AMI. So the greater need is not at the 120% AMI. Still, it's a balance, right? We need the people who can support our businesses. I just think that having beautiful art there would contribute to the overall purpose.

And Commissioner, if I may, so they are requesting a waiver of the art fee. The total art fee is capped at $300,000, right? And they're also requesting some development services fee, which is $153,000. So their total request for fee waiver is about $453,000. However, we have an opportunity here as the commission to work closely with them to ensure that the building has artistic flair to it and brings that vibrant life that you want to see. Even if we give them the waiver, we can still work with them because they're still going to be required to pay the $5,000. even though they get the waiver of the $300,000 art fee. But we have an opportunity now to work closely with our team and planning to make sure that there is art components tied into this design, something similar or something along those lines that they can work with.

I could tell you that that... To the mic, please.

In the microphone, please. Thank you.

I can confirm that that mural or something like that is incorporated into our existing budget.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. Board Member Hernandez? Thank you, Mayor. A couple of corrections, and please correct me if I'm wrong. It is not the Brightline that is going to be coming there. It's going to be a commuter rail that is going to be coming to the area. Yet what you have is a Brightline.

I just don't want to mislead our residents thinking that one thing is going to happen.

And one of the things that I have had a pet peeve with throughout the years here is that we get beautiful presentation, beautiful pictures, canary palms, and everything else. And yet when it's built, it doesn't look anything like they're rendering. Can you assure us that this is going to look like they're rendering with those same size palm trees and the same caliber of palm trees? Because if not, then the odds are that it's not. Please, whenever you bring forward something, at least for us to be able to look at, we don't want to lie to our residents. If we present this and they're watching this because we've already seen this presentation, they think that this is what's going to be the end product. And when it's not, just like the illusion of the rendering that we have here with the artwork, we want to be able to see that. We want to be able to represent to our residents that what we're presenting is what's actually going to be the end product. Bless you. So that's the one thing that we would ask. Because at the end of the day, you said it twice, if not three times, that you're not asking for any... incentives when it comes to the money that you're paying for the impact fees. But I got to tell you, we have spent millions and millions of dollars to make sure that you have the infrastructure to be able to bring this project. The sewer lines are there. The water lines are there for you to be able to bring this project. So you might not be asking for a waiver of that, but we've already fronted that because we want projects like this to be able to come to the area. So to me, that's a balance. We made the investment. You come in and you do this. You're not asking for the waiver of the impact fees, because in essence, we've already provided that. So I want the residents to be assured that this is a business deal when it comes to us. I get what we're trying to do to be able to house the less fortunate. But at the same time, we have a responsibility to our residents, and we have a responsibility to our businesses, because they, too, are investing money in this area. And they need to be able to benefit from that. And that's the reason that I'm supporting this. And that's the reason I'm asking our staff and I'm asking our colleagues to be mindful of the future projects that are coming by that everybody needs gap financing, but everybody may not meet the needs of what we want for our city. This project actually does. And the fact that the investment is coming from the working people, that's a caveat that it's a perfect caveat for the investment that we're doing in our city. But please be mindful that when you show renderings, this is the picture that stays on people's mind. And if we're not going to have those kind of trees and we're not going to have that kind of, you know, artwork, then don't fill us with the ideas that we're going to see this. Because at the end of the day, we've lived in a town long enough to be able to see something like this come through. And then we get yelled at by the residents like, that's not what you sold us.

So executive director, when this gets to the planning board for design review, just be mindful of all the comments that the board members are making here today to ensure that these design elements are in the approved design.

Absolutely. And we have already, our staff, as noted by board member Quintana, has been working with the team at Affiliated. And I think one of the things that does make us more confident when we get requests from qualified firms like Affiliated is that they do have a track record delivering a product that is very much in alignment with the images that you're seeing so we will be mindful of that but it is important to note that they do build what they're showing and it is reassuring to understand that they have invested in their planning process for that public art piece and so we'll look forward to working with them on that

Especially that corner image, the main image with the, I don't know what material that will be, but the wooden look and the illuminated corner and the rounded edge is obviously key to what we're looking at and believing is an appealing design. Let's go to board member.

