On Hollywood Beach, Only City Stands a Chance of Making a Sale

Photo: Google maps

The Mermaid on Pierce Street in Hollywood Beach.

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Like so many in this market, Eileen Miller wants to sell. But the owner of two small hotels on Hollywood Beach -- the Swan and the Mermaid -- is up against a formidable adversary. The City of Hollywood, which is also a seller and whose commissioners and staff are under political pressure to break ground on the long-stagnant site on Johnson Street: a big piece of oceanfront land that they may be tempted to give away practically for free.

"Someone is going to get the property very cheap," says Miller. Across the street to the south is another big piece of undeveloped property, where the Hollywood Grande was supposed to be built by developer Fabrizio Passalacqua. He filed for bankruptcy, and the city doesn't control that site like it does the one on Johnson Street. So you can bet that whoever does is going to drive a hard bargain.

"I have a for-sale sign on my building," says Miller, "but who is going to buy this property and Fabrizio's property to do a project on Pierce Street when can get the property on Johnson Street for nothing?"

Photo: Google Maps

Arrested development: The site of a big piece of oceanfront property off Johnson Street that the city will give away to the first developer with a pulse.

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One of the few prospective buyers that paid a visit to Miller expressed anxiety about the two major undeveloped properties that lie on either side of the Mermaid.

As for Miller's other hotel, the Swan, that's an even more futile case. It lies one block south, on Fillmore Street, which offers this view:

Photo: Google maps

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