Please take a moment and read this Sunpost article. Gulfstream Park has recently begun tearing down its grandstand and clubhouse to make way for new facilities and an enlarged racetrack, but Aventura leaders at their June 25 workshop meeting were given a presentation on another large-scale project at the historic thoroughbred track that is scheduled to start in 2005.Gulfstream Park’s parent firm, Magna Entertainment Corp., recently filed an application with the South Florida Regional Planning Council for a mixed-use project to be called the Village at Gulfstream Park, which will include about 1,055 condominiums, 1.3 million square feet of retail space, 300,000 square feet of office and commercial uses, a 1500-seat theater and a 500-room hotel within a pedestrian-friendly concourse to be located on 85 acres just south of the track clubhouse. The project will be entirely in the city of Hallandale Beach, but because of the large size of the project and its potential to impact numerous jurisdictions, it has been designated a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) and, as such, surrounding communities and government agencies will have an opportunity to review plans and provide input.City leaders were given a presentation by Greenberg Traurig zoning attorneys Cliff Schulman and Debbie Orshefsky. Describing the $120 million reconstruction of the track surface, clubhouse and grandstand as a "facelift," Orshefsky characterized the $400 million Village project as a "full body tuck" with the potential of providing a year-round attraction at the Hallandale Beach-based park just north of the Aventura city limits, which is restricted by the state to holding its racing season between January 3 – April 25. When completed in late 2005, the Village will feature about 70 boutique-style shops and open-air dining and shopping with Gulfstream Park’s seasonal racing and entertainment as the anchor attraction, and will help transform the storied facility into a "21st Century racetrack."Gulfstream’s new grass track will be replanted in July and should be ready for the 2005 season, and permanent seating will remain at about 15,000, but temporary structures and tents will be used to house attendees and some track workers, said Orshefsky. As part of the DRI process, she has given similar presentations to Hallandale Beach officials as well as those from other agencies in both Broward and Miami-Dade counties. She said Gulfstream officials hope to start applying for local site plan approval for the Village project in September and begin construction in July 2005.City Manager Eric Soroka told city commissioners that he and his staff have already begun reviewing the firm’s application, and he said he feels the firm’s timetable for approvals might be overly optimistic. Joanne Carr, the city’s Planning Director, said that initial concerns include impacts to the water supply, stormwater and surface water management, and traffic flow on Biscayne Boulevard. The city will also look at the project’s potential impact on the city’s retail centers as well as its proposed Town Center complex two miles south of the racetrack at the Loehmann’s Fashion Island. Carr added that the firm is expected to re-file its original application on July 14, after which the city will have 30 days to respond in writing.Orshefsky said that the retail complex will not include large department stores but will feature smaller specialty shops. "This will not compete with the Aventura Mall but complement it," she said. "It will be a lifestyle center with a mix of different uses."
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