Colee Hammock sits just east of downtown Fort Lauderdale, on quiet streets between Las Olas Boulevard and the New River, with Federal Highway as its western edge. One of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, dating to 1916, it still feels that way: 1920s and 1930s homes, a riverfront park and an association that has kept its character intact. Las Olas is a walk away, not a drive.
Colee Hammock lies immediately east of downtown Fort Lauderdale, between Las Olas Boulevard to the north and the New River to the south, with Federal Highway forming its western edge. It is small enough to walk end to end, and its position puts Las Olas shopping, the Riverwalk and downtown all within reach on foot. That combination, a quiet residential street within walking distance of the centre of the city, is rare here.
The neighborhood association dates Colee Hammock to 1916. The land had been acquired by Mary Brickell in 1874, and residential lots began selling in 1921. That history is unusual in a city where most of the housing stock is far newer, and it is the reason the streets look the way they do rather than like the subdivisions built around them decades later.
Colee Hammock is mostly single-family, with small townhome developments and low-rise apartment buildings mixed in. Many of the houses date to the 1920s and 1930s, and the neighborhood includes Spanish-colonial residences designed by Francis Abreu, one of Fort Lauderdale’s significant early architects. Because so much of the stock is original, condition varies considerably from house to house, and renovation history matters more here than it does in newer neighborhoods.
Colee Hammock Park sits on the riverfront at the southern edge of the neighborhood, on land Mary Brickell dedicated. It is small, and it functions as the neighborhood’s common ground rather than as a destination. The New River frontage also connects to the Riverwalk, which runs west toward downtown.
Las Olas Boulevard is a short walk north, which puts restaurants, galleries and shops within reach without a car. The homeowners association is active and runs events through the year, which is part of why this holds together as a neighborhood rather than as a set of addresses. Broward County assigns public schools by address and redraws boundaries periodically, so the current zone should be confirmed for a specific property.
This neighborhood appeals to buyers who want to walk to dinner and still live on a quiet street, and who would choose an older house over a new one. It draws people who find the newer waterfront subdivisions too uniform, and who want somewhere with a history and an association that protects it.
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