Cymbal DLT in the News

This particular three-tower project, with its maritime theme and yacht valet, was tailor-made for Fort Lauderdale, its developers say.

Hence its name: Nautica.

The project, first unveiled in 2022, won commission approval Tuesday night after a brief discussion that drew a handful of supporters and not one single critic.

“You’ve got a lot of development going on over there — nothing as significant as this,” supporter Dan Lindblade told the commission before the vote.

Lindblade, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, said he lives near the project site on the south side of the New River.

“For me, it’s unique because of the yachting aspect,” he said. “With our new marina we have down on Las Olas and everything happening in the urban core, this is just another asset for us to sell Fort Lauderdale. And I believe it is going to be an important asset for us moving forward.”

Nautica Residences and Hotel calls for a 37-story condo tower with 200 units; a 30-story apartment tower with 360 units; and a 30-story hotel with 119 rooms.

The towers will sit on 4 acres on the south side of the New River at 400 SW Third Ave. next to Raintree Riverwalk Residences, a long-awaited project expected to break ground next year. That project, named for Fort Lauderdale’s legendary century-old rain tree, calls for two towers with 678 apartments. One tower will be 29 stories and the other will be 26.

Both projects — representing a combined investment of $1.5 billion — are the vision of developer Asi Cymbal, chairman of Cymbal DLT Companies. Together, they will transform that section of town into the 6-acre Nautico district.

“We’re just super excited to be building and developing this incredible district on the south side of the river,” Cymbal told commissioners. “We’ll have a branded hotel, branded condo and a yacht valet. Our intent is to elevate the south side of the New River and downtown Fort Lauderdale.”

One of Nautica’s three towers will rise 37 stories in a neighborhood with a 30-story height cap — one of several design deviations granted by the commission.

The Nautica project needed commission approval for several zoning deviations, including the height of the 37-story condo tower, the height of the nine-story podium and a parking reduction.

Fort Lauderdale’s code required 1,940 parking spaces, but the developer plans to build 1,599 spaces. The Nautica project will have a yacht club with private membership and a little extra something most condo towers don’t have: A yacht valet.

“This will be the first yacht valet in a branded condo district,” Cymbal told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in a previous interview. “You press a button on your phone and you get your 61-foot luxury yacht waiting for you on the water, completely catered and ready to go.”

How long will the wait be?

“The goal is under 3 minutes,” Cymbal said. “No one has anything like that in the state — or the world, for that matter. Not to our knowledge.”

Nautica’s 90-slip marina will feature 84 dry slips that can accommodate vessels up to 48 feet and six wet slips that will accommodate vessels up to 60 feet.

The project also calls for a spa, lounge, ballroom and studio co-work space along with nearly 18,000 square feet of commercial space, more than 8,500 square feet of restaurant space and nearly 6,500 square feet of cafe space.

Hector Torres, CEO of Cymbal DLT Companies, was among the residents who urged the commission to embrace the project Tuesday night.

“When we set out to design this particular site, we wanted to complement everything the city has done and will do,” said Torres, who lives in Fort Lauderdale’s Victoria Park neighborhood.

The entire district is based on the maritime theme, Torres told the commission.

Instead of valeting your car, you valet your yacht, he said. Residents will have access to a private yacht club, first-class dining and amenities that are part of the maritime industry.

“What we set out to do is (figure out) what does the city have that makes it different — that’s not Palm Beach, not Miami,” Torres said. “We are Fort Lauderdale. So the design is implemented with the idea of putting Fort Lauderdale on the world global map as a city that not only says it is Venice of America, but it will be Venice of America.”