BH3 buys FATCity development site in downtown Fort Lauderdale

A co-developer of Privé at Island Estates paid $23.1 million for FATCity in downtown Fort Lauderdale, a site that’s entitled for 1.35 million square feet of mixed-use development.

Traina Companies sold the 2.8-acre city block at 300 North Andrews Avenue to BH3, an Aventura-based real estate firm, according to property records. BH3 financed the deal with a $14.4 million loan from Maxim Credit Group. The New York-based lender also provided financing for Privé, a luxury condo development in Aventura.

Traina, led by father-and-son principals Joseph Traina Sr. and Joseph Traina Jr., will stay on as co-developers, according to a release.

Traina hired Avison Young last year to find a buyer or joint venture partner for FATCity without an asking price. The property takes up the eastern side of Andrews Avenue between Northeast Third and Fourth streets and is about two blocks away from All Aboard Florida’s Brightline station in Fort Lauderdale, just south of Flagler Village.

Rendering of FATCity

Traina, a group of development, construction, hospitality and technology companies based in New York and Delray Beach, secured approvals for the land in 2017 to build up to two 30-story towers with 270,000 square feet of office space, retail and hospitality, 612 residential units and more than 1,300 parking spaces.

In August, Traina paid $5 million for a portion of the site, an office building at 330 North Andrews Avenue. The FATCity assemblage, short for Florida Arts and Technology, is just south of the Flagler Village neighborhood and north of Las Olas Boulevard.

The Related Group recently announced plans to build a 47-story, 311-unit rental tower at 201 Southeast Sixth Street, similar to its Icon Las Olas building.