The developer of a 122-unit multifamily project in Pompano Beach with workforce housing may start construction after a redesign created more green space for tenants.
City commissioners last week approved an allocation of flex units, increasing the maximum number of apartments beyond the amount that zoning rules would allow for the development site at the corner of Southwest 11th Street and South Dixie Highway West.
Commissioners also agreed to close part of a street on the site that has provided access to the nearby Captiva Cove residential property for fire rescue vehicles.
“We came up with a better concept where we could basically redirect the fire lanes around our property,” said Justen Shiff, president of Shiff Construction & Development, a Pompano Beach firm representing the developer.
“That essentially created all that green space on the property, which let us create a much better site plan.”
Shiff said the developer could break ground on the 3.8-acre site within a year.
Aloha Pompano, LLC, managed by Cristian Santucho of Miami Beach, owns the Pompano Beach development site.
Shiff said the developer has not yet determined monthly rents for the 122 planned apartments. The number of workforce housing units has not yet been determined, either, but “it will be a significant portion of the total,” he said via email.
Eligibility for the workforce housing units with below-market rents will be restricted to tenants earning up to 80 percent of median household income in Broward County, which ranges from $74,880 for a one-person household to $106,920 for a four-person household.
The Pompano Beach Architectural Appearance Board will review the design of the project before the city’s planning and zoning board decides whether to grant final approval of the site plan later this month, said Mike Vonder Meulen, director of planning at Keith in Pompano Beach, which has handled site planning for the developer.
The redesign of the development will broaden its appeal among renters who have children, Vonder Meulen said. The purpose of the redesign “was to create more green space, which helps with families, because there will be some playground areas there.”
Property records show Aloha 1, LLC, paid $525,000 in March 2017 to acquire the development site at 740 Southwest 11th Street, then transferred ownership of the property to Aloha Pompano in November 2019.