A 13-story residential tower is headed for review in Fort Lauderdale, proposed for a 0.66-acre lot at 125 N. Birch Road where a 1940s-era apartment building now stands. Merrimac Ventures is behind the plan, which calls for a tower replacing the aging structure, and the Fort Lauderdale Development Review Committee was scheduled to consider the proposal later the same day it became public.
According to Florida YIMBY, the project is designed as a 36-unit residential tower, with construction spanning just over 182,000 square feet. A separate search snippet from the South Florida Business Journal describes the proposal as a 38-unit condo, a discrepancy in unit count that remains unresolved between the two outlets. The Business Journal separately confirms that Merrimac Ventures plans the condo to replace Springbrook Gardens Condo, with the older building to be terminated and demolished to make way for the new project.
The site carries history beyond a simple teardown. The Business Journal's reporting on the listing, drawing on coverage from Bisnow, notes that an inspection revealed repair costs exceeding the existing apartment building's estimated value, and Merrimac Acquisition is in the process of acquiring the property from its current owners.
Why Springbrook Gardens Residents Had to Leave
The Springbrook Gardens building at the center of this deal has its own troubled recent past. Per Bisnow's reporting, the property was listed for sale just three months after residents were forced to evacuate when the building was deemed structurally unsafe. Bisnow reports that condo owners voted to sell their units after they could not meet a $4.5 million bill to repair the building's foundation.
A broker quoted in that same account said the listing had already drawn significant attention and was expected to be torn down for a bigger project — a forecast that now appears to be playing out with Merrimac's proposal. The site's zoning, per the same Bisnow report, allows by right for 45 residential units or 58 hotel rooms, giving a sense of the density ceiling developers are working within on the block.
Amenities, Unit Sizes, and the Design Team
Florida YIMBY's seed facts describe a building with 11,578 square feet of interior amenities and 117,066 square feet of sellable space, including a resort-style swimming pool, a fitness center, and a clubroom. The proposed condominiums would range from two-bedroom to four-bedroom layouts, with unit sizes spanning 1,765 to 5,495 square feet. GarciaStromberg is named as the project's architect, with Keith serving as the planning firm, according to Florida YIMBY's reporting.
A Broader Pattern Along Birch Road
This isn't Merrimac Ventures' first high-rise pitch on the same street. The developer previously unveiled plans for Bungalow East, a 14-story, 34-residence condominium at 530 North Birch Road, in November 2024. That project was expected to break ground in late 2025 with an 18-month build timeline, featuring three- and four-bedroom residences of 2,100 to 2,800 square feet alongside roughly 4,000-square-foot penthouses priced between $2 million and $4 million, according to Florida YIMBY's earlier coverage. Planned amenities there included a resort-style pool deck, a wellness center, a rooftop sunset lounge, a yoga lawn, and a gaming and entertainment lounge.
Nearby, a separate project known as 1 Birch has also moved through the city's review process. The Planning & Zoning Board recommended that the city commission approve a site plan and associated modifications for that 13-story residential project, case UDP-S25021, according to Citizen Portal. That proposal is described as an approximately 144-foot mixed-use residential building seeking height, stepback, and setback modifications.
The Market Backdrop for Aging Condos
The push to replace older condo stock along Fort Lauderdale's beachfront corridor comes as South Florida's condo market shifts under the weight of safety-related costs. Condo listings rose 60% across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties in the third quarter, according to ISG World figures cited by Bisnow. The same report found that values for condos averaging 30 years or older fell from $325,000 in 2022 to $218,000 by the end of September 2024, a decline tied to the wave of repair assessments and safety reviews facing older buildings across the region.
