It could get even more crowded in the southeast section of Flagler Village.
The surge of high-rise projects filling Fort Lauderdale’s burgeoning upscale neighborhood may get a double-barrel lift from a New York developer that has submitted plans to build two apartment towers neighboring The Dalmar hotel.
An application filed by the Naftali Group of Manhattan calls for towers that would boast 45 and 47 floors, a total of 877 parking spaces, and a combined 824 apartment units. The enclave would also allow for 10,399 square feet of commercial retail. And the buildings would share a podium nine stories high.
The project address is 201 N. Federal Highway, at the corner of Northeast Second Street and North Federal.
In height, both buildings would rival a handful of other downtown area towers now in operation, on the drawing boards or under construction.
The proposed 47-story tower, which would be on the west side of the project, would surpass the city’s tallest tower now in operation. It would check in at 509 feet and 8 inches, surpassing the height of the downtown 100 Las Olas tower, which currently holds the title of tallest at 46 stories and 499 feet.
The 45-story entry on the project’s east side and closest to Federal would reach 493 feet and 8 inches, according to the application.
The height comparisons for the city’s “tallest” title, however, would be easily rendered moot by the 48-story, 579-foot high tower proposed last summer for 200 W. Broward Blvd. by a joint venture of Kushner of New York and Aimco of Denver.
Cozy neighbors?
There is one potential problem, though, with the Federal Highway buildings’ heights and locations.
What would the neighbors think?
The project would likely block much of the southern view from The Dalmar, the renderings show, and come within close proximity of a 30-story apartment building called The Rise Flagler Village.
The hotel, which rises 25 stories, is located at 299 N. Federal Highway, just to the north of the twin-tower site.
The 30-story Rise is at 405 NE Second St. on the project’s west side, and would have little space separating it from the proposed 47-story tower. Many residents from each building, it appears, might have good views of each other.
Neither a Naftali representative in New York, nor the company’s Fort Lauderdale land-use attorney, responded to requests for comment on Wednesday. A Dalmar representative could not be located.
But the application filed with the City of Fort Lauderdale Development Review Committee alludes to a building design that would help highlight the city’s skyline.
“At night, the illuminated framing detail will evoke the city’s downtown skyline,” the application promises.
“Both towers feature a curvilinear frame that extends from the base of the tower volume up to the rooftop,” according to the application. “The frames are positioned outward from the center of each building to create a mirroring effect.”
“Both buildings feature continuous wrap-around terraces and extensive glazing on each residential level to animate the facades,” it adds. “The podium level, where not lined with residential units, features perforated metal screening and a green wall between the two towers.”
On the street, the public would be greeted “with a minimum 22-foot floor-to-floor height with shaded retail and public walks” along North Federal Highway and Northeast Second. An open breezeway at the buildings’ center would contain a car passenger drop-off at the main lobby on the Second Street side
The parking garage would be accessible at the podium’s west end along Northeast Second and Third streets.
A corner commercial plaza at Broward Boulevard and Federal is a short walking distance away to the south, and another short walk across Broward places pedestrians at the Las Olas Boulevard shopping and nightlife district.
Naftali, whose website says the company has built around three dozen residential projects worth $12 billion over the years, is fairly new to the South Florida development scene.
In a statement reported last year by The Real Deal, Miki Naftali, the company CEO and chairman, said his firm wants to expand its presence in South Florida’s luxury market. and the Flagler Village property “presents a prime opportunity to develop in a desirable neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale.”
