[mr jones]

Las Olas Boulevard gets green space -- for a while
Fort Lauderdale convinces owner of Riverside Hotel to plant sod, landscaping on half-block site intended for a now-delayed expansion

By Brittany Wallman | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
6:28 PM EDT, April 29, 2009


The large gap on Las Olas blvd, the past site of Hyde Market, will become something of a pocket park until the recession ends. (Josh Ritchie, Correspondent / April 27, 2009)


FORT LAUDERDALE - Call it Recession Park.

A vacant half-block on premier Las Olas Boulevard has been planted with grass and lined with bushes and mulch, as a proposed expansion of the historic Riverside Hotel sits on hold.

The Las Olas Co., owner of the Riverside Hotel, asked the city for an extra three years to act on the hotel expansion, and a city vote on that is coming. The company already had shuttered thriving businesses on the block -- including Cafe Europa, Objects d'Art, and O'Hara's Jazz & Blues Cafe -- and in February tore them down.

The vacant properties just east of the Riverside Hotel, stretching to Eighth Avenue, created an unsightly gap on the city's posh shopping boulevard. But the lot was sodded and lightly landscaped this past weekend.

It won't be an official park because it's privately owned and intended for development. But it might be used for weddings and other events.

City Manager George Gretsas said he urged the company to "activate" the space.

"If it's something that can draw new people to the boulevard that'd be great too," said Gretsas, "but at the very least, what we've got there is a gaping hole and a dead space and it's not good for the boulevard, and the primary thing is to activate it as soon as possible."

"The merchants are really, really excited," said Laura Mogilewski, executive director of the Las Olas Association. She said even though the green space will be private, the merchants hope it can be used for events.

Las Olas Co. is the latest in a string of developers asking the city for more time to build major projects that were approved in recent years.

Las Olas Co. spokeswoman Heather Krasnow said the hotel will be expanded as soon as the company gets favorable financing.

Brittany Wallman can be reached at bwallman@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4541.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...tory?track=rss