Many more residences planned for Fort Lauderdale south of New River

Downtown Fort Lauderdale has a lot going on these days where it is clear that it’s quickly becoming a hot spot. Now a developer is proposing two towers totaling 879 units spread over two towers. This will be a mixed-use development on the 500 block of South Andrews Avenue. The project has a large scope which will also include a 36 story building with over 300 hotel rooms along with 200,000 square feet of offices and 52,000 square feet of retail space. At this juncture it is not clear whether the residences will be condos or apartments.

The downtown Fort Lauderdale area is booming with over 15,000 apartments and condos that have been approved and built in recent years as a “live-work-play” destination is being created. Just as recent as January the city commissioners approved another 1,200 apartments along the Las Olas Riverfront.

Although most developers will typically try to ask for more units than the city approves, this development proposed as “Southside CityCentre” is still in the early stages of approvals. Mayor Jack Seiler states that the area is on the radar for being prime for workforce housing. He recently states That’s going to be a good thing,” Seiler said. “Affordable, workforce housing is desperately needed in the downtown corridor.”

As with most larger developments, Seiler is concerned about the traffic and impact this will have on the immediate area. The hopes are that with more of these developments being so close to area amenities, walking will be more encouraged with the close proximity.

The project is quite large and ambitious considering all that his has to offer. However, the developer is continuing to go through all of its due diligence for approvals just as anyone would. The general consensus is that it will most likely go through in some fashion even with some scaling back on the project’s scope.