Apartments, townhomes planned for Plantation development

This real-estate feature from the South Florida Sun Sentinel highlights the latest plans for new construction as demand rises for more housing, offices and stores across the region. You can submit questions by emailing buildings@sunsentinel.com, if you’re wondering about “what’s being built there?” in your community. Here’s one of the latest projects.

The location? In Plantation on the southeast corner of Pine Island Road and Cleary Boulevard; west of Florida’s Turnpike and a mile north of West Broward Boulevard.

What’s planned? A massive mixed-use complex, Midtown Square will add more than 560 residential units on a 25-acre site that was previously home to an American Express building. Shalimar West, which is being developed by TM Real Estate, will include 480 apartments split in two five-story towers.

The site will also feature 86 townhomes, which are being developed by PulteGroup. The townhome community, Emory, will consist of numerous four-and six-unit buildings.

Additionally, Midtown Square will also feature 24,000 square feet of residential and retail space. No tenants have been announced yet for the project.

Matthew Pellar, CEO of TM Real Estate, cited the project’s location, including its proximity to Florida’s Turnpike and Interstate 595, as being especially appealing factors. “It’s the middle of Broward County. It’s smack between downtown Fort Lauderdale and Sawgrass and than of course with Plantation Walk.”

“We’re really kind of a little village within the suburban fabric,” Pellar said.

What will the residential units cost? For Shalimar West, prices will range from $2,100 a month for one-bedroom apartments to $3,400 for three-bedroom units, Pellar said. The townhomes will be priced in the $400,000s, according to PulteGroup.

“Plantation is a great area,” Pulte Group Southeast Florida divisional

president Brent Baker said. “And just like everything in the Fort Lauderdale area, there’s not a lot of supply, so we’re excited about bringing product to market when there’s not a lot of it

out there.”

What’s being replaced? Midtown Square is taking the place of the former 339,000-square-foot American Express building. The company relocated to a new facility in Sunrise in 2017.

When will project be completed? Construction is already underway on one of the five-story apartment towers, which is expected to be finished in the first quarter of 2023, Pellar said. They plan to break ground on the second tower within the next two months and are targeting to have that building completed in the first quarter of 2024.

Site work for the townhomes is slated to begin within the next two months, PulteGroup Southeast Florida divisional president Brent Baker said. The first residents are expected to move in by the second half of 2023.

The retail element will be the last thing to be built, Pellar said, adding they will likely begin work in 12 to 18 months.

Seeing demand: Midtown Square is the second major development under construction within that area. Just a mile east, the $350 million mega-shopping complex Plantation Walk will feature 700 rental apartments, 160,000 square feet of office space and 130,000 square feet of retail and restaurants when it’s completed.

Tacocraft Taqueria and Tequila Bar recently opened at the former site of Fashion Mall and more restaurants are expected to open within the next few months.