"It's a mistake to say it's fully approved," Mayor Dean Trantalis told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on October 22, the day the paper reported that the city had signed off on the eight-tower redevelopment of the Galleria. "It's technically approved subject to those requirements."
That qualifier explains the next stretch of time for anyone who uses the Galleria as a neighborhood mall. Most of what the city still requires is about the road out front. On that road, the Florida Department of Transportation is already rebuilding Sunrise Boulevard from the Middle River to the Intracoastal. For Coral Ridge and Bayview, the near-term change at the corner of Sunrise and the Intracoastal comes from the bridge work and from the store moves inside the mall. Towers come later, if they come at all.
What the city signed, and what it didn't
The Sun Sentinel reported that the developer received a Certificate of Completeness, the administrative approval Florida's Live Local Act allows. Under that law, the project did not need a vote from the City Commission or the planning board. The plan calls for eight 30-story towers with 3,144 residences on the 31.5-acre site. A joint venture of GFO Investments, InSite Group, Prime Finance and Atlas Hill Real Estate bought the property for $73 million in September 2025.
City records divide the plan into two parts:
- Galleria East: five towers and 1,981 residences, plus 61,200 square feet of commercial fitness space, 32,596 square feet of other commercial space and 1,360 square feet of restaurant space.
- Galleria West: three towers and 1,163 residences, plus a 170-room hotel, 9,140 square feet of office space, 5,001 square feet of restaurant space and 4,806 square feet of commercial space.
Commissioner Steve Glassman told the paper that the mall remodel is part of the first phase, but he wasn't sure when work would start. Neither the approval nor the coverage around it gives a construction start date. No report says whether the East or West towers would go first.
The list between approval and a shovel
Developer attorney Stephanie Toothaker called the approval a confirmation of "adequate infrastructure capacity." She said it carries "extensive requirements for transportation mitigation, utility coordination and phased permitting milestones." According to city records the Sun Sentinel obtained, those requirements include:
- Revised civil and site plans that match the access points, circulation and trip generation in the approved traffic study dated September 28, 2026. These are due before the first building permit. If later changes materially affect that study, a new traffic study is required.
- FDOT permits and approvals for any improvements that affect Sunrise Boulevard. These are due before the first certificate of occupancy.
- A Broward County Surface Water Management License, due before any building permit, early start or phased construction approval.
- Sewer improvements. The city's December 18, 2025 capacity letter found enough water capacity, but it said the existing sewer system needs upgrades to handle the added flow.
- Park impact fees for the residential units, paid when permits are issued.
Four of those five items deal with how cars, water and sewage move around the site. The mayor doubts the developer can clear them economically. Vice Mayor Ben Sorensen told the paper the city is "already stretched, from traffic to water to sewer to stormwater." The developer's team says it will meet the milestones as the project moves forward. Either way, the timing of any construction on the site depends on when these requirements are met.
Sunrise is already a work zone
The second item on that list involves a road that is already a construction zone. FDOT's $43.2 million rehabilitation of State Road 838, Sunrise Boulevard, runs from west of Middle River Drive to east of North Birch Road and started in June 2026. That stretch covers the Galleria's whole frontage.
Since September 3, the south span of the Sunrise Boulevard bridge over the Intracoastal has been closed. Eastbound and westbound traffic share the north span, with two lanes each way. While that setup lasts, drivers can't turn left from westbound Sunrise onto southbound NE 26th Avenue. The City of Fort Lauderdale's traffic advisory, published August 28, says the change lasts through early 2027.
So a Bayview resident who used to come back from the beach and turn left toward NE 26th Avenue now needs another route home through the holidays. The completion date for the whole project depends on which FDOT document you read. The traffic shift notice says early 2028. The FDOT project page says fall 2027. Either way, the Galleria's future Sunrise Boulevard improvements would need FDOT approval on a road that FDOT is rebuilding on its own schedule.
Inside, the reshuffle has already started
The construction that has actually begun is inside the mall. In September, Toothaker described the plan to the Sun Sentinel:
"The mall remains in full operation during all of the planned improvements, many of which are already in permitting. There will of course be some tenant relocations and changes as the owner continues to elevate the tenant mix as part of the development."
She also described proposed facade upgrades and improvements to major mall entrances. The developer's earlier plan, as Bisnow reported in October 2025, was to put the towers on the existing parking lots and renovate the mall instead of tearing it down.
Chico's was the first visible change. A store clerk told the Sun Sentinel in mid-August that the store would close within two weeks so that section of the mall could be remodeled. By early September, the storefront was covered in brown paper. Chico's own location page says it expects to reopen in a new space in December 2026.
Some newer arrivals are already open. The mall lists Artesano Bakehouse on Level 2 near Pandora and Gia's Chocolatier outside Macy's and Finish Line as now open. The long-standing restaurants are still in the directory: Seasons 52, The Capital Grille, P.F. Chang's and Blue Martini.
Macy's and Dillard's are the two remaining department-store anchors. Lord & Taylor left in 2002, Saks Fifth Avenue in 2009 and Neiman Marcus in 2020. H&M now occupies the former Saks space.
The next large addition comes later. Wayfair announced in April that its first Florida store will be a two-level, 94,000-square-foot location at the Galleria, opening in late 2027. That date falls a few months before FDOT's later estimate for finishing Sunrise Boulevard. A home store that size will rely on the same road the tower conditions are about.
The season on the calendar
With the bridge shift still in place, the first stretch of the remodel underway and the towers waiting on permits, the holiday calendar at the Galleria looks like a normal year. The mall's Photos with Santa listing has the dates:
- Thursday, November 26: Thanksgiving hours, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Friday, November 27: Santa's Arrival Celebration in Palm Court, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Santa photos continue daily through December 24.
- Mondays, November 30, December 7 and December 14: pet photo nights with Santa, 4 to 7 p.m.
- Sunday, December 6: sensory-friendly Santa session, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
The mall recommends reservations for Santa photos and takes walk-ups as time allows. Its online hours calendar currently runs only through December 20, so check Christmas Eve and New Year's hours closer to the date.
Two neighborhood events nearby don't require crossing the bridge. Light Up the Galt is on Thursday, November 12, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at North Beach Restaurants and Shoppes, NE 33rd Avenue and NE 33rd Street. The city's event page lists live music, food, children's activities and a tree lighting at 6:30 p.m. The Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade is set for Saturday, December 12, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Its route goes east along the New River, then north on the Intracoastal to Lake Santa Barbara in Pompano Beach, which takes it past the Bayview and Coral Ridge waterfront. The organizer says dates can change, so check before planning a dock party.
The tower approval will get revisited as the developer works through each condition, and the bridge configuration is due to change in early 2027. Between now and then, the Galleria you know stays open, with Chico's moving to a new space in December and a detour at the bridge.
Questions about how the Galleria redevelopment and the Sunrise Boulevard work could affect a home in Coral Ridge or Bayview, now or after the permits are issued? Jared Niles follows these approvals closely and is glad to talk through what they mean for your property. Let's Connect.
