An affiliate of Aventura’s BH3, a real estate investment and development firm, has paid $23.12 million for the 2.8-acre FATCity development site at 300 N. Andrews Avenue in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
The seller, an entity controlled by New York-based holdings group Traina Companies, will continue as co-developer.
While the Flagler Village area has no shortage of development projects, FATCity would arguably be the pinnacle if it follows previous entitlements. The FAT part of the name is an acronym for Florida Arts and Technology, which reflects existing development efforts.
The site is entitled for approximately 1.35 million square feet of transit-oriented, mixed-use development that could include 612 residential units, 85,000 square feet of retail space, 270,000 square feet of commercial space such as office and hospitality, and more than 1,300 parking spaces, a press release says. The site fronts an entire city block along the east side of North Andrews Avenue from Northeast Third Street to Northeast Fourth Street. It is two blocks east of the Brightline high-speed rail station.
The Traina Companies, led by father-and-son principals Joseph Traina, Sr. and Joseph Traina, Jr., assembled the multiple parcels and obtained city approvals in 2017.
“As a Fort Lauderdale resident, born and raised and now raising my family in this city, we are grateful for the exciting opportunity to play a key role in the continued transformation of Fort Lauderdale along with the current and future path of growth in the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Gregory Freedman, principal of BH3.
Freedman and Daniel Lebensohn, also principal of BH3, lead the firm which owns other properties in Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village and Progresso Village. Additionally, BH3 has owned and/or developed notable properties throughout South Florida, such as famed Privé at Island Estates, which was the subject of an SFBW Great Places and Spaces, Trump Hollywood, 1805 Ponce, and Terra Beachside.
BH3 on Jan. 29 also won the right from the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency to develop a 7.4-acre, $100 million mixed-use project in the 600 to 800 block of West Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach.
