Hallandale Beach approves 13th Floor’s 398-unit multifamily project next to casino

Low-rise complex of seven apartment buildings will include workforce housing units

Hallandale Beach Approves 13th Floor’s Multifamily Project
13th Floor Investments' Arnaud Karsenti and Rey Melendi with Rendering of plans for the multifamily project near the Big Easy Casino (13th Floor Investments, MSA Architects)

Miami-based 13th Floor Investments won approval to develop Ashworth at Hallandale Beach, a low-rise development with 398 apartments, including workforce housing units.

The planned project will be along North Federal Highway, next to the Big Easy Casino.

“We hope to break ground in a few months,” Rey Melendi, chief operating officer and principal of 13th Floor, said at the Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting Wednesday evening.

Hallandale Beach Approves 13th Floor’s Multifamily Project
Rendering of plans for the multifamily project near the Big Easy Casino (MSA Architects, 13th Floor Investments)

The commission unanimously approved a site plan for Ashworth, a development agreement with 13th Floor, and a zoning overlay district for the development site along Federal Highway between Northeast 7th Street and Pembroke Road.

The development agreement between 13th Floor and Hallandale Beach requires the company to designate at least 10 percent of the Ashworth apartments as workforce housing units with below-market rents for income-qualified tenants.

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Prior to issuance of the first building permit for construction of Ashworth, the development agreement also requires 13th Floor to arrange for the installation of a bus shelter near the intersection of Northeast 1st Avenue and Pembroke Road.

Led by managing principal Arnaud Karsenti,13th Floor Investments paid $18.5 million in 2022 for the six-parcel, 15.5-acre site along Federal Highway, just east of the front entrance of the Big Easy Casino at 831 North Federal Highway, which is owned by Jeffrey Soffer’s Fontainebleau Development. Among the parcels 13th Floor acquired was the old Holiday Bowling Center & Sports Bar at 106 Pembroke Road, which has closed.

Hallandale Beach Approves 13th Floor’s Multifamily Project
Rendering of plans for the multifamily project near the Big Easy Casino (MSA Architects, 13th Floor Investments)

The site plan for Ashworth at Hallandale Beach shows a residential complex with seven apartment buildings, each five stories tall, five with 50 units and two with 74 units. Planned amenities include a swimming pool and clubhouse. The mixed-use plan by 13th Floor also includes development of a 6,486-square-foot retail building on the south side of the site, along Pembroke Road.

Among the planned apartments will be 10 studios sized at 603 square feet, 133 one-bedroom units with an average size of 757 square feet, 197 two-bedroom units averaging 1,090 square feet, and 58 three-bedroom units that will average 1,409 square feet.

The Miami-based developer has a variety of residential projects underway in South Florida. In Fort Lauderdale, 13th Floor is developing Marine Landings, a gated community with 34 single-family homes priced from $1.2 million.

And in Delray Beach, the company is developing Solera at Avalon Trails, a 74-unit rental townhouse development for adults 55 and older.