Bridge Asset Management Seeks Hollywood OK for 394 Units

Bridge Asset Management, the New York-based developer that has spent the past year assembling a 3.08-acre industrial site at Jackson Street and South Dixie Highway, goes before Hollywood’s Planning and Development Board September 8 seeking design, site plan and variance approval for a 394-unit apartment building. City staff is recommending approval of all three, which would clear the last land-use hurdle for one of the larger multifamily conversions moving through Broward County right now.

Why it matters

The site currently holds light industrial and warehouse buildings; Bridge Asset Management is under contract to buy all three parcels and has already won a rezoning of part of the site from DH-2 to DH-3, approved by the Hollywood City Commission in May. That clears the path for a mixed-height apartment building where a corridor of low-slung industrial and commercial buildings now sits along South Dixie Highway. The developer has also voluntarily tied roughly half the units, about 197, to moderate-income households earning 80 to 120 percent of area median income, using Broward’s density-bonus policy to unlock the extra units that make the project work. For developers scouting Regional Activity Center parcels in Hollywood, the deal shows how far an affordability commitment can stretch entitlement capacity on an infill site.

The numbers

The project totals 282,150 square feet across 394 units, split between 279 one-bedroom and 115 two-bedroom apartments averaging about 814 square feet. The building steps from four stories (40 feet 6 inches) on the west side of the site to eight stories (90 feet 8 inches) along South Dixie Highway. Under the city’s density math, 57 base units plus a six-to-one bonus tied to the moderate-income commitment produce a 399-unit cap, of which 394 are proposed. The plan includes 506 parking spaces against a 492-space requirement, with 54 visitor spaces, 12 accessible spaces and 27 bicycle spaces.

What’s next

The only entitlement still outstanding is a variance to reduce a required 15-foot setback to 2 feet 10 inches at a city-mandated corner chord dedication where Jackson Street meets South Dixie Highway, a byproduct of right-of-way dedications the city is requiring for the intersection. Staff has recommended approval of the variance, the design and the site plan, contingent on right-of-way permits and a public art waiver request going to City Commission separately. If the board signs off September 8, Bridge Asset Management would hold every land-use approval needed to close on the assemblage and move to permitting. Developers tracking South Florida’s Broward multifamily pipeline should watch whether the corner-chord variance draws any board pushback, since staff conditioned its design recommendation on the variance being granted first.