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residents can have their masseuses
and nail techs set up.
Throughout the common areas, the
building went for high-end
finishes, from the wood-look
porcelain floors, marble walls,
and textured wallpapers. “It’s a
resort-style building,” Olivia
explained. “We want residents to
feel like they’re on vacation when
they come home.”
There’s also something unique as
you continue up to the residences.
The building is divided in half,
north and south, with a bank of
The city capitulated and gave Related permission to build a elevators serving both sides. The apartments in the center
high-rise in 2005, but the market crashed before it could be of the building separate the two sides, giving them views
built. Then, some supporters of the Stranahan House museum both east and west.
sued to prevent development. An appeals court quashed the
To decorate the models, Related hired Miami interior
suit in 2011, and Related set out to build the project.
designer Steven G, who filled the open floor plans with
By then, Campbell said it was time to rethink things. “We dramatic waterfall-like chandeliers, white and beige
took a step back,” he says. The larger, block-like building furniture set off by occasional pops of fresh flowers, and
with fewer amenities first envisioned didn’t match the cushioned headboards anchoring bedrooms that look out
current-day market, he says. So instead the company went of a high-end New York hotel.
with a design by Sieger Suarez Architects, which also The idea behind bringing in among Miami’s most famous
sketched the Icon South Beach building.
interior designers was to show that Related intends this
The final Icon Las Olas begins as a rectangle of parking building to elevate the market, Campbell says. “Now you’ll
garage and retail below and then continues up as an oval, start to see a critical mass in downtown Fort Lauderdale,
a design that cost Related Group space that it would have and it’s exciting to see this transformation,” he says.
gained by a simpler shape, but it makes for a far more Among the symbols of the change is that concrete ribbon
stylish building, Campbell says.
hanging above the building. “We wanted it to be iconic
Aside from the design, the building also boasts something from top to bottom,” Campbell says. “It really is the icing
rare on the eighth and ninth floors. On a recent Monday on the cake.”
afternoon, construction manager John Olivia guided a tour Icon Las Olas
of the “amenity floors.” He began on the eighth, home to 500 E Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale,
the billiards, spinning, and pilates rooms in the center of the
property. There are multiple party rooms and a bar with 954-715-4577, iconlasolasfl.com
views of an outside sitting area with mature landscaping By the Numbers
and a pergola. The pool deck is to the east, featuring views 45 stories
of the Riverside Hotel and then the ocean beyond it. 272 units
1998 year the project began
Above the bar, on the ninth floor, is a kitchen area where $2.5 million original cost of the land
residents can pour espressos and snack on pastries.
$8,000 penthouse rent
Beyond it is the main workout area, with a locker room, $3 average per square foot cost
sauna, and a full gym with free weights, treadmills, and
$200 million cost of the project
machines. There’s a pair of treatment rooms, where

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