A development partnership proposes a 500-unit residential project on a 3.2-acre assemblage in Fort Lauderdale that includes a church, as redevelopment of religious sites surges in South Florida.
Tal Levinson and Eric Malinasky’s preliminary plan is for a pair of six-story buildings with about 400 units to 500 units and ground-floor retail on the southwest corner of Northwest Fourth Street and Seventh Avenue, Levinson said. Doron Malinasky, Gilad and Avraham Ovaknin, and Eliyahu Levy also are partners.
The project marks the group’s third planned redevelopment of a church site in Fort Lauderdale.
The units could be a mix of condos and apartments, according to Levinson.
The developers are considering using the Live Local Act, a state law approved last year and tweaked this year that incentivizes affordable and workforce apartment construction. In exchange for tax breaks and wiggle room on municipal zoning restrictions, developers must designate at least 40 percent of their units for households earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income. The apartments have to remain income-restricted for at least 30 years.
Next, the developers plan to file a site plan this year and expect to start construction in a year and a half, Levinson said.
The developers paid a combined $13.2 million in several deals this year and last year for the 15-lot assemblage that’s divided by Northwest Third Street. On the south side of the street, the properties are 702, 714, 718, 720, 724 and 728 Northwest Third Street, as well as 204 and 216 Northwest Eighth Avenue.
On the north side of the street, the properties are 721 and 723 Northwest Third Street, 704 Northwest Fourth Street and the site of the Christian Church of the Regeneration at 720 Northwest Fourth Street. The church also is listed as L’Eglise Chretienne de la Regeneration.
Levinson and Malinasky worked out a deal to find the church a new home at 3135 West Broward Boulevard in Lauderhill. The developers bought the church’s Fort Lauderdale parcel and an adjacent lot for $2.2 million in July, and the church used the funds to purchase its new property for the same amount, according to records.
The developers had put the Lauderhill site under contract and transferred it to the church, Levinson said. It’s part of a well-hammered out playbook by Levinson, Malinasky and their partners.
In two other deals, they bought church sites, found the congregations a new home, put the sites under contract and then transferred them to the church.
In Fort Lauderdale’s Dorsey-Riverbend neighborhood, the developers are finalizing the design of a 160-unit apartment project on 1.3 acres at 500, 506, 510, 522, 530 and 534 Northwest Ninth Avenue. The preliminary plan is for the project to rise six stories.
The assemblage was home to the Shaw Temple AME Zion Church, which moved to 2525 Northwest 20th Street in Fort Lauderdale.
In the city’s Progresso Village neighborhood, Levinson said he and his partners plan to submit a site plan next month for an eight-story, roughly 410-unit building on the southeast corner of Northwest Seventh Street and Northwest Fourth Avenue. The First Eben Ezer Missionary Christian Church that was on the site now is at 3970 Northwest 21st Avenue in Oakland Park.
South Florida developers have homed in on church sites. Some are repurposing the buildings for commercial uses or are building on adjacent parking lots and preserving the churches, while others are razing the buildings.
Billionaire Steve Ross’ Related Ross is developing the 25-story One Flagler office tower next to First Church of Christ, Scientist at the foot of the Royal Park Bridge in downtown West Palm Beach. In Pompano Beach, Cavache Properties is developing Old Town Square II with a pair of 10-story buildings with 319 apartments and 3,200 square feet of retail on the former home of Christ United Methodist Church at 210-217 Northeast Third Street.
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