A developer has started building a 400-unit project with some workforce housing in downtown Fort Lauderdale after securing an $80 million construction loan from a Canadian bank.

Affiliated Development announced on March 14 it started building The Era, an eight-story building with garage parking on South Andrews Avenue between S.W. 21st and S.W. 22nd streets. At least 210 of The Era’s 400 residential units will be workforce housing for residents earning between 80% and 120% of area median income (AMI).

As of 2024, an 80% of AMI in Broward County for a household of one was $59,120 a year, according to the latest figures from Florida Housing Financing Corporation. For a one-person household in Broward, 120% AMI was $88,680 a year. Under current Housing and Urban Development guidelines, rent for a one-bedroom for 80% AMI is capped at $1,478 a month and at $2,374 a month for 120% AMI. Those figures are subject to change every year.

Both the workforce and market-rate apartments will consist of one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom apartments and is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2027, an Affiliated Development spokesperson said.

Fort Lauderdale-based Moss & Associates, also known as Moss, is the project’s general contractor. The Era was designed by the firm’s in-house architecture firm A+R, an affiliate of Fort Lauderdale-based Rinka+.

A public-private partnership, the project will cost $128 million to build. To help finance the project, the city of Fort Lauderdale awarded the project a 15-year property tax reimbursement in exchange for workforce housing. Broward County provided a 30-year tax reimbursement of up to $5.5 million.

“City and county leadership and staff have prioritized the creation of quality workforce housing and recognize how important this type of housing is to the fabric of our community,” Affiliated Development co-founder Jeff Burns said in a release.

Affiliated Development, based in Fort Lauderdale, invested $15.2 million last year assembling the 2.69-acre site where The Era will be built. The project is near major employers such as Broward Health (less than a mile away), Port Everglades (less than 2.5 miles), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (about four miles), downtown Fort Lauderdale (less than 2.5 miles), and the future Fort Lauderdale Federal Courthouse (less than 2.5 miles). The developers said The Era will include a resort style pool, fitness center, a rooftop observation desk and a speakeasy with views of downtown Fort Lauderdale.

Rising rents and home prices have made it difficult for South Florida to retain its workforce, despite statewide measures such as The Live Local Act, which grants property tax abatements and zoning bonuses for developers that include workforce housing in their projects. However, the high cost of land and construction have made building such projects difficult.

“Providing quality, attainably priced housing would not be possible without participation from our public partners at the city and county. It takes creative solutions to address the housing crisis, especially given the current cost and interest rate environment,” stated Affiliated Development co-founder Nick Rojo.

https://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2025/03/14/the-era-fort-lauderdale-apartments-break-ground.html