They actually make aluminum siding that looks just like wood. It's longer lasting, it's easier to put it on the buildings, and it's very nice.

All right, board member Peterman. Thank you, Mayor. I'm going to throw a curveball out there. I apologize. I didn't bring it up sooner. And I'll start with that, and then we'll get to the other stuff. But some of our affordable housing projects have a first-time home buyer component where they'll rebate to the tenant a portion of their rent over the time they've spent there as an ability for when they go to do a home buyer. I think that would be perfect for your project if you could fit it into your budget, because the idea is that we could transition our workforce and our first responders into buying something eventually. And I think that that would be a great incentive for you guys if you can figure out what percentage of their rent over time you can contribute if and when they want to go abandon their lease and buy something. Is that something that can be figured into your numbers somehow?

Well, we have the deal structured in a certain way. So it's something that we can discuss internally, but I believe it would probably significantly change the structure of our deal.

So keep in mind that not everybody is going to take advantage of it, and it would be a very small portion of that rent that would only be used if it was a... in the right circumstances where it was somebody that was leaving to go buy something, not a typical rebate at the end of their lease. You know, it would be only used in certain situations.

I think we could...

It would be, like, minimal. It would be, you know, like... I don't see it being more than, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars, you know, over 30 years, you know.

So we've had other developers like Pinnacle Housing who offer this program, I recall, and perhaps we can get a copy of the model that they use and you all could look at it and maybe Affiliated would embrace this forward-looking idea of what's next for this resident, to Commissioner Biederman's point. Could there be an opportunity to invest some of their rent dollars? It's a very limited basis, I believe 5% over time, to a qualifying first-time homebuyer purchase. So why don't we show them how Pinnacle does it, and perhaps they would look at it.

I understand that.

And happy to continue to work with you guys on something.

Thank you. By the way, could that be a first-time homebuyer? Let me activate you real quick. Sorry.

Go ahead. Would that be first-time homebuyer in the city of Hollywood?

I think that... I mean, I love the way you think, right? So I would like that to be part of it. Plus, we have first-time homebuyer dollars. So it would be like, you know, when somebody's trying to buy a home, they have closing costs, they have down payment, they have all these things. And if they can feel good about the money that they paid in rent over time and then get some... You know, other opportunities. I think that would be a very feel-good thing to add to your whole project. You can come back. You can work with staff like the Mayor said. I think it would be great. Just something to ponder.

Yeah. Thank you.

I don't, you know, it's hard to remember all these projects that we're doing, but on slide six you referred to the Tropic as $9 million. I don't remember it being that high, but I

I could speak to that. Okay. Part of that was the initial.

I think you have to do a name

Part of that was the initial upfront funding, and part of that is the tax increment financing. Okay. So you add those two together, that's how you got to that figure. But it was seven, and then on upfront funding on the Tropic versus six here, and then there was, you know, this project doesn't have a TIF coming back to the developer. That one did, and that's how you got to that number.

Okay. Thank you. The slide that showed $6 million over the first 10 years? Yeah. Taxes, is that just Hollywood, or is that your total tax estimate?

That's over the frozen assessment that's in place today. That would be the new additional tax increment revenue. No, I understand.

But is that the tax portion of the, is that the Hollywood portion of it, or is that the whole tax bill?

No, that's just the Hollywood portion of it.

We started off the conversation about transitional. Are the 50% of the units that are designated for 100 and 120, are those the units themselves, or is it part of the total count? And the reason I ask, and might clarify the answer, is if somebody rents at 100, and then they get a raise and they go to 110 or 115, are they have to be part of that allowable unit? And then they go to 125 and they have to move. Or can they transition to one of those market rate units without having to pack up their stuff and move. That's where we're going.

