MRK Lands $67M Berkadia Loan for 164 Fort Lauderdale Units

MRK Partners has secured $67 million in construction-to-permanent financing for Federal Apartments in Fort Lauderdale’s Progresso neighborhood, The Real Deal reported on October 13, citing a release and the South Florida Business Journal. The outlet attributes the money to Berkadia. We could not independently pull the loan instrument yet, so the loan terms below are as reported.

Why it matters

Fort Lauderdale is short on units priced for households at 30 to 50 percent of area median income, and a fully financed project is rarer than a proposed one. Per the report, the plan replaces 88 apartments built in the 1950s with 164 new affordable units, a net gain of 76. That is a concrete delivery pipeline in a market where South Florida affordability pressure keeps rising.

The report says the debt splits into about $50 million of tax-exempt debt and $17 million of taxable debt, issued through Berkadia’s Private Placement Bond Program. Berkadia also provided an acquisition bridge loan before this financing, according to the same report.

The numbers

• Financing: $67 million, about $408,540 per unit, as reported by the South Florida Business Journal.
• Units: 164 in two-, three- and four-bedroom layouts, replacing 88 existing units.
• Buildings: two five-story buildings totaling 192,000 square feet, with 3,220 square feet of amenities and 173 surface parking spaces, per the report.
• Site: about 3.7 acres at 800 to 844 NW 11th Avenue.
• Purchase: Florida YIMBY reported in August 2025 that Fed Venture LP, the developer entity linked to an MRK affiliate, bought the 3.73-acre site for $12.65 million in June 2025. The Real Deal also says an MRK affiliate acquired the site last June.

One reconciliation point: the $67 million is a new permanent-and-construction package on the same site, not a separate parcel. An earlier industry listing put an acquisition-era loan near $48.57 million, which we have not confirmed against the Broward clerk, so the jump from that figure to $67 million should be read as unverified until the recorded instruments are pulled.

What’s next

We have queued the Broward Official Records deed and mortgage, plus the Broward Property Appraiser folio, for the next records pull, and will update this story if the recorded amounts differ from the reported ones. Watch for a building permit and a notice of commencement, which would signal the 1950s buildings coming down. Fort Lauderdale’s Development Review Committee had reviewed the plans in mid-2025, and the report does not say when construction starts.

For related capital activity, see South Florida coverage.