Iconic Four Seasons starts construction of hotel, private residences on Fort Lauderdale Beach

The iconic Four Seasons luxury hospitality brand formally arrived in the Broward County market on Monday, with the long-awaited start of construction on its Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Fort Lauderdale.

The groundbreaking at 505 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. came a year after it was originally planned, as Miami developer Nadim Ashi, holder of the Four Seasons franchise for Florida’s east coast, focused on completing the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences at The Surf Club in Surfside.

The 22-story development in Fort Lauderdale will include 90 private residences and 130 guest rooms. Hotel rooms will occupy the fourth through 11 floors. The private residences will start on the fifth floor. Residences will range from 780 to more than 6,000 square feet. There will be four penthouses and three “Sky Homes” with 20-foot ceilings.

Four Seasons, which operates 32 properties in the United States, six in Latin America and three in the Caribbean, will manage both the hotel and the private residences. The project is the third between Toronto-based Four Seasons and Ashi’s Fort Partners. An overhaul of the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach is scheduled to start in May.

The foundation for the Fort Lauderdale project is expected to be completed by year’s end. The building’s topping off is scheduled for the first quarter of 2020, and the structure would be ready for occupancy in the fourth quarter of that year.

Ashi said he is drawing customers from a variety of regions, including the northeastern United States and California, where would-be buyers are familiar with Four Seasons properties.

A number of homeowners are also looking to Florida to escape higher taxes. He said the project’s typical buyer is in the market to spend $3 million to $4 million on a condominium. Some are looking for a retirement home. Some are homeowners who are looking to downsize, and others are seeking second or third homes.

The residential portion of the project has hit $100 million in sales to date, the company said.

Ashi said Fort Partners is sticking with a previously planned nautical design for the building, which will look like a luxury cruise liner.

“This is very popular,” he said. “You’re at the beach. Fort Lauderdale is a nautical town and a yachting mecca. There was no reason to get out of that.”

Miami architect Kobi Karp, who is designing the project, said he has worked with the city to preserve green spaces in the neighborhood

“We floated the building above the ground so we can accommodate the desires of the city to maximize the green space with plazas for indoor and outdoor dining,” he said. “It allowed us to create a separate entry to the west side — the sunset side. You get nice light into the building.”

Landscape designer Fernando Wong said he is importing coconut palms and mahogany trees to line outdoor staircases. “My mindset was to make it a tropical island,” he said.

Tara Bernerd, the London-based designer who is doing the interiors, said the local surroundings will influence her work.

“We always seek to be indigenous to the locations in which our projects are set and draw inspiration from the local environment,” she said. “The design DNA incorporates timeless elements that hark back to a heyday era of Chris-Craft yachts and Capri pants, while also including some more modern components that facilitate the needs of today’s luxury traveler.”

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David Lyons can be reached at 954-356-4340, dvlyons@sun-sentinel.com twitter: @davidvlyons