Amid building boom, Davie looking to sell 3 acres

Downtown land would be used to build more shops

Davie, already in the middle of a construction boom, is now in talks with a developer to sell off land to build more shops.

The town’s Community Redevelopment Agency has agreed to enter into negotiations with Azur Equities to sell 3 acres of downtown land at the northwestern corner of Davie Road and Orange Drive, according to Phillip R. Holste, Davie’s assistant town administrator and interim director of the CRA.

Azur Equities is best known in Davie for its “Main Street” developments in the pipeline for a future downtown: Main Street Courts, with 30 garden apartments; Main Street Place, with 36 forsale condo units; and Main Street Lofts, with 45 rental apartments in a four-story, mixed-use building under construction. Azur will be applying for construction permits for Main Street Courts and Main Street Place.

The developer has also proposed a fourth project — Promenade at Davie — a three-story building of restaurants, retail and office space, which is now under staff review.

The 3 acres up for sale are vacant except for an unoccupied Moose Lodge, which will be demolished by September, he said. The town’s CRA bought the 3 acres for $4.4 million over four transactions starting in 2005.

The original plan had been to build a new Town Hall there, along with a downtown hotel and accompanying parking garage, but those projects will be moved to another location, he said.

The Town Hall, now spread out over three buildings, is likely to be built on Davie Road within the Western-themed downtown, he said.

Meanwhile, the 3-acre site could become the site of retail shops and restaurants, office space and an entertainment complex instead, Holste said. The project could peak at three stories.

“Redevelopment on Davie Road has been on the radar for decades, and now you’re seeing it actually happen,” Holste said. “This is a project we feel will be a great complement to everything else that’s going on.”