In a bid to revitalize a mostly vacant area that has been ignored by developers for years, Pompano Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency has broken ground on the beautiful City Vista Apartments. The CRA has also planted seeds that are sprouting on the other side of the city, with two restaurants signing development agreements on the beach near the city’s new parking garage.

The CRA and city built the parking garage at 10 N. Pompano Beach Blvd., and made improvements to the beachfront area. It leased developable property between the parking garage and the beach, plus the 6,000 square feet of commercial space in the garage, to Pompano Pier Associates.

Raleigh, North Carolina-based LM Restaurants agreed to build two restaurants on the sand: the 6,700-square-foot Pompano Beach House and 9,570-square-foot Oceanic, PPA co-owner Timothy L. Hernandez said.

In what’s slated to become an Innovation District, Landmark Cos. recently broke ground on the City Vista Apartments along Atlantic Boulevard just east of Interstate 95. It will have 111 apartments and 3,800 square feet of ground-floor commercial space at the northeast corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Northwest Sixth Avenue. The CRA will manage the commercial bays as co-working space, said program director Dahlia Baker.

In addition, the CRA is working on a design for the entire Innovation District, a 38-acre area. Fifteen of those acres are owned by the CRA or the city, said Kim Briesemeister, principal of Redevelopment Management Associates, which was hired to manage the Pompano Beach CRA. The plan calls for linear drainage systems — narrow waterways between the parcels — to replace a large drainage site. That would free up more of the property for development.

The site is near the original downtown of Pompano Beach, where several historic buildings have been renovated by the CRA.

Briesemeister said the new Innovation District zoning would allow up to 750,000 square feet of office space, 165,000 square feet of retail space, 35,000 square feet of restaurants, 1,500 residences, and two hotels with a combined 420 rooms.

“One reason Pompano is taking off is because everyone bought into the concepts we brought here eight years ago,” Briesemeister said.

The long-term, careful planning by the CRA is starting to pay off. As Pompano Beach blossoms, Sabbia Beach’s luxury beachfront condominiums are looking more and more as the smart investment.