Dania may get 1st condo tower

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Downtown Dania Beach, known for its antique stores and seedy hotels, may soon get its first big condominium tower.

City commissioners late Tuesday approved a site plan for the 13-story condominium, which also will include restaurants and shops on the ground floor.

''This is actually bringing customers to the downtown district, which is so necessary,'' said Commissioner Anne Castro.

For years, Dania Beach leaders resisted large-scale downtown redevelopment like that of Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale. But in recent years, commissioners have warmed to the idea of bringing in new condos and stores as a way to improve the community and bring in more tax money.

''The city of Dania Beach is over 100 years old,'' Mayor Patricia Flury said. ``Although we don't want to be a city known for tall buildings, because that is not our culture, nonetheless we do need some development.''

The condos will be built on the corner of U.S. 1 and Dania Beach Boulevard, where the Pirate's Inn hotel has been for more than 65 years. The 53-room hotel, which also houses a liquor store and a bar, continues to operate as the sale to the developer is negotiated. The sale is expected to be final in August.

Plans for the new development include 305 condos, 20,000 square feet of stores and restaurants and a five-story parking garage.

''That is the best location in Broward County,'' said Dominick Casale, president of DVNY Development, the company working on the project. ``The best thing about it is you could go down and eat dinner, go shopping and walk the streets. It's been sitting there stagnant for the past 25 years. Once this gets off the ground, everything else will follow suit.''

The $75 million project, on which construction could begin by August 2007, will take about 18 to 24 months to finish, but Casale plans to begin pre-selling the studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom condos in November. Prices for the condos will range from $189,000 to $550,000.

The commission's approval included a few modifications to the site plan.

PARKING SPACES

The development company requested a reduction in the number of parking spaces required for the condominium. City requirements called for 829 spaces. The commission agreed Tuesday to lower that to 651.

The developer will have to submit its final design for approval later.

The city will also require the company to pay a fee, which will go to the maintenance and improvement of parks in Dania Beach. An amount was not decided.

The condominium would be the start of expected new development in downtown Dania Beach. City commissioners still have to consider plans for a 110-unit, 12-story condominium at 109 Park St. and two 14-story condominium towers at 901 E. Dania Beach Blvd.

Flury said the construction of the condos will mean the end of the two-story Dania Jai-Alai sign on top of the Pirate's Inn hotel.

The 51-year-old sign was taken down after it was damaged by Hurricane Wilma in October 2005. The fronton had been fighting to restore it.

AGING HOTELS

The Pirate's Inn is one of two aging downtown hotels that have been the subject of development plans for years that did not materialize.

Another dilapidated building, the Dania Beach Hotel, also has owners who want to tear down the building and replace it with condos. The hotel is blocks away from the Pirate's Inn.