When Hurricane Irma caused water to pour into the Pier Sixty-Six Resort’s tower, it was a huge blow to what is arguably the most iconic structure in Fort Lauderdale. Now, though, Tavistock Development has nearly completed a $1 billion redevelopment project that is helping the tower surpass its previous glory with another tower attached, marine-inspired condo buildings, a 2 ½-acre pool area and 12 restaurants. A marina promenade will feature 32,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space.
Who better to talk about the changes than Jessi Blakley, vice president of property owner Tavistock Group, who grew up across from the resort in the Rio Vista neighborhood. Some of her earliest memories are sitting in the rotating Pier Top while her grandfather was doing business.
She was interviewed by Lifestyle Media Group editor-in-chief Kevin Gale. The following is edited for brevity and clarity.
How are things looking?
We’re very excited. We’re at the finish line and so it’s all coming together. It’s finishing touches at this point — the landscaping going in, we’re filling the pools, working on the interiors. As a native and talking with neighbors in the community, I think there’s this nostalgic tie to the property and a real excitement to see how Tavistock has been able to bring it back to life.
What would you say the biggest wow factor is?
I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Pier Top. It certainly is the literal crown jewel of Pier Sixty-Six and something that I can’t even get in an Uber without talking about it. Everyone wants to know if it’s going to reopen. It will reopen as a lounge and it will have the ability to rotate once again.
I think the other thing is how we celebrated the waterfront lifestyle that Fort Lauderdale is known for and how we relaid out the property to focus on that. The old property was a square with a circular building on one end. For a large majority of it, you couldn’t see or feel or appreciate that waterfront uniqueness that Pier brings to the table.
We opened up the landscape so that no matter where you are on the property, you can appreciate the maritime views and the waterway and the ocean breeze. I do think that’s an incredible wow, no matter where you’re standing on the property. The centerpiece of that is a 2 ½-acre multilayered pool deck, which will certainly be a feature for all of our guests. Then, we’re going to have 12 very unique dining venues again on the waterfront.
Will there be parties to kick things off and what is the status of reservations?
We absolutely will. We are working on those plans right now. Right now, bookings are available online, so reservations start in the new year. However, we do plan to open at the end of this year — the exact date to be determined — so we will have rooms that are available sooner than that.
What’s the history of Pier Sixty-Six?
In the 1950s, Phillips 66 petroleum owned the property and it was originally a fuel dock. That 66-spire tower that has now been designated historic was built in the late 1960s. At the time, it was the tallest building in Fort Lauderdale and it completely transformed Fort Lauderdale’s skyline.
We purchased the original resort property, in December 2016. Roughly seven months later in July, we purchased the property just on the other side of 17 Street that was formerly called the Sails Hotel Marina and Shops. Collectively, that makes 32 waterfront acres. We started and focused our plans on the north side on the original property site, and that’s being redeveloped right now and we’ll open later this year.
We have development rights on the south side, but we are contemplating what makes sense there as it fits into the whole area. Part of our development rights gives us the ability to build another hotel across the street, but we just rebuilt the one across from the Pier, so I don’t know that we need that. We need to spend some time on what we think could fit there.
Could you provide a brief overview of Tavistock?
Tavistock Development Co. is a diversified real estate firm that’s owned by Tavistock Group. We specialize in planning, design, finance, construction and development of what we believe to be groundbreaking projects. We are well known for our master plan community in Orlando called Lake Nona. It’s among the bestselling communities in America, but also the most innovative as well. We’re starting a new project just down the road, Sunbridge, which celebrates living in nature. The real estate portfolio also includes a number of gems from the St. Regis Hotel in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood to Albany, our resort property in The Bahamas. This is our first real estate project in South Florida, though we’ve had a presence through our restaurants, Timpano on Las Olas, which was recently renovated as well, and then we also own Abe & Louie’s in Boca Raton.
Was the new lower circular building designed to echo the tower?
Exactly, yes. That will host a signature restaurant and also is home to the spa and the fitness center. You’ve got sweeping grand views of the water.
The new waterfront buildings have been described as having a coastal personality. What sort of elements go into that?
