Related Group wins approval for expanded mixed-income multifamily project in Fort Lauderdale

Related Group is set to develop a mixed-income multifamily project in Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village, after winning approval to boost the number of apartments by a third.

Gallery at Flagler Village will be a 16-story building with 263 apartments, instead of a 12-story building with 195 apartments, as in the original plan that the city approved in 2021.

The Fort Lauderdale City Commission approved the revised site plan Tuesday night, along with four deviations from design standards in the city’s downtown master plan. Miami-based Related, led by Chairman Jorge Pérez and President Jon Paul Pérez, successfully proposed deviations for maximum floor plate size, minimum building setback, maximum podium height, and maximum building height.

“The developer has secured the lending … and is ready to commence construction on the building,” Robert Lochrie, an attorney for Related Group, told commissioners at their meeting.

Related obtained control of the vacant site for the Gallery at Flagler Village project, at 600 North Andrews Avenue, through a land lease agreement with Broward County, the property’s owner, according to a memo sent Tuesday to city commissioners from Greg Chavarria, city manager.

More than half of the apartments at the Gallery at Flagler Village will be reserved for people with moderate income or very low income, relative to median household income in Broward County.

While market-rate rents will apply to 113 of the apartments, Related will reserve 53 apartments for residents with no more than 50 percent of median household income, and 97 apartments for residents whose household income doesn’t exceed 120 percent of the Broward County median, or about $64,000 a year, according to Census Bureau data for the 2017-2021 period.

Tenant income restrictions on the property for its primary use as affordable housing will remain in place for 75 years, which is the term of the land lease agreement between Related Group and Broward County, according to the city manager’s memo to commissioners.

“It is restricted for 75 years, much longer than the traditional 30 years,” Lochrie said at the commission meeting. “For 75 years, 53 of the units will be restricted to very low income, 97 units will be restricted for 75 years to moderate income, and the remainder will be market-rate units.”

Amenities will include a pool. Also, the sixth floor of the Gallery at Flagler Village will have open outdoor space, and the building will have about 2,400 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

Affordable apartments will have the same design features as the market-rate apartments, Lochrie said. “They’ll be the same size, they’ll have the same amenities, the same countertops, the same kitchens, and bathrooms,” he said. “Those units will not be different from any of the market-rate units in the project.”

Related has been active across South Florida. This month, Related and BH teamed up to buy a development site in Plantation for $13 million. The two firms are partnering on projects in West Palm Beach, Fisher Island, downtown Miami and North Miami.

Related’s Nick Pérez, who was recently promoted to president of the firm’s condo division, previously said that the company is still bullish on the market and put four development sites under contract in recent weeks.