POMPANO BEACH DEVELOPMENT: More Than 5,000 New Apartments Planned in West Side Areas

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]by Marie Puleo, Pompano Beach Development and Real Estate Reporter

This is one in a continuing series about Pompano Beach Development

In Pompano Beach, there are so many redevelopment projects currently underway, or recently completed, that it’s tough to keep track of them all. Below is a round-up of significant projects in the western portion of the city, including the Northwest District of the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), and the Old Town district that lies within it. These projects include mixed-used developments with residential units and commercial space, townhome and single-family home developments, a soccer complex, and a new public plaza with restaurants.  

NORTHWEST CRA DISTRICT/ OLD TOWN AREA

Innovation District

The City and the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) are striving to create a “dense urban downtown,” which includes an area designated as the “Innovation District.”

The 70-acre Innovation District, which contains city- and CRA-owned land ready for development, is bound by I-95 to the west, Dixie Highway to the east, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (NW Third Street) to the north, and Atlantic Boulevard to the south. The western-most portion of the site is one of the last undeveloped land clusters in South Florida along the busy I-95 corridor, with a major exit to an urban area and the ocean.

The City and CRA are currently in the process of selecting a master developer for the Innovation District, and the downtown as a whole. The master plan could include a new city hall, 3,368 residential units, 420 hotel rooms, approximately 4 million square feet of commercial use (including restaurants and retail), and close to 3 million square feet of office space. There are plans for a new system of self-contained, linear waterways in the Innovation District that would not only create a scenic setting for the new development, but would serve as a drainage system.

City Vista

City Vista, located in two seven-story buildings at the northeast corner of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (NW Third Street) and NW Sixth Avenue, includes 111 income-restricted rental apartments, plus 3,800 square feet of office space and non-residential uses on the ground floor. Part of the commercial space (3,300 square feet) has been leased from the developer by the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) to be used as a co-working space for local entrepreneurs, and as the new CRA office.

Completed in 2018, City Vista was the first private sector development project in an area known as the “Innovation District,” which is part of the City’s vision for a dense urban downtown.

Habitat For Humanity

In June 2018, Habitat for Humanity of Broward began construction of 77 affordable homes on a 9-acre site in the area of NW 15th Street and NW 6th Avenue, near Blanche Ely High School and Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church. The community, estimated to cost $18 million, is the largest Habitat for Humanity project ever undertaken in the county, and is considered to be among the largest of its kind in the nation. In June 2019, seven families moved into their new homes. The project is expected to be completed by 2020.

Marquis Apartments

The Cornerstone Group will be developing a 100-unit affordable housing project with five 3-story buildings on a vacant site at 1810-1860 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Amenities will include a clubhouse and playground. Construction may possibly get underway this November. Although the property will be marketed to the 55 or older age group, it will be available for families as well. Cornerstone Group has already built four other affordable rental apartment projects in Pompano Beach.

A Cornerstone Group mixed-use, mixed-income project

The Cornerstone Group has plans to develop a 121-unit development on a 6.87-acre property along Dixie Highway, with two 3-story residential buildings on the north side of NW 8th Street, and one 7- or 8-story mixed-use building on the south side of NW 8th Street. Some of the residential units would be rented at market rate, and some would be affordable housing.

This project was brought forward in 2015 by Pinnacle Housing Group as an affordable housing project, but did not receive the state funding needed at the time. Cornerstone Group, which has already developed four affordable housing projects in Pompano Beach, including Captiva Cove off Dixie Highway, is working with the City to bring the project to fruition.

A portion of the property along Dixie Highway is owned by the City. Two other areas are in private ownership. If Cornerstone is awarded state funding for the project, ownership of all the parcels would be consolidated.

Patagonia

In May 2018, the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) received an unsolicited proposal from Azur Equities, in partnership with Hadar Homes, to build Patagonia, a community of 15 two-story rental townhomes on vacant CRA-owned property along NW Seventh Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (MLK Boulevard), on the northern edge of the Innovation District. The project includes about 1,800 square feet of commercial space fronting MLK Boulevard.

The developer had two properties under contract for the project, and requested that several CRA-owned properties be donated to create a larger land assemblage to accommodate the proposed development. The CRA accepted the proposal and drafted a development agreement.

The townhomes will be approximately 1,450 square feet, with three bedrooms, two bath units and a one car garage. The market rate townhomes will be leased for $1,700 per month. The development is estimated to provide $50,000 per year in tax Increment once completed and will assist in the creation of both short-term and long-term jobs as well as alleviating a blighted corner.

