News that developer Aimco is planning to sell off real estate assets across the country has city officials wondering whether that includes the former Searstown site in Fort Lauderdale.
Aimco bought the 5.7-acre property at the busy corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Federal Highway for $64 million in June 2022.
“The word on the street is they are going to look to sell it,” local developer Charlie Ladd told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Friday.
Mayor Dean Trantalis said he met with Aimco officials within the past month and asked whether they planned to break ground on the project in early 2026 as planned.
“They met with me recently to discuss refinements to their site plan,” Trantalis said. “I’ve asked them multiple times if they are moving forward. And they have said yes.”
Aimco’s 901 North project calls for three residential towers with 797 apartments and a 188-room hotel. Towers 1 and 3 would have 30 stories. Tower 2 would have 21. The towers would be connected by an eight-story parking podium lined with offices, shops, restaurants, along with a gym and grocery store.
A shareholder vote on the planned sale of Aimco’s real estate assets is expected in early 2026, a spokesman with Aimco told the Sun Sentinel on Friday. If shareholders approve, all of Aimco’s real estate assets would be sold.
The board of Aimco unanimously came to the decision to shut down after “thoroughly (exploring) various strategic alternatives” with other entities, Pat Gibson, chair of Aimco’s investment committee, said in a statement released on Nov. 10.
“The voluntary and orderly liquidation of the company’s remaining assets is most likely to result in the greatest value for shareholders as compared to other alternatives,” Gibson said in the statement.
High interest rates and exploding construction costs are taking a toll on the real estate market, said Ladd, who serves on the board of Fort Lauderdale’s Downtown Development Authority.
“There’s aren’t many cranes left downtown,” Ladd said. “I think there’s only two. At one time a few years ago there were probably 15 of them.”
If Aimco were to end up selling the Searstown property, it’s likely to slow down redevelopment of the site, Ladd said.
“Whoever buys it is probably going to change the plan,” he said. “Then they’d have to go back through the approval process. It’s probably going to be sitting there for a while. These are cycles. They happen. We’re getting near the end of a down cycle. Hopefully we get started on an upswing in the next year.”
Commissioner Steve Glassman said he hopes a buyer steps up soon if Aimco does indeed plan to sell.
“I’m very disappointed,” Glassman said. “It’s pivotal corridor. The real estate market is very volatile right now. It’s a great project. We were getting to the point where we thought it was going to be breaking ground soon. So it’s disappointing. I hope someone steps up quickly.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan