Fort Lauderdale developer proposes 8-level apartment complex, shops in downtown Melbourne
Crews razed the shuttered Suntrust Bank building 17 years ago in the heart of downtown Melbourne. Today, gravel, dirt and the old bank's decaying asphalt driveways still cover this 3.4-acre makeshift public parking area between New Haven and Melbourne avenues.
Melbourne City Hall officials have long viewed this blighted property across the street from Hell 'n Blazes Brewing Co. as a potential economic catalyst. Now, the site is targeted for potential construction of The Drift.
Proposed by a Fort Lauderdale developer, the roughly $100 million project could feature an eight-level complex with 337 apartments, a parking garage, a pool with private cabanas, ground-level shops, a top-level pub room-sports bar for residents, and waterfront restaurants facing Crane Creek.
For comparison's sake in downtown Melbourne, the Highline building has 171 apartments and Hotel Melby has 156 rooms. So the number of units at The Drift would exceed both of them combined.
“We're excited because we believe that we can do something truly special in your downtown," Jeff Burns, founder and CEO of Affiliated Development, told the Melbourne City Council on June 13.
"One of the unique things that I've learned more recently is, in this particular region, this particular county: Melbourne’s No. 1 — this ZIP code (32901) is No. 1 — in terms of employment, but No. 10 in terms of housing (for) those employers," Burns said.
"So what does that mean? That means that people that are working here are going and spending their disposable incomes outside of the city," he said.
Plans for The Drift remain formative. Burns said the property is under contract, and timing is critical. Council members unanimously directed City Hall staffers to continue negotiations on the ambitious project.
Affiliated Development submitted a request May 19 at City Hall seeking fiscal incentives such as a $2 million Community Redevelopment Agency grant and property tax reimbursements. Negotiations remain in the early stage, Community Development Director Cindy Dittmer said. Burns said his company would not receive incentives unless the project is built.
The plan pitched to the City Council included 605 parking spaces, 100 of which would be public. The developer would build and manage the parking spaces, and the public spaces could be metered. No decisions have been made.
Despite the challenging construction climate, Burns said his company just completed The Grand — a 309-apartment, eight-story complex with 3,100 square feet of retail space in downtown West Palm Beach — within the past 30 days. Affiliated Development has also completed three high-end apartment projects in Fort Lauderdale and Lake Worth Beach since July 2020.
The Drift's 337-apartment mix could include 230 one-bedroom units, 100 two-bedroom units and seven three-bedroom units. Average size: 800 square feet.
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Dittmer said The Drift's financials and viability will be analyzed by the National Development Council, the city's technical consultant on downtown public-private partnerships. NDC previously reviewed the Highline and Hotel Melby projects.
"Staff is very supportive of the proposed mixed-use development and believes that it will be a significantenhancement to the Downtown Melbourne area by providing additional residential units for people to live in downtown while strengthening the overall health and vitality of the area," a City Council agenda memo said.
The 3.4-acre lot extends east-west along New Haven Avenue between the former buildings of Nomad Café and Blossom House Florist. The city has leased the parcel for use as public parking since 2009.
Large downtown Melbourne parcel
A brief history of the property:
1962: A two-story bank is built at 1109 E. New Haven Ave., serving for generations as a downtown home of financial institutions.
2002: Huntington National Bank sells the property to SunTrust Bank, which shutters the branch by year's end.
2006: Demolition crews raze the unoccupied property. And a Coral Gables developer wins approval to build The Summit at Melbourne Place, featuring a 159-unit condominium tower, a five-story hotel, shops, a restaurant and townhouses — but the real estate market crash scuttles the project.
2015: A short-lived idea emerges to build a 4,000-seat minor-league baseball stadium for the Brevard County Manatees, who are searching for a home outside Space Coast Stadium in Viera.
2019: The City Council approves a site plan for a six-story Aloft hotel with 125 rooms. However, the project never leaves the drawing board.
"That parcel of land is one of the last remaining large parcels in downtown. And to see the plans they have — to not just have multifamily housing, but potentially retail, a couple restaurants facing the water — it's a really exciting project that we will hopefully see come to fruition," Melbourne Regional Chamber President CEO and Michael Ayers said of The Drift in a Wednesday interview.
Burns told council members the Melbourne Regional Chamber may move its headquarters into The Drift. The chamber's 9,358-square-foot office building at 1005 E. Strawbridge Ave. is listed for sale for $2 million, and developers have eyed the 0.6-acre property as a future hotel or multi-story apartment complex site.
The chamber property is now under contract with an undisclosed buyer with a December target closing date, Cassandra Hartford, founder of Reach Commercial Real Estate, said Wednesday. After the chamber moves out, she said crews will remodel the building for a new tenant for the immediate future.
Ayers said chamber officials will now take "a real hard look" at finding a new home, and The Drift is an option.
"It could be downtown. It could be Eau Gallie. It could be north Wickham. We're researching what our options are to make sure we make the best decision for the long-term future of the chamber," Ayers said.
Seeking an urban experience
Burns touted The Drift's economic benefits during his City Council presentation, saying the project will create an urban environment rather than a suburban one.
“The stuff out in Viera is great. Beautiful product. This is not that. What we're talking about is building urban infill housing, where our tenants are generally the ones that go walk out their door, go to the coffee shop," Burns said.
“They spend their money on experiences. They spend their money on things that are close by. Getting in a car and driving 20 minutes to a grocery store is not something they do. That's why we have parcel rooms with big refrigerators in our buildings — because they have groceries delivered. Because they would rather go down the street and do a spin class," he said.
"So it's a tremendous amount of local spending," he said.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Fort Lauderdale developer proposes 8-level complex in downtown Melbourne
