The idea — which has been five years in the making through a public-private partnership called Envision Uptown — includes leveraging transportation assets such as Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, the Cypress Creek Tri-Rail station, as well as Interstate 95.

The corridor currently enjoys an economic resurgence with the presence of Hotwire Communications, Trividia Health, Microsoft, Zimmerman Advertising, and the soon-to-be-completed Cypress Creek Medical Pavilion. All have joined the longtime resident software company Citrix Systems, which has a prominent place in the corridor, to employ thousands of people. Their presence is reminiscent of the 1980s, when companies such as Harris, Bendix, Allied Signal and other technology companies had operations there.

A 2014 Urban Land Institute study said Uptown’s success depends on transforming the car-dependent employment center around Cypress Creek near the interstate into a progressive village where people live, work and play and rely on their feet, bicycles or public transportation to get around.

The city board amended its underlying land-use plan for the area in a move that “basically streamlines the process” for change, said Dana Pollitt, a real estate broker, marketing firm owner and secretary of the executive board of Envision Uptown. “If one of the land owners owns an office building and they want to develop the parking lot into some type of mixed-use, they won’t have to go through the rigorous process that they typically would.”

“It’s going to feel like a beautiful structure with pedestrians outside,” said Goldberg, who is president of Diversified Cos., a Fort Lauderale real estate development, property management and leasing firm.

Fort Lauderdale Vice Mayor Bruce Roberts, who has worked with Goldberg and the group on the concept, and whose district is part of Uptown, agrees that making the corridor safe for pedestrians is a critical component.

“You take your life in your hands,” he said of people who cross the road on foot. “It’s crazy. We had to do something about this.”

Although the new amendments still need City Commission and Broward County approvals, municipal planners are looking to reach compromises with developers to ensure that their proposed projects at least approach the look and designs envisioned by the revised plan.

“It’s an awkward area,” said planner Jim Hetzel.

He said the city shares the proposed zoning and land use codes code with inbound businesses, hoping to reach a “happy place” with the developers.

He said the city has worked with the Twin Peaks-Fairfield developers, as well as with Starbucks and Wawa. Starbucks is open for business; the Wawa store’s site plan was approved with changes.

And to the west, Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, the nation’s fifth busiest general aviation airport, is expecting economic development benefits, said Karen Reese, who heads the airport’s Foreign Trade Zone, and Rufus James, the airport manager.

“This Uptown group is a great economic success story,” Reese said. “The businesses all share the same vision, and they’ve made something happen.”