Fort Lauderdale Real Estate: New Projects Are Revving Up The Local Housing Market

The city of Fort Lauderdale in Broward County, Florida is a vibrant and thriving economic and tourism metropolitan area. The city's housing markets are viewed to be rebounding from the recent housing crunch, and it's one rebound that is clearly visible these days, as some developers are bucking the odds, and are starting to build new homes again.

More Approvals Are Seen For New Developments

Housing slump. Real estate bubble. These words were once-feared premonitions of a total breakdown in the country's housing markets. Some areas may still be mired in the flood of foreclosures, but some areas have shown tenacity to quickly rebound from the morass.

Take Fort Lauderdale. Home developers in this city have recently sought and obtained approvals Tuesday for 629 residential condos or apartments that had been approved several years but were never built. The home developers have now said that the projects will move forward,even in a real estate market that has frightened off most investors. Despite getting a lot of negative barrages from some, home builders and developers here continue to submit building plans at City Hall for the construction of newer multi-family residences and units, while development continues on hundreds of condo units approved in recent years.

For instance, construction workers this week finished twin condos at the beach, completing the top floor of the 172-unit Sapphire condo and installing the ceremonial tree to the rooftop, and just across from Holiday Park on Sunrise Boulevard, the same developer has a rental complex called Satori under construction.

Some Developers Like Building In The Midst Of A Slump

For some home builders and developers like lawyer Ron Mastriana, calling this type of work during a crisis is called slump-time building. The lawyer-home developer recently concluded Coral Gable residences on Holiday Drive, with 57 condos on the city's beach sand. And his 63-unit Bamboo Flats downtown, on Third Avenue, recently opened as well. Altman may be aware that the indicators have been down, prices declining, and the number of sales dropping, however he notes with all positivity that the market is still alive, if the prices are not inflated.

According to Altman, ” There are markets that are better than others, and times that are better than others,'. 'You deal with what you have before you.' Some housing analysts are indicating that some property developers changed plans from ownership to rental apartments, because getting these projects financed might be easier right now, and later when the economics begin to shift, they could convert to condos.

Fort Lauderdale' commissioners recently unanimously approved site plan changes that were sought by Minto Henry Square, which was originally approved in 2005. The project's developers have agreed to lower building heights for the complex to be built in the 500 block of Federal Highway downtown, and got another six months to break ground before permits expire. The number of residential units dropped only two units to 416, which will be rental apartments.

The city also recently signed off on changes to Eclipse, a residential project that was also approved in 2005, but previously had the name Brickell Heights. The high-rise project, planned at 307 NW First Ave., also won another six months' time, and approval to change the site plan, and is expected to contain 213 residential units. According to some local property market observes, "We feel the market is very strong, and we've got some real imbalances that we've got to work through. But we've got to keep in mind that Florida is a wonderful place."

Vanessa Arellano Doctor
Fort Lauderdale Real Estate

Coral Spring Real Estate