When it opened in 1998, Broward County's Fashion Mall was the place to get your Z Cavariccis and Boyz II Men albums. But after Hurricane Wilma blew through and inflicted her damage in 2005, the mall shuttered.
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Following a groundbreaking yesterday, the site, at 321 University Drive in Plantation, is set to be reincarnated as Plantation Walk, a $350M mixed-use project with 200K SF of retail, 700 luxury rental apartments, 177K SF of Class-A office space and a renovated, 263-room Sheraton Hotel.
When the mall closed, Chinese investors initially made plans to redevelop it — but that venture ended in lawsuits and bankruptcy. The property was sold at a bankruptcy auction in April 2015 for $37.7M.
Now, Encore Capital Management, which specializes in distressed and opportunistic properties as well as large, master-planned mixed-use projects — it is a partner in the development of the $3B Miami Worldcenter — is in the midst of redeveloping the 32-acre site. Encore CEO Art Falcone has said that his company is incorporating green space and hopes to create a walkable "main street" for Plantation, which is a quiet suburb of Fort Lauderdale.
The current spate of construction will include 171 apartments and the first phase of retail. The apartments will be luxury rentals under Encore’s The Rise brand. The apartments will be split among three buildings within the development.
“Plantation Walk will fill a huge void that residents of the city have been dealing with for a long time,” Falcone said in a statement. “Many Plantation residents, and those who work in the city, have to go east in order to find better dining, shopping and entertainment options. We are about to change that.”
Aetna has already leased office space at Plantation Walk.
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