Stiles sells apartment development site in Fort Lauderdale to Greystar – South Florida Business Journal

Cushman & Wakefield’s Robert Given and Zachary Sackley represented Stiles in the deal.

The property currently has a 25,925-square-foot office building and bank. It’s just east of U.S. 1.

The city recently rezoned the property for a 602,213-square-foot building with 329 apartments, 6,871 square feet of retail and 503 parking spaces. The design by MSA Architects shows an urban plaza on the first floor with outdoor seating and planters.

Greystar is the largest third-party apartment management firm in the U.S. and it has developed many projects in Fort Lauderdale.

“Greystar manages a lot in the area and knows exactly what’s going on [in downtown Fort Lauderdale] and that attracted them to wanting to develop in the area,” Given said.

Apartment rents have increased in Fort Lauderdale as new residents have moved in, even people who work in other cities and prefer the downtown lifestyle, Given said. Downtown Fort Lauderdale rents are now approaching rents in Coral Gables, downtown Miami, Miami Beach and east Boca Raton, he said.

“Fort Lauderdale is in the midst of an urban revival with multiple public and private development projects,” said Sackley. “Within Fort Lauderdale, new multifamily development will transform the CBD.”

It’s likely that Greystar would break ground on the building by the end of 2017, Given said.