UM News

The School of Architecture’s Jaime Correa and Steven Fett were awarded the Florida Redevelopment Association’s (FRA) 2014 President’s Award for their collaborative redesign of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea’s main street. As FRA President Jeremy Earle noted, “it is a stark contrast to what was there before” and has had a “profound” impact on the local community and economy.

“By redesigning the public realm, the project addressed drainage problems, added new plazas that mimicked sand dunes, created brick paver promenades and reconfigured parking areas,” Earle wrote in explaining his selection of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea’s Commercial Boulevard Streetscape Improvement Program as the “Best of the Best” in the FRA’s 2014 Best Book.

“In addition to all of this,” Earle continued, “the town was able to incorporate an extensive public art program in the project, and include sustainability features and materials such as using locally sourced recycled construction products and materials, new LED light fixtures, new street furniture made of recycled wood or plastic, and native drought-tolerant landscape plantings.”

As a result, Earle said, pedestrian traffic has increased upward of 60 percent, businesses are reporting significant increases in sales, property values are increasing, and the hospitality industry is seeing increased private sector interest and investment.