We worked with Garcia Stromberg, based in Palm Beach County, a wonderful local group. They took their design inspiration from the water. It was important for us given that Fort Lauderdale is the Venice of Americas. We have two 11-story condominium buildings called Azul and Indigo. They took their inspiration from coral reefs. You can kind of see that in the ebbs and the flows of the balconies, all of which have plunge pools on them. That’s a first in Fort Lauderdale for the entire building to have plunge pools on the balconies. On the northernmost side of the property that faces Harbor Beach along the Mercedes Canal, there are some four-story condominium buildings. They are taking cues from sand dunes.
Prices start at $3.85 million. They’re designer-ready units. We have started closings, so buyers will be moving in with the opening of the property, but there are still units available.
Talk a little bit about the renovation of the historic tower.
It’s a complete renovation. In the fall of 2017, Hurricane Irma came in and did significant damage to the property, which at the time was open and still operational. We did have to close portions of the property and ultimately decided to shut the property down given the level of damage that was done.
One of the most challenging elements, was trying to find somebody to repair the rotating rooftop. There’s actually not many people who can do that.
The balconies on that original tower were originally blocking the views. We worked together with the city and their historic preservation team to come up with what we felt was a good solution to keep some of that original structure, but then add glass to a portion of it so that you can enjoy those views.
There’s a new 10-story building that attaches to the original building. When you’re inside, you truly don’t know which building you’re in unless you are on the 17th story and you can see that you’re higher than the other.
Talk about the 12 culinary venues.
It is a significant increase. Several of them will be signature restaurants offering diversified dining options. We have not talked specifically about those concepts yet. Leading up to the opening toward the end of this year, we are going to start to trickle out those details and more specifics about the chefs de cuisine and the menus. But we are taking our inspiration from our marina and the idea of gathering the best from all the different ports of calls. You will see those inspirations infused in the menus and the ambiance of each of the venues.
Talk about the spa, Zenova. The first ceremonial spa in the southeast caught my eye, but then there’s a snow room, a sensory shower and a vitality pool.
It’s about a holistic health and wellness experience and a differentiated amenity set that speaks to different people’s needs. You have the traditional elements that one thinks of when they go to a spa, but also some of these newer and again, regional offerings.
The ceremonial sauna that you mentioned is quite unique. It is the first in the southeast. It’s something that’s quite popular in Europe. This is inspired by the Aufguss Saunas. It’s like a bit of a fusion between sound therapy and rituals and there’s a sauna meister that disperses aromatics and does rhythmic movements.
We hear a lot about cold plunges now and the health benefits around what that does for you, so the snow room does that without dunking you underwater.
What’s the event space going to be like?
Absolutely stunning. We have 40,000 square feet of meeting and events space. The ballrooms are gorgeous and also inspired by the marine setting. The details from the lighting and the light fixtures, the flexibility that the rooms provide are going to allow large scale events. We have some outdoor meeting spaces as well on an event lawn. So, both indoor and outdoor space that we think is going to be incredibly unique.
Were there many changes to the marina?
We also, of course, rejuvenated the marina, which has been the top yachting destination on the eastern seaboard. Most of that was on the southern side so that newly acquired property is where the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show Super Yacht Village is. There was a kink in the face dock on the south side. We straightened it out so that now you can accommodate larger vessels on the south side of the bridge, which is significant. We attract many sailboats and large vessels, and that is a really unique amenity to be able to offer. There were a number of upgrades that were made to the docks and the design on the south side to make it easier for access and navigation.
We’ve also incorporated a lot of environmental practices in terms of our waste management as well as some eco-friendly materials. We’ve also added EV charging ports because electric vessels are the next wave of technology in the boating world. We will once again host the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in October. We are one of the founding locations.
The Pier plus the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center expansion and its new hotel seem like they are really going to be a quite powerful combination. I feel like Fort Lauderdale is coming into its own right now. There’s significant investment being made across the city and a rising tide floats all boats. I think when I look specifically at the 17th Street corridor, we’re the gateway to the beach. I think it’s really significant that the investment that’s being made to bring in larger events to our convention center is having the diversification of hospitality offerings with our resorts and our food and beverage and entertainment venues. I think that’s important to the vitality of the continued growth of our city. It’s an exciting time and we’re excited.
