Cain and Kushner are moving forward with plans for a 440-unit resi project in Fort Lauderdale, though the city is calling for revisions to the development’s design and streetscape.
Fort Lauderdale’s Development Review Committee considered plans for the Rio Vista Residences last week. The 570,300-square-foot project would sit on a 2.6-acre assemblage at 633 South Federal Highway.
Roughly 53,000 square feet of office buildings would be demolished to make way for two highrises connected by a nine-story podium with a pedestrian paseo underneath.
The buildings, rising 28 and 22 stories, would comprise units ranging from studios to three-bedrooms with floor plans spanning from 565 to 1,625 square feet. Planned amenities include two pools, a yoga and pilates room, a club lobby and bistro, a cafe and a spa.
The project would also have 69,400 square feet of health and fitness space, 11,550 square feet of retail, 4,200 square feet of restaurants, 500 square feet of outdoor dining and 841 parking spaces.
Cain and Kushner have the property under contract from Fort Pruf Rock Land Trust, an affiliate of OKO Group, the South Florida Business Journal reported. It’s part of a 6.7-acre site OKO acquired for $62.6 million in 2020. Rio Vista Residences is the first development proposed for the site, the outlet said.
But the project still faces design revisions before it moves through Fort Lauderdale’s review process. City staff called the massing of the towers and podium “very bulky and overwhelming” and asked the developer to step the towers farther back from the surrounding streets.
Staff requested reconfiguring the project’s street-level design to decrease vehicle access points and allow for more pedestrian-oriented uses. They also wanted justifications for building length and height increases over the maximum. Other comments called for the use of higher-quality materials, a relocated parking ramp, a taller pedestrian paseo and more inviting ground-floor retail.
Multifamily asking rents are decreasing in South Florida, and rent growth is flat. But the oversupply has eased some over the past year, and some developers starting projects now believe they will come online amid a balanced market.
This isn’t the first time London-based Cain, led by Jonathan Goldstein, and the Kushner family’s New York-based Kushner, headed by Laurent Morali and Nicole Kushner Meyer, have teamed up. The joint venture is planning a 364-unit luxury apartment tower on an Edgewater site, for which they paid $43.1 million in June.
Cain has been investing in South Florida for a decade. The developer’s latest Miami project is the renovation of the Delano Miami Beach hotel, which has been closed since 2020. Cain is planning to reopen it in time for the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix in early May.
Kushner’s current developments are concentrated in Florida and New Jersey. Last year, the firm secured a $115 million construction loan for the development of a 68-unit luxury apartment building in Surfside. Completion is expected by the end of this year.
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