Dania Pointe to offer 600 apartments starting at $1,600 a month, as well as bowling, movies

As builders of the Dania Pointe lifestyle complex in Dania Beach broke ground for the entertainment phase of their project Thursday, it was confirmed that a South Florida developer will erect 600 rental apartment units on the site east of Interstate 95.

Designed by Miami architect Kobi Karp, the first phase of Avery Dania Pointe will consist of an eight-story tower with 264 units. The second phase, with another 336 units, will not start until the first one is at or near completion, said Alan Losada, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Meyers Group of Coral Gables in a phone interview. “If the leasing pace goes really quick … we may accelerate.”

Losada said the company hopes to break ground on the first phase in August.

With some units starting at $1,600 a month, the price point will sound attractive to tenants who are routinely confronted with monthly rents for smaller apartments that exceed $2,000 at new properties in South Florida downtowns.

The average rent for the entire project “is going to be about $2,100,” Losada said. “We are going to be below the apartments in Fort Lauderdale. It’s getting crazy out there. It’s due to the construction prices. It’s not easy to keep prices down.”

“We’re hoping to blaze a trail in providing residents with rentals they can actually afford,” Stuart Meyers, chairman and CEO of the Meyers Group, said in a statement.

Amid the fanfare of a groundbreaking Thursday, Paul Puma, southern region president of Kimco Realty Corp., the Dania Pointe developer, said the company signed a lease with the national bowling alley operator Bowlmor, which will occupy more than 30,000 square feet in the entertainment complex. He also said Kimco is negotiating a lease with a movie theater company but that it’s too early to name the firm.

Dania Pointe is a 102-acre redevelopment project located east of Interstate 95 and south of the Design Center of the Americas, 2 miles Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport.

The project means Dania Beach is now a visitor destination, and “no longer a pass-through city,” Mayor Tamara James said Thursday.

Kimco has already announced that two Marriott hotels, a Lucky’s Market and 18 restaurants will be among the many commercial occupants of the massive shopping and entertainment center. One of the Marriotts will be a full-service hotel, with the other opening under the chain’s AC Hotel brand aimed at millennials. The hotels’ development is expected to launch in 2019.

Company officials said Dania Pointe is the No. 1 priority for Kimco, a publicly traded real estate investment trust based in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

Kimco also operates the Oakwood Plaza on the southern side of Stirling Road in Hollywood. At the ceremony, Puma and Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy said the company and city have informally discussed a makeover for that plaza as well. The talks are in the early stages.

Kimco has said it expects the initial portions of the retail phase to open this fall. Construction of the first phase of the residential portion would start in September or October

BrandsMart USA, TJ Maxx and Hobby Lobby, all were previously announced as tenants.

More recent signings include Advance Auto Parts, Aspen Dental, Five Below, Men’s Wearhouse, Shoe Carnival, Youfit Health Clubs, Ulta Beauty and Verizon. Restaurants in the development’s first phase include: Burger King, Firehouse Subs, First Watch, Outback Steakhouse, Padrino’s Cuban Cafe, PDQ, Starbucks and TooJay’s Deli.

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