Monday, December 8, 2014

CORAL SPRINGS ALSO TRYING TO CREATE DOWNTOWN


CORAL SPRINGS ALSO TRYING TO CREATE DOWNTOWN

It is just sheer coincidence that this article appeared within weeks of the one about Coconut Creek and their downtown hopes. Clearly it is a good time out there to get moving on long planned downtowns for some cities. Another one of those is Coral Springs, who has been working on their downtown plan for 20 years. They think they have finally found the correct formula: a hotel, a movie theater, a garage and lots of apartments at the intersection of Sample Rd. and University Drive. Not surprisingly, the company behind the new development is Amera Urban Developers, who built or owns the properties at the center of the plan. I got a small twinge of pride when they mentioned that they were modeling their movie theater after the iPic Theater in Boca Raton, with the same amenities such as reclining chairs, blankets and pillows, and ordering food and drink from your seats. They plan for “high end” rental apartments on each of the 4 corners of the intersection of Sample Rd. and University Drive. The city would build a multi-story garage, which would cost millions but could help spur development. It is an ambitious plan for sure, and I really hope it works for them. But a lot of things don’t add up, and I hope that they closely examine them before finalizing the plans. The words “high end” and Coral Springs do not go together in any way at this point, what is going to change to make this appealing to this new demographic? Coral Springs is known for young parents who come for the quality public schools and they move from the city when their kids get older. One of the goals is to keep them in the city, while also attracting older adults. While they are trying to create an urban feeling with the plan, I don’t think anyone is ever going to confuse Coral Springs for Miami or Delray Beach. I wish them the best with it and will report on any new information about the project. As always thanks for reading and have a great day.

Coral Springs downtown closer to gaining traction


No comments:

Post a Comment