Dania Beach Lures an Assortment of Investment
The influx of people to Dania Pointe, are partly people who are fleeing from crowded Miami, says Colliers’ Mika Mattingly.
DANIA BEACH, FL—Spirit Airlines broke ground in January for its new $250 million headquarters in Dania Beach. A new corporate campus of up to 500,000 square feet and an eventual workforce of around 1225, figures to serve as a catalyst for the city’s future growth.
But for many years, the city of about 30,000 in Broward County just south of Fort Lauderdale, has been overlooked, area commercial real estate observers say.
“It’s only when you drive down US 1 that you even realize it’s there,” Mika Mattingly, executive managing director of Colliers International’s Florida Urban Core Division, tells GlobeSt.com. “It was sort of a lost jewel for a while.”
No longer lost, Dania Beach is becoming attractive to an assortment of developments. The city has attracted more than $1 billion in projects over the last few years.
Mattingly and her team recently represented the buyer and the seller of The Gallery of Amazing Things, an event center and banquet hall. The buyer is Marc Aptakin, of MAD Studios, a marketing, branding and event company based in Fort Lauderdale. Aptakin, who paid $9.75 million for the property, intends to use the property as his company’s headquarters.
“The proximity to everything is what interested us when we first took a look at this property,” Mattingly says.
The recent opening of the Le Meridien Hotel in Dania Beach is another example the city is poised for growth she says. There is also potential for a lot of multifamily developments. A major driver is Dania Pointe, a 102-acre mixed-use development.
Mattingly says the influx of people to Dania Pointe, particularly millennials is mostly regional. She suggests some are fleeing from crowded Miami.
The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t significantly affected Dania Beach development to this point, Mattingly says. It had no effect on The Gallery of Amazing Things deal.
“The purchaser was fully aware of the situation and he was very bullish. Events are being booked months ahead of time. They know the light will be at the end of the tunnel at some point and I think people are bullish on that.”