Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Plans for Old City Hall


Though no final decisions have been made for the future of the Old City Hall property, some ideas have come forward. One of the possibilities is to sell the land to create new residential homes. It would also involve redesigning the surrounding properties, though it would retain the park land. Money from the sale of the land would then be used to pay for construction of the new City Hall proposed for Oakland Park Blvd.

If the land was to be redeveloped for housing, the decision as to the type of housing is also undecided. Already different viewpoints have been heard. Workforce housing has been a county issue, though not quite the issue in Lauderhill, whose average price of houses is about $238,000. This is below the county average of $361,000. Workforce housing prices are considered to be about $250,000 or less. Therefore, Lauderhill is already meeting the needs of Workforce housing.

The other consideration is upscale single family homes in the $300,000 to $400,000 range. This type of housing would be the at the higher scale for this neighborhood, and may bring a better balance of housing stock for this area. It may also serve to increase values within this section of the city.

Ultimately, as the diagram shows above, it may be a blend of the two types of housing. Either way, it will show a commitment for redevelopment for the neighborhood, which will be a positive force. It will also call for the removal of Mission Lake Plaza, which for years has been a continuing problem within the city for crime issues. The City Commission, by a 4 to 1 vote (Commission Berger in dissent), approved earlier the purchase of the property, with the intent of converting the property to residential. This will reduce crime, reduce traffic flow, increase safety in the area, and overall be of a positive benefit for the community.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great going! But what are you going to do to keep residents in the new complex safe from inhabitants of Royal Oaks? They always caused people trouble around there?