Pier 66

Pier Sixty-Six Wants Four 270 Ft Towers. Neighbors Want a 120 Ft Cap

Development
October 07, 2026•5 min read

Fort Lauderdale's next big height fight is at the foot of the 17th Street Causeway bridge. Tavistock Development Company, which spent about $1 billion remaking the Pier Sixty-Six resort, now wants approval for a second phase: four mixed-use towers, each 23 stories and 270 feet tall, with 339 condos between them.

Three of the towers would go on the south side of SE 17th Street and one on the north side near the resort, all east of the Intracoastal Waterway. The plan also includes 25,000 square feet of retail, 29,000 square feet of offices, 17,000 square feet of restaurants, a 14,000-square-foot boutique grocery store and a 1.5-mile waterfront promenade open to the public. Tavistock says it will turn one acre of its dry land on the south side into a water basin.

The catch is the zoning. The area has a 120-foot height cap, so Tavistock needs the city commission to rezone the land as a Planned Development District. That takes yes votes from at least four of the five commissioners. The project is still being reviewed by the city's Development Review Committee, and a commission vote is likely several months away, the Sun Sentinel reported.

The opposition is centered in Harbour Inlet, the single-family neighborhood just southeast of the bridge. Residents there say the towers would add traffic to 17th Street, strain roads and pipes, and put their homes in shadow. Joseph Maus, president of the Harbour Inlet Association, told the Sun Sentinel that 270 feet is "way, way too much for that property." A petition started by association board member Christine Winkelvoss, asking the commission to reject the rezoning, had 545 signatures as of Sept. 30. Their position is simple: build to 120 feet and no higher.

City Hall isn't sold either. Mayor Dean Trantalis wouldn't say how he plans to vote, but he called the plan "a classic example of overdevelopment," even as he praised what Tavistock did with the resort. Vice Mayor Ben Sorensen, whose district includes the site, said he still has concerns about density, and that the residents he hears from are worried about traffic, tower height and infrastructure.

Tavistock says the project is high-end, compatible with the neighborhood and low density. Its attorney, Stephanie Toothaker, said a 2018 agreement with the city allows up to 575 units across the 31-acre property, and the current plan comes in at 444. She also said the acre set aside for the water basin could have held one or two more towers. The company says some neighbors support the project but are keeping quiet about it. About 100 residents attended the second of three required community meetings in late September.

This isn't Tavistock's first try. In late 2021 it floated three towers at 480 feet, which would have required raising height caps across the city. Residents pushed back and city leaders dropped the idea.

My take

I like what Tavistock did with Pier Sixty-Six. The resort is a real upgrade for 17th Street. But a good Phase 1 doesn't earn a blank check on Phase 2, and the question here isn't whether the towers look nice. It's whether a 120-foot limit means anything.

Do the vote math. Tavistock needs four of five commissioners. The mayor is calling it overdevelopment, and the commissioner who represents the area says his concerns haven't gone away. If those two vote no, it's over at 270 feet. That's why I don't think the plan on the table today is the plan that gets built.

Watch the number, not the yes or no. In 2021 the ask was 480 feet. Now it's 270. The neighbors want 120. My guess is this lands somewhere in between, with fewer or shorter towers and both sides claiming a win. That's a guess, not a forecast, but it's the pattern this project has followed so far.

If you own in Harbour Inlet or along 17th Street, get involved now. Don't wait until it hits the commission agenda. There's a third community meeting still to come, and the review stage is where projects get reshaped. Shadows and traffic at the bridge are the specifics worth pressing on. Anyone who has sat through a bridge opening on 17th Street on a cruise day knows the traffic concern is not hypothetical.

If you're a buyer, don't plan around this. These would be ultra-luxury condos that are years from existing, if they get built at all. What matters more for most buyers is the precedent. If a rezoning can more than double the height limit here, owners of other waterfront sites will ask for the same thing. That cuts both ways: more new product over time, and less certainty about what gets built next to the home you're buying. Ask what's zoned around any property before you fall in love with the view.

Give the developer its due on density. 444 units on 31 acres is low, and the water basin and public promenade are real givebacks. This fight is about height next to single-family homes, not about cramming in units.

I'll keep tracking this through the review process and let you know when a vote gets scheduled. If you're weighing a purchase near 17th Street or the beach and want to know what's planned around it, reply to this email and let's talk it through.

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