Affiliated lands $46M construction loan for 223-unit apartment project in Hollywood

Affiliated Development landed a $45.5 million construction loan for a 223-unit apartment project with a workforce housing component in downtown Hollywood. 

The Fort Lauderdale-based firm started construction of the 18-story building, called The Tropic, with one-bedroom to three-bedroom apartments at 303 South Federal Highway, according to records and an Affiliated news release. Half the apartments will be designated for households earning from 100 percent to 120 percent of the area median income. 

Broward County’s AMI is $88,500 annually. 

A group of lenders led by BankUnited provided the loan. It completes the necessary financing from public and private financing for the $83 million project, the release says.

Affiliated, led by Jeff Burns and Nick Rojo, has carved out a niche developing mixed-income apartment projects partly bankrolled through public subsidies. In 2021, Hollywood officials approved $9.5 million in public financing through various programs, including a $3.5 million forgivable loan from the city, tax rebates and waivers of municipal fees. 

The Tropic also is partly funded through a private family office and equity from Affiliated’s $125 million housing impact fund. Investors in the housing impact fund include pension funds for South Florida municipalities and county police and firefighters, or the types of employees workforce housing largely targets. 

Affiliated’s other mixed-income projects include the planned eight-story, 400-unit Era at 2125 South Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, and the eight-story, 236-unit The Pierce in Boynton Beach. The Pierce will be between Boynton Beach Boulevard and Ocean Avenue, and between Federal Highway and the Florida East Coast Railway. 

The firm’s completed projects include The Bohemian with 200 units at 101 Southeast Coast Street in Lake Worth Beach, and The Grand with 301 units at 609 Second Street in West Palm Beach.