Hollywood's downtown on verge of building boom

HOLLYWOOD

It's been awhile since construction cranes have graced downtown Hollywood.

That's about to change.

For more than a decade, Hollywood has courted development, aiming to revitalize its downtown. After a stubborn recession and a long wait, downtown Hollywood is finally on the verge of a building boom.

Old buildings long past their prime are slowly giving way to more cosmopolitan buildings.

In August, a 12-story apartment building that occupied the northeast corner of Young Circle for the past 36 years was reduced to rubble. In its place will rise a 25-story apartment tower. The aging Great Southern Hotel on the west side of the circle will soon be replaced by a 19-story apartment tower.

Plans are also in the works for the Hollywood Bread Building on the circle's south side and possibly the Publix plaza on the east side, officials say.

"Someone might leave Hollywood for a few years and come back and not know where they are," Commissioner Dick Blattner said, only half joking. "They'd think, 'This is not the Hollywood I left five years ago.' That would be a good thing."

It's all about the timing, says Jack McCabe, a real estate analyst in Deerfield Beach.

Since 2012, developers have announced plans for 237 new condo projects and 68 major apartment complexes in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, McCabe said.

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Hollywood's downtown on verge of building boom