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Fort Lauderdale: the Las Olas isles, Colee Hammock and the lower New River

Sell a waterfront lot in 33301, Fort Lauderdale

33301 is downtown Fort Lauderdale plus the finger isles either side of Las Olas Boulevard, with the New River winding through the middle, and all of it sits inside the City of Fort Lauderdale. Port Everglades is at Intracoastal Mile 1066.3, between 1 and 3 miles by water from most docks here, and the one bridge every boat leaving the ZIP passes is the Southeast 17th Street bascule, with an authorized 55 feet at the centre when closed. Most docks north of Las Olas also wait for the Las Olas drawbridge, and river lots west of the US 1 tunnel add the New River bascules.

33301 at a glance

Post office name and who governs it
USPS calls it Fort Lauderdale, and on the Census Bureau's 2020 ZIP-to-place file every part of 33301 lies inside the City of Fort Lauderdale. One city code, one permit office. source
Waterfront neighbourhoods inside the ZIP
All or nearly all of Las Olas Isles, Seven Isles, Nurmi Isles, Hendricks and Venice Isles, Navarro Isle, Riviera Isles, Idlewyld and Colee Hammock, plus about a quarter of Rio Vista (city neighbourhood map). source
Named water
New River and Himmarshee Canal, plus more than 30 named canals and lakes: the Venezia, Lido, San Marco, Grande and Sospiro canals south of Las Olas; Lake Stranahan, Lago Balboa and Lago Karen north of it. source
Route to the ocean
South on the Intracoastal to Port Everglades at Mile 1066.3. New River joins the waterway at Miles 1065.0 and 1065.3; the Las Olas bridge is at Mile 1064.0. source
Bridge every boat passes
SE 17th Street (Brooks Memorial), Mile 1065.9: twin bascule, authorized clearance 55 ft at the centre, in feet above mean high water. source
17th Street opening times
On the hour and half-hour. From 6:50 to 9:10 a.m. and 3:50 to 6:10 p.m. on weekdays, once an hour, at the top of the hour. source
Las Olas Boulevard bridge
Bascule at Mile 1064.0 with a reported 24 ft at the centre when closed. Docks on the canals south of Las Olas never pass it on the way to the port. source
New River bridges above the tunnel
US 1 goes under the river in a tunnel at SE 6th Ave. Upriver: SE 3rd Ave bascule 16 ft, Andrews Ave bascule 21 ft, Florida East Coast railway bascule 4 ft. source
Seawall rule
Fort Lauderdale ULDR sec. 47-19.13: 5.0 ft NAVD88 for new or substantially repaired walls, or 4.0 ft on applications made before 1 January 2035 if designed to reach 5.0 ft by 2050. source
FEMA flood zones
AE with base flood elevations of 6 to 8 ft NAVD88, a little AH, and X on higher ground. No VE zone falls inside 33301. source
2025 single-family sales, whole ZIP
138 closed sales at a median of $2,810,000, up 6.0% on 2024; 87 were paid in cash. ZIP-wide and all single-family homes, not waterfront only. source

Which side of Las Olas Boulevard your canal opens on

Las Olas Boulevard runs east across the isles to its drawbridge over the Intracoastal at Mile 1064.0, and that bridge splits the ZIP in two for a boat owner.

South of the boulevard, the Las Olas Isles canals with Italian names, Riviera Isles and Idlewyld reach the water below the Las Olas drawbridge. From there it is a straight run to the 17th Street bridge and the port. North of it, Seven Isles and Nurmi Isles open onto the Intracoastal above the bridge, so a trip south waits for that bascule as well. It opens on the quarter-hour and three-quarter hour. Hendricks and Venice Isles sit further west, so tell us which canal your dock is on and we will trace the route.

Colee Hammock and Rio Vista: river frontage below the tunnel

US 1 crosses the New River in a tunnel at Southeast Sixth Avenue, not on a bridge. Frontage downstream of it, on the Colee Hammock bank and the Rio Vista shore inside 33301, has nothing overhead between the dock and the Intracoastal.

What it does have is Tarpon Bend, 0.6 mile above the river mouth. Coast Pilot 4 describes the channel there as narrow, with strong currents and heavy traffic. A buyer with a long boat will ask how the approach to your dock handles that bend.

Upriver of Third Avenue: rush hours and a railway

West of the tunnel the river passes downtown and Tarpon River, and three moving bridges come in quick succession. The Southeast Third Avenue and Andrews Avenue bascules open on signal, except from 7:30 to 9 a.m. and 4:30 to 6 p.m. on weekdays, when they need not open at all.

Next is the Florida East Coast railway bridge, only 4 feet above the water when down. Federal rules keep it open except for trains, inspections and maintenance, never closed for more than 60 minutes in a row, with a fixed 10-minute opening every hour from 5 a.m. to midnight. On a lot up here you are pricing waiting time and the odd train, not a fixed ceiling.

A low-floor waiver that ends when the lot is sold

Older houses on the isles often sit low. Fort Lauderdale's seawall section lets the city engineer grant a waiver below the 5.0-foot wall height where the house has a habitable floor under 4.0 feet NAVD88, so the wall does not trap water against it.

That waiver lasts at most three years and becomes void when ownership transfers. If your wall relies on one, the buyer inherits the full height rule on closing day. We would rather know that now, and it goes into the price once rather than into a renegotiation.

Reading a $2.8 million median

Miami Realtors counted 138 single-family sales across 33301 in 2025 at a median of $2,810,000, and 87 of those buyers paid cash. Sellers received 90.6% of their original list price on average, and the median home took 105 days to go under contract.

The figure blends downtown bungalows with isle frontage, so it describes the ZIP rather than your lot. What moves an isle lot is frontage width, which side of Las Olas it opens on, and how much of the wall is left.

Questions from 33301

My lot is in Seven Isles, north of Las Olas. Does the extra drawbridge hurt the price?

It adds a wait of up to 30 minutes each way, not a height limit, because the Las Olas bascule opens twice an hour. We factor the wait in. It does not stop us making an offer.

Does the 55-foot figure on the 17th Street bridge mean I never wait for it?

Boats that fit under 55 feet at the centre, measured above mean high water, go through without an opening. Anything taller waits for the hour or half-hour, and at weekday rush hours only for the top of the hour.

Is a river lot above the railway bridge worth sending you?

Yes. The railway bridge is a drawbridge that stays open except around trains, and the two road bascules below it stop opening only at weekday rush hours. Send the address and tell us your boat.

What flood zone is a Las Olas Isles lot likely to be in?

On the city's FEMA layer, the waterfront in 33301 is zone AE with base flood elevations of 6 to 8 feet NAVD88. There is no VE zone in this ZIP. Check your exact address on FEMA's Map Service Center.

Own a waterfront lot in 33301? Send us the address.

From 7,000 sq ft with a route to the ocean for a big boat, vacant or with a house on it. Not sure it fits? Send it anyway.

Know someone selling? Send them our way.

Neighbours, agents, dock builders and captains usually hear a waterfront lot is coming free long before it is listed. Point us at one. If you hold a Florida real estate licence and we buy it, we pay you a referral fee through your broker, agreed in writing before we approach anyone and paid at closing.

Not licensed? Send it anyway. Florida law does not let us pay you for it, but we still want to know.