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FEATURE continued

o get an idea of really how
different Icon Las Olas is
Tfrom other buildings in Fort
Lauderdale, it’s best to start at
the very top. The highest point is
actually a ribbon of concrete
and rebar suspended over the
top of the building. The floating
oval is painted white, stark
against the blue sky on the day
we took a tour, and lighted up at
night, like a crown on top of Fort
Lauderdale’s tallest building.
Below it, the 44th floor is
nothing but sky deck. It wraps
completely around the building,
so that someone visiting the top far more people out at night. Those buildings are also
floor can get views from every side. To the east, the New luring new crowds of residents: joining business
River takes its turns out to the Intracoastal, the ocean professionals are families and empty nesters leaving big
spread out beyond that. To the south is the airport and suburban homes for high rises.
then the skylines of Hallandale and Miami. To the west you As of late October, the 272-unit Icon was already 60
can see the arena in Sunrise and then the edge of
percent leased, Campbell said. The apartments run from a
civilization. To the north is the endless neighborhoods and 960-square-foot one-bedroom for $2,500 a month, up to
towering condos along the beach.
$8,000 for the penthouse. With an average rent of about
There’s also the skyline of Fort Lauderdale, seeming so small $4,500, that’s $3 a square foot, among the most, if not
from up there, the Bank of America building so far below. the most, expensive rental in town. Someday, Campbell
For residents of the Icon, they can look down on all of this expects the building to convert to condos.
from the seating around the fire pit, along the railing that With rentals coming in quickly, Related Group also looked
surrounds the sky deck, or maybe at the highest accessible
to fill the building’s bottom floor. Facing Las Olas is a bank
point, a hot tub terrace at the back of the building.
of two-story windows that will one day hold two
In most residential buildings, the top floor is all penthouses, restaurants. A third will come in on the back side, with
but here it’s a reminder that the builders wanted to do views of the New River. The first one, in a 5,000-square-
something different, to take Fort Lauderdale’s market one foot space, will be Etaru, a Japanese concept by Rainer
more step up. Becker, co-founder of the upscale chain Zuma. Etaru will

“This building really means that downtown Fort Lauderdale serve sushi, tempura, and robatayaki and is expected to
is coming into its own as a major player in the South employ 150 people when it opens in the spring. Campbell
Florida market,” says Patrick Campbell, vice president of says Related is also in talks with people behind two other
The Related Group, the Icon’s builder. “It’s on its way to concepts to fill out the rest of the floor.
becoming a 24-hour city.” Of course, it wasn’t always this rosy for the Icon. Fort
Lauderdale founder Frank Stranahan once owned the land
Campbell thinks back to when the city gave his company
approval in 2012 to build the New River Yacht Club where the building now stands, and his home, converted
building. Campbell and a few other Related Group brass to a museum, still sits adjacent to it. Later, the land became
decided to celebrate. It was a Tuesday night, and they home to the popular Hyde Park Market until the property
found Las Olas nearly empty. sold in 1998 to developers for $2.5 million. To prevent
development on the site, the city offered $19.6 million for
Now Campbell says the new condo and rental buildings the land in an attempt to turn it into a park.
have turned downtown into an actual neighborhood, with

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