Sunrise Key. Coral Ridge. Las Olas Isles. Rio Vista. Harbor Beach. The most valuable residential properties in Broward County — and the most demanding to build on.
Fort Lauderdale’s waterfront neighborhoods are some of the most desirable residential real estate in South Florida. Families here own homes on deep-water canals with direct Intracoastal and ocean access. They chose this location for the lifestyle — the water, the views, the ability to dock a boat in their backyard and be on the Atlantic in minutes.
But the homes themselves don’t always match the life.
Some were built in the 1960s and 1970s and haven’t been touched since. Others are newer builds from the 1990s and 2000s that were designed for a different family at a different stage. And a handful — like the home we transformed on Sunrise Key — are modern homes that simply weren’t built big enough for the family’s vision.
That’s what we do. OGC has completed its flagship large addition project on Sunrise Key — a $1.2M structural transformation that required the kind of problem-solving most builders walk away from. And we’re currently beginning a new project just four houses down — because the best referral comes from your neighbor watching the build from their driveway.
Sunrise Key and much of the Intracoastal area falls under the City of Fort Lauderdale’s building department — not Broward County. These are different processes, different timelines, and different reviewers.
A builder who works primarily in unincorporated Broward or other municipalities may not be familiar with how the City of Fort Lauderdale operates. OGC has navigated this jurisdiction and delivered a $1.2M project through it.
Most waterfront Fort Lauderdale properties sit in a FEMA-designated flood zone. This affects foundation requirements, first-floor elevation, and what you can build at grade.
For additions, it shapes whether new construction connects at the existing floor level or requires elevation adjustments. Getting this wrong at the design phase is expensive to correct during construction.
Building on a waterfront property isn’t the same as building inland. Soil conditions near canals and the Intracoastal are different. Foundation requirements are stricter. Second and third-story additions on waterfront homes require structural solutions that account for wind loads, existing foundation capacity, and proximity to water.
On our Sunrise Key project, Ozzy brought in mini-excavators with specialty attachments to drill helical piles through openings cut in the existing 10-inch structural slab — inside the occupied home.
That’s the level of structural problem-solving waterfront properties demand.
Everyone knows waterfront homes need impact windows. That’s not insight — that’s code.
What most design teams don’t realize until their plans get rejected is that Florida’s energy code has become significantly stricter in coastal zones. Meeting the new requirements often means specifying solar ban glass — a specialty glazing that limits solar heat gain to comply with energy performance standards. A standard impact window package that would have passed review three years ago may not pass today.
When a design team isn’t familiar with this, the plans come back rejected on first review. The window and door budget suddenly jumps 20% as an unexpected but necessary surprise. The timeline slips. The client loses trust.
OGC designs with these requirements from day one. The energy code isn’t a surprise we discover at plan review — it’s built into the Concept Design budget from the first conversation.
If your project scope includes work near the waterline — new docks, seawall repairs, or outdoor structures close to the canal — additional approvals from the Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District may be required. This is a separate permitting layer that most inland builders have never navigated.
OGC partners with local marine construction experts who specialize in waterfront permitting and dock work. When your project requires it, we coordinate this seamlessly as part of the total scope — you don’t manage a separate contractor for the water side of your property.
Dan Selle owns a company valued at over $50 million. He is a father of five and grandfather of nine. A Christian believer. Organized, direct, and decisive. He and his family love South Florida — they fly in regularly from Ohio to gather, celebrate, and make memories on the water.
Dan chose Fort Lauderdale’s Sunrise Key for the waterfront lifestyle: deep-water canal access, a 20-minute scenic boat ride to the Atlantic, and a home where three generations of his family could come together.
The home had the location. It didn’t have the space.
A 2015 waterfront home on Sunrise Key with only 3 bedrooms. When Dan’s family of five, their spouses, and nine grandchildren descended on Fort Lauderdale — which they did regularly — the home couldn’t hold the life he wanted to live in it.
A second and third-story addition. Three new bedrooms. Additional bathrooms. A 3-story elevator serving every floor. An active rooftop with summer kitchen and fireplace overlooking Rio Barcelona Canal.
The home went from a 3-bedroom waterfront property to a multi-generational estate where Dan’s entire family gathers — comfortably, with room to spare.
The home was built in 2015 — modern construction, solid structure. The challenge wasn’t the age of the building. It was the scope of what OGC was building on top of it.
To support two new floors and a 3-story elevator, OGC partially demolished the west wing — including two existing bedrooms. Ozzy’s team cut through the existing 10-inch structural slab, brought in mini-excavators with specialty attachments, and drilled helical piles through openings in the existing walls to connect to the grade beams below. New steel columns were concealed inside the existing wall structure. The entire demolished wing was rebuilt with complete new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems.
Adding to the complexity: the existing home had over 30 low-voltage wires distributed throughout the construction work area — every one of them in direct conflict with the new build. OGC’s team identified, coordinated, and resolved each conflict without disrupting the systems the home depended on.
All of this happened while Dan visited every 6–12 weeks and hosted family and guests throughout the build.
Dan lives in Ohio. His project was 1,200 miles away.
OGC established weekly check-in meetings every Friday at 3 PM — same time, same call, every week for the duration of the project. Dan’s local representative and his groundskeeper provided on-the-ground verification between visits. When hidden conditions arose — and they always do — OGC worked directly with Dan’s team to resolve them without delay.
An out-of-state owner managing a $1.2M construction project should be the highest-risk scenario in residential building. With OGC, it was the smoothest project Dan had ever been part of.
A legacy estate on Sunrise Key. The home where Dan’s family gathers. The rooftop where the memories are made. He trusted OGC completely — paid on time, never gave trouble, because the work earned it.
They saw the crew show up on time. They saw the project progress week after week. They saw the finished result.
They’re now starting a Concept Design with OGC.
That’s the only referral that matters — the one that comes from watching the work with your own eyes.
Your waterfront property deserves a team that understands what it takes to build here — the structural demands, the permitting complexity, and the standard your neighborhood requires.
Book a Concept Design Consultation with Miguel. One conversation about your property, your vision, and how OGC can transform it.
Or call directly: (305) 968-1739
Building a luxury home in South Florida is complex. We've condensed 15+ years of engineering secrets into one essential checklist.
At Ozzy’s Golden Construction, excellence is our foundation. With 15 years of experience in luxury home building, we focus on each project’s technical mastery and design, ensuring meticulous, custom homes and renovations in South Florida. We specialize in creating legacies, offering exceptional quality and personal service by limiting our portfolio to select projects each year.
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