Analysis

The City and CRA are inspired by the global rise of the ‘Innovation District’ concept and is looking to this model for the redevelopment of MLK Blvd.

Successful Innovation Districts focus on skill-training, educational opportunities, and employment creation for current residents and new residents alike.

They are designed to embody “live, work, play” environments by concentrating a variety of daytime (office, commercial, retail, restaurants, etc.) and nighttime

(restaurants, breweries, public entertainment, cultural arts, etc.) economic uses with a dense residential component. Innovation Districts are also firmly rooted

in the notion of collaboration; the close proximity of different economic uses encourages interaction between business, residents, and stakeholders and allows for heightened levels of local collaboration and innovation to be achieved.

The Pompano Beach Innovation District is an ambitious redevelopment project jointly undertaken by the City of Pompano Beach and the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency. The vision is to create a dense, urban, and pedestrian-oriented downtown that will not only support thousands of new residents but will also become a hub for employment, education, cultural arts, retail, and commercial services. To achieve the desired density, the standard practice of using dry retention ponds to manage storm and drain water must be thrown out. An innovative linear-style drainage canal system, inspired by the canal system in Amsterdam, will be constructed in its place. This linear-style system will not only increase build-out capacity in the Innovation District. It will become an asset of its own by creating a unique sense of place, by offering stunning canal-side views and dining opportunities, and by providing opportunity for recreational activities such as paddle boarding and boating.

Development patterns in Innovation Districts are typically denser than the Floridian car-based development patterns observed over recent decades. The City and CRA are encouraging a development pattern along this section of MLK Blvd. that is transit-oriented and includes a combination of surface and structured parking to the rear of the properties fronting the Boulevard. Redevelopment activities will include the construction of mixed-use buildings; desired uses

include office, restaurant, retail service, public entertainment and neighborhood oriented uses on the first floor fronting MLK Blvd. Residential uses on the upper floors are required and the CRA encourages the provision of parking that can be shared by multiple users and be made available to the public, especially during off-peak hours. Developments should be transit oriented and designed to take full advantage of the Sites’ close proximity to the Broward County Transit Station and the future Florida East Coast (FEC) railway station.