Multifamily giants Kushner and Aimco acquire site of Fort Lauderdale mega project

Project could include 1,300 apartments, office, retail and a hotel in four towers

From left: Charles Kushner, Wes Powell, Nicole Kushner Meyer and Laurent Morali with a rendering of the planned development (Kushner, Stantec, ODA Architecture, iStock)
From left: Charles Kushner, Wes Powell, Nicole Kushner Meyer and Laurent Morali with a rendering of the planned development (Kushner, Stantec, ODA Architecture, iStock)

Apartment giants Kushner Companies and Aimco closed on the site of their mega project in Fort Lauderdale, where Kushner obtained approvals for a 3 million-square-foot multi-tower development.

New York-based Kushner, led by Charles Kushner, his daughter Nicole Kushner Meyer, and Laurent Morali, entered into contract for the 4.2-acre assemblage near Brightline’s Fort Lauderdale in 2019. It marks Kushner’s first acquisition in the Broward County city.

After securing a key zoning change from the Fort Lauderdale commission in May of last year, the developer brought on Denver-based Aimco as a 51 percent partner, The Real Deal previously reported.

Records show FTL/AD Ltd, a Swire Properties affiliate, sold the properties at 200, 300 and 520 West Broward Boulevard for a combined $49 million to companies controlled by Kushner and Aimco. Ricardo Dunin, then with Lionheart Capital, was a partner in FTL/AD, according to records obtained by TRD in 2019.

The Kushner/Aimco partnership also received a $40 million loan from an affiliate of MSD Partners, the private investment firm of Dell Technologies billionaire Michael Dell.

Aimco, a major real estate investment trust that focuses on multifamily, said in one of its filings that it would pay $25 million for a 51 percent share of the property.

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(Source: Stantec, ODA Architecture)

The Fort Lauderdale project could include 1,300 apartments, office, retail and a hotel in four towers that would be built in phases. The land was rezoned to the highest density last year.

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Kushner is also now working with PTM Partners in Miami’s Edgewater. PTM, an Opportunity Zone-focused real estate development firm based in Miami, joined as a 50-50 partner in the three-tower planned development at 2000 Biscayne Boulevard, where Kushner has been planning a 1,300-unit, phased project, according to the two firms.

In addition, Kushner is building the mixed-use Wynd 27 and Wynd 28 developments in Miami’s Wynwood with its partner Block Capital Group.

Aimco has also made moves in South Florida in recent years. It is renovating the Hamilton on the Bay in Edgewater and planning a new development surrounding the property, where it canceled the leases of its tenants last summer.