Neighborhood Dive: Hallandale Beach still attracting international real estate investors

In the late 19th Century, South Florida pioneer Henry Flagler recruited Luther Halland, the son of a Swedish minister and brother-in-law to one of his sales agents, to establish a beachside settlement just north of Miami. Halland and another Swedish entrepreneur, Olaf Zetterlund, pitched some of their fellow countrymen on a sweet deal: cheap land in a frost-free subtropical climate.

By 1900, seven Swedish families, along with five families of British and African descent, had set up camp in Halland’s new community, where he set up a small trading post and became its first postmaster. Some 27 years later, Hallandale was born, becoming the eighth municipality in Broward County. And in 1999, after annexing land adjacent to the Atlantic shore, the city changed its name to Hallandale Beach, a sleepy oceanfront community that has become a seasonal home to snow birds, particularly French Canadians.

“The city has always been a secret hidden gem,” says Hallandale Beach-based interior designer Troy Dean Ippolito. “Hallandale has massive family lots and the canals are a minimum of 100 feet wide. That aspect has brought a lot of people in recent years to acquire larger homestead properties with waterfront access — me being one of them.”

Signs of Change

In early 2007, the Hallandale Beach City Commission enacted a 12-month moratorium on major developments in the midst of a real estate boom and the awarding of casino licenses to pari-mutuel facilities Gulfstream Park and Hollywood Greyhound Track, which is now Mardi Gras Casino. In order to carefully manage the wave of growth, city commissioners wanted to formulate a master plan to guide private development toward mixed-use, sustainable, pedestrian-oriented urban development.

New development in Hallandale Beach was further delayed with the 2008 real estate housing crash. In recent years, the city is once again attracting interest due to its close proximity to other coastal communities in Miami-Dade and Aventura Mall, Ippolito said. Hallandale Beach has also experienced a boon from the development of Hyde Resort Residences and Hyde Beach House on Ocean Drive in Hollywood.

“Those buildings have definitely brought tourism to Hallandale Beach in an area where there were no hotels before,” Ippolito said. “As communities around us grow and get too congested, people are looking to Hallandale. “It used to be snow birds only. Now, you have a large international culture and you have Europeans with vacation homes.”

Transportation

Hallandale Beach has four community bus routes servicing the city’s 4.63-mile-square area. It’s main thoroughfare, Hallandale Beach Boulevard, connects with I-95, U.S. 1 and A1A.

Residential take

“The market for beachfront living has been moving north. Given the saturation in coastal communities like Golden Beach and Sunny Isles Beach, along with the scarcity of land going south, we really see the potential in Hallandale. It’s minutes away from the most exclusive areas in Miami and close to world class shopping centers,” Sabine Otamendi, director of sales for Kar Properties

Commercial take

“Hallandale Beach has come a long way in the last decade and is now one of the premier areas in all of Broward County. In terms of retail, rents have continued to go up. However, the traffic counts continue to go up and tenants appear to be doing very well. I used to own the Flanigan’s on the corner of Hallandale Beach Boulevard and U.S.1. That whole corridor has really boomed,” Adam Tiktin, Tiktin Real Estate Investment Services

Demographics

Population: 38,951

Median age: 46

Median income: $34,216

Average household net worth: $310,969

Most expensive residential sale

A 4,747-square-foot waterfront home with five bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms at 455 Holiday Drive sold for $1.89 million on March 26.

Most expensive home on the market

A 4,819-square-foot waterfront home with four bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms at 661 Oleandar Drive is listed for $6.99 million.

Least expensive home on the market

A 625-square-foot condo with one bedroom and one bathroom at 900 Southwest 11th Avenue is listed for $57,000.

Price trends

Median sales price per square foot: $209, roughly 10 percent more than Broward County average

Decrease in average rent over the last year: 23% to $2,097

New developments

For developers looking to build projects close to the ocean in areas less expensive than Miami Beach to the south and Fort Lauderdale to the north, Hallandale Beach is considered one of the best options. According to Cranespotters.com, the Hollywood/Hallandale Beach market is second only to downtown Miami as the most active east of I-95. There are plans for 26 towers with 4,689 units in the Hollywood/Hallandale market, accounting for 9.8 percent of the tri-county region’s planned projects.

Among the builders looking to break ground in Hallandale Beach is KAR Properties with its boutique condo project, 2000 Ocean. In October, the company launched sales for the 64-unit, 39-story tower. Half-floor condos are priced between $2.8 million and $5.5 million and full-floor units start at $10 million and up. Each unit will feature smart home systems and unobstructed views on the north and south. KAR purchased the 1.3 acre site for $33.86 million in 2014.

Other builders in Hallandale Beach are focusing on creating mixed-use projects. Alan Waserstein is planning Nine Hundred, a 23-story, 415,882-square-foot tower at 900 South Federal Highway near Gulfstream Park. The project entails 320 residential units, a 150-room Marriott-branded hotel, 5,595 square feet of retail and 624 parking spaces.

Chateau Group LLC has plans to build a $375 million project that consists of two 40-story towers with 726 residential units, 280 hotel rooms and retail and office space. Chateau Square would rise on an 8-acre site at 600 East Hallandale Beach Boulevard.

Mexican developer Grupo Eco recently completed Atlantic Village I, a 32,000-square-foot retail and office project at 801 Federal Highway and began construction on Atlantic Village II, another commercial project that initially included a residential component. But Grupo Eco decided to go all commercial based on market conditions.

And Miami development company Integra Investments is building an 8-acre mixed project on Federal Highway. Hallandale ArtSquare will feature six buildings that include 358 rental apartments, a fitness center, a resort-style pool and 12,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.