Midtown Capital Partners has received approval from the Plantation City Council to move forward with its plan to build a 300-unit apartment complex, including 60 affordable housing units, on a parking lot within the Plantation Pointe office park. The council’s decision was unanimous and grants site plan approval for the six-story multifamily development, which will be constructed on a parcel currently designated for industrial use.
The 7.9-acre site is located at 7510 West Sunrise Boulevard. The property is an underused parking area at Plantation Pointe, where companies such as Magic Leap and Chewy have their headquarters. “The location is a parking lot that is seldom used. If you drive by there, on most occasions, you’ll notice that it’s vacant,” said Dan Holmes, director of planning, zoning and economic development for Plantation.
Midtown Capital Partners, based in Miami and led by CEO Alejandro Velez, acquired the parking lot as part of a $56.6 million purchase in 2017 that included multiple properties at Plantation Pointe. The acquisition covered two buildings totaling about 221,000 square feet.
The planned affordable housing component includes 10 studios, 23 one-bedroom apartments, 21 two-bedroom apartments, and six three-bedroom apartments. These 60 units represent 20 percent of the total apartments in the project and will remain designated as affordable housing for 20 years under restrictive deed covenants agreed to by Midtown Capital.
Florida’s Live Local Act allows developers who designate at least 40 percent of their dwellings as affordable housing to bypass local government public hearings and proceed with only administrative municipal approval. When at least 10 percent of units are set aside as affordable housing—as is the case with this project—local governments may choose whether or not to hold a public hearing.
“In this case, the applicant [Midtown Capital] is requesting to provide 20 percent of the units as affordable,” Holmes said. “Under the Live Local Act, they’re asking to bypass … rezoning and land use [changes]. So, that’s something the city council has the discretion to do or not.”
Council member Jennifer Andreu proposed extending the affordability period for these units from 20 years to 30 years through restrictive covenants but her motion did not pass. Council member Timothy J. Fadgen commented on Midtown Capital’s commitment: “I feel 20 [years] is a reasonable request because they are giving us double [the percentage of units] what they’re required to under the Live Local [Act].”
