Davie's Biggest Development Ever Just Topped Out. Here's What It Means For The Town.
I've sold homes in Davie for more than two decades, and until recently, nobody built up here. Ranch houses, low-slung strip centers, the occasional three-story condo near the college. That's the character of this town, and most of the people who move here choose it on purpose.
That's changing at the corner of Griffin Road and State Road 7.
On February 12, El-Ad National Properties topped out phase one of The District in Davie, a $1 billion, 2.8 million-square-foot project that will eventually include five residential towers rising 21 to 24 stories. When it's finished, the site will hold roughly 1,292 rental apartments, 36,000 square feet of restaurants and retail, and a parking structure with 2,650 spaces. More than 400 construction workers have touched this project so far. Phase one, the entry promenade and common areas, is on track to finish later this year.
To put that in context, this is the largest multifamily development Davie has ever approved. Not the largest recently. The largest, period.
Here's what I'd want a Davie homeowner or buyer to understand about it.
First, this corner was never going to stay a strip mall forever. Griffin and SR-7 sits minutes from Nova Southeastern University, I-595, the Turnpike, I-75, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, and Port Everglades. That's the kind of location commercial developers circle for years before anything gets built. The surprise isn't that something big landed here. It's that it took this long.
Second, nearly 1,300 new rental units in one project is a meaningful addition to Davie's rental supply, and that matters for anyone who owns an investment property nearby. New construction with resort-style amenities, rooftop pools, and coworking space will pull some renters who might otherwise have looked at older product. If you own a rental within a couple miles of this site, I'd start thinking now about what makes your unit compete once this leases up, not after.
Third, and this is the part fewer people are watching, is what this does to the immediate area's retail and dining. Thirty-six thousand square feet of restaurants and shops, sitting on a main pedestrian corridor, will change foot traffic and, over time, curb appeal for homes within walking distance. I've watched this play out before near other town centers. Property near new, well-designed retail tends to hold its value better during soft stretches, because buyers are paying for convenience, not just square footage.
None of this means Davie is becoming Fort Lauderdale. Five towers on one 2.8-million-square-foot site is still a single project, not a rezoning of the whole town. But it's a marker. The town that spent years saying no to density just said yes to its biggest project ever, and the council members who spoke at the topping out ceremony framed it as part of a longer redevelopment vision for that corridor. If that's accurate, this probably isn't the last conversation Davie has about buildings taller than three stories.
If you own property near Griffin and SR-7, or you're thinking about buying in that stretch of Davie, I'd rather you hear the context now than get surprised by it later. Happy to walk through what it might mean for your specific street.
Roger Averbuj, Broker | Prestige Heritage Realty | (954) 663-8461
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