Read: A $2 billion Pompano Beach downtown makeover: Big plans ahead with homes, stores and more

By Lisa J. Huriash

The fast-growing city of Pompano Beach is poised to grow even bigger—with a$2 billion, 75-acre evamped downtown envisioned to lure people with new residences, stores, offices as well as a water feature that could span as far as 12city blocks.

An artist’s rendering shows the extent of what’s possible: Many new multi-story buildings would flank a pedestrian-friendly, community-oriented grassy area that is centered around the waterway, with ample gathering spots for people to enjoy the day, go for a stroll and spend money. Nguyen Tran, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency director, on Wednesday addressed a roomful of real estate agents to get them excited about what’s in the works, what’s still to come, and to pass it along to their clientele.
Pompano Beach is in the midst of a development boom, with recent projects proposed for the beachfront as well as reshaping the downtown. He unveiled new details about the many plans afoot citywide.
“Pompano has changed,” he told them. “You can feel it. You can feel the cusp of the boom coming up.”
The presentation worked, generating enthusiasm: Realtor Melissa Juried Kriebel headed out the door with colorful brochures in hand for Salato, a 40-unit beachside project that is already half sold, and ready to start working the phones with her out-of-state clients who want to buy.

“I was taken aback with what they’re doing already with construction and how many developers want to come,” she said. I love it.” Downtown The vision for the reshaped downtown is to offer new residences, stores and offices anchored by a new City Hall. The city is expected to pay for the infrastructure with a
$64.5 million revenue bond. It will be primarily by Atlantic Boulevard and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Work to replace it is already underway, with $25 million allocated to acquire parcels of
land that include vacant pieces, duplexes and five single-family homes, in addition to the 50 acres the city already has.

In June 2024, the City Commission approved funding to acquire additional properties to further the redevelopment of the new downtown, said city spokes woman Sandra King. Because of the additional land holdings, the master developer is now creating an updated site plan with the new buildings, she said.
It could become mixed-use residential with retail on the ground floor, fronting Atlantic Boulevard. More homes are welcome to meet the big demand for housing in the region: “Everything right now is housing, housing, housing,” Tran said. Suzette Sibble, the city’s assistant city manager, said the project will total $2billion once all the components are complete. Most of it will come from the private sector to build the
retail, residential, office, hotel and restaurants are built, she said, and will also include the city’s responsibilities of the infrastructure, drainage, roads, new City Hall and accompanying 600-spaceparking garage, and a new civic center. In July, the city said the E.PatLarkins Community Center could be built new and larger for about $10.3 million. There will also be 9 acres of open space for a green market and community uses, such as a jazz festival, Sibble said. “The idea is to activate space and have
people come there and stay to shop,” she said. The city is also envisioning a water feature that could span across 12 city blocks, such as a canal really intended as drainage. But the feature also is intended to attract more development and create an attractive amenity, giving residents a place to stroll for
several blocks in the downtown.

It could be modeled after the San Antonio River Walk, which flows through several miles of the downtown in that Texas city. “People just like water,” Tran said. What would be done with the current City Hall, which was built in 1990 along Atlantic Boulevard? It would be put it up for sale to help pay off the new one, Tran told the Sun Sentinel. The new City Hall is expected to rise elsewhere in the city, not at the current City Hall site. The potential site of the new City Hall is scheduled to be unveiled in March along with the new master plan, city spokeswoman King said. The public will be invited to five roundtable meetings in March and April for feedback about multiple topics, including the plans and financing, she said. The City Commission is expected to approve the design of the new City Hall as early as this spring, King said.
“We’ve outgrown this City Hall, and it would be ridiculously expensive to try to keep maintaining it,” King said. Oceanside New condos, hotels and restaurants are envisioned for the beach front, including more
than a half-dozen luxury-brand companies, such as the Ritz-Carlton, the Waldorf Astoria, and Armani/Casa, which is named after the famed Italian designer Giorgio Armani.

And more projects keep coming to the city’s eastern side. A South Florida SunSentinel news article from August detailed about a dozen projects, including some reaching more than 20 stories, in that part of the city that either were under review, under construction or proposed. One of the most recent proposals came about a month ago. A multi-tiered building, with some levels capping off at three stories, and other sections as high as 8 stories, will be a mixed-use project is proposed for 2400 E. Atlantic Blvd, the
former site of a Wells Fargo Bank. The unnamed project is proposed to have a pool deck and 395 new homes. Still in the design stage: Hidden Harbour, an eight-story building with 285 homes on a
marina. And under building review is Hillsboro Shores, a 10-story building with 121 homes and a public walkway along the Intracoastal.

And the eight-story Soleste, a building of 253 homes with a pool on the sixth floor along North Federal Highway, should be open within months. Plans foranew24-storytowerunder the luxury W Hotels brand were announced by a team of developers in November, set to rise at one of Pompano Beach’s most
prominent beachside locations, at 20 N. Ocean Drive. Historical McNab House A new restaurant and sensory gardens will take over a piece of land once known for a park that attracted homeless and had hundreds of documented calls for law enforcement each year. “When you have a passive park and residents don’t use it, the homeless takeover,” Tran said. A historical house, named for a pioneer farmer, and accompanying two-story garage, at 2250 E. Atlantic Blvd. will be paid by a $23 million revenue bond, city officials announced.

Pioneer Robert “Bob” McNab’s house, known as the McNab House, was relocated to a park five blocks to the east in 2020 for the public to eventually enjoy it as a restaurant and green space. The city is now creating a site plan for the “McNab House & Botanical Gardens” and then there will be construction drawings. It will go to a bid for construction in late 2026 and take a year to build, Tran said. The gardens will host art classes and bird watching for the public, as well as music and recitals, Tran told the real estate agents. Features will include a sculpture garden and koi pond.

The restaurant could be open as early as 2027, city officials told the South Florida SunSentinel in January. The cuisine will likely be considered American since “you don’t want to compete with existing restaurants out there already,” Tran said in January.

“It’s incredible what’s going on,” said Alexandra Binkley, a realtor who attended Tran’s presentation. “Billions of dollars are being poured into Pompano.” She said she is telling her clients that it’s more affordable than Fort Lauderdale, which she feels it can be “hard to find anything that makes sense for growth and appreciation.”
She’s urging her clients to take the plunge: “If people don’t get in on it now, they won’t
be able to buy.”