4 days ago
Condo next door sues developer building tallest twin towers on Fort Lauderdale beach
Can you sue over a view?
Alhambra Place, a condo tower in Fort Lauderdale with a view of the beach, is doing just that — alleging breach of contract and seeking more than $10 million in damages.
For 24 years, residents of the 16-story condo tower at 209 N. Birch Road have enjoyed an unfettered view of the ocean.
Then along came Selene, twin 26-story condo towers going up to the east of Alhambra Place.
The project's design was substantially altered despite a development agreement the builder made with Alhambra's condo association in July 2020, according to a lawsuit recently filed in Broward Circuit Court.
The lawsuit lists The Kolter Group and KT Seabreeze Atlantic as defendants, claiming they submitted a slew of plan revisions 'aimed at cutting costs and increasing profits' without the knowledge or consent of Alhambra's condo association. The revisions dramatically altered the exterior design of the project and were 'solely made to enhance (the developer's) bottom line,' according to the suit.
'It's a totally different project,' said Keith Poliakoff, one of the attorneys representing Alhambra Place. 'Alhambra had no idea. Some of those changes affect the view corridor for Alhambra.'
The Kolter Group has not yet filed a formal response to the lawsuit. KT Seabreeze Atlantic is no longer in business, according to the lawsuit as well as state records.
Bob Vail, a high-ranking official at Kolter, referred questions to Stephanie Toothaker, attorney for the developer.
Toothaker could not be reached this week despite two texts seeking comment.
Jim Novick lives on the 11th floor of Alhambra Place, where he serves as president of the condo association.
In March, Novick said he noticed the towers going up across the street didn't quite look like the renderings he and his neighbors had been shown before construction began nearly four years ago.
'It was pretty far along when we noticed things didn't seem right,' Novick said. 'There was equipment in the way. When the cranes came down, I was like, 'Oh my God, that's not supposed to be there.' They took out the glass. They added more stucco to save money. They made the one balcony on the sixth floor bigger.'
Novick says he contacted the developer with his concerns.
'I was telling them to take the balcony down,' he said. 'I told them my board's not going to be happy with this. See what you can do to fix these things. They said they'd get back to me on all these changes. And they never got back to me.'
That's when the condo board decided to sue, Novick said.
Selene's twin towers will be the tallest on the beach, rising 300 feet above sea level at 3000 Alhambra St.
Residential projects built on that part of the beach have a height cap of 200 feet.
But in late 2020, Fort Lauderdale commissioners signed off on special zoning that allowed the builder to go higher.
An earlier design called for a shorter and blockier set of towers that would have stood 200 feet high, with nearly 100 more condos and three times the space for restaurants and shops.
But residents at Alhambra Place preferred the developer build taller, thinner towers to help preserve their views.
'If they build a big giant box in front of us, it's the end of our universe,' Novick told commissioners at the time. 'We had one unit owner say, 'We'll never see the sun if they build this.''
The project won commission approval in October 2020.
Less than two years later, the developer returned to the commission to request approval for what it called an administrative amendment to the approved site plan.
Alarmed by the proposed changes, Novick said he flew down from his second home in Boston to speak at the July 2022 meeting and voice his objection.
During the meeting, Toothaker told the commission her client was requesting changes to the project's dimensional standards and architecture.
That night, the developer withdrew the request for changes related to dimensional standards and architecture, the lawsuit states. The only changes requested — and approved — involved a reduction in the number of condo units from 215 to 196; an increase in the restaurant and retail space by 500 square feet; and a corresponding reduction in private parking spaces from 497 to 480.
'I came back on July 4 from Boston, left my family, got on the plane and went down to City Hall to testify,' Novick said. 'And they withdrew the proposal. And I thanked them.'
But the developer came back later on to ask city staff to sign off on several modifications identical to those that had been withdrawn at the commission meeting, the lawsuit alleges.
'They submitted changes and got them administratively approved by city staff with no one knowing,' Poliakoff said. 'City staff said they were minor modifications. These were not minor modifications.'
On April 23, 2025, Alhambra's condo association sent the developer a notice accusing them of breach of contract.
The notice claims several design changes were made in violation of the development agreement the developer made with Alhambra Place. Among them:
1. The elegant, round columns that floated outside of the façade at the L-shaped indented building corners were eliminated and replaced with a 90-degree building corner and integral corner edge column. The elimination of this feature detracts from its appearance and makes the building look wider.
2. The north façade of the east tower, level 5, was constructed with a balcony that extends well beyond the balcony line of the tower to the edge of the amenities deck.
3. West-facing level 4 of the east tower is constructed with large expanses of concrete, inconsistent with renderings that depict all glass and an open, unobstructed balcony.
1. The one-story spa extending from the west tower was reduced on the second administrative revision, adding about 30 feet more north-south open area.
2. The portion of the dog park west of the stair tower was eliminated and walled off from the reconfigured dog park. This is inconsistent with unit-view renderings.
3. The fourth level of the east tower is only partially glass, inconsistent with unit-view renderings that show an all-glass façade.
1. On the unit-view renderings, glass comprises between 65% and 70% of the west-facing podium façade's vertical section of levels 1.5, 2 and 3, but only about 47% as constructed.
2. The unit-view renderings show no exposed columns other than at the corners, whereas an exposed middle column was added to the constructed product.
3. The agreement calls for frosted glass on the west face of the parking structure. The actual construction appears to show tinted glass.
The towers are expected to open later this year.
'Plaintiff believes that there are additional violations and defaults of the terms of the agreement and shall, hereafter, seek a complete inspection of the property,' the lawsuit says.
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@ Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan
