Boomers Entertainment officially closed its doors on January 25, with go- karts screeching to a halt to make room for the new $250 million DaniaLIVE Marketplace.
The New York-based Kimco Realty, owners of the Hollywood Oakwood Plaza, partnered last year with local companies Master Development and Salzman Real Estate Advisors to bring the massive
1.3 million square-foot shopping and entertainment center to fruition.
The brain child of Bob Shapiro of Master Development and advisor Terry Salzman, the two teamed up with Kimco and began purchasing properties between Stirling Road and the power lines near Old Griffin Road, east along I-95. The last piece of the puzzle was the 41.7 acres of land at 1500, 1700, 1800, 1801 N.W. 1st
Street and a vacant property along N.W.
2nd Steet.
“Kimco have been very good partners and are the main financers of the project,” Shapiro said.
The team, with Kimco as the financer, paid $29 million to Realty Income Corporation to acquire all five properties, which includes the building leased by Boomers Entertainment and the wooden roller coaster. The Hurricane roller coaster shut down operations in 2011 due to low revenue.
Plans to demolish the Boomers building and roller coaster are tentatively scheduled for as soon as May 2015, with DaniaLIVE ground breaking scheduled for later in the year, though sources close to the project believe those estimates will be pushed into 2016 or later.
DaniaLIVE is a 100-acre open shopping and entertainment center that will include dozens of restaurants and retail stores, ranging from sit-down dining to fast food options, with a wide variety of fashion stores from small boutiques to big clothing store chains.
Plans include a multi-story hotel in the center of the project with around 180 rooms and small cafes where patrons can sit and enjoy coffee while live musicians play.
There are also talks for a 95,000-square-foot sports and fishing store similar to Bass Pro Shop and a large wholesaler, such as Costco.
Shapiro believes the project will create thousands of construction jobs during production and an estimated 5,000 permanent jobs after completion.
The group also plans to build more than 300 residential homes to the east of the center.
“The homes will likely be rental properties,” Shapiro said. This is similar to the housing area to the south of Oakwood Plaza which creates a successful steady flow of on site consumers.
The group will be making multiple presentations for approvals at upcoming city commission meetings, but for now, the reviews by city officials have been positive and the project is expected to move forward.
February 2015 edition Dania Beach Press
