Las Olas Riverfront

Not just a dying mall, this is a dead mall. It was nice in its day with the glamor and the glitz but today its a vacant shell. Apparently, there just wasn't enough parking to handle the crowds. It's really too bad.

This should be marked as closed.

#2900

My hubby and I came down to Las Olas Riverfront for a Segway tour and decided to arrive early to see the sights. Many of the shops are vacant Or the businesses are closed on Sunday. It was like a ghost town, unfortunately.

My understanding is that this was a very nice area to visit in the past, but not much to see here now. Kind of sad and slightly disappointing. Since the weather was nice, we walked around a bit to enjoy the breeze. Got bit by a few mosquitoes on the way, perfect. That was the highlight this time :-(

I'm giving a five star review purely based on my five star memories that I have here. This massive shopping complex is almost torn down as we are nearing the end of 2017. I can never really remember this place at full capacity however it had definitely seen better days in it's earlier years. I used to come down here to go to Max's Grill, Art Bar, The Brick, the movie theater and the many clubs this place called home. Remember that touristy store too?! I forgot the name. I know it needed to come down because it was a ghost town. But I am leaving this review because it was definitely the backdrop of many nights I will never forget! Rest in peace River Front!

Las Olas Riverfront appears to be left abandoned after the aliens mysteriously zapped everyone onto their mother ship. Of course, this might be due to walking through the area on a Sunday, but 1st impressions are definitely lasting ones :-)

Anyway, the place looks pretty with lots of various shops and restaurants to explore. Unfortunately, they were all closed while my wife and I were strolling through. The only inhabitants that were enjoying a healthy meal, were the dozens of large winged mosquitos draining my wife's sweet blood! :-)

Well...I just got bit by a few mosquitos as of this writing, so I am not exempt. I guess if a store was opened near by, I could purchase some insect repellent...so that is our new mission.

After attempting to walk to the nearest Walgreen's on Broward Blvd., we decided to turn around half way into the walk, as my wife was extremely hot and the fact that some bummy looking dudes were just hanging around outside. Basically, as soon as I saw a "check cashing" joint, I knew it was time to turn back. A half a mile in the blazing sun seems much longer that the suggested number, and we only had 15 minutes to get back to Las Olas Riverfront, so we made our return.

You might be wondering why we came here in the first place? Well, we booked a segway tour and arrived 45 minutes early. If I see segways tipped over on the side of the street, I will be convinced that either the aliens indeed abducted everybody or were transported to the nearest hospital after being afflicted with the West Nile Virus! :-)

Tips: Try visiting during the business week when shops and restaurants are open, bring insect repellent and have a cab drive you to a nearby drug store, etc., if you need to travel outside of Las Olas Riverfront.

Thanks to the idiocy of our local planners along with the greed and outlandish foolishness of developers such as Michael Swerdlow, the Las Olas Riverfront has proved itself to be nothing but a financial as well as a development fiasco not only costing the taxpayers in the neighborhood of $81 million dollars but disrupting or otherwise destroying so many private businesses.

Really, who would ever think that this mess of a development coupled with totally inadequate parking and high priced rents could have ever succeeded. Indeed its only success has been to line the pockets of the developers while at the same time draining the pockets of the taxpayers.

Today it's nothing but a ghost town monument to the unparalleled greed of developers and the foolishness of city planners. Every single thing that they could possibly get wrong they got wrong and when they were doing it, there were plenty of voices out there telling them so. Hence, the resulting disaster came as no surprise.

Matter of fact, the word is now out that the Riverfront is such an embarrassment that plans are now in the making to tear it all down, which of course will come at yet another great taxpayer expense along with what will probably be an even more foolish piece of developmental adventurism when they come up with ideas for replacing it.

Having to look at all this taxpayer waste hits me as being one of the most disgusting sights ever.

I recall back when Las Olas Riverfront was being built, how unhappy neighboring building tenants were (additional unwanted vehicular traffic and the attraction of too many tourists and shoppers); but the developer managed to get this entertainment complex built but sadly the popularity of this place was short-lived... no longer do those concerned tenants have to worry about traffic and congestion.

Today the complex sits like a ghost town; most of the retail storefronts sit empty. The only anchor still there is the movie theater but all those restaurants and attractions are gone.

It's truly amazing how fast the initial excitement of Riverfront died off.

I'm sure with the revitalization of Las Olas Boulevard and growing popularity of Himmarshee over the years sure didn't help the situation.

Most recent news of the Las Olas Riverfront is that it was sold (for a major loss at the expense of investors of course). Online reports hint at the removal of the plaza and redevelopment of the land into a mixed-use retail and residential project.

And to think, a decade ago this place was busting at the seams with visitors...

Wow this place seriously reminds me of the Streets of Mayfair in Coconut Grove. Except this place is worse. What a waste of space and real estate. The planners, city whomever ruined this development. It amazes me it still stands. I remember years ago when this place was bustling!!!

The last time I was here was last year during the Day of the Dead parade. The only living business is Briney Irish Bar, a pizza joint and a couple of joints. Oh yeah and the Water Taxi stop.

The upside to the property is the stroll along the river. What a shame!!

This area is very picturesque and makes for a lovely stroll on a sunny afternoon. There's a museum here, the water taxis and river boat tours, and a few restaurants. Unfortunately, the vast majority of shops here are closed. It kind of makes it look like a hurricane just blew through or something. This area has a ton of potential and is a nice place to check out. Points for being dog friendly too! If they developed the shops a bit more and chased out this horrendous gospel singer that's been singing the same awful song for the last two hours, it would be a great place to be.

Incredibly sad! This is a genuine certified GHOST TOWN! All that remains of this once bustling outdoor mall is a small pizza parlor (fairly good ironically), a small tour shop, and the water taxi stop which embarrassingly drops off curious tourists at the doorstep of this abandoned concrete jungle.. Literally the ENTIRE second story of the complex is completely closed, wooden panels block what was once working escalators, empty storefronts in all directions, an empty abandoned movie theater, and even the cavernous leftovers of what was once an outdoor bar, so much potential of a prime location simply sitting in despair, rotting away in plain sight.. SAD is an understatement..

One can only wonder, what in the world happened here??!!! To quench my curiosity I did some online research, apparently the story goes; at the cusp of the recent recession this entire complex suffered at the hands of greedy investors, rents were jacked up on long-time tenants, the tenants vacated, and then the recession hit, the perfect storm and the rest is history.. Politics and bad decisions, SMH..

And.......it's gone. Completely. Three cranes there, lots of concrete being poured. No idea what the new thing will be.

Bad idea, will not be missed.