The vacant lots, old
warehouses and dilapidated housing that have long characterized much of urban
Fort Lauderdale are disappearing quickly.
Revitalization of the
area known as Flagler Village, west of U.S. 1 and sandwiched between Broward
Boulevard and Sunrise Boulevard, got started a few years ago with FAT Village,
(Flagler Arts and Technology), a strip of old warehouses that has been
converted into galleries, performance spaces and hip businesses that cater to
millennials.
Developers have
followed, and now the roughly 300-acre neighborhood has 42 projects either in
the planning stages or under development. Most are rentals aimed at young
professionals, but there are also condo projects like Flagler
626, a 12-story tower at 626 Northeast First
Avenue, which is expected to have 97 units including three townhomes at an
average price of $350 per square foot. The project, which is in the final
stages of the approvals process, is being developed by Israeli investors BRYL
Development, LLC, and designed by Stewart Robin of Nest Plan. Units will range
from studios to one-and two-bedrooms, with 671 square feet to 1,580 square
feet.
Morgan
Group, a Texas-based developer, has several
projects in Flagler Village, and earlier this year sold the Edge at
Flagler Village, a 332-unit apartment
complex at 475-479 North Federal Highway to financial services giant TIAA for
$114.4 million or $344,578 per unit. Miami-based Related Group developed and
sold the Manor at
Flagler Village for $149 million
in 2015.
Jaime Sturgis, sales
director for Metro 1’s Broward office said “the mantra behind the neighborhood
is live, work and play,” and he said the area is starting to “hit critical
mass, where we have enough residents to support full-time retail. ” Stugis said
that means more adaptive re-use of old buildings like warehouses being turned
into creative office spaces.
Sturgis says mass
transit is key to the future success of the area. All
Aboard Florida is scheduled to
launch its Brightline next year with trains running between Orlando and Miami.
The line will have a station in Flagler Village and Fort Lauderdale’s proposed
Wave street car project will have multiple stops in the area. “People are
trending away from owning vehicles, and parkingis a problem, especially in the urban core,” says
Sturgis.
Just to the north, the
city of Oakland Park is developing a downtown “Culinary Arts District.”
Anchored by the Funky Buddha Brewery, the area is attracting local residents
and visitors to a several-blocks long mix of old buildings that have been
converted into restaurants and culinary shops adjacent to Jaco Pastorius
Park. D.R.
Horton is building a townhome community called
Eastside Village just to the north of the district — a sign Sturgis said
of development coming to the area.
Sturgis said while
millennials are drawn to Flagler Village, many of their parents are heading
east to condo projects on Las Olas Boulevard or an area known informally as North
Bay Village along A 1 A, where new luxury condo projects like theGale
Residences Fort Lauderdale Beach, Auberge Beach
Residences & Spa and Paramount
Fort Lauderdale Beachare being built.
“Luxury is the word I would use to define it,” says Sturgis. “They’ve lived out
west and no longer want to carry the big ranch.” In May, Related Group said a
Boca Raton buyer reserved a 4,300 square-foot penthouse unit at its Auberge Beach Residences & Spa for $7 million or just
under $1,628 per square foot, beating a previous record set last year at the
Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale.
Sturgis also said that
as Miami’s
real estate market has cooled in
recent months because of a drop-off of foreign buyers, Fort Lauderdale “is
seeing appreciation in values, increases in rent and a contraction on supply.”
“I’ve always seen it
as Fort Lauderdale being five years behind Miami,” he said. “So as Miami starts
to level off a little bit Fort Lauderdale is just getting going, it’s got quite
a way to go.”
Original Content The Real Deal
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