would be sent out, detailing the development the City considered to be best for
that location. She recalled that at that time a number of large developments
were taking place in bordering cities, and the City wanted to wait to see how
those transpired to see if they were good ideas. During this time, the City was
approached by a private developer with an unsolicited proposal; the latter was
something that was a different mechanism allowed in Florida statutes called a
public/private partnership. In such situations, all the costs would be paid by the
developer, and they had to provide public purpose, a donation of some aspect in
order to qualify to apply. Ms. Rosenberg mentioned this was the first proposal
of this type the City ever received, and there was nothing in the city code to
dictate what that process was, though the State statute had parameters in
place as to whether the developer would have to pay a fee, how long the bid
should remain open, etc. She said the City then passed a code, adopting the
Florida statute, filling in those gaps to define how the City would process
unsolicited bids as part of Lauderhill’s purchasing code.
other cities were charging as fee, and found that Fort Lauderdale had
experience with processing unsolicited bids and charged $25,000.00 fee,
Staff tracked what
a
a
which the City similarly adopted. Though this seemed high, city staff wished to
ensure that before staff took the time to process and review a development
application the City was not asking for, they needed to make sure the developer
was serious. The City put into place all of the steps, and the developers asked
for no tax incentives, or any other monies from the City; in this instance, the
developer contributed public portion elements, one being
garage the City requested. Other elements the developer proposed included
hotels, some residential areas, likely condominiums, as well as other
commercial uses, such as restaurants. She noted the City asked for
a
public parking
a
commercial kitchen to be put in place at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center
(LPAC), as it currently had a small area with a microwave, making it challenging
for caterers for events to function. A greenspace area was proposed, a type of
beer garden, to hold outdoor events. Ms. Rosenberg stated the applicant was
very involved in high tech, such as digital art, holograms, etc., noting that one of
the principal members developed Wynwood, previously Overtown, so they were
used to uplifting areas. When this overall concept was presented, the City had
to decide if it was something it wished to proceed with. She said the City
decided to advertise the development, and in January 2024, the advertisement
was published, explaining the parameter of the elements being sought, and a
60-day period was given to respond, per city code. When that advertising went
out, it was not only sent to the entire City Commission, it went to all city
departments, telling everyone who was interested to make sure they were
aware. She said the advertisement was sent to everyone who responded to the
RLI to give them an opportunity to respond, but no responses were received
after two months; the unsolicited bid proposer was then awarded the project.
The approved ordinance before the Commission was the comprehensive
agreement that spoke about the terms, which said the applicant would build an
unsolicited, conceptual of the project, but the City Commission would decide
what that site plan would look like, the elements it would and would not include;
that had yet to happen. Ms. Rosenberg explained the ordinance was a kind of
global agreement that stated the developer could lease the land, paying the City
annual rent, and the City would collect the taxes for every use on the property
that was not a government component; the latter would include the City’s
requested parking garage, and commercial kitchen at the LPAC. She said this
would bring in income to the City, and, ultimately, give the ability to lower the tax
burden on Lauderhill’s taxpayers; again, there were no tax incentives for the
developer in the agreement. She added that the developer agreed to update the
