What Actually Changes at the Galleria Before Any Tower Breaks Ground?

"From the developer's perspective, Live Local changes the dynamic of where the commission fits into this project," Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis told the Sun Sentinel in September. "The state Legislature fashioned this process so the commission and planning board would not be part of the normal channels of approval."

In the same interview, the mayor said he had not received any recent updates on the Galleria project. For anyone living along the Sunrise Boulevard stretch of the Intracoastal, that means the eight-tower plan is moving through a process with no hearing to attend and no vote to watch. The changes neighbors can see are smaller and closer in: paper over a storefront, a remodel inside the mall, and a furniture flagship scheduled for late 2027.

Where the tower plan stands as of early October 2026

The Galleria sits on Sunrise Boulevard just west of the Intracoastal Waterway and east of the Middle River. Here is how the redevelopment has moved since plans were filed:

1. August 2025. Redevelopment plans go to City Hall under the Live Local Act.
2. September 2025. A joint venture of GFO Investments, InSite Group, Prime Finance and Atlas Hill Real Estate buys the 31.5-acre property for $73 million. The purchase leaves out the separately owned Dillard's building and the Macy's store, which sits on a ground lease.
3. November 2025. A state Attorney General opinion finds the project can use the disputed height and include both housing and a hotel. That opinion is a legal reading, not a city permit.
4. December 2025. The developer says it plans to seek building permits after administrative site-plan approval, then break ground once those permits are issued.
5. May 13, 2026. The FAA finds no hazard to air navigation for eight proposed structures. The determinations say outright that they do not authorize construction.
6. Late May 2026. Developer Russell Galbut says it is too early to estimate a construction start because the plans have not been approved.
7. September 2026. A city spokeswoman says the project is still under review, along with a traffic analysis.

The plan now under review has five towers called Galleria East and three called Galleria West. All eight rise 308 feet 6 inches to the roofline, and rooftop equipment takes them to 339 feet, according to city records. Early reports said nine towers. The Sun Sentinel has since confirmed the count is eight and says one L-shaped building may have caused the confusion. The program includes 3,144 apartments and condos plus a 170-room hotel, along with new shops and restaurants.

If you have seen a rendering with athletic courts next to the towers, those courts are at George English Park, just across the way. They are not part of the Galleria site. The Sun Sentinel issued a correction to say so.

Why no hearing appears on the city calendar

The Live Local Act requires a developer to set aside 40% of the residential units as workforce housing. In return, the project gets an administrative approval process with no public hearings and no commission votes. At the Galleria, that comes to 1,273 apartments reserved for at least 30 years and priced for households earning up to 120% of area median income. With Broward's current median income of $102,500, the Sun Sentinel calculates that tenants in those units could earn as much as $123,000 a year.

The proposal has drawn public outcry from residents worried about its impact on nearby roads and neighborhoods. The one item on the City Commission's record is a February 3, 2026 motion about a Galleria town hall, approved as amended. That was a procedural step, not a vote on the project. So the traffic analysis now in review is where neighborhood road concerns are being weighed. Attorney Keith Poliakoff, who has represented Live Local developers but not this one, expects the law to be used for more mall redevelopments in South Florida until it expires on October 1, 2033.

The changes are starting inside the mall

The tower review is moving slowly. The mall itself has already begun to change. In mid-August, a Chico's clerk told a Sun Sentinel reporter the store would close in two weeks to make way for a remodel of that section. By early September, the sign was gone and brown paper covered the glass. Stephanie Toothaker, the developer's attorney, described what comes next:

"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. There are significant upgrades proposed to the mall itself, including facade improvements and at significant mall entrances."

Tenants were reshuffling even before the sale. Apple had moved into a larger space in the mall by September 2025 and left its old storefront empty. The mall directory now lists Artesano Bakehouse as "now open" on Level 2 near Pandora.

The biggest arrival on the schedule is a 94,000-square-foot, two-level Wayfair announced in April 2026. It will be the company's first store in Florida, and it is expected to open in late 2027. It would be the first big new store since a long run of departures: Lord & Taylor in 2002, Saks Fifth Avenue in 2009 and Neiman Marcus in 2020.

The existing mall stays at the center of the plan. The site-plan figures reported in late 2025 keep 675,968 square feet of existing mall space in Galleria East and add 127,966 square feet for health and fitness, retail and restaurants. Galleria West keeps more than 250,000 square feet of commercial space. In October 2025, the developer told NBC 6 that every square foot of retail would remain and that the mall would get more than $100 million in investment.

Who is serving dinner while the plans sit at City Hall

The mall's current Eat & Drink roster lists The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, P.F. Chang's, Blue Martini, Tobu, Mango Biche Mia, Tossed, Freddo Gelato, Charley's Philly Steaks and Auntie Anne's. Blue Martini pairs tapas and cocktails with live music, which makes it the roster's evening entertainment option.

None of the published plan summaries names any of these restaurants as being torn down, moved or kept. They describe retained commercial space and new restaurant space for the district as a whole. The developer's promise that retail space will remain covers total square footage. It does not promise any particular tenant a place.

The fall calendar, with dates

The mall has already posted its events through the holidays.

The mall's event pages don't carry publish dates, so check a listing before you go. Palm Court hosts both the coat drive and the Santa visits this season.

The next public milestone is the end of the city's administrative review and traffic analysis. Building permits come after that, and only then a groundbreaking. As of September 5, 2026, the developers were still waiting on city approvals a year after filing, and the Sun Sentinel said not to expect a groundbreaking any time soon. The Wayfair opening in late 2027 is the most specific date on the Galleria's calendar so far.

If you live near the Galleria and want to know what each stage of the review could mean for your building, your street or a future sale, Jaime Cristancho follows the Sunrise Boulevard corridor closely and can walk you through it in English or Spanish. Schedule a Consultation.