Affiliated Development is the latest South Florida developer to nab construction financing for an apartment project, despite a slowing multifamily market.
Fort Lauderdale-based Affiliated, led by CEO Jeffrey Burns, secured an $80 million loan from Bank of Montreal to build The Era, a planned eight-story building with 400 apartments in the firm’s home city, records show. The developer recently broke ground on The Era, which is on a 2.7-acre assemblage at 2125 South Andrews Avenue that Affiliated bought for $15.4 million last year.
Banks are showing confidence in the South Florida multifamily market, even as the region is experiencing an oversupply of apartments. Last year, developers completed 18,600 rental units, outpacing 15,000 net new leases signed, according to CoStar data. Some landlords of new multifamily projects are offering prospective tenants incentives such as free months rent or the waiver of fees.
Yet, Affiliated is the fourth apartment developer to score a construction loan this month. In the biggest financing, New York-based Baron Property Group snagged a $206 million loan to build Metro Parc North, an eight-story building with 661 apartments in Hialeah.
Santander Bank provided a $67.5 million construction loan for a 383-unit multifamily complex in Davie developed by Coconut Grove-based 13th Floor Investments and Miami Beach-based JSB Capital. TM Real Estate, a developer also based in Coconut Grove, landed $53.5 million in financing from Truist Bank to build a complex of 10 buildings with 250 units in Boynton Beach.
Bank of Montreal is bullish on Affiliated. In September, the financial institution provided a $50 million construction loan for the developer’s planned 270-unit mixed-income apartment project in West Palm Beach called The Spruce, a press release states.
For The Era, Affiliated also received more than $5.5 million in property tax reimbursements from the city of Fort Lauderdale and Broward County in exchange for setting aside 210 units for workforce housing.
Last year, Affiliated completed The Grand, an eight-story building with 301 apartments and ground-floor retail in West Palm Beach. The firm is also developing The Pierce, a 236-unit workforce housing project in Boynton Beach. Overall, Affiliated has $1.5 billion worth of projects that are completed or are under construction, the firm’s website states.