Mapping: Record 23K apartments on tap in South Florida this year

A record number of new apartments are on tap in South Florida this year.

South Florida multifamily developers are expected to complete 22,541 units in 2023, which would surpass annual deliveries for at least the past decade, according to a Berkadia report. The volume of new units is almost double the 12,179 apartments completed last year and more than the roughly 13,000 apartments finished in each of 2021 and 2020. (All numbers are for market-rate units only.)

A multifamily market supercharged by an influx of population and never-ceasing rent hikes has emboldened developers. Just how bold are they going to be this year?

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The forecasted number of new units would surpass this year’s expected net absorption of 16,179 units, Berkadia’s report shows. While this would decrease the tri-county region’s occupancy to 96.2 percent from 97 percent last year, landlords aren’t expected to give way on rent increases.

The average rent is expected to hit $2,465 a month, up 3.6 percent, year-over-year, according to Berkadia.

Developers are counting on an uptick in affluent households. Financial and tech firms expanding and moving to South Florida are bringing their well-paid workforce that is better positioned to pay high rents.

Berkadia forecasts a 1.6 percent increase in households and a 3.6 boost in annual median income, to $73,190.

Yet, whether the construction spree pans out remains to be seen. The Federal Reserve’s continued interest rate hikes could put a wrench in some projects’ financing.

In the meantime, here’s a look at some multifamily projects slated for completion in South Florida by year-end:

Soleste in Dania Beach

Dev Motwani (right) and The Estate Companies’ Jeff Ardizon and Robert Suris with renderings of the project

Soleste CityLine will have 340 luxury apartments in an eight-story building in Dania Beach.

Estate Companies, in partnership with Dev Motwani and his family’s Merrimac Ventures, are developing the project at 4 North Federal Highway.

The project, part of Estate’s Soleste brand, will consist of studios and one- to three-bedroom apartments, ranging from 600 square feet to 1,200 square feet.

Completion is expected in February, said Robert Suris, managing principal at Estate.

Old Town Square in Pompano Beach

Renderings of Old Town Square multifamily-retail development in Pompano Beach. ( Old Town Square, Adache Architects)

Cavache Properties and Wilson Enterprises’ mixed-use Old Town Square in Pompano Beach will add 281 multifamily units.

The 10-story project also will have more than 5,000 square feet of retail and a garage with more than 300 spaces. It’s under construction on the east side of Northeast First Avenue, between Northeast Second and Third streets.

The development’s moniker is rooted in its location in the city’s Old Town district, an area the Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency wants to overhaul. Plans call for a 70-acre innovation district.

Completion of Old Town Square is expected in August or September.

Soleste in North Miami Beach

Jeff Ardizon and Robert Suris, with a Soleste NoMi Beach rendering (Credit: The Estate Companies)

Another Soleste-branded project by Estate would bring its first of two towers to North Miami Beach.

Soleste NoMi Beach will rise 23 stories and include 367 units at 16395 Biscayne Boulevard.
Completion of Soleste NoMi Beach is expected in August, Suris said.

South Miami-based Estate also plans the 28-story, 363-unit Soleste on the Bay at 16375 Biscayne Boulevard, or immediately south of Soleste NoMi.

City officials approved Soleste on the Bay’s site plan in August.

Merrimac in Plantation

Merrimac Ventures co-CEOs Nitin Motwani and Dev Motwani (Merrimac)

The Motwani family’s Merrimac Ventures is expected to finish a 306-unit apartment project in Plantation.

The six-story, 294,000-square-foot development, dubbed Merrimac Plantation, is at 1711 North University Drive.

Fort Lauderdale-based Merrimac is led by brothers Dev and Nitin Motwani, both managing partners. Their parents, the late Ramesh “Bob” Motwani and his wife, Ramola Motwani, started the firm in the 1970s as an import-export business, according to the company’s website. In the 1980s, they expanded it to buying beachfront Fort Lauderdale hotels, and later on the family undertook major South Florida projects.

Tower at Miami Metrorail stop

Cascade at 3050 Southwest 37th Avenue (Cascade at Link)

The first Cascade residents started to move in on Monday.

The 37-story, 421-unit tower scored a temporary certificate of occupancy this month, marking completion of the second apartment building at the Link at Douglas mixed-use development.

Arnaud Karsenti’s 13th Floor Investments and Adler Group are building the project on 7 acres on the southeast corner of Peacock Avenue and Southwest 38th Avenue. The transit-oriented development is near the Metrorail stop at Douglas Road.

Cascade, at 3050 Southwest 37th Avenue, offers studios and one- to three-bedroom apartments. Rents range from $2,595 to $5,110 a month, according to Cascade’s website.

The 22-story Core was the first apartment building completed at Link at Douglas. It has 312 units at 3060 Southwest 37th Avenue.

Alta’s Crest at Pinecrest

Raimundo Onetto, CEO of Alta Developers, with a rendering of the project (Behar Font & Partners, Alta)

Raimundo Onetto’s Alta Developers is expected to complete the first of its two-tower multifamily project near Pinecrest.

The 18-story Crest at Pinecrest will bring 296 units at 9600 South Dixie Highway.

Alta, based in Miami, is working on a second 18-story building, which will have 223 units atop a six-story pedestal with a garage and ground-floor retail. That building will rise directly south of the first tower.

Crest at Pinecrest is expected to obtain a temporary certificate of occupancy by the end of the first quarter or the start of the second quarter, according to an Alta representative. Pre-leasing starts in the coming weeks.

JV’s Boynton Beach project

American Land Ventures President Granvil Tracy and Isram Realty founder and chair Shaul Rikman with 630 East Woolbright Road (Google Maps)

American Land Ventures and Isram Realty Group will complete their 619-unit apartment project in Boynton Beach this year.

The 10-story multifamily building and adjacent eight-story garage with retail are under construction at 630 East Woolbright Road.

Miami-based American Land Ventures is a multifamily developer that also invests in land, its website shows. Granvil Tracy is company president.

Hallandale Beach-based Isram Realty is a real estate investor with a portfolio of 2.5 million square feet of shopping centers in Florida and more than 1,300 apartment units in the state and in New York City, according to its website. It’s led by founder and Chairman Shaul Rikman, co-Chairman Roni Soffer and President Mati Rikman.

What about next year?

In 2024, the multifamily pipeline still will be high, but nothing like the record number of units on tap this year. Developers will complete 15,800 rental units, according to Berkadia’s forecast.

Among them will be Dan Kodsi’s 293-unit Elevate Apartments in Dania Beach. Kodsi’s Royal Palm Companies is building the eight-story building at 600 East Dania Beach Boulevard.

Elevate Apartments will offer studios, as well as one- and two-bedroom apartments, ranging from 700 square feet to 1,000 square feet.

Also, developer Lissette Calderon will complete her second apartment project in Miami’s Allapattah in February of next year.

Calderon, through her Neology Life Development Group, is developing the 14-story, 323-unit The Julia at 1625 Northwest 20th Street. It will offer one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.

In 2021, Calderon completed the 13-story, 192-unit No. 17 Residences at 1569 Northwest 17th Avenue in Allapattah.

Her third planned project in the neighborhood is 14 Allapattah with 237 apartments at 1470 Northwest 36th Street.