A New York developer plans to build twin 14-story apartment towers in Fort Lauderdale’s trendy Flagler Village.
Commissioners are expected to vote on the project as soon as late April or early May.
If approved, the towers would bring another 257 apartments to downtown Fort Lauderdale, courtesy of New York-based BAM Property Development.
Flagler Village is bordered by Broward Boulevard on the south, Sunrise Boulevard on the north, Federal Highway on the east and the Florida East Coast Railway on the west.
The neighborhood’s population has exploded in the past few years, according to a recent report by the Downtown Development Authority.
The total population stood at 24,429 in 2022, an increase of 16.7% over 2021. Officials are projecting the population will jump to 27,755 by 2027.
Meanwhile, more than 3,500 residential units have been added in the past decade.
The newly proposed ultra modern towers, both 175 feet high, would rise on 1.25 acres at 650 N. Andrews Avenue, just east of Andrews Avenue and Flagler Drive and south of Northeast Seventh Street.
Shops and restaurants would line the ground floor of the towers. On the fourth floor, residents and guests would have access to an amenity deck with a dog park, pool and lounge area.
The towers would sit atop a 62-foot-high parking podium. Apartments would line the exterior of the podium to help camouflage the parking garage.
The project calls for wide sidewalks and lush landscaping that would be visible from the street, creating a dynamic break between the towers and the podium, said Stephanie Toothaker, attorney for the developer.
The apartments would range in size from studios to three bedrooms, including loft layouts. Studios would be 450 square feet. One-bedroom apartments would range from 740 to 800 square feet. Two-bedroom units would range from 800 to 1,200 square feet. And three-bedroom units would range from 1,450 to 1,625 square feet.
If the project gets approved by the commission, the towers would open in late 2026 or early 2027.
“We’re at least a year from breaking ground,” Toothaker said Wednesday. “The application was just submitted. It has a long way to go through the approval process. From commission approval to breaking ground is at least 12 months. And it will take 18 months to build.”
The towers would rise in the same spot that was home to Lighthouse of Broward County, a nonprofit organization that offers free services to people who are blind or visually impaired.
“We were there for 50 years,” said Ellyn Drotzer, the nonprofit’s president and CEO. “We moved about two weeks ago and turned over the building last Friday.”
Lighthouse of Broward moved to a new headquarters in Sunrise at 5901 Del Lago Circle.
The developer bought the Fort Lauderdale property from Lighthouse of Broward for $12.6 million last year.
“I think it’s a really important location,” Toothaker said. “It’s one of the entrance points to where you drive into downtown, crossing Flagler Drive. I think it will be very popular when it’s built. It’s a little on the outskirts (of downtown), where the rents are not going to be as high. Rent is going to be more affordable than if you’re in the downtown core. And it’s beautifully designed by Idea Architecture. We hope it will be well received.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan
