Main Street Metamorphosis

SPOTLIGHT

Coconut Creek, a city of 57,000 in northwest Broward that calls itself the “Butterfly Capital of the World,” has been known for years as a bedroom community, agriculture spot, and home to a Seminole Tribe casino and car dealerships.

But the citizenry and its leaders have recognized for decades the need for a slightly more urban and pedestrian-friendly core as agriculture gives way to rooftops. A shopping, theater and dining hub called The Promenade opened in 2008.

Now, the city commission has green-lit a rezoning plan developers want to use to create a downtown district in the open 157 acres of ag and city land between The Promenade to the northeast and the tribe casino to the southwest. The plan calls for 2,360 multifamily townhouse, condo and rental units and 225,000 square feet of commercial space — with no building more than several stories high. There also will be civic areas. The group of developers includes 13th Floor Acquisitions, Rosemurgy Properties, Schmier Property Group and Giles Capital Group. The December approval by city commissioners is “hopefully the first of many approvals on this project,” developer attorney Scott Backman told commissioners. He said much of this year will see other necessary applications submitted to allow the project to break ground.

REAL ESTATE

• Fort Lauderdale city commissioners approved New York developer Naftali Group’s plan for a 936-unit, two-tower apartment project — one 47 stories, the other 45, joined by a nine-story parking podium — on North Federal Highway in Flagler Village.
• Developer Harvey Hernandez’s Newgard Development paid $31 million to Aimco and Kushner Cos. for a one-acre site on Broward Boulevard in downtown Fort Lauderdale entitled for a 49-story, 381-unit residential building. Kushner and Aimco paid $49 million for the site and two nearby sites. They’ve now sold two of the parcels and plan to build a 956-unit residential tower on the third.
• Miami developer Pinnacle obtained $41.3 million in financing for its 110-unit senior housing development in Miramar.
• Miami-based Related Group and BH Group bought another site at the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, this time paying $21.5 million. At that site and another Diplomat site purchased for $30 million, the two developers plan 350 condos and 500 hotel rooms. The seller was Diplomat owners Trinity Real Estate Investments and Credit Suisse Asset Management.

AGRICULTURE

• Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton in collaboration with Florida International University in Miami received a $1-million workforce development grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish the FAU Microbiome Innovation Center. The center will develop a curriculum in holistic plant health and collect indigenous beneficial bacteria.

TRANSPORTATION

• Waterborne shuttle service Water Taxi wants to build The Landing, a ticket office, bar and restaurant space, on a city-owned parking lot it would lease near the Bahia Mar on Fort Lauderdale’s barrier island.

RETAIL

• Plantation-based pet food and supplies company Chewy launched its own veterinary care practice, the first it hopes of many, in South Florida under the Chewy Vet Care brand. It offers routine care, surgery and urgent care. Walmart also recently entered the pet health care business.

INNOVATION

• Randy Carr’s Hollywood company World Emblem is a leading manufacturer globally of embroidered patches — roughly 100 million a year — you find on uniforms for the likes of Cintas, Aramark, Levi’s and the National Football League. Some 99% of business is done over the internet. Production is done in Mexico. About 20 people work from the Hollywood headquarters. Carr has a reputation as an innovator and leader in the decorated apparel industry. He’s been on the Power 75 for Stitches magazine. The company holds 15 patents. Carr joined the company, founded by his father, in 1993 and took it over when his father died in 2000.

Tags: Southeast, Real Estate