A renaissance grows on forlorn stretch of Federal Highway
Once upon a time, it was just another desolate stretch of Federal Highway, ignored by drivers as they whizzed by on their way to somewhere else.
But now that forlorn stretch has turned into a Hallandale Beach gathering place filled with slices of life: Martini glasses clinking at night, neighbors chatting over coffee during the day, fitness buffs sweating it out at the kickboxing studio upstairs.
The arrival of Atlantic Village, a sprawling “lifestyle plaza” that spans three blocks just east of the Big Easy Casino, has some predicting a spike in development along Federal Highway.
“It’s the start of a renaissance,” said Bob Shapiro, a developer for the mammoth Dania Pointe shopping and entertainment complex on the rise in Dania Beach to the north.
Shapiro, who lives in neighboring Aventura, says Atlantic Village is just what Federal Highway needed to spark new interest in the heavily trafficked but often overlooked corridor.
“I live near there, and I go by it all the time,” Shapiro said. “They did a fabulous job. They cleaned up the whole area.”
It won’t be long before other investors along Federal Highway get in the redevelopment groove, Shapiro says.
“It’s just going to be a matter of time,” he said. “It’s all about timing.”
At least one nearby property owner is already making plans to knock down an old motel and nearby mobile home park across the street from Atlantic Village, on the east side of Federal Highway.
“Development is contagious,” said Phil Saada, who owns the El Rancho Motel at 424 N. Federal Highway with his two brothers.
Takes some chutzpah
The trio bought the motel 12 years ago and recently bought the El Rancho mobile home park next door. Together, the parcels make an acre.
The brothers want to build a six-story tower with a 32-room hotel, 96 apartments and shops on the ground floor. If all goes well, the place would open sometime in 2024, Saada said.
“I think we’re going to call it ‘Imagine,’” he said. “I got excited once Atlantic Village broke ground three or four years ago.”
The news did not surprise Jack McCabe, a real estate analyst in Deerfield Beach who thinks the Atlantic Village project could be the driver for more development in that part of town.
“It really takes someone with some chutzpah to come in with a project like this to stimulate redevelopment in an area,” McCabe said. “It’s the continued gentrification of the east side of South Florida, from Sunny Isles to Dania Beach and Hallandale. All these areas for decades were more low-level, blue-collar, mom and pop hotels and higher blight areas that are now being redeveloped. That area five years from now is going to look like a booming development area.”
A development wave has already hit the rest of Hallandale Beach, a 4-square-mile town with 20 development projects either on the way or in the pipeline.
Seven projects, valued at $239 million, have already been approved. Three projects, valued at $24 million, are waiting on approvals. And 10 projects valued at $1.1 billion are currently under construction.
One of those is Atlantic Village.
The 8-acre site was once home to an empty lot that served a farmers market and a car dealership that had been closed for years.
The Mexico City-based development firm Grupo Eco snapped up all 8 acres for $22 million, said Daniel Chaberman, a Venezuelan-born developer with Grupo Eco overseeing the $26.5 million project.
Grupo Eco bought the old Kelley Chevrolet site at 601 N. Federal Highway for $12 million in 2018. The two other parcels, at 701 and 801 North Federal Highway, were purchased for $10 million in 2015, Chaberman said.
And the renaissance began.
Rooftop soccer on deck
The first phase of Atlantic Village opened in late 2018, with a roster of restaurants that includes Dr. Limon Ceviche Bar, Doggi’s Arepa Bar, The Blues Burgers, The Juice Mafia, Crudos Fusion Art and La Estancia Argentina. There’s also a brow studio, a cigar bar, a laser hair removal business, a chiropractor and a children’s indoor playground called Flippo’s.
The second phase, already complete, has a lineup of tenants expected to fill the building by this summer. Three spots — Holi Vegan Kitchen, 9Round Kickbox Fitness and the Alacron Concept Store — are already open.
Also on the way: Anderson & Cole Nail Spa, Jaffa Israeli Kitchen and Wine Bar, La Piazzetta, Gelato-Go, a skin care business, a dental office, a primary care office and a language academy.
A separate building in the back will house the Miami Swimming Academy, with a pool for swim lessons for kids.
A six-story tower with boutique offices is also part of the Atlantic Village scene. The ground floor space will house Crema Gourmet coffee shop. The interior is still under construction and all but one floor has been leased out.
