Two tower proposals now sit on Rio Vista's edges. One is on Cordova Road near SE 17th Street and the other is on South Federal Highway, a few blocks south of the U.S. 1 tunnel. Their combined residential count is above 1,200 units. They are also moving through two different approval systems. One ends with a vote by city commissioners. The other ends with an administrative sign-off by city staff, and no elected official votes on it.
If you're comparing Rio Vista with other neighborhoods close to downtown, the approval track matters more than the asking price. Before you buy a home near one of these edges, find out which rules apply to the commercial land nearby. Under those rules, neighborhood objections carry very different weight.
Cordova Road: the staff-review track
The Terrasse project would replace the closed Winn-Dixie at 1625 Cordova Road and the Crown Liquors store at 1645 Cordova Road with three residential towers holding 765 apartments, according to the Sun Sentinel's August 1, 2026 report. The $725 million plan calls for two 36-story towers of 400 feet each, with 222 and 228 luxury condo residences. A third tower, 19 stories and 200 feet, would hold 315 workforce housing apartments. Two separate garages of nine and eight levels would serve the residents.
Terrasse was filed under Florida's Live Local Act. Under that law, a qualifying project gets an administrative review by city staff. It doesn't go before the City Commission or a planning board. In the same Sun Sentinel report, Mayor Dean Trantalis said the towers would dwarf homes in Harbordale, Lauderdale Harbors and Rio Vista, and called the location "inappropriate." Vice Mayor Ben Sorensen told the paper he was working with the city attorney to give the city as much say as possible during the administrative process. The article also quoted the Rio Vista Civic Association's treasurer, who expected far more traffic on 17th Street.
Robert Lochrie, the land-use attorney for the developers, told the Sun Sentinel the site is a logical one, citing its access to the airport, the port, I-95, the convention center and Broward Health. He said the package was designed without any requests for variances or waivers. As of that August report, the project was still under city staff review. Lochrie put groundbreaking at mid-2027 or early 2028 and completion at 2029 or early 2030.
Terrasse would not be the first Live Local tower on this stretch. The Quay, from the Related Group, BH Group and PEBB Enterprises, was approved in late 2025 for the 1500 block of SE 17th Street. It is a 33-story, 380-foot tower with 521 apartments, 217 of them reserved as affordable.
Why the 10-story cap doesn't reach Rio Vista
Live Local does include a height limit meant for projects next to houses. The statute lets a city cap a project at 10 stories when the site borders single-family zoning on two or more sides, in a development with at least 25 contiguous single-family homes. The definition of "adjacent" in Florida Statutes section 166.04151 is narrow:
"the term 'adjacent to' means those properties sharing more than one point of a property line, but does not include properties separated by a public road or body of water, including manmade lakes or ponds."
Rio Vista's edges are major roads and water: SE 17th Street, Federal Highway, the New River and the Intracoastal. Under that definition, a single-family lot across one of those roads or waterways doesn't count as adjacent. The 10-story cap applies only when a project shares property lines with single-family parcels, and along Rio Vista's edges the commercial parcels are across a road or a waterway.
When the cap doesn't apply, the statute uses a different height benchmark. A city can't hold a Live Local project below the tallest height currently allowed, or allowed on July 1, 2023, for a commercial or residential building within one mile. Lochrie told the Sun Sentinel that Terrasse sits within a mile of downtown, where Fort Lauderdale's Regional Activity Center zoning allows unlimited height, subject to Federal Aviation Administration review. In his view, that means Terrasse has no height cap.
The statute also says a qualifying project must be approved administratively if it meets the city's multifamily development rules other than density, floor area ratio, height and land use. Neighborhood objections still get raised in public and still get reported. On the Live Local track, though, the law doesn't make them part of the approval decision.
Federal Highway: the track that goes to a vote
On Rio Vista's northern side, at 633 S. Federal Highway, Cain and Kushner have proposed Rio Vista Residences. The plan is a pair of towers, 28 and 22 stories, connected by a nine-story podium with 841 parking spaces. The design also includes restaurants, shops and a large fitness club. The North Tower would rise 306 feet to the roofline.