Yeah, correct. I mean, the idea is to keep them in the project as long as possible, minimal disruption. But we have to re-qualify every year with you guys and with the state. So if they were 100 on one year and then they made more money, You know, by law, we would have to put them in a 120. But the idea is to keep them there.

But is it the same unit?

Yeah, we could just change the unit designation. They don't have to move across the hallway because it's not specific to a unit. It's just a formula that we have to keep.

That was my question. And to my final question is on the picture of the garage area, can the garage screening be artistic also? I don't remember what it looked like. It went by so quick sometimes. Or you don't even have it.

Yeah, I don't believe we have it chilling.

So what's the screening of the garage going to look like, and can it be artistic? I think that the Nine Hollywood screening is artistic. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it. I just think that that just adds, and it's right across the street from the Tropic. So if you could do something like that on a garage screening of here too, I think that would add to the aesthetics.

Yeah. We can take a look at that. We'll work with staff, definitely, to explore any options that we may have. But currently, there is no screening.

OK. There's nine. Hollywood has it. And no, the new one. Tropic has it.

Tropic does have it.

And the new one on Taylor or Polk. What was it? Tyler. Tyler. What's it called now? Hollywood Heights. Sorry. Yeah.

You will not see the garage from here. this view.

Some people will see it because it's going to be tall, you know, so.

Yeah, understood. But we'll work with staff, definitely.

Some artistic value to the screening. Thank you. Nothing further.

All right. Board Member Shuham.

Thank you. Two items that I have on my notes for this afternoon, but we're talking about it now. One was the public art. And I would just ask between now and this afternoon that maybe we think of some midpoint between where you are with the full waiver and the full assessment. Maybe we can agree that, you know, 50%, 75%, something that you can bring back to us this afternoon so that we have the comfort level that Commissioner Quintana was talking about to make sure we have that added element. And that we can say consistently that when we do these projects, we are getting public art back. And the other thing that I was going to raise this afternoon, something that we've talked about, city manager, is the preference for Hollywood residents. How will that play into this? On some projects where we get federal funding and whatnot, I understand that we can't. But in this case, it certainly seems to me that existing Hollywood residents should have a priority and a preference when the applications for rent become available. How can we handle that?

Actually, with the First Look program, we do reach out to our contacts over at the pension funds, the City of Hollywood as well, so we welcome any City of Hollywood employees and residents as well.

Sure, but if it's just first come, first serve, then that doesn't really work. As you, I know, heard at the pinnacle, we had like 25,000 applications, and we could not at that point do the preference, and I understand that we market and push it out sooner. But can we actually have a preference here for city of Hollywood residents, like a window of time where they get to go first? I don't know. I'm open to any ideas. But it seems to me, for this type of investment, we should be really giving any Hollywood resident the opportunity to first take advantage of these below market units.

We can absolutely work with them to market it. And I think that is one of the advantages of this type of investment. When we are in the driver's seat, it's our funds, it's our pension funds, then we are not facing the same types of restrictions that we face on federal tax credit funded projects in terms of, fairness and those kinds of things. I mean, we obviously, as investing Hollywood dollars into it, want to be able to make sure that Hollywood residents who are interested get an opportunity early on. And in previous, for example, in the Tropic, they did let us know in advance that they were getting close to moving ahead. Obviously, we're part of the whole process in terms of building inspections and things like that. So We kind of know as the project is nearing completion, and we're in contact with them regarding when they're getting ready to start lease up. And we can start putting that information out to our residents early, and then they have a much greater likelihood of getting into the building. So we can work with them on that. Thank you.

VICE CHAIRMAN MILLER- Board Member Gruber?

Just one thing on top of that, if we're able to do first right of refusal or whatever to Hollywood residents, I think maybe we should do also people who work in Hollywood. I think we saw in the housing needs assessment how many people don't live here that actually work here. So maybe just aside from city employees and people that work in Hollywood, if they can be on that list, if everyone's OK with that, that would be great. Yeah.

