JV Plans $90M Mixed-Use Project for Flagler Village

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL-Coral Springs-based Amera Corp. and Barron Real Estate Inc. plan 300 Third, a mixed-use, live/work development at the corner of Third Avenue and Third Street just north of Downtown in the Flagler Village neighborhood. It will integrate two 30-story residential buildings and a six-story office building around a central plaza.

The residential component will have an aggregate of 278 condominium units and incorporate ground-level townhouse layouts along the Third Avenue side and approximately 5,000 sf of retail along the Third Street side. "We want to retain the community feel of the avenue," George Rahael, Amera's founder and CEO, tells GlobeSt.com. "Third Street is more commercial, and the retail space there is designed to provide amenities for residents."

Rahael and Charles Ladd, president of Barron, are currently talking with three to four residential developers to partner in the condominium portion of 300 Third, Rahael says. "A couple of them are local and a couple are from out of state." A selection is near, and he expects to break ground within the next six to eight months.

Prices for the one-, two- and three-bedroom residential condos will begin at around $350,000. "I couldn't venture a guess on what the top prices will be," Rahael says. While acknowledging that prices throughout South Florida have soared and condo development is rampant, he notes, "Fort Lauderdale shouldn't be confused with Miami. This is becoming an all-night city, but residential development has not kept pace with demand."

The office component of 300 Third will have an aggregate of approximately 64,000 sf. "The floorplates are not large," Rahael says, "so it will serve smaller users." He anticipates that entrepreneurs who buy 300 Third condos will be prospects. "We would like to own and manage the office space, so we're planning it as a rental property." He is aware, however, of a trend among small-space office users to buy office condos, and says if the market dictates that, it could go office condo.

Chicago-based Solomon Cordwell Buenz is the project's architect. The total cost estimate is incomplete until the residential developer comes on board, but Rahael says, "a ballpark figure is about $90 million." Amera and Barron previously partnered in a number of South Florida developments, including Park Plaza on the Curve and Victoria Park Shoppes here and the 240,000-sf mixed-use Walk on University center in Coral Springs.