It's Fort Lauderdale's Time To Shine, And It's Nothing Like Miami Or West Palm Beach

Despite all three major South Florida cities growing in population, having international airports that bring foot traffic and attracting local and out-of-state developers, Fort Lauderdale's part in the development boom has been relatively quiet compared to its neighbors.

But now, the city is starting to catch up.

The Broward County city is seeing a wave of new development and population growth as it eases out of its reputation of being the "middle child" of South Florida, industry professionals said at Bisnow's Broward State of the Market, which took place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood last week.

"It’s really the hole in the donut," GFO Investments' Russell Galbut said onstage at the event. "Miami has been and is on fire, and so is Palm Beach, and what happened is it just seems like Fort Lauderdale was overlooked.”

The area has more than 10,668 units under construction, which will add 8.3% to the current inventory, according to the Miami Realtors Association.

More are planned to come.

The largest and most controversial as of late is the redevelopment of the 1980s-era Galleria Mall. A development team led by Galbut plans nine high-rise towers with more than 3,000 apartments and a 170-key hotel.

The developers are leveraging the Live Local Act — state legislation that incentivizes developers with tax credits and density bonuses as long as 40% of a project is dedicated to housing priced for households making between 80% and 120% of the area median income.

Galbut showed new renderings of the project last week and said it will turn the mall, which hasn't broken 70% occupancy since 2023, into a new gathering spot for residents.

"It will become that urban core, which it should have been 40 years ago, or 30 years ago, and was denied that," Galbut said.

The city is also home to the international boat show, which draws more than 100,000 attendees and generates $1.8B for the local economy, according to its website. The event takes place at Pier Sixty-Six, which is also going through redevelopment.

Tavistock Development Co., the owner and developer of the 32-acre development, has already redeveloped and opened a 323-key historic hotel on the property. The site also features 92 condos and a marina.

The developer is entering into Phase 2, where it plans to build 339 residential units, 17K SF of restaurant space, 25K SF of retail, 14K SF of grocery space and 30K SF of offices on 8 acres.

"Pier Sixty-Six is so important because it literally is defining the echoes of what's being built in Broward County, because Broward County does move so differently," Tavistock Senior Vice President Chris Gandolfo said. "It's not like Miami, it's not like West Palm Beach."

Even the city is looking to refresh its space. Officials are going back and forth on whether to build a new city hall that could cost the city $724M over the next 30 years.

But amid new interest, city officials are cautious not to get ahead of themselves.

"We hope that Fort Lauderdale can grow in a more organic way, incrementally in a way that will slowly absorb the population without overwhelming the infrastructure that currently is in place," Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said.

Fort Lauderdale grew by 6,000 residents between 2020 and 2025, a 4% jump, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Miami's population grew by 10% to 487,000 residents between 2020 and 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Miami has also been riding the high of attracting more CEOs to the region who are bringing their companies with them amid wealth taxes in other states.

But developers may have overcorrected. The city still has 14,300 apartment units under construction — more than 6% of its existing inventory — the highest ratio of any major market, according to CoStar data. Multifamily was the only sector in the city where transactions fell amid the overdevelopment. 

But even with the overdevelopment, which is dragging rents, what is available is still so unaffordable its starting to squeeze out the middle class.

It's a predicament Fort Lauderdale wants to avoid.

"[In] Brickell, there's so many new development projects that are happening there, and they're begging and praying that someone's going to show up and occupy those places," Trantalis said.

West Palm Beach, on the other hand, landed a pioneer. Stephen Ross, CEO of development firm Related Ross and owner of the Miami Dolphins, pledged $10B to transform West Palm Beach into the "Wall Street of the South."

Among many things, Ross has 1M SF of office space under construction and has attracted major tenants like ServiceNow for 200K SF and the Wells Fargo Wealth & Investment Management headquarters.

Fort Lauderdale was often overshadowed by the growth story, often referred to as a spring break destination or a budget hotel tourist spot, but that's changing as more people come to stay, One Sotheby's International Realty Managing Director of Developments Jennifer Leong said.

U-Haul ranked the city seventh among growth cities nationally based on one-way residential moves, the SunSentinel reported in January.

"It's just not a city that was in the middle anymore," Leong said. "It's here to stay."