This project doesn't use Live Local. It is in the Downtown Regional Activity Center, where tall buildings are expected. The developer's attorney wrote to the city that "neighborhood compatibility requirements do not apply" in those districts, according to the Sun Sentinel's September 10, 2026 report. The plan does ask for deviations from the Downtown Master Plan on building length, floorplate size, podium height and street cross sections. Those deviations are why it has to go to the City Commission. If the plan met the master plan as written, the Development Review Committee, a group of city staffers, would handle it without any public hearing.
The review has already produced feedback. The Sun Sentinel reported that staff called the massing "bulky and overwhelming" and asked the developer to shift the towers back from the public realm. In the city's Development Review Committee comments, staff also asked for better garage screening, fixes to blank west-facing walls, and stronger corner and storefront design. Trantalis told the Sun Sentinel he was relieved this project isn't using Live Local, because a full review "gives staff more flexibility."
This is the track where design comments and a commission vote can change what gets built.
| Project | Location | Proposed scale | Approval track | Last reported status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terrasse | 1625 and 1645 Cordova Road | Two 36-story towers plus one 19-story tower, 765 units | Live Local, administrative staff approval | Under staff review as of August 1, 2026 |
| The Quay | 1500 block of SE 17th Street | 33 stories, 521 apartments | Live Local | Approved late 2025, in pre-construction planning as of August 2026 |
| Rio Vista Residences | 633 S. Federal Highway | 28 and 22 stories, 440 residences | Downtown Regional Activity Center, City Commission approval required for deviations | On the September 8, 2026 Development Review Committee agenda |
What the 2026 law changed for the Cordova Road track
The Legislature revised Live Local again this year. HB 1389 was signed in June 2026 and became Chapter 2026-179. It limits a city's ability to restrict a qualifying project's height through setback or stepback rules. Applicants whose submissions were received before July 1, 2026, had the option to stay under the earlier version of the statute if they notified the city by that July 1 deadline. So two projects filed in the same year may not be reviewed under the same rules.
The statute now also requires each city, starting November 1, 2026, to report to the state every year on Live Local projects proposed or approved in the prior fiscal year. Those reports include unit totals and affordable-unit counts. Over time, that should give the public a clearer statewide count of these projects.
Checking the parcels near a Rio Vista address before you offer
For a home near 17th Street or Federal Highway, these public sources show which approval track the nearby commercial land is on:
- The city's Live Local map. The Affordable Housing Incentives page links to a "Potential Locations for Qualifying Live Local Development" map and the city's submission and review procedure. Under that procedure, qualifying applications are reviewed administratively as Site Plan Level I.
- Development Review Committee agendas. The City Clerk's DRC page posts agendas, backup files and staff comments by meeting date. Rio Vista Residences is filed as case UDP-S26024. The city takes comments at [email protected].
- The commission calendar. The Legistar calendar can be filtered to City Commission and Development Review Committee meetings. It's where a hearing on the Federal Highway deviations would appear.
This post is general information about how these rules are written. It isn't legal advice. If a specific parcel affects your purchase, ask a land-use attorney or the city's planning staff how the rules apply to it.
A few direct answers
Does Live Local's 10-story limit protect homes across 17th Street? The statute's definition of "adjacent" leaves out properties separated by a public road or a body of water, so a home across a street from a project site isn't counted for that cap.
Can neighbors speak at a Live Local hearing? Qualifying projects are approved administratively, without a vote by the governing body or a review board. The Federal Highway project is different. Its deviation requests send it to the City Commission.
How many of Terrasse's units would be affordable? Live Local requires at least 40% of units to be affordable rentals for at least 30 years. Terrasse puts its 315 workforce apartments in the 19-story tower.
If you own a home or condo near Rio Vista's edges and want to know how these proposals could affect its value, our owner-led team at D'Angelo Realty Group tracks these filings week by week, and we can show you what they mean for your property. Request a Free Condo Market Valuation, and we'll include the approval status of the nearby parcels in our review.
