In 1945, Ben Tobin Acquired the Hollywood Beach Hotel. In that acquisition (10 acres on the ocean) he acquired the 100 acres Hollywood Beach Country Club in downtown Hollywood as well as the 300 acres of land which is today Hillcrest Condominiums. Twenty-five acres, now Washington Park, they sold to the school board. Ben acquired the property through the U.S. Navy which was used as an officer barracks and training facility during World War II. The original owners were Ed Rosenthal, who also owned the Del Coronado Hotel in San Diego and Edmund Kaufman, one of the brothers who owned Kay Jewelers. In the early 1960ʼs, with the advent of jet travel, Ben Tobin and his son Herb became involved in a process of determining what the best use for the Hillcrest site was.
One idea for the area was a rock pit, which was a very lucrative business in those days. A cemetery was another option. But the Tobin family were always in the people business so the final decision was to build 50+ similar 3-story co-ops that would look like Buildings 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11, called the E-buildings due to their shape.
In the early 60ʼs jet travel cut the commute from New York to Florida from four hours to two. Puerto Rico became the preferred destination so many Florida hotels turned to the convention business. Hillcrest was meant to be a retirement community for people with modest incomes. A lady by the name of Barbara Gompers, who had lived in Building 21 until she sold her unit to move to an ALF ad many have, was the registered Manager of the Hollywood Beach Hotel. She would travel to country Clubs up north and sell units to groups of members. Prices started at roughly $6,700 to $6,900 and hit a high of $15,000 as demand increased. The Country Club was the center of the community for the new owners. Then as things progressed, it was necessary to build 5 stories to meet demands. The evolution of the buildings in Hillcrest was buyer-driven. The original sales offices were on the site where Building 15 now stands. 48th Street was the Main entrance. After Buildings 15, 16 17, and 18 were built, residents indicated they wanted taller buildings with lobbies and security. Building 21 was the first high-rise ever built on a golf course in Florida. Residents would sell their units and move to the new ones. It was common for someone to have owned a 3-story, move to a 5-story and end up in a high-rise. One bedroom units in building 21 were 994 SF including the balcony, 2 bedroom units were 1296 SF including the balcony and for the first time two rows of corners were called “deluxe” and totaled 1499 SF.
Buildings 1 through 21 were co-ops; this is what New Yorkers knew and were comfortable with buying. Building 22 was the first condo. It even had a name “Madrid” which is still on the sign out front. A new amenity was added to the now six lines of 1499 SF corner units – saunas! The day they announced it the Surgeon General came out with a statement that saunas were bad for people with heart conditions…! Only three corner units ended up with saunas.
Many developers built and sold units with the promise of building a Country Club in the future. The Tobin motto was, “The Promises are on the Premises” so the Country Club was always a part of the community although it was a separate entity that sold memberships. At this time, Florida started instituting the toughest condo laws in the country due to developer mistakes. The Tobin family took heed and historically, our buildings that were well maintained from the beginning have withstood the test of time … and Hurricane Wilma!
We have a wonderful Charter School called Championship Academy as well as a public elementary school within walking distance. Our new gated community will include private park areas and two club houses – one for the existing residents with an outdoor kitchen and barbecue area and one for the new homeowners. We will have a putting green, tennis courts and Bocce ball. Our entrances will be upgraded and uniform and we have exchanged our “Hillcrest Country Club” moniker for “Parkview at Hillcrest” to better describe our beautiful new features with lakes and walking trails.
Welcome to Hillcrest – the Hidden Jewel in Hollywood!
September 2015 – Hillcrest Country Club Limited Partnership made the 1st official application to COH to convert the golf courses to 645 residential units. Covenants recorded in Broward County Records – Instruments 113769741, dated June 22, 2016, and 113841556, dated July 29, 2016, both available, free of charge at https://officialrecords.broward.org/AcclaimWeb – outline what Hillcrest Country Club Limited Partnership, agreed to tie to the land for future use by existing Hillcrest PUD members, and what was tied to future members, meaning residents of the unnamed development (the future Parkview at Hillcrest).
