Affiliated Development has locked in a $74 million construction loan for The Cove, a planned mixed-income apartment complex at the northwest corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. The project site, where two hotels were recently demolished, is now set for a quick turnaround, with the developer saying construction will begin immediately after the loan closing.
According to Connect CRE, Pacific Life Insurance Company is providing the construction financing, with equity coming from Affiliated Housing Impact Fund, LP alongside family office capital partners. Moss Construction is listed as the general contractor, and Rinka is serving as the project architect. The South Florida Business Journal reports the building will rise to roughly eight stories and include about 374 apartments.
Numbers, paperwork and a few discrepancies
Public records do not line up perfectly, depending on which government file you read. Broward County’s funding agreement calls for about 55% of the total units to be reserved for households earning up to 120% of area median income, with county payments tied to a recorded restrictive covenant and ongoing compliance reporting.
City of Fort Lauderdale commission memos and a tax‑reimbursement resolution, meanwhile, outline a 376‑unit plan that includes 151 workforce units, or roughly 40% of the total. Those city documents also describe a developer request for a 15‑year ad‑valorem tax reimbursement intended to help offset the affordability set‑aside.
How the deal is stitched together
Affiliated has been pitching The Cove as part of a broader pipeline of workforce housing projects that rely on public incentives, and the company highlights the development on its own project pages. Industry and trade coverage has pointed to Affiliated’s impact‑fund strategy for financing similar mixed‑income ventures around Florida.
Local reporting has also noted how the Live Local Act framework, paired with local incentive packages, has helped fuel a surge of proposals that trade higher density for long‑term affordability commitments. The Cove is one more entry in that growing playbook.
According to city staff materials, the total investment for the project is estimated at roughly $122 million. Those documents sketch out a two‑year construction schedule followed by a lease‑up period and form the foundation of the city’s incentive recommendation.
Broward County’s paperwork sets out how the county contribution would work and places a cap on county payments based on the project’s tax increment. The county funding agreement also requires that restrictive covenants be recorded before the developer closes on construction financing. Affiliated has said work on the site will begin immediately after the loan’s closing.
What neighbors and taxpayers can expect
Under the county agreement, a Declaration of Restrictive Covenants must be recorded to lock in workforce rents at levels tied to 120% of area median income for a multi‑decade period. The developer is obligated to provide annual compliance reporting under that framework.
The city’s ad‑valorem tax reimbursement request, as laid out in commission records, would redirect a portion of future city property tax increments generated by the project back to The Cove for a set term. Final incentive agreements will ultimately dictate the precise count of restricted units, how long those rent limits will last and the maximum reimbursement levels that local governments commit in exchange for the added workforce housing.
For the moment, the financing close marks a major milestone for a project that supporters say will bring more attainable apartments to a busy Fort Lauderdale corridor, while critics point to it as another example of the tradeoffs baked into local incentive deals. The Cove’s development team, along with city and county officials, will now move through the remaining paperwork and permitting steps before full site work ramps up.
