The Related Group is confident its 15-year battle with the City of Fort Lauderdale and historic Stranahan House over the 42-story Icon Las Olas project is in the past.
Related vice president Patrick Campbell told the Sun-Sentinel the company expects to advance the 272-unit, $250 million complex this year. The project in the 500 block of East Las Olas Boulevard would include a public plaza connecting the Las Olas entertainment district with the Riverwalk along the New River. Even Stranahan House representatives are on board with the development these days.
“I think it would be a good thing for everybody, because it’s such an important corner for when people are coming into our downtown,” said April Kirk, executive director of the 1901 Stranahan House Museum.
Related initially filed site plans in 1999. Supporters of Stranahan House, the city’s oldest building, did not want a condo high-rise next door. The city approved the development in 2004, but Stranahan House fought the project until an appeals court dismissed the museum’s case in 2011.
Stranahan officials say they are now working with Related on the potential impacts of the project. [Sun-Sentinel] — Eric Kalis