Duprey heads to court over housing project

FORT LAUDERDALE — Hours after city commissioners crushed Lawrence Duprey’s multi-million housing project here in a 4-1 vote, the struggle over the massive development seemed almost certain to land in court.

At 2 am Wednesday, controversy surrounding the massive development finally brought it down. Even against the pressure of a threatened lawsuit, all but Vice Mayor Carlton Moore voted against the Palazzo Las Olas project, sticking to their long-standing opposition to the condo-retail-parking complex that would have risen on city land at the eastern foot of the Las Olas Boulevard bridge. The decision is final. Palazzo’s options are to sue or to amend the plan and seek new city approval. Later in the day, the Palazzo team said they will file a suit. Commissioners rejected Palazzo attorney Bill Scherer’s argument that the city and developer had a deal arising out of the city’s request for development proposals more than two years ago. Scherer said the city no longer had a choice and must take the final step of approving the project’s site plan. Commissioners bristled at that idea. “The notion that it was approved back then flies in the face of all our laws,” said Mayor Jim Naugle. Some residents urged commissioners not to back down. “Don’t let them bully you,” said beach resident Craig Fisher.

The rejection, though, was not clean-cut. Commissioner Dean Trantalis suggested the site plan be rejected, but he invited the developer to come back with an altered proposal that would meet the development code without the need for special waivers. The project as proposed needed modifications to meet code, because some of the buildings would have been built closer to property lines than required, exceeded the 200-foot maximum length or width for buildings, and were too close together, according to the city staff. The five-and-a-half-hour hearing appeared to be a prelude to litigation, with a court reporter recording the proceedings and Scherer asking to “cross-examine the witnesses,” objecting to lack of “due process,” demanding to have statements “stricken from the record” and asserting that the developer suffered US $40 million in damages. “Showdown politics is not the way to go, and I don’t want to be a part of it,” Trantalis said, suggesting some compromise could be reached out of court.

But the Palazzo developers — Lawrence Duprey, a billionaire from Trinidad; local attorney Joe Cook; architect Dan Adache; and developer Jerrold Krystoff — said they will let a judge make the next decision. “We’re disappointed with the result,” Cook said Wednesday afternoon after a meeting of the Palazzo team. “We felt we were entitled to get the site plan approval. We feel it’s unfortunate we’re placed in the position of having to contribute to the city’s financial woes. We’re going to commence an action to compel them to approve the site plan, and we’ll also commence an action for damages against them.” Scherer, who will be preparing the legal action, said he will need at least a week to review public records he has requested and to “get it right” before filing. Naugle said he couldn’t comment on the possible litigation. One weapon in the Palazzo arsenal came as a surprise Tuesday night: Former City Manager Floyd Johnson signed an affidavit on the developer’s behalf, as did former Commissioners Gloria Katz and Tim Smith. The affidavits support the developer’s argument that the city led Palazzo down a path believing it was assured approval. The city solicited proposals for a redevelopment project on the site, asking for a 1,000-car parking garage as part of the deal. Palazzo was selected over a proposal from Arvida and another that included a new International Swimming Hall of Fame.