Croissant Park Administration Building

Built 1922-23, listed in the National Register of Historic Places 2001
1421 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale

Photo captions:

Croissant Park Administration Building, Historic
Image Courtesy of the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society

Croissant Park Administration Building, 1970s
Image Courtesy of the Broward County Historical Commission

Croissant Park Administration Building Southeast Corner, 2011
Image Courtesy of Broward County Libraries Division

The architect of the Mediterranean Revival Croissant Park Administration Building is believed to be Francis Abreu, a well known-architect in the area during the 1920s and 1930s. The 6,000-square-foot building is L-shaped and has two decorative octagonal masonry lanterns, reminiscent of towers, on the northeast and southwest roof corners. The cut corner entrance, which fronts onto the intersection of Southwest 15th Street and South Andrews Avenue, is a prominent feature as are the sculpted roof-line parapets so typical of the Mediterranean Revival Style. The building has old growth Dade County pine wood floors.

Part of the development now known as Croissant Park was originally named “Palm City,” then “Placidena.” What is now known as the Croissant Park Administration Building was then referred to as the “Placidena Field Office.” The development was renamed Croissant Park around 1924 after Chicago and Florida real estate developer G. Frank Croissant took over its operations representing his investors, Gilbert F. Woods, Thomas E. Hoskins and Joshua P. Young. The building then became known as the Croissant Park Administration Building and functioned as the sales office for Croissant Park.

Croissant billed himself as “The World’s Greatest Salesman.” Using his existing sales organization in Chicago, Croissant brought his aggressive sales tactics to the Croissant Park development. Prospective buyers were taken to a pretty wooden gazebo on the roof of the office where they could look over the development and choose their future home site. Croissant also held bathing beauty contests, fish fries and concerts to draw attention to his development.

Neglected for several decades, the building was painstakingly restored in the late 1990s by its current owners. It now serves as office and retail space.