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Falcone Group, Kaufman Lynn win bid to develop $149M mixed-use project in Oakland Park
Development team proposes a townhome building and two buildings with office, retail and apartments, along with a park and woonerf
Oakland Park selected a partnership of Falcone Group and Kaufman Lynn Construction to redevelop 4 city-owned acres, plus 2 adjacent privately-owned acres, into a massive mixed-use project featuring a woonerf.
The Oakland Park City Commission on Wednesday approved authorizing city staff to begin negotiations on a development agreement with Falcone Group and Kaufman Lynn, the top-ranked team. The partnership was among three groups that made the final cut in a two-phase bidding process that began in August.
The redevelopment site includes the current city hall building at 3650 Northeast 12th Avenue in downtown Oakland Park. The city-owned property is near Funky Buddha Brewery and a proposed commuter train station that will be serviced by Brightline. The Florida Department of Transportation has recommended the train station be placed in Oakland Park.
A Falcone Group spokesperson told The Real Deal that the proposed project has an estimated construction cost of $149 million.
Falcone Group, led by Art Falcone, and Kaufman Lynn, led by Michael Kaufman, beat out builder Dev Motwani’s Merrimac Ventures and a partnership between Coconut Grove-based developer Terra and Miami Beach-based The Comras Company, according to a memo by Oakland Park City Manager David Hebert. The three teams submitted proposals in January after going through a pre-qualification process that attracted a dozen developers, the memo states.
A key element of the Falcone-Kaufman Lynn proposal is the placement of a woonerf between two mixed-use buildings. A woonerf is a street in which automobiles and pedestrians share the road and is designed with devices to slow down traffic. Woonerfs were first developed in The Netherlands and one is planned for Wynwood as part of a proposed street and sidewalk improvement project.
The woonerf in downtown Oakland Park proposed by Falcone Group and Kaufman Lynn would feature a botanical garden, a sculpture garden and long narrow green spaces where small retail kiosks and seats could be placed, according to the development team’s proposal.
A building on the redevelopment site’s northern side would entail a mix of office and retail, apartments, live/work units and a parking garage. The roof would be configured as an event space, the proposal states.
On the south side, the partnership is proposing a three-story townhome building and another mixed-use building with retail, apartments and parking.
The winning bidders also plan to relocate a park on the 2 acres of private land that would have to be acquired by Falcone Group and Kaufman Lynn, the proposal states.
Falcone is among the more active developers of large commercial projects in Broward. In October, his other company, Encore Capital Management, sold an office building for $57.5 million that is part of the Plantation Walk mixed-use project in Plantation. Recently, Encore refinanced the rest of Plantation Walk with a $41.5 million loan from Pacific Western Bank.