In recent years, the beachside area south of Sunrise Boulevard has seen plenty of changes. However the big building now under construction is unique in one major way – when it’s done, there won’t be a hotel room in the place.
Scheduled for completion in spring 2017, the Paramount Fort Lauderdale Beach will offer 95 luxury condo residences. It’s part of a change that sees the North Beach Village area shift towards a mixture of hotel and residential space – a walkable neighborhood with more amenities and appeal for downsizing empty-nesters, including many from elsewhere in Broward.
“It offers people the walkability factor that everybody is talking about now,” says Peggy Fucci, president and CEO of OneWorld Properties. “It’s great to park your car at the weekend, and you’re going to have how many restaurants to pick from, and spas. That is a wonderful opportunity. Our buyer wants to come and have a little more of that action. We see maybe an empty-nester who lived in Weston … raising their family, who (now want to) live in a place where they have the beach and all the amenities of living on the beach.”
The building, which was on schedule to be past the halfway point by July, is being built at a time when a number of new projects are in the works in the area south of Sunrise between A1A and the Intracoastal. New boutiques and restaurants as well as remodeled hotels and apartments are revitalizing an area historically known for smaller mom-and-pop hotels. Swedish developer Pär Sandå, who owns a number of properties in the area, has led the charge when it comes to refocusing the area on walkability and a mixture of hotel and residential space. Sandå is not involved with the Paramount.
“It’s really exciting to having those whole backstreets filled with little shops and whatnot,” Fucci says. “Pär Sandå has really invested a lot of money to really change that area. Today it really looks so much more attractive than it did 5 years ago.”
And it’s still a work in progress. In future, Fucci sees even more of a neighborhood vibe.
“People will have the comfort of little convenience stores – it will be great.”
Moreover, it will be great for people who actually live there. Fucci says units in places such as the Paramount are being bought to be lived in.
“I have experience in both the Miami and Fort Lauderdale market,” she says. “In Fort Lauderdale…we don’t have speculating investors.” Instead they’re seeing many second-home buyers, including a number coming from as close as western Broward.
“They see it as an investment of their legacy, their future,” Fucci says.
They likely also see some luxury. The Paramount will feature a 90-foot pool, which developers say will be the longest residential pool in Fort Lauderdale. Near the pool will be a seafood restaurant. Other amenities are meant to make residents think more of a high-end resort.
“The hope is that the restaurant is also going to serve the pool, so when you’re in the pool you can also have a salad, have a drink,” Fucci says. There will be a concierge service, and residents can also buy private cabanas near the pool. “That gives it all that resort feel,” Fucci says. “If people are coming to visit, you can always have your towels (in the cabana), your drinks. You can have a shower area.”
The restaurant is now in the planning stages, but Fucci says it will be in keeping with the rest of the place.
Units start at about $1.2m, and most go in the $1.6-1.7m range. At the time of writing, about 20 units remained available, as did one penthouse. (For $9m you get a double-story space with its own pool.)
Crucially, Fucci says, it’s coming in on time. “I think that was a big question at the beginning,” she says. “We’re going to deliver. It’s proving to be phenomenal, and we are right on schedule.”
