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Southeast Florida Development
Rental housing booms
 Developer Mo Abbas is planning to build a 25-story apartment complex in Hollywood. |
Coral Gables developer Mo Abbas still has to wrap up financing, but he hopes to go vertical early next year with Hollywood Circle, a 25-story, 397-rental apartment project he wants to build on Young Circle. “The stars are aligned on this one,” Abbas says.
 Mo Abbas |
Count Hollywood and adjoining Hallandale Beach as firmly in the camp of returning tower building. The market, where 5,000 units went up in coastal projects in the boom, was the first in south Florida to sell out of its boom-era inventory, pulling it off in the second quarter of 2011, reports real estate consultancy CondoVultures.com.
Now, developers want to get construction hopping again. Miami’s Related Group is building a 49-unit luxury oceanfront tower, Apogee Beach, in Hallandale. As of May, it had sold all but five units. Developers have announced other projects, including a tower numbering more than 450 units and a hotel with more than 400 rooms.
Abbas’ project will include a supermarket, restaurant and a 104-room hotel. Demand for rentals is strong, with the area vacancy rate at 4.1%, Abbas says. The addition of tenants from the 397 apartments “will deliver to downtown the critical mass it needs,” he says. Longer term, he plans a 19-story, 229-unit mixed-use project called Young Circle Commons. Abbas says the future for Hollywood is high-density buildings around the circle, with residents enjoying urban life, the ArtsPark and the amphitheater. “The location is excellent for a project,” he says.
