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Commissioners Await Financing Before Giving Go-Ahead to Yacht Club Project

By C&RB Staff | August 31, 2022

Lighthouse Point Yacht Club in Lighthouse Point, Fla.

Lighthouse Point, Fla. commissioners say they will not sign a developer’s agreement with the owner of the Lighthouse Point Yacht Club owner until his financing is secured. When demolition of the old clubhouse starts, Paterson Projects President Terry Paterson says he wants to build a 43,000 sq. ft. clubhouse, 22 luxury townhomes and make major upgrades to other amenities on the site. Paterson told commissioners last week that he was negotiating a $50 million loan that will close in two weeks. Mayor Kyle Van Buskirk says, “When he shows us that loan, I will hand him the permits.”

The long-sought developer’s agreement with the owner of the Lighthouse Point Yacht Club in Lighthouse Point, Fla. remains unsigned and is holding up construction on the 12-acre site, The New Pelican reported.

Last week, commissioners heard from Paterson Projects President Terry Paterson that he was negotiating a $50 million loan that will close in two weeks, The New Pelican reported. Until his financing is secured, commissioners have said the city will not sign the agreement which has been passed around among the planning and zoning board, the city commission and Paterson for the last three years.

One sticking point is the 27-month time frame Paterson has to complete the redevelopment of the property, which goes into effect when demolition of the old clubhouse begins, The New Pelican reported. Paterson intends to build a 43,000 sq. ft. clubhouse, 22 luxury townhomes and make major upgrades to other amenities on the site. He purchased it in July 2017 for $16 million.

But Paterson did obtain a permit early in August to build a concrete wall on the Northeast 27 Court border of his property and construction has begun, The New Pelican reported. Commissioner Mike Long questioned the permit, saying, “I thought no permits until we had all the signatures [on the developer’s agreement].”

Mayor Kyle Van Buskirk, who signs such permits, said he did so because “it is in the best interest of the neighbors, club members and residents to build the wall. We had an almost signed agreement at the time, and then there were changes, but seemed the thing to do. My goal is to do the best for the city.”

To which Long responded, “Nice. But did you overstep the boundaries?”

Paterson’s original loan went into default in April, The New Pelican reported.

Commission President Jason Joffe raised concerns about Paterson’s financial state. “He’s sitting on a foreclosure . . . I question the future of the club,” Joffe said. “We could have a financial liability.”

Paterson stated, “The new lender is ready to close. My attorney is working on it. I got a better deal. I am very happy about it.”

Also at issue is the asbestos abatement at the clubhouse that began in August, closing the facility to its members, The New Pelican reported. Paterson started the work without a permit and the city’s building official has shut down the project.

An outdoor area has been set up to serve beverages, food trucks are on site and Paterson has some employees in the building, The New Pelican reported.

He has also obtained temporary permits to do repairs on the club, to install a tent and to tear up some pavement and two tennis courts.

The asbestos removal proved to be a bigger job than anticipated, Paterson said. “I pleaded to let me demo it . . . It was unsafe and the A/C is failing.”

At the meeting, Long continued to accuse Paterson of violating the developer’s agreement and the mayor said he would not sign the agreement until “Terry says his financial problems are behind him.” But he added “in the end, the decision has to be what is best for the residents. When he shows us that loan, I will hand him the permits.”

At this point, all work on the property has ceased until Paterson proves his financial viability.

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Planning and Zoning Board to review Lighthouse Point project after withdrawal of amendment request

Pompano Beach, Florida – Subsequent to an extended City Commission meeting on May 23, which concluded with a decision to forward the issue for review to the Planning and Zoning Board, Terry Patterson, the owner and developer of Lighthouse Point, has withdrawn his request to amend the Development Agreement for the Lighthouse Point Yacht Club.

The process of advancing the amendment proposal through the Planning and Zoning Board, had the request not been withdrawn, would have extended the final decision on the matter until September at the earliest. This delay would necessitate a Board meeting, a couple of public hearings, and another City Commission meeting at the minimum. Such a protracted timeline, according to Patterson, was the impetus behind his decision to retract the amendment request.

In Patterson’s words, “What I was asking for from the Commission could have been approved at the Commission level by the middle of July and we could have commenced our preparations. However, since three of the Commissioners instead chose to delegate their responsibilities to the Planning and Zoning Board, this process would now terminate in mid-September at the earliest…Once we consent to the changes through Planning and Zoning, only then can the agreement be returned to the Commission, who should have dealt with it in the first place.”