All right. Well, I think, Executive Director, you have some direction from the board on what we'd like to see in terms of the opportunity to enter the building. Commissioner Biederman talked about design and garage screening. There was discussion about the artwork, and that's a condition for design. And then just the overall design comments that were made, of course. as you present this project for planning board review for design approval as well and site plan, keep all that in mind. We do have a motion and a second to approve the item before us, which is the expenditure of the funds to support the funding commitment. And we did have a motion and a second. Again, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, motion carries unanimously. All right, thank you all so much. Looking forward.

Thank you. Thank you.

All right. That concludes our regular agenda. Let's go ahead to any presentations. Executive Director, it looks like we have a presentation by Francisco, who is the Senior Project Manager of the CRA regarding the construction progress of the Harrison Streetscape Project.

That is correct. We want to give you an update. The Harrison streetscape is coming along very nicely. We have Francisco here. We also have Burkhart Construction, who's working on the project, Nick Fasullo and Adam Rosmel, to participate in the update and answer any questions that you may have. Francisco. Thank you.

Good morning, Chair, Vice Chair, Board members. Francisco Diaz, Senior Project Manager with the Hollywood C.R.A. Construction on Harrison Street began on late September of 2025. And yesterday, Berhardt Construction reached a major milestone and began construction on the final phase of the project along the north side of the 2000 block between the 21st and 20th Avenue. As Raylene mentioned, we have representatives from Burkhart here today, and Iqbal Zulo will be providing a detailed update on the status of construction.

Good morning, Mayor. Good morning, Commissioners. Thank you for having us today. I'm Nick with Burkhart Construction, project manager for the Harrison Street streetscape project. I'm also here with Adam Rosmel. To get started, this is our project phasing. We are, as Francisco stated, we are in the last phase. We are in phase six. That's between 20th and 21st on the north side of the block. Project phasing and overview of the schedule. Phases one through five are substantially completed and are now open to the public. Phase six began yesterday, July 6th. The construction duration is anticipated to be approximately two and a half months. Work will include completion of the final streetscape improvements between 20th and 21st. As we're wrapping up phase six, we will then transition into the final stages of the project, which are going to be the roadway improvements, including the crosswalk reconstruction enhancements, milling and resurfacing, and the final pavement markings and striping, along with the festoon lighting. Here are some substantially completed photos of phases one, two, and three. and along with phases four and five. Some notable streetscape enhancements, the new flexi-pave around the existing royal palms, the new decorative lighting, new bridal veiled tree plantings, and those all contribute to the transformation of the Harrison Street streetscape project. One also notable thing that we did was the Hoshi and Sushi Thai cuisine sidewalk extension. As part of the phase four We created this new parklet. It's a sidewalk extension designed to expand the pedestrian realm and provide additional outdoor seating and gathering space for adjacent businesses. We expanded the sidewalk area. We increased the space for the outdoor dining and seating. There is a decorative trench drain basically gaps between the existing sidewalk and the new parklet. And then we also installed security bollards around the perimeter to provide protection for the patrons. And the paver pattern continues from the sidewalk into the new seating area. This is a picture of what it looked like before in front of Hoshi, and this is what it looks like now. There's the new parklet seating area. They were able to bring their tables out further, expanding the space. resident and business outreach during the construction. We basically have ongoing meetings with the CRA and we go along through each block. We communicate with the residents and merchants. We're always in communication with them. We hold coffee with the crew where we invite everyone to meet and join to see where we're at and what our next plans are. We always maintain continuous pedestrian access to all the businesses, keep a space on the backside of the construction for sidewalk routes to get to the businesses. Yeah, we're always meeting with the merchants. This final phase, we actually have shifted to the west end of the block to allow some of the merchants to stay open during the finals of the FIFA World Cup. And then once that's completed, we'll then go in front of their businesses. But again, always in communication with them. Here's some pictures of the coffee with the crew that we hold. And that's all that I have. Does anyone have any questions?

Go ahead, Board Member Hernandez. Thank you, Mayor. When is the completion date you targeted?

