125 North Birch

• Post-War Boom Era: The firm was highly active in Broward County during the mid-20th century, helping build out the early hotels, motels, and apartment blocks that defined Fort Lauderdale Beach before the era of modern luxury high-rises.
• The Broward County Courthouse: When the historic 1928 courthouse required massive expansions to accommodate South Florida's population boom, Richardson Construction Co. was hired as the general contractor for the major 1947 and 1956 structural additions under local architect William G. Crawford.
• The Sunrise Shopping Center (1953–1954): Richardson Construction Co., partnering with Ohio-based Barnes Construction, built this landmark two-level open-air shopping mall. Opening in January 1954 to a crowd of 42,000 people, it was a pioneering regional development designed by shock-absorption layout engineer Hugh Gamble.

🏛️ The Original Asset: Blue Water Hotel (1947)

The property was designed as an upscale, mid-century coastal getaway leveraging Fort Lauderdale’s emerging waterway culture.

• Architectural Pedigree: Research associates the property with Charles Foster McKirahan, a towering figure in South Florida modernism. McKirahan used the Blue Water Hotel to pilot concepts like thin structural supports, open-air waterfront dining terraces, and integrated swimming pools that later defined his iconic work on the Mai Kai Restaurant, Manhattan Tower and other buildings around Fort Lauderdale.
• The Postcard Record: Mid-century marketing materials produced by the Dexter Press, Inc. document that the hotel originally featured 50 modern guest rooms, manicured palm landscaping, and docks designed to accommodate intra-coastal boating tourists right off the barrier island.