Fort Lauderdale twin-tower plan lands $54M preconstruction loan

Dependable Equities secured $54 million in preconstruction bridge financing for a two-tower residential project in downtown Fort Lauderdale, moving one of Broward County’s largest planned developments toward a construction start.

CDK Capital originated the loan, with Valley National Bank participating, on the site at 101 Southeast Seventh Street and 633 Southeast Third Avenue, a parcel between the New and Tarpon rivers, just south of the Broward County Clerk of Courts building. The New York-based developer, an affiliate of Sky Equity Group, bought the land for $40 million in 2022.

Why it matters

The financing shows lenders willing to fund the early, riskiest stage of a large South Florida multifamily project even as construction costs and rates stay elevated. Preconstruction bridge debt covers the gap before a full construction loan, and at this scale it is a vote of confidence in downtown Fort Lauderdale’s absorption. The project’s 1,460 units, a mix of condos and rentals, would add meaningful density to a riverfront corridor that has drawn steady high-rise development, reinforcing Broward’s role in the flagship market’s growth beyond Miami-Dade.

The numbers

The plan calls for two towers of roughly 45 stories each, totaling about 2 million square feet, with 14,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. The $54 million loan funds preconstruction work; the developer targets an early-2028 construction start. The land basis, set at $40 million in 2022, underpins a project whose total cost will run well into the hundreds of millions once vertical financing closes.

What’s next

Dependable Equities now advances design and permitting toward its 2028 start, with a construction loan the next major financing milestone. The project joins a pipeline of capital targeting downtown Fort Lauderdale’s river district, where developers keep assembling and financing tower sites on the strength of South Florida’s continued in-migration.