Developer Breaks Ground On Dania Pointe Apartments
Coral Gables-based Meyers Group is breaking ground this week on Avery Dania Pointe, a 264-unit apartment building with a three-story clubhouse, a pool, a dog wash, valet parking and electric car chargers. That's all the amenities you might find in a South Beach high-rise, but they are in an eight-story project abutting Interstate 95 in Dania Beach.
"What we love about the location is its location,” Chairman and CEO Stuart Meyers said. “You couldn’t get any more centrally located than this."
He cited easy drives to Aventura and Boca, and the mile-and-a-half distance to Fort Lauderdale airport.
“Dania’s been very overlooked for many years and its time has come,” he said.
Meyers is not going it alone. His apartments here — which will total 600 when a second building goes up during Phase 2 — are part of a major $800M mixed-use project, Dania Pointe, on 102 acres that were the former site of Grand Prix Race-o-Rama and a long-defunct wooden roller coaster.
Dania Pointe has already inked leases with BrandsMart USA, TJ Maxx, Hobby Lobby, Five Below, Youfit Health Clubs, Ulta Beauty and Verizon as well as clothing stores and restaurants, including Burger King, Outback Steakhouse, Starbucks and TooJay’s Deli, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Meyers said the development will be convenient for commuters who can easily access the highway to commute to work, then have everything they need in walking distance when at home.
That is why Meyers is confident despite reports that South Florida is seeing a condo glut and rental growth is slowing in major markets around the country.
“You have to look at it segment by segment. Millennials want flexibility. They want to live-work-play. They don’t want to be bound by owning a car," he said. "Plus, it’s getting harder and harder to own. To get that foot-in down payment is becoming very restrictive. We don’t see any let-up in demand for rental apartments over the next several years. We’ll be into building apartments for the next two, three, four years. With the condo market, I’d be damn careful. I think there’s a slackening of demand while some of this overbuilt inventory gets absorbed.”
Meyers said rents at the property will be close to $2.40 per SF, as opposed to more than double that price for new projects going up in Brickell. Monthly rents at Avery Dania Pointe will range from $1,600 for a one-bedroom to $2,400 for a three-bedroom, he said. It should open in Q1 of 2020.
Meyers Group is also currently building an eight-story, 145-unit building, the Avery Pompano Beach, and planning for a property in downtown Miami, just one block from Brightline’s MiamiCentral station, where Meyers expects to build 150 units in 22 stories.
The company has other projects in Fort Myers and a satellite office in El Paso, Texas. There, Meyers Group is renovating the historic Hotel Paso del Norte into a Marriott Autograph. Many of the company properties are called Avery, inspired by Meyers' oldest granddaughter’s middle name.
