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Convention Center Update

City of Fort Lauderdale • District IV

Expansion and

Headquarters Hotel

roward County has made several strides in recent months in the development
of the Broward County Convention Center Expansion and Headquarter Hotel
Bproject (Project.)

As you may recall, this is an endeavor that Broward County has been pursuing for
many years and we are finally taking the appropriate steps to put a shovel in the
ground. The initial steps included partnering with a development team, in which we
selected Matthews Southwest, Inc. (MSW) to lead the delivery for the design and
construction of the Project, as well as attaining feedback from the Board of County
Chip LaMarca Commissioners, the City of Fort Lauderdale and the County team (staff and consultants)
District IV Commissioner
and reviewing conceptual drawings.
In April 2017 a design proposal for the project was approved, but after subsequent
negotiations and fact finding sessions it was determined that that specific hotel design
would require a much larger subsidy from the County than originally proposed. County
staff requested a redesign to bring down the costs of the project and the Developer
initiated a redesign of the hotel that resulted in a significant reduction in costs. In
October 2017 the Direct Procurement Authority, which is composed of the Board of
County Commissioners, approved the Design Agreement between MSW and Broward
County for both conceptual and schematic design work for the Convention Center
Expansion and Headquarter Hotel.
The design contract
also includes the
development of both
schematic and
construction drawings
for three Enabling
Projects. These projects
must be first completed
to enable the rest of the
Project to move
forward. In order to
move forward with
demolition of the north
end of the Convention
Center, a new Central
Energy Plant needs to
be designed,
constructed, connected
and activated, so that

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