Old Town Square

Old Town Square, a 10-story mixed-use development, will be built on approximately 1.9 acres of land located on the east side of NE 1st Avenue, between NE 2nd Street and NE 3rd Street, in Pompano Beach’s historic downtown area. Geared toward young professionals and millennials, it is slated to have 282 residential units, 5,433 square feet of ground floor commercial space and a 300-car parking garage. Amenities include a resort-style swimming pool and sun deck on the fifth floor, a clubhouse, and a state of the art fitness facility. The southwest corner of the property will feature a public plaza, colonnade and fountain.

This is the first market rate residential project of its type in the area, with rents for the studios and one- and two-bedroom units ranging from $1,375 to $2,300 per month. To help get the $63 million project off the ground and create this market, the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) recently gave its approval to provide $7.8 million in financing to the developer, Cavache Properties. Once the developer constructs the project and starts paying taxes on the development, $7.8 million will be rebated back to the developer over a period of approximately 20 years.

The developer received site plan approval from the Planning and Zoning Board over a year ago, and is finalizing construction drawings. The CRA will assist with an expedited permit process. The development is expected to be completed for occupancy by 2021.

Heritage At Pompano Station

This seven-story development is on a 1.48-acre site at 400 N. Flagler Avenue, near Pompano Beach’s historic downtown. It has 116 one- and two-bedroom apartments, as well as ground-floor commercial and retail use, including a cafe and salon. Amenities include a two-story fitness center on the sixth level, and a clubhouse on the seventh floor with a view to the pool and sun deck. The property is being marketed and leased to income-limited households where at least one member is age 55 or older. Construction began in 2018 and was completed this summer.

New Public Plaza & Restaurants In Old Town

The Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is moving forward with its plans to create a public plaza in Old Town that will be used as a gathering place for the Old Town Untapped craft brew and arts event held on the first Friday of every month. The plaza will also serve as an outdoor dining area for new restaurants that are being attracted to the space, including a hip “Southern comfort” restaurant concept, tentatively named Wood & Wire, that will occupy the building at 165 NE First Avenue.

Construction of the approximately 15,000-square-foot pedestrian and dining plaza, which is being called “The Backyard,” is anticipated to begin in January 2020, and should take about nine months to complete. Wood & Wire is anticipated to be open in about a year.

The plaza, which lies roughly north of the Bailey Contemporary Arts building (41 NE First Street), between NE First Avenue and N. Flagler Avenue, is part of the CRA’s effort to redevelop the Old Town district as an arts and entertainment destination.

The CRA has plans to lease two other spaces in Old Town to restaurants. One space is located at 11 NE First Street, in what was formerly a laundromat, and the other is at 44 NE First Street. In addition, the owner of the historic building at 61 NE 1st Street, which housed Pompano’s first bank in the 1920s, has plans to carry out renovations and use the space as a restaurant. Outdoor seating for the restaurant would be to the north of the building in an area called “Artists Alley,” which is known for its colorful murals.

Soccer Complex And SportsPark Residences

Azur Equities, in partnership with Hadar Homes, has plans to build a roughly $25 million sports complex, called Floridians Sports Park, on a 12-acre city-owned parcel on Northwest 31st Avenue, north of the Palm Aire community in Pompano Beach, and adjacent to the NW CRA district. It will be a place where boys and girls can develop their soccer skills, with the goal of playing on college or professional teams. 

The proposed project includes a 500-1,000 seat stadium; a 14,000-square-foot clubhouse with a gymnasium, cafeteria, offices and classroom; two adult regulation soccer fields; three covered smaller soccer fields; and 80-100 apartments to house players. The sports park will also be the new home of the Floridians semi-professional soccer team that competes at the national and international level.

To complement the infrastructure of the sports park, the developer plans to build about 80 two- and three-story townhomes within walking distance that will provide housing for coaches, employees and out-of-town players. The townhomes would be for sale and rent on three separate sites – SportsPark Residences, Kensington Gardens and Kensington Square – which are in the NW CRA district.

The developer hopes to begin construction on the sports park in February 2020, and to have it completed by March 2021. Some of the townhomes should be completed by the time the sports park opens.

SIGNIFICANT PROJECTS OUTSIDE THE NW CRA DISTRICT/ OLD TOWN AREA

Aviara East Pompano                                               

A 229-unit development is planned for property located at 1621 S. Dixie Highway, on the southwest corner of West McNab Road and South Dixie Highway, which, until recently was a junkyard for wrecked vehicles. The proposed project consists of one six-story building with residential units and up to 14,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, and one eight-story apartment building. Amenities include a pool and clubhouse. The intent is for the project to include workforce housing. A commercial building that currently occupies the project site will be demolished. The project is still going through the City’s approval process.

