City apartments aimed at middle class

Developer gets OK for 612 rental units in two towers

FORTLAUDERDALE— In Fort Lauderdale, a city teeming with new high-rise luxury residences, developer Joe Traina Jr. has something more modest in mind.

Hewants to build apartments middleclassworkers can afford.

Fort Lauderdale commissioners this month approved Traina’s plans for 612 rental units as part of a large, mixed-use development two blocks north of Broward Boulevard at 300N. Andrews Ave.

Expectations for so-called FATcity are at least as high as its two proposed 30-story towers, which alsowould house upscale offices and ground-floor shops, restaurants and maybe even a grocery store.

City Commissioner Dean Trantalis said he hopes the 1.38 million-square-foot project will “set the standard for future development” as the city remakes the downtown corridor into a “live-work-play” destination.

FATcity isn’t due to open until late 2020 or early 2021, so some specifics still need to be addressed, Traina said. But he expects the project’s studio, one-, two- and threebedroom apartments will rent for under $1,000 a month to more than $2,000.

Those price points, he says, will attract working professionals who have been shut out of most new downtown developments in recent years.

“This is not Las Olas, not the ocean,” Traina said.“We have right-priced these apartments.”

Traina said he’s stillworking on the apartment sizes. But he insists the smallest oneswon’t be “micro units” being built in other urban areas around the nation.

The rule of thumb is that, after paying federal income tax, consumers should spend no more than 30 percent of their remaining income on housing costs. Using that standard, real estatewebsite Zillow determined that a person making an annual pre-tax salary of $50,000 ($43,349 after income tax) could spend up to $1,084 a month in rent— enough for one of the least-expensive units at FATcity.

Someone earning $60,000 ($50,849 after taxes) could spend up to $1,271 a month. Those earning $40,000 ($34,774 after taxes) probably couldn’t make itworkwithout a roommate because they shouldn’t spend more than $869 a month, according to Zillow.

Even with Traina’s best efforts to make