Targeted completion date? I'll have to look back at our schedule. The targeted completion for phase six is mid-September. And then after that, the milling and resurfacing and crosswalk, I believe our contract is somewhere in late October. So hopefully,

before the actual season starts, hopefully, because that was what everybody was concerned in the downtown was the season when it comes to that. By the way, kudos to you guys. There's been some hiccups in some areas, but you guys have been able to work through it, and I thank you for that.

Thank you. All right. Thank you so much for the presentation. I think we're all satisfied with the progress, the cleanliness, and the organization of the project. It's Construction implementation, you all continue to do great work. You coordinate very closely with neighboring businesses. We don't hear a lot of complaints because you work so closely. And I think everyone recognizes that you're tearing up an area with obviously improving it. But at the same time, the result is very attractive and really a great blessing for the area. So thank you so much. Thank you. All right, Executive Director, on to informational reports. If there are any, let's go ahead to any updates with regards to beach or downtown activities for the previous month.

The informational report is attached to the agenda. I don't have any additional comments at this time related to it.

All right, let's go to comments by the Board, General Counsel, Executive Director. If any, Board Member Gruber.

Nothing today.

All right. Board Member Biederman. All right. Okay. Let's go to Board Member Quintana.

I'll wave. Thank you.

Board Member Shuham.

Thank you, Chair. I was going to talk about sarcasm, but I'll save that for this afternoon. But I did want to read a note that we got. The mayor and I received a note from someone who lives on Jackson Street. And we get a lot of questions about what we're doing and how long it's going to take to see the impact. So this gentleman wrote, I want to take a moment to let you know about the improvements that were done on Jackson Street through the CRA program. We waited a long time for the Central and South Beach streets to be done. I remember 15 years ago saying, I wonder if these streets will be done in my lifetime. And I started to get a little nervous in the last year or so. However, I want to let you know what a wonderful job they did on our streets as well as the others. Did Burkhart leave? I lived at blank, blank, blank Jackson. And this July, it'll be 33 years. A couple of days ago, we got our first real heavy downpour since our street was completed. just what I was waiting for. And I looked out my window to check on the water flow. And what was important to me is we had many areas of Jackson with heavy rain that caused backups and storm drains and little lakes in different areas of the street. As I saw the water flowing down the street at a rapid rate, I did not notice any backup at the foot of my driveway, and I was so excited that I went outside with an umbrella to look at the entire street, and to my surprise, I saw no backed-up water anywhere. No lake in the end of Jackson Street that was always there at a minimum went up to cover the whole bottom part of the tire every time we had a serious rain. The street, as we know, is not completed, but what is complete is beautiful. I want to take the time to compliment Burkhart Construction for the job that they did and their employees that worked on our street. They were so nice and courteous every time I saw them, They would say hello or give a wave if I had a question for them. They stopped and very politely answered my questions. The foreman, I guess his name is Nick, Nick who just left unfortunately, has been more than gracious. I had his phone number, and I believe Believe me, I called him several times over the last six to eight months pertaining to questions on our streets. Sometimes in my frustration, I would reflect back and I saw that I may have been rude to him. And when I recognized that, I would apologize. Each time I called his number, he picked up the phone and spoke to me and gave me an answer to my concern. So I just wanted to send this along to let you know that I do complain about things, as you may know, but I also feel it is necessary to recognize the good and and let it be known and feel free to share this with Burkhart. So I'm sorry they left, but I'll ask you, Susan, to send this to them. And I just really want to say thank you. It's hard. I mean, these projects are very difficult when you're going house by house. It not only takes patience on the part of the contractor, but it takes a certain disposition. You guys too, Sarita, Susan, and your whole team, this is what it's all about. Somebody that's lived there for 33 years is the confidence that he can stay in his home. So thank you.

Thank you. Board Member Hernandez.

