Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Lauderdale sells 28 acres in Dania Beach
FORT LAUDERDALE — The city of Fort Lauderdale, seeking to dispose of surplus land it no longer needs, has sold 28 acres it owned in Dania Beach for $13.9 million.
The money will be used to fund infrastructure projects such as seawall repairs, an emergency medical services station and an aquatic center, according to Colliers International, the brokerage firm that orchestrated the deal.
The successful bidder, Liberty Property Trust, intends to build a development called Liberty 595 Distribution Center, which will encompass nearly 300,000 square feet of Class A industrial space, Colliers said.
The property is at 4030 State Road 7. The city acquired the land through eminent domain in 1984, according to a city commission resolution passed in August 2017 that authorized the property’s sale. Over the years, it was used as a composting site and later came under the control of Fort Lauderdale’s public works department.
In the Colliers statement, a Liberty executive, market officer Andy Petry, hailed the property’s proximity to Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and major highways such as Interstate 95, Interstate 595 and Interstate 75. “Liberty views this site as one of the most strategically located warehouse and distribution sites in the South Florida marketplace,” he said.
Last year, Colliers entered into a contract to manage Fort Lauderdale’s real estate and dispose of its surplus properties, the brokerage said in a statement. The Dania Beach deal is the first transaction to occur under the arrangement..
In a bidding contest, Colliers beat out CBRE Inc. and Real Estate Asset Disposition for a contract that is expected to pay Colliers $792,000 for lease management services, according to the city commission resolution. Colliers is also to collect four percent brokerage commissions on new leases and property dispositions, to be paid by the buyers and tenants of the properties.
Brooke Berkowitz, a senior associate at Colliers, said the city owns about 700 parcels of land in and around Fort Lauderdale..She said the staff at Colliers reviewed the city’s holdings not only for sales candidates, but to look for ways to buttress its leasing portfolio. “We’re reviewing their leases and making sure they have the correct tenants in place,” she said. That means helping the city find new tenants for commercial sites, and ensuring that exisiting tenants are current with their rent payments.
“We’re working with Fort Lauderale Executive Airport to help find ground lease tenants for them,” Berkowitz said. “And the city owns multifamily residential lots. We’re going to be marketing some of those.”