By Rachel Galvin

Right near the newly renovated Pompano Pier, a much-anticipated restaurant has now opened. Oceanic restaurant, with its modern look and great view had its grand opening party on Thursday, Aug. 29. Some stayed downstairs to enjoy delicious passed hors d’ oeuvres or fresh seafood. Others grabbed a Dorian-tini from the luge there and went upstairs to see the view of the ocean from the balcony and see the large room that can be rented out for private parties, including weddings. (They also have a bride’s room). In the middle of the fun, a belly dancer swayed through the crowd balancing candles and later a sword on her head while juggling fire, causing quite a stir. Owner Lou Moshakos christened the restaurant by throwing plates with his grandson, showcasing his Greek roots. Opa!

Lou originally opened a restaurant 41 years ago in Deerfield Beach called Seafood Shanty with his wife Joy. They sold it in the 1980s. Today, their company, LM Restaurants, owns several restaurant concepts. Besides Oceanic here and also another one in North Carolina, they also have Vidrio, Bluewater Waterfront Grill, Hops Supply Co., Taverna Agora, Carolina Ale House and Henry’s. Their daughter Amber is now president of the company.

At this Oceanic, their culinary focus is on “fresh seafood, high quality steaks, creative bold flavors and sharing plates all at reasonable prices,” according to Joy, who also said they will have creative cocktails at their full bars.

One guest, Thetis Palamiotov couldn’t stop raving about the restaurant.

“The experience is above and beyond. They have great service,” she said.

Right next door to the restaurant, Joy said they are building another restaurant. It will be called Lucky Fish Beach Bar and will be beach casual with a Tahitian Tiki bar feel. In addition, they will be opening a Mediterranean style restaurant called Morea in the Paramount Building in Ft. Lauderdale (701 N. Ft. Lauderdale Beach Blvd.), which will be focused on sharing plates to promote conversation the way you often see in Mediterranean countries.

Katherine Goldfaden, director of Brands & Marketing, said that every restaurant opening they have, they always give 10 percent to a local nonprofit, and education is one of their biggest charity passions. In the case of opening Oceanic, they donated 10 percent of at least the first seven days of being open to Broward Education Foundation.

Oceanic restaurant is located at 250 N. Pompano Beach Blvd., in Pompano Beach. For more information, visit www.oceanicpompano.com.

By Karen Lustgarten

Horacio Danovich sits in a conference room at the Pompano Beach City Hall surrounded by maps, master plans and diagrams pinned to the walls. The illustrations reveal the farsighted future of Pompano Beach. As manager of the city’s capital improvement programs, he holds the revitalization development vision of the city/CRA partnership putting Pompano Beach on the desirable destination map with innovations from “Smart City” concepts. In fact, revitalization of the 260-acre downtown area will feature one 70-acre section called the Innovation District. Here, most of the city/CRA-owned land parcels are ripe and poised for development right now.

Think designed navigable waterway systems and drainage between I-95 and Dixie Highway and MLK Jr. and W. Atlantic Boulevards. Inspired by Amsterdam’s canals, residents and visitors will be able to kayak, canoe and paddleboard along the waterways. These will be bordered by landscaped biking lanes and pedestrian walkways inspired by San Antonio’s The Riverwalk.

Picture a surrounding hub of mixed-use commercial office/retail buildings, restaurants, residential dwellings and cultural attractions. The goal of this urban design vision is to develop an enjoyable, livable urban area that’s functional and attractive to businesses and residents, and promote connections between people and places with surrounding communities.

“This is a unique type of urban design that does not exist in the State of Florida today,” said Danovich. “As a result, agencies like the Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection will have a difficult time evaluating and permitting it for its intended mixed-use.”

He estimates two years for the design and permitting process before construction can begin in the Innovation District, then another two years to build it for a grand total of approximately $750 million (for the entire Innovation District.)

Thus we caught Danovich up to his elbows in federal grant applications to the U.S. Economic Development Administration: $2.5 million toward the first $5 million for the designs of the waterway systems, roadways, bridges, sidewalks, landscaping, lighting, underground utilities and permitting.

If he builds it, will they come? Indeed, the Innovation District Project could generate an estimated 4,000 jobs, he estimates.

“The city is moving very fast in the right direction, ripe for redevelopment,” says Mr. Danovich.

Among the construction companies revitalizing the pier and the Atlantic Boulevard bridge are Burkhardt, West, Murray Logan and Whiting-Turner. Brandon Rhodes, Burkhardt Construction’s project manager, described the scope of work for the bridge and some challenges with the project. The bridge renovation will feature cantilever walkways underneath, a renovated tender house, decorative fish murals, decorative Wyoming rails, new lighting fixtures and the stunning showpiece — four 50-ft. high tensile sails at each corner of the bridge.

“An initial challenge is creating the tensile structure sails on large posts and the construction of a foundation for each post,” he said.

The construction requires potholing existing utilities — hand digging along with machinery down to existing utilities in-ground, then evaluating if the existing utilities are in conflict with location changes needed.

West Construction has begun a yearlong project demolishing and rebuilding the outdated Fire Station 24 that borders Pompano Beach Airpark on NE 10th street. The new two-story fire station will service both the airport and surrounding community with updated equipment and alert systems.

This project has its site challenges, such as working in a fairly tight space with FAA regulations imposing height restrictions for cranes. Nonetheless, notes Michael Lilly, project manager, “It is in a key location that will help toward the revitalization of Pompano Beach. The community really needs it.”

“Pompano Beach is positioned like Ft. Lauderdale and Delray Beach were 20 to 30 years ago,” says Danovich, “except we learned from their mistakes.”

For more information about the Pompano Beach revitalization projects visit www.pompanobeachfl.gov/pages/files.

Karen Lustgarten is President of Multi-Media Works, a multiple award-winning media company specializing in video, PR, print and social media with offices in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. She won awards for writing/producing videos and for website content. Karen founded a newspaper in Washington, DC and was a syndicated columnist and best-selling author. www.multi-mediaworks.com.

June 8 at 7:09 a.m. Deerfield Beach Fire-Rescue responded to a call about a suspicious package left on the sand south of the pier. BSO bomb and arson squad was brought in to evaluate it. They ended up detonating the suspicious package with their own arsenal. Detectives are still investigating as per standard protocol.