Cain International, Kushner Plan 440-Unit Towers in Fort Lauderdale
A Cain International-Kushner venture wants two towers of 28 and 22 stories at 633 S Federal Highway, just south of the New River.
A joint venture between Cain International and Kushner Companies has put a 40,504-square-foot office property at 633 S Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale under contract, planning twin towers of 28 and 22 stories that would deliver 440 residences just south of the New River.
The project, called Rio Vista Residences, would rise where a two-story office building leased in part to law firm Conrad & Scherer now stands. The buying entity, CI River District Phase 1 Owner LLC, is negotiating to acquire the site from OKO Group, which has held the parcel since a 2020 purchase, according to Florida YIMBY. Fort Lauderdale’s Development Review Committee reviewed the plans on Sept. 8. Palma Architecture designed the project, and land use attorney Stephanie J. Toothaker of Toothaker & Thomas is handling the entitlement.
Why it matters
A named 440-unit count on Federal Highway, one of South Florida’s busiest north-south corridors, is a marker other developers will use to gauge what Fort Lauderdale will now entertain along that stretch south of downtown. Cain and Kushner have already partnered on South Florida multifamily elsewhere, and a second joint filing this size signals the pairing intends to keep scaling in the market rather than treating their first deal as one-off.
The numbers
The two towers would total 570,362 square feet of new construction, connected by a nine-story podium, with 841 parking spaces. Units would range from 565-square-foot studios to 1,625-square-foot three-bedrooms. The plan also carries 69,363 square feet of health and fitness space, 11,550 square feet of retail and more than 4,000 square feet of restaurant space. Broward County’s property record lists the underlying parcel at 47,703 square feet, or about 1.1 acres, titled to Fort Pruf Rock Land Trust rather than to OKO Group or the Cain-Kushner entity directly, a common structure for a site still under contract.
What’s next
The purchase from OKO Group has not closed, and the developers have not disclosed a closing date, financing source or construction start. The project still needs to clear Fort Lauderdale’s formal site plan approval process following last week’s Development Review Committee pass before it can move toward a building permit.