The amendment request, before its retraction, was intended to give Patterson and his team the clearance to begin demolition of the old clubhouse, prior to satisfying a requirement specified in the development agreement. The current agreement mandates Patterson to first demonstrate to the Commission a “proof of financial viability” for the project. The City Administration, however, found a previous letter of intent from Colorado Savings Bank to cover $25,500,000 in construction costs for the residential units, to be inadequate proof, thereby withholding approval for the demolition to commence. According to the development agreement, the initiation of demolition sets the strict construction timeline into motion.

Patterson elucidated that in order to finalize bank loans, which could potentially fulfill the “proof of financial viability” stipulation in the development agreement, the bank needs to first see the master permits, city-endorsed plans, and builders’ risk insurance. As such, Patterson has to first wait for the master permits to be approved before he can present Mayor Kyle Van Buskirk with the finalized construction loan documents.

In a letter to yacht club members, Patterson stated, “I have never requested to alter it [the financial viability requirement]. However, I won’t officially present it to the Mayor until our master permits are prepared for issuance.”

Yet, the permits have encountered substantial delays. Around six months prior, the clubhouse building plans met an unanticipated obstruction when the Pompano Beach Fire Marshall, in the absence of a Fire Marshall in Lighthouse Point, disagreed with a prior verdict by the Planning and Zoning Board regarding the building’s maximum capacity. The Fire Marshall insisted that the plans must accommodate nearly 1,600 people to consider both indoor and outdoor spaces, despite the Planning and Zoning Board’s approval of a design for around 400 occupants based on indoor space only. This decision from the Fire Marshall necessitated a clubhouse redesign by Patterson and his team.

Patterson expressed at the Commission meeting that this setback “came at great cost.”

Due to this delay, Patterson was optimistic that the City Commission might amend the development agreement to permit the commencement of demolition without initiating the complete construction timeline until the vertical build starts.

The subject of amending the agreement was the center of a heated debate lasting over two and a half hours at the May 23 Commission meeting, involving the Mayor, City Administrator, City Commissioners, Patterson, the staff of Lighthouse Point Yacht Club, and local residents who ardently voiced their concerns and apprehensions regarding the development. The outcome of that meeting was a decision to refer the issue to Planning and Zoning.

With the amendment request now withdrawn, Patterson plans to wait for the issuance of the master permits.

Patterson noted in his letter, “I keep saying that our permits are imminent but that the last 5 percent push is always the hardest.” He added, “The silver lining is that our Mayor Kyle Van Buskirk, City Administrator John Lavisky, and all the city employees are working diligently to get our permits through the process. Due to this positive development, we have withdrawn our requested development agreement amendment from the City Commission and will place our trust in our Mayor and City Staff. No more appealing to the Commission to expedite things.”

The revised clubhouse plans, submitted to the City of Lighthouse Point on May 17, are still under evaluation. According to Jessica Easterling, the owner of Lighthouse Point Yacht Club and Community Outreach Director, as of June 14, some trades, including plumbing, electrical, and mechanical, had commented on the plans, which were then under structural review. No comments had been added for the fire review. City Administrator John Lavisky informed that a meeting was scheduled for June 16 to review all comments.

As per Sandra King, the Strategic Communications Administrator for the City of Pompano Beach, as of June 13, the revised clubhouse plans had not yet been sent to the City of Pompano Beach for Fire Marshall review. The Lighthouse Point building department will forward them to Pompano Beach.

The plans for the tennis center were largely approved, with only minor comments to address. The townhome plans had not been resubmitted as of June 14, but Easterling suggested they were expected to be resubmitted by around June 21.

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Lighthouse Point Yacht Club Redevelopment Plans Revised

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BY MARIE PULEO | LIGHTHOUSE POINT NEWS REPORTER

A revised site plan for the redevelopment of the Lighthouse Point Yacht Club was presented informally to the Planning and Zoning Board this month by Terry Paterson, the club’s owner and developer. 

Paterson is proposing to build 20 luxury townhomes and two single-family homes on a portion of the yacht club property that is currently used for tennis courts and parking. Paterson plans to use the proceeds from the sale of the residential units to subsidize an updated yacht club facility.

