From his office on the 12th floor of the Las Olas Centre, Don Hall’s view stretches across the New River to take in regal yachts, fine mansions, and open skies. Hall says he likes open spaces. He even owned a ranch in Wyoming once, which explains his office’s Western décor. Yet blocking that expansive view of the New River is his “fondest wish,” he says — and Hall, a lawyer, is the corporate muscle to make it happen.
From his office perch, Hall can peer down at the Stranahan House, a two-story reminder of Fort Lauderdale’s pioneer past. That’s where he contends all the trouble began, with the house’s preservation-minded supporters. Hall’s clients, developers Related Group and Rabina Properties, have been trying for eight years to build Icon, a high-rise luxury condo building, next to the Stranahan House. Supporters of the house and the City of Fort Lauderdale have fought back, saying 42 stories of swanky skyboxes will cast a shadow over one of the few remaining pieces of the city’s past. There have been charges and countercharges, votes and scuttled deals. Now, Hall is spearheading a new tack: His clients are suing the nonprofit Stranahan House, its supporters, and a single critic of Icon, asking for unspecified damages. Why?