Construction starts on Deerfield Station
DEERFIELD BEACH — Working professionals who find themselves priced out of downtown Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton may consider Deerfield Station, an apartment-retail project that is now under construction in Deerfield Beach.
Heavy equipment just started clearing the 8-acre site, which is east of the Deerfield Tri-Rail station, south of West Hillsboro Boulevard and north of the Sun Sentinel headquarters building.
The apartment complex will contain studios and one- and twobedroom units ranging from 585 to 1,260 square feet, said Hugo Pacanins, managing director — multifamily for developer Ram Realty Advisors. Besides the apartments, there will be 7,675 square feet of retail space. The company expects the project to be completed in the second quarter of next year.
No prices have been listed for the apartments, but Pacanins said working professionals would find the 226 units “more of an affordable option” than housing in the urban cores of Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton. Deerfield Station, he said, is an “in-between location” that can be accessed via nearby Interstate 95. “We’re really targeting [people] for that convenience,” he said. “There hasn’t been any new Class A product delivered in Deerfield for a while.”
Deerfield Station’s retail component will be a single-story building that will front West Hillsboro. “We’re talking to a couple of restaurant tenants that would occupy either end of the building,” he said, but he would not name them.
The immediate area along Southwest 12th Avenue — which serves as the project’s eastern boundary and in part parallels I-95 — is predominantly the scene of commercial activity and devoid of housing. A Wawa, Home Depot and La Quinta Inn & Suites operate across the street from the project. Farther south, office complexes line the roadway.
From the neighboring train station, Tri-Rail offers daily service to West Palm Beach and the Miami area. Broward Transit and Tri-Rail bus services are also available to ferry local residents to and from local destinations. Pacanins said the project would have pedestrian connections to the rail station “so the folks who live in the community can use the station as much as they want.”
Now in its 40th year, Ram is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens. It is building a number of commercial projects in South Florida and North Carolina. Recently, the company sold a 336-unit apartment complex near the Sheridan Street train station in Hollywood. It is near I-95 and has bus service, but no retail.
“We’re really targeting [people] for that convenience.” Hugo Pacanins, managing director — multifamily for developer Ram Realty Advisors