Paterson was seeking feedback from the Planning and Zoning Board before submitting a final site plan and other items that the Board will vote on at a future meeting, possibly in March.

During his presentation to the Board, Paterson explained his goals for the development timeline.

He said he wants to start building a new tennis center/bistro as soon as possible, and have it finished by Sept. 1, when members come back after the club’s annual closure during the month of August.

The one-story tennis center/bistro would be built on existing clay tennis courts, east of the club’s entrance on NE 42nd Street, and would serve as a temporary clubhouse once the existing clubhouse is demolished.

Paterson said that a lot of the interior from the club’s existing lounge will be reused inside the tennis center/bistro, to “keep the nostalgic value of some of the things that we have.”

Paterson said he would like to start the demolition permit process for the main clubhouse in June, which will likely be a three-month process, and then demolish the clubhouse by the end of August or the beginning of September.

His goal is to start vertical construction of the new clubhouse around Sept. 1, which should take about 18 months to complete, possibly less.

“Commercial does go a lot quicker than residential, but we’ve got a lot of detail that we have to do to build out this club, so I need the time,” said Paterson.

The sequence in which the townhomes will be built is based on sales. The plan is to build five townhome buildings with four 3-story units each. Paterson said that before his bank will release funding for each townhome building, two out of the four units in the building must be sold.

Paterson said he currently has two units sold in one building, and one unit sold in another building. He expects that by the time he receives all his approvals from the City, construction on those two buildings will be ready to start immediately. Once construction gets underway, each townhome building will take 18 months to complete.

Paterson explained that once he starts a building, the bank money is already in place, and “it doesn’t matter what happens to the economy…that building is built from start to finish.”

He clarified that he does not have to rely on getting the profits from the sale of the residential units before he can start building the clubhouse. Profits from the residential units will pay off the loan that will be in place for the construction of the clubhouse, not go towards building it.

“We’re building the club regardless of the townhouses,” he said.

The plan is for the existing pool area, gym and marina to remain in operation during most of the construction. At least five tennis courts will remain in operation at all times.

Once the new clubhouse is fully operational, the building that is the current gym will be turned into an indoor basketball court and kids center. The new clubhouse will have its own 10,000-square-foot gym. The existing pool will be demolished and two lap pools and a kids’ pool will be built.

In order to carry out his redevelopment plans, Paterson is requesting several text amendments to the city’s zoning code.

The yacht club property is currently zoned as a business district that does not allow for a residential component. In order to build the townhomes and single-family homes, Paterson is requesting that a new zoning district be created.

According to Mayor Glenn Troast, the new zoning district is called “Lighthouse Point Yacht Club mixed-use zoning district.”

Paterson is also requesting two text amendments to the city’s Comprehensive Plan. These text amendments relate to building heights on the yacht club property.

Additional requests are being made pertaining to the number of parking spaces required, the percentage of pervious and impervious areas required on the property, the length of the townhome buildings, property setbacks, and the operation of a limited number of yacht club facility-related businesses out of the yacht club premises.

Planning and Zoning Board members Bill Gallo (Vice Chair) and Susan Motley emphasized that they would not be prepared to approve anything until the Board receives a complete package that includes a development agreement, the text amendments to the city’s Comprehensive Plan and zoning code, the final site plan, a detailed phase plan, a parking study, a traffic analysis, and a landscape plan. 

Following the Planning and Zoning Board meeting, Paterson’s attorney submitted a revised development agreement to the City, along with other documents.

City staff has been reviewing the documents, and providing feedback to Paterson and his attorney, according to Mayor Troast. Once the package is finalized, it will go to the city’s Development Review Committee, the Planning and Zoning Board and the City Commission. The final site plan will also go to the Community Appearance Board for approval.

Last October, the Broward County Commission approved Paterson’s application for a land use plan amendment that allows up to 22 residential units to be built on the yacht club property.

In April, the City Commission gave its preliminary approval for the land use change. The ordinance will come before the City Commission for a second and final vote.

“I’m very excited that this project is moving forward and I think they’ve come up with a very exciting plan for the yacht club,” said Troast. “It’s just a matter of getting everything done to make it happen.”

For  more Lighthouse Point  news  and things to do in LHP area read Lighthouse Point magazine and search our  website. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”9711,9712,9710″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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