Thank you, Mayor. Crosswalks on Hollywood Boulevard in the downtown that are full of potholes and stuff. Do we have an update on that? Can you provide us with an update on that after my comments? Lights on 21st Avenue in front of the University stations, they were flickering off for about 15 to 20 seconds and they were coming back up and repeated itself. Just the other day when we were walking through one of the FIFA games, we experienced that. So that needs to be looked at because I don't know if it could be a short and something coming or if it's just a sensor that's gone bad. And it was the whole block. It wasn't just one light. It was the whole block. The light pole on 19th Avenue, they started the work to change it, to put it in the proper position. I believe Ray Lynn may know, the city manager may know what I'm talking about. That work hasn't been completed yet, and it started weeks ago. I'm just wondering what was the holdup when it comes to that. And we're looking forward to the one way, I believe, of having a meeting tomorrow regarding what's going on with that. Some of the neighbors are asking. We were told that this was going to happen. When is it going to happen, and how is it going to happen? So thank you for allowing for the meeting to take place. The one thing that it's not about this is about future buildings. We need to be cognizant of our residents that we currently have, because the work that we're doing, they feel that some of the work that is being done It's great, but we cannot forget the stuff that needs to be done for the people that are actually here. Rather than the new development, the convenience and the stuff that we need to work for the residents that are already here, particularly in the CRA. And that's the only concern that the residents have. They're not complaining. They're just saying, just be mindful of us. They call themselves the little people that are here that we need the same help as some of the people that we're incenting, that we're giving the incentives to build.

that's all thank you all right thank you so uh i just want to share with the board that i've received some feedback from people looking to move into downtown hollywood that the lease up rate of a lot of the new buildings including the bread building and the holly and all the others is moving at a very quick pace that it's even hard for them to get appointments to have a walk through with some of the new buildings because they have so much uh demand and that the leasing agents are so booked So I think we all can take some satisfaction, of course, in how attractive and desirable downtown Hollywood is to people that are moving to downtown Hollywood from all over in the big name areas of South Florida, because obviously it's a special little enclave in the midst of this big metropolitan area. Obviously, we're all very happy to hear that and continue to see the vibrancy with the new people who walk around the arts park and walk their dog and exercise and, of course, attend the businesses downtown. It's all, of course, a great step forward and a big step forward for downtown. With that said, I do want staff, again, to focus this summer, as we already are, on tenant recruitment for downtown. And I think things like exercise studios, what would complement the people living downtown to have great neighborhood services and neighborhood again, uses to make it even better to live in. And I know, Joanne, that Commissioner Hernandez and you worked on doing a survey with downtown dwellers and things. And so maybe over the summer, send us a report of kind of where you're at, what the feedback you heard was from residents. And as we talk to brokers or brokers talk to us, we can mention, hey, people are looking for ABC, a Pilates studio, a yoga studio, a gym, downtown, etc., to make it better than, you know, we're all people who are in and around, people talk to us, so we'd love to be able to know what you know and know further the uh share the intelligence um that uh and then finally on on the beach i just do want us all to uh remember that we have the paint program um and specifically again with the focus on the broadwalk uh businesses we did have the centennial program and at the same time i think we obviously want to continue that and continue to see you know paint improvements but facade improvements, pips and pops and all those good stuff on the broadwalk. There are definitely buildings that wear and tear pretty quickly from the salt and windblown and sand there. So please, if you could work more with a carrot, less with a stick. But at the same time, let's get some of these buildings that need to be painted, painted and looking better to keep up the look of Hollywood Beach. And that's it from me. General Counsel, any comments?

No comments today. Thank you.

Executive Director?

Just one quick update on a project that started this week. The Love mural by Cy Adams is the mosaic mural that's on the back side of the bandshell facing the beach is under installation. So the mosaic artist from Italy is on site with a lift installing the mosaic tiles. And it's my understanding that the artist has been providing feedback as well. We're excited to see that completed over the next several weeks.

Thank you. All right. And with that, this meeting is adjourned. I wish all the CRA team a good six weeks before we resume CRA board meetings. Thank you.