21 Hollywood Leads a $1.5 Billion Wave Transforming the Heart of South Florida

Hollywood has been preparing for its close-up for years, and now the city’s long-awaited transformation is finally catching the light. The latest milestone in this surge of optimism arrives as Starlife Group celebrates the topping off of 21 Hollywood, a 14-story mixed-use tower already reshaping one of South Florida’s most strategically positioned corridors. The project arrives amid nearly $1.5 billion in recently completed, active, or planned development, a number that not long ago would have sounded aspirational for this mid-sized city between Miami’s cosmopolitan buzz and Fort Lauderdale’s established business gravity. Today, however, it feels like a starting point.

Designed by globally recognized architect Kobi Karp, 21 Hollywood is not simply another address rising out of the ground. It represents a pivot in how the city imagines and markets itself: a live-work-play enclave with enough cultural range and economic ambition to stand confidently alongside the region’s more saturated coastal markets. With construction now reaching full height, Hollywood is witnessing a literal and symbolic moment in its evolution, one that underscores both the momentum of the urban core and the public-private alignment pushing it forward.

The topping off ceremony, scheduled for Thursday, December 11, from 12–2 p.m. at the project site on 2100 N Federal Highway, reflects the growing civic energy surrounding Hollywood’s renaissance. Hosted by Starlife Group with the participation of City of Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy, the event provides an intimate look at a building that is already influencing conversations about the city’s next chapter.

Guests will be guided through the site on curated hard-hat tours, offering an up-closeopportunity to appreciate the tower’s scale and structural composition. From the top floor, panoramic views stretch from the Atlantic coastline to the peaks of downtown Fort Lauderdale and north to the emerging towers of Aventura. In a flourish of artistic symbolism, an on-site painter will create a live rendering of the completed building as the ceremony unfolds, capturing the moment’s energy in real time.

Attendees will also have space for photographs, interviews, and informal conversations with the visionaries driving the project, including the Starlife Builders team overseeing day-to-day construction operations. Short remarks will highlight the building’s pace, progress, and broader significance as it reaches this defining structural benchmark.

At its core, 21 Hollywood is engineered to attract residents seeking an elevated living experience without sacrificing convenience or connectivity. The tower’s 200 luxury rental residences are expected to appeal to professionals, entrepreneurs, and coastal transplants who value design-forward spaces grounded in functionality and wellness. Kobi Karp’s architectural language, shaped by light, movement, and an understanding of South Florida’s coastal ecosystem,  gives the building a sense of quiet sophistication.

At the ground level, 10,000 square feet of retail will introduce a curated mix of lifestyle and service concepts designed to energize the streetscape. Positioned just minutes from the ocean and within reach of downtown Hollywood’s growing dining and entertainment map, the development offers the ease of a walkable neighborhood with the reach of a major metro region. With both Miami and Fort Lauderdale accessible in under 25 minutes, 21 Hollywood stands at the crossroads of two of the most economically dynamic counties in the state.

Hollywood’s surge is not accidental. The city sits at a geographic sweet spot along the Atlantic corridor, where migration, investment, and cultural capital continue to converge. As remote work reshapes how people evaluate location, South Florida’s tri-county region has become a blueprint for hybrid lifestyles, sunny, mobile, and economically diverse. Hollywood, once overshadowed by its larger neighbors, is now benefitting from years of infrastructure upgrades, transportation improvements, and strategic zoning aimed at supporting mid-rise density.

The area surrounding 21 Hollywood, particularly the Federal Highway corridor, has evolved into a proving ground for modern mixed-use ecosystems. With national employers expanding their South Florida footprints and lifestyle-driven residents demanding more integrated urban experiences, Hollywood is primed to capture the demographic wave of young professionals and established families migrating into the region. Projects like 21 Hollywood serve as both markers and accelerators of this trend.

What distinguishes Hollywood’s transformation is not only the scale of the development pipeline but also the alignment between the public sector and private innovators. Mayor Levy has consistently emphasized the importance of creating opportunities for residents while elevating the city’s economic and cultural profile. Projects like 21 Hollywood fit squarely into this vision: architecturally ambitious, lifestyle-oriented, and designed to catalyze surrounding neighborhoods.

Starlife Group’s approach emphasizes partnership, local engagement, and a long-term perspective on the city’s growth trajectory. The topping off ceremony reinforces this ethos — a moment where developers, civic leaders, architects, workers, and community members come together to mark not just the completion of a structural phase, but the promise of a development that aims to enrich the fabric of Hollywood for decades.

As 21 Hollywood reaches its full height, the structure stands as a symbol of aspiration and momentum for a city that has long awaited its opportunity to redefine itself. The tower reflects a future of smarter urbanism, lifestyle-focused residential design, and a more connected South Florida. For Hollywood, the story is no longer about what it could become — but about what is already rising.