"I am glad the city and the developer are now moving forward with this dream of Lighthouse Point Yacht Club members." Mayor Kyle Van Buskirk said that in September, the week the clubhouse on Northeast 27 Court came down after six decades of charity events, mariners and tennis.
The same New Pelican report carried a second story a few paragraphs down. Brixmor Property Group, which owns the Venetian Isles Shopping Center at US 1 and Sample Road, has submitted plans for a major redo of the 1958 center and its Publix. A Sample Road improvement project from Federal Highway to the Intracoastal is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2027.
In a city this size, that is a lot of change in one window. The two biggest plans are built in phases, and each is set up so the piece people use most keeps operating while the rest gets rebuilt. That changes how the next couple of years will look and feel.
What Came Down on Northeast 27 Court, and What Didn't
The clubhouse had been closed since 2022. While it sat empty, members kept using the tennis courts, the pool area and the outdoor dining. Some of those tennis courts went first, demolished the week before the building. Demolition was expected to take about three weeks.
The marina is the piece that isn't changing. Its 78 deep-water slips are not part of the redevelopment, according to New Pelican. For anyone who keeps a boat there, that is the most useful fact in the whole plan. The water side of the property stays as it is while the land side is rebuilt.
The club also still shows up around town without a building. The city's October 2026 newsletter lists Lighthouse Point Yacht Club as a sponsor of Halloween at the Point, set for Thursday, October 22, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Frank McDonough Park. It is also a supporter of Lighthouse A'Glow on Wednesday, December 2, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the same park. Membership has kept growing even without a clubhouse, the report notes.
What the 40-Month Clock Covers
The delay explains why the timeline now matters so much. Developer Terry Paterson bought the roughly 10-acre site in 2017. A groundbreaking was announced for 2021. Permitting, financing and a clubhouse redesign held things up for years. Paterson recently settled outstanding code violations with the city.
The developer's agreement now puts dates on the work. Construction of the first townhome building is required to begin within 30 days of the demolition, and Paterson Project Management has 40 months to finish everything on the site. Forty months is more than three years, so neighbors on Northeast 27 Court should expect an active job site well past 2027.
Here is what that window is meant to deliver, as New Pelican described it:
- A two-story clubhouse in an ultra-modern style, replacing the old Florida building
- Fine dining, a piano lounge and an outdoor tapas bar
- Banquet seating for 280, a size that matters for a club with a long history of hosting the city's charity events
- A gym, a spa and a rooftop terrace
- A new tennis center with a cafe, plus a pool complex
- 21 townhomes ranging from 3,600 to 4,750 square feet
Marketing materials from Paterson say only three of those townhomes remain unsold. That suggests the residential side has momentum. Sold units also give the developer a reason to keep to the schedule in the agreement.
Venetian Isles Is Still a Plan
The Publix story is earlier in the process, and it should be read that way. Brixmor's proposal appeared on the city's September 1, 2026 Planning and Zoning Board agenda as a preliminary site plan discussion, not a final approval item. According to a meeting summary posted on Citizen Portal, the city planner said the board was taking no action and making no recommendation that night.
The basic outline, as New Pelican reported it:
| Element | Current | Proposed |
|---|---|---|
| Publix | About 40,000 sq ft | About 57,000 sq ft, centrally located in the center |
| Liquor store | None | About 2,100 sq ft |
| Older retail | In place | About 70,000 sq ft demolished |
| Parking lot | Current layout | Reconfigured |
The Citizen Portal summary uses slightly different numbers. It describes an existing store of roughly 45,000 square feet and a new one of about 56,500 square feet near the current Staples footprint. Either way, the new store is meaningfully larger. Final figures will come with the final submission.
The part that matters most for weekly errands is the sequence. The applicant told the board the existing Publix would stay open until the replacement store is ready, and that existing access points would stay open during construction. The summary calls the approach four-part but describes only these phases:
- Build the new Publix.
- Subdivide and re-lease the old Publix space.
- Longer-term work that could involve the post office parcel.
The applicant also said Petco and Dollar Tree plan to stay in place during construction. The summary does not say what happens to Staples or T.J. Maxx, the other large tenants at the center today. Citizen Portal labels its summaries as AI-generated. Treat these details as a secondhand account of the meeting until city minutes or a final plan confirm them.
Board members also asked for more before a final submission. They wanted clearer truck-routing exhibits, color elevations and phasing deliverables. Staff noted that the plan shows about 18.4% landscaped or pervious area, against a typical standard of 25%. New Pelican reported that reconstruction is set for March 2027, so the plan has several months to go from preliminary to approved. The board's next listed meeting is October 6, 2026, but the agenda for that date could not be confirmed to include Venetian Isles.
The Road Running Past It
Sample Road links the Venetian Isles corner to the water, and its rebuild is set to start in the same season as the shopping center work. The city's October newsletter says construction-phase surtax funding has been awarded for the stretch from Federal Highway to the Intracoastal. The city planned to issue a request for proposals in October, with work starting in the first quarter of 2027.
The listed scope is practical:
- A shared-lane setup with vehicle and bicycle markings
- Sidewalk and ADA improvements
- New ways to handle pedestrian crosswalks
- Minor drainage changes
- Milling, resurfacing and new striping
- Median cuts and intersection crossings
The newsletter does not mention new lighting or landscaping, and it gives no completion date. If the March 2027 target for Venetian Isles holds, the road crews and the shopping center crews will be working along the same corner at about the same time. The shopping center plan says its access points will stay open. The city's Sample Road materials don't yet say how traffic will be handled during the work, so that early-2027 overlap is the period to watch.
The city has smaller work scheduled sooner. Maintenance repairs on the city's 15 seawalls are expected to begin in late October or early November, at sites along Lighthouse Drive, Northeast 39th Street and Northeast 36th Street.
One Smaller Arrival Up Federal Highway
There is one new business on the horizon. Pepe's Cantina is planned for 2410 North Federal Highway at The Shoppes at Beacon Light, and brand co-founder Frank Chavez confirmed the opening to What Now Miami. The only timeline given is "later this year or early next year," and the address is listed as Pompano Beach, right on the city line. It could open in late 2026 or early 2027, and no firm date has been announced.
The Calendar From Here
Put in order, the dates show how the work stacks up:
- October 17, 2026: The city's free Shred Event, 9 a.m. to noon at Dixon Ahl Hall, 2220 NE 38th Street, for Lighthouse Point residents only.
- October 22, 2026: Halloween at the Point at Frank McDonough Park, co-sponsored by the yacht club.
- Late October to early November 2026: Seawall repairs expected to begin.
- Mid-October 2026: The 30-day window for starting the first yacht club townhome building runs out, counted from the mid-September demolition.
- December 2, 2026: Lighthouse A'Glow at Frank McDonough Park, with the yacht club among its supporters.
- First quarter of 2027: Sample Road construction begins.
- March 2027: Venetian Isles reconstruction target, pending final approval.
The farmers market at Dan Witt Park also continues on Sundays October 11, November 8 and December 13, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
If you live near Northeast 27 Court or the Venetian Isles corner and want to know how these projects could affect your home's value or your timing, Andrew Ferreira follows each step through city hall and is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
