Affiliated Development Closes $74M Cove Loan in Fort Lauderdale
A life-company insurer underwrote a density-bonus workforce tower at scale, giving Broward developers a lender comp to point to.
Affiliated Development has closed a $74 million construction loan from Pacific Life Insurance Company and broken ground on The Cove, a 376-unit, eight-story apartment tower at the corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale, built under Florida’s Live Local Act height and density bonus. The site held two hotels, the Clarion Inn and the Link Hotel on Sunrise, both now demolished, according to project architect Rinka’s own case study, a detail the trade coverage of the closing left out.
Why it matters
A life insurance company underwriting a workforce-housing tower at this scale is the comp other Broward developers need. Debt funds and regional banks have carried most Live Local deals so far, pricing in the policy risk of an untested statute. Pacific Life closing $74 million against 376 units, more than half restricted to workforce rents, tells sponsors an institutional balance-sheet lender will now underwrite the bonus directly, not just the land beneath it. That widens the capital stack available to any Broward project willing to take the density trade.
The numbers
Of the 376 units, 207, or 55 percent, are restricted to households earning up to 120 percent of area median income, well above the Act’s 40 percent floor. Moss Construction is the general contractor, its eighth project with Affiliated Development. Equity comes from Affiliated Housing Impact Fund LP and family office partners alongside the Pacific Life debt. The City of Fort Lauderdale awarded a 100 percent property tax rebate for 15 years, capped at $8.83 million, in November 2024. Broward County followed with a 50 percent rebate for 30 years, capped at $5.45 million, in January 2025.
What’s next
Construction is underway immediately following the closing, per the developer. Worth flagging for the record: Affiliated Development also closed a separate $73 million loan in January for The Dune in Boynton Beach, a similarly sized project easy to conflate with The Cove. They are distinct deals on distinct sites. More at the South Florida market hub.