Aerial view of the Live Local Act development planned for Bal Harbour Shops, including the addition of workforce housing, market-rate residences, and a boutique hotel in the Bal Harbour, Florida, commercial district. Courtesy photo

A Miami Circuit Court judge just gave a Delaware company some hope in a dispute over building a major project that hinges on a relatively new Florida law.

In January, Whitman Family Development, the family-owned company that pioneered the concept of an open-air retail destination with the creation of Bal Harbour Shops, submitted plans for a mixed-use development in the commercial district at the heart of the Village of Bal Harbour, Florida.