oct-2017

228 229 DAVIE, FLORIDA opment.He reported,last year,that the town has seen about $500millionworth of growth and newcon- struction over the past fewyears in a combination of commercial,residential,and industrial projects,driven throughDavie’s RAC,or Regional ActivityCenter.RACs are land-use designations intended to encourage at- tractive and functional mixed living,working,shopping, education,and recreational activities.Davie’s Regional ActivityCenter Designationwas adopted in 1998 and covers approximately2,200 acres east of University Avenue.TheMaster Plan for the RACwas adopted in 2006,with the intent of creating a“multi-purpose,pe- destrian-friendly,and interconnectedmixed-use village with the benefits of access to transit,variable housing costs,and economicdevelopment opportunities.” We recentlycaught upwith the pair to find out what progress has beenmade on various building and infra- structure projects on the town’s agenda. “All themixed-use development projects are still go- ing through the approval process,and themost major one,which is a student housing project in downtown Davie,has broken ground and is under construction,” saysMoss.“That’s 246 units,multiplied by four as far as howmanybeds it’s going to provide.Hopefully,within six to eight months,the other projects should break ground.” One such potential project is the development of a newTownHall.“As to theTownHall project,we put an RFP (Request for Proposal) out for a public/private partnership,”saysMoss,“andwe received one propos- al.Aselection committee has reviewed it andwe’re going to be scheduling aworkshopwith our elected body to discuss the proposal,and hopefully,provide a recommendation to negotiate the development and improvement of a 24-acre parcel that includes a town hall and some other commercial/retail development within our downtown corridor,and the construction, or relocation,of a town hall,somewhere else.It also included improvements to the rodeo grounds,amu- seum,and other different aspects.Those things need to be negotiatedwith the developer that we decide to partner with for the overall development.We have to go through the vetting process to see if it’s the right fit, the right partnership to proceedwith a formal agree- ment.” Another major project within the RAC is called the Academical Village–2.5million square feet of re- tail,residential,hotel,office,andmedical space to be located on 30 acres of propertybeing developed by UniversityPartners,a joint venture between the Bran- don Company,a local real estate development cor- poration,andNova SoutheasternUniversity.“The first phase of that project is going to be breaking ground in 2018,”says Holste.“It will be the 250-bed hospital, alongwith100,000 square feet of medical office space. That property is being purchased byHCAand they’ll be building the hospital.Right now,there’s an existing shopping center that they’re going to be demolishing in the next twomonths,and from there,they’ll be breaking ground in Februaryon the actual hospital andmedical office space.I thinkyou’re looking at a ten- year time frame on thewholeAcademical Village.” The Davie Business Center,currentlybeing built by the IDI Construction Company,comprises 1.2million