Investors scoop up dev site near Pompano Beach casino for $29M, amid near record South Florida multifamily pipeline

Atlantic Residential and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance scooped up a development site for $29.1 million, to build apartments near Harrah’s Pompano Beach Casino. 

Their purchase comes amid a near record construction pipeline of multifamily units in South Florida, which has slowed leasing and calmed rent growth. 

Atlanta-based Atlantic and Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual bought the 12.8-acre vacant site at 777 Isle of Capri Circle in Pompano Beach from Cordish Companies, according to records and real estate database Vizzda. Atlantic bought a 22.7 percent stake in the site, and Northwestern Mutual bought the remaining 77.3 percent ownership interest. 

Northwestern Mutual provided an $87.6 million loan on the property, records show. The buyers also signed a ground lease with an entity that ties to Atlantic and Northwestern Mutual. 

The project, which would be developed under Atlantic’s Indigo apartments brand, would consist of a 423-unit complex with two two-story buildings and seven five-story buildings, Vizzda records show. It would offer 30 studios, 184 one-bedrooms, 159 two-bedrooms and 50 three-bedroom apartments.  

The site is part of the 225-acre master-planned The Pomp project, which includes the renovated Harrah’s Pompano Beach Casino. Baltimore-based Cordish and Reno-based Caesars Entertainment are the master developers of The Pomp, which ultimately would include 4,000 residential units; two hotels; 1.3 million square feet of retail and entertainment space; and 1.4 million square feet of offices, according to a news release Cordish and Caesars issued last year. The Live! Entertainment District would consist of 25,000 square feet of food and beverage tenants, including Sports & Social and PBR Cowboy Bar. Topgolf is expected to open its facility on the site this year. 

The Pomp development site, roughly between Pompano Park Place and North Cypress Bend Drive, and between South Pompano Parkway east to the Tri-Rail train tracks, includes a former racetrack.  

Last year, Cordish and Caesars sold an 87.8-acre portion of The Pomp for $180 million to Rockpoint, which plans to develop and manage a 1.5 million-square-foot industrial project.

Atlantic, led by CEO Richard Aaronson, was founded in 1995 and has developed more than $1.5 billion worth of residential and mixed-use projects with 7,000 units, combined, according to its website. 

Northwestern Mutual also has a real estate investment arm, Northwestern Mutual Real Estate, which makes debt and equity investments, according to its website. 

Some multifamily developers in South Florida have been pausing their planned projects this year. Over the past four years, developers seized on the influx of residents to start new apartment projects, leading to a hefty construction pipeline. Over 40,700 units are under construction across South Florida, according to CoStar Group, just shy of the record 42,500 units that were under construction in 2022. The deliveries have led rents to plateau, or even drop in some submarkets, just as higher interest rates and skyrocketing insurance have made construction more expensive.