A new seven-story Class A office building is slated to break ground in Fort Lauderdale this summer, and its developers have just tapped Berger Commercial Realty to handle leasing.
The 70,000-square-foot building will replace an aging 1980s office structure at 550 South Andrews Avenue, known as the former Justice Building, in the city’s downtown area.
“The old building had a great location, but the site was underutilized,” Lloyd Berger, founder and president of Berger Commercial Realty, said in a news release about the leasing assignment.
Developer Blackhawk Properties & Investments hopes to break ground this summer with an expected completion date of fall 2017. The team is headed by Kate Murphy of Collins Capital Partners, Thomas McDonald of Craven Thompson & Associates and William Murphy of Douglas Management.
Known formally as the 550 Building, the offices will feature a contemporary design with floor-to-ceiling windows, modern style for its lobby and common spaces, plus restaurant and retail space on the ground floor with both indoor and outdoor cafe seating.
Blackhawk purchased the 32,500-square-foot Justice Building and two neighboring 6,500-square-foot parcels for $3.6 million in 2013, according to county records.
Steve Hyatt, Joseph Byrnes and Stephanie Bernota of Berger will handle leasing for both the office and ground-floor commercial space. According to the release, the building will be Fort Lauderdale’s only offices to be built south of the New River since 1989. — Sean Stewart-Muniz