The project is in an area that the City envisions as becoming an Industrial Crafts district. This area, which lies along the Dixie Highway corridor between McNab Road to Atlantic Boulevard, would embrace its historical industrial character and transition to an urban workforce-dominated corridor that mixes work spaces and housing with shopping, dining, and entertainment, while tying into the fabric of surrounding single-family neighborhoods.

Based on the Dixie Highway Corridor Study completed in 2013, the goal is to develop 520 new residential units (780,000 square feet) in the Industrial Crafts district, as well as incubator space to help develop new small businesses.

Aloha 1

A 129-unit mixed-use development with affordable workforce housing is planned for property located at 1091 S. Dixie Highway, and on the north and south sides of SW 11th Street. The project will be comprised of three four-story buildings and one five-story building that will have ground-floor commercial space fronting Dixie Highway. The property is owned by Aloha 1, LLC.

This project is part of the City’s vision of creating an Industrial Crafts district along the Dixie Highway corridor between McNab Road and Atlantic Boulevard. The concept is for the area to draw on its industrial history and develop into an urban workforce corridor that mixes housing, work spaces, shopping, dining, and entertainment destinations.

Isle Casino Redevelopment

The redevelopment of Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park will be one of the largest construction projects in Pompano Beach history. The goal is to transform the site into Live! Resorts Pompano, an “urban village” with a live, work, play environment – including entertainment, hotels, restaurants, retail, residential and office space.

The 232-acre property is being redeveloped by The Cordish Companies in partnership with Eldorado Resorts, which purchased Isle of Capri Casinos’ 13 resorts in 2016. The Baltimore-based Cordish Companies develops, owns and operates Live! entertainment destinations across the country.

The project site, located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Powerline Road and SW 3rd Street (Racetrack Road), currently contains a harness racing track and grandstand (to be razed), a 45,000-square-foot casino (to be expanded), and 112,000 square feet of commercial space.

At full build-out, which could take up to 10 years, the goal is to have 4,100 multi-family residential units; a total of 950 hotel rooms; an 18-screen movie theater; 142,182 square feet of casino; 470,000 square feet of commercial space; 1,400,000 square feet of office use; a 300-seat jai alai fronton; a 36,750-square-foot Topgolf driving range; and a 58,000-square-foot Live! venue with a large outdoor sports screen. The new development may also include an ice hockey training facility.

Construction of 450 residential units will start next summer, and will likely be rentals: 325 units will be at “market rate” and 125 units will be for “active adults.” Construction of the golf facility will also start next summer.

Fifteen percent of the project’s residential units will be required to be workforce housing, affordably priced for tenants with an income ranging from 80 to 120 percent of the area median (currently $68,000 in Broward County).

Six 400-foot-tall buildings are proposed, which would be used for office space or residential. All other buildings on the site would have a maximum height of 100 feet or 200 feet. The developer hopes to attract either a regional or national corporate headquarters.

The project will be surrounded on three sides with multi-purpose buffers to provide for landscaping, drainage and trails for walking and biking. A 12- to 15-acre “crystal lake,” or lagoon, to be used for activities such as swimming, kayaking and paddle boating, will be centrally located within the development. A potential Tri-Rail station along the CSX Railroad just east of the site is also being explored.

The residential buildings will have mixed-use on the ground floor that could include neighborhood retail, such as a grocery store or drugstore.

Improvements to help mitigate the traffic generated by the new development could include a flyover at the Atlantic Boulevard and Powerline Road intersection built with county or state funding.

The developer has said that, assuming the project is very successful, if 10 years from now there is still some undeveloped land, and the 4,100 residential units have already been built, more residential units might be requested.

An economist hired by the developer said during construction of the project, approximately 23,000 jobs will be generated, including about 15,400 on-site construction jobs. Approximately 16,000 permanent jobs are projected to be created, roughly 9,400 of which are on-site, not including the casino or the jai alai fronton.

When fully built out, the project could generate over $12 million in ad valorem revenues for the City of Pompano Beach, and would generate similar amounts for Broward County and the Broward County School Board, according to the economist.

For more Pompano Beach development and real estate news and things to do in Pompano Beach read Pompano! magazine and search our website.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”9330″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row]