The final building — a top-notch six-story medical office tower planned for the project’s third phase — is still under construction and expected to open by the end of this year or early 2022.
The building will offer rooftop dining along with upscale restaurants on the ground floor.
The tenants lined up so far include a surgery center with a focus on spine and orthopedic surgery. There will also be plastic surgeons, dermatologists, primary doctors, physical therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists.
A three-story garage behind the medical office tower will offer rooftop soccer, with space for four soccer fields.
Commissioner Michele Lazarow says she remembers a time when there was nothing on the block.
“Going back 30 or 40 years there was nothing there,” she said. “People have asked for new restaurants and stores for years. This is exactly what we need in Hallandale Beach. We have to become a metropolitan area with new restaurants and new stores. Now there will be a whole strip there where people can just hang out for the evening. It will get people talking more to their neighbors and bring about a sense of community.”
‘Ahead of the curve’
As Broward County’s southernmost city, Hallandale Beach was the perfect spot to draw high-income clientele from Hollywood, Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach and, of course, the city itself, Chaberman says.
“We are five minutes out from Aventura,” he said. “We’re less than half a mile from Hollywood. We’re 3 miles from Sunny Isles. We wanted to do something attractive and bring people in. As developers we like to be ahead of the curve instead of behind the curve.”
Elizabeth Slowey, whose gym 9Round opened May 3, moved from Fort Lauderdale to Hallandale to make the commute easier.
“It’s an area that’s growing,” she said of her new home. “I see the future potential. I thought Atlantic Village would be the ideal location. We have clients from Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, North Miami and Aventura. It’s a stop point for them. We are nestled right in the middle. I realized it’s the next zone of opportunity.”
The sprawling 3-block project was initially supposed to include a 10-story apartment tower. But Chaberman says the area was in dire need of a spot for people to gather to dine and have fun and take care of business — including their own health.
So the developer opted to build the medical office tower instead.
Atlantic Village is right in between Aventura Hospital & Medical Center to the south and Hollywood’s Memorial Regional Hospital to the north, Chaberman noted.
“At the time, we were analyzing to do apartments,” he said. “It was never really set in stone. We wanted to do the best use and decided to go with the medical for several reasons. We are strategically located between the two big hospitals in the area. Then we looked at the market and what it needs. We felt we were in a place that could attract doctors that could serve both markets. For the medical industry, this location is very appealing.”
McCabe, the real estate analyst, praised the developer for building a one-stop shop with medical offices instead of more apartments.
“I’ve got to say it was a pretty smart decision,” McCabe said. “Everyone seems to be rushing to build condos and apartments. We haven’t seen that much development to service the residents. Everyone wants to hear their project is a home run. It sounds like a home run. The shops there are so diverse they’ll probably draw a larger clientele from other areas, not just Hallandale.”
And that’s exactly what’s happening, Chaberman says. Atlantic Village is drawing people from neighboring cities and plenty of others driving through.
Aventura Mall and Gulfstream Park aren’t too far away.
Drawing a crowd
Even closer is the Big Easy Casino, which sits on 50 acres at 831 North Federal Highway.
Jeffrey Soffer, whose father built Aventura, owns the casino and the landmark Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach.
There’s been talk of what might happen if the state were to ever allow Soffer to transfer his casino permit from the Big Easy to the Fontainebleau.
Soffer, chairman and CEO of Fontainebleau Development, could not be reached for comment. But Shapiro, the Dania Pointe developer, says a transfer of the casino permit would free up 50 acres in Hallandale Beach for redevelopment.
“He has the best piece of land in Hallandale,” Shapiro said. “It’s the biggest single piece of property along Federal Highway.”
Mayor Joy Cooper says Hallandale officials are still waiting on Soffer to come up with a plan to redevelop the area.
“We envisioned a hotel and casino taking off,” she said. “We haven’t seen any new plans come in. Hopefully they will do some investment in that area.”
Whatever happens, Atlantic Village will be ready and waiting, Chaberman said.
“I think this project has made other developers and entrepreneurs more aware that there is an area called Hallandale and it is growing,” he said. “I’ve gotten calls from other developers asking about our experience in Hallandale. There’s a lot of opportunity to do business here, whether it’s straightforward office and retail or apartments and condos.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @Susannah_Brya
