The Jungle Queen has new owners
A $60M beach hotel sale, 422 apartments coming, and a sales tax refund on impact windows.
The Jungle Queen has changed hands. The boat paddles along the city's waterways and runs a barbecue and dinner show, and the name is familiar even to people who have never bought a ticket. Sales like this raise the same three questions from regulars every time. Same route, same dinner, same boat? None of that came with the announcement. For now the change is on paper, at the ownership level, and the cruises are still the cruises. What happens next season is the part locals will actually notice.
You can get sales tax back on impact windows, but only after you pay it
Florida is refunding sales tax on impact-resistant windows, doors, and garage doors installed on eligible homes. The catch is in the timing. You will not get the break at the register. You pay the tax, then file a claim with your receipts and the required forms. The home has to be site-built, carry a homestead exemption, and have a just value of $700,000 or less. One property per owner, and the refund tops out at $500. Purchases count from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029, and claims are accepted through September 30, 2029.
An oceanfront hotel sold for $60 million
El-Ad National has bought an oceanfront Fort Lauderdale hotel for $60 million. That is a lot of money for a single beach block. It is also the second time this week a major buyer has put money into Fort Lauderdale property. No plans came with the sale, so nothing about the building changes today. Beach hotel turnover tends to show up later, in room rates and in which restaurants hold the ground-floor leases. This one is worth watching by address rather than by headline.
422 more apartments are coming
The Related Group has picked up a Fort Lauderdale site for a 422-apartment project. That is a real number in a city where the rent conversation never fully ends. It also means another construction site and, eventually, several hundred new neighbors on one parcel. The land purchase is the first step, not the last one. Approvals and a construction timeline still have to follow, and neither has been announced. Until those land, 422 is the number to hold onto.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Saturday
The After Work Players take the Broward Center stage on Saturday, August 15, with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The company is made up of adult students at the Broward Center. That gives the show a different energy than a touring production. These are people who spent their weeknights rehearsing after work, telling Joseph's story to a hometown room. It is a real stage, a full score, and a cast your neighbor might be in. Saturday is the date to hold if you want to see it. Contact the event organizer for tickets and details.
Coffee and house music on the water Sunday
Seed Sessions runs Sunday, August 16, starting at 11 a.m. at The Seed Fort Lauderdale. The format is simple: waterfront coffee and house music on a Sunday morning. It is a different shape than brunch, and it does not ask much of you. Show up on the water, get a coffee, and let a DJ handle the rest. An 11 a.m. start also leaves the rest of the day open. If your Sundays have flattened into errands and the same table, this breaks the pattern. Contact the event organizer for tickets and details.