UPDATED Nov. 6th, 11 a.m.: FCI Residential, the development arm of sugarcane giant Florida Crystals, plans to buy a development site in Lake Worth for $16.6 million to build up to 362 apartments, The Real Deal has learned.
Developer Brian Tuttle said he plans to flip the 30-acre site on the southwest corner of Florida’s Turnpike and Lake Worth Road for more than double his $8 million contract price from last year.
The property at 8238 Lake Worth Road and 4444 Hooks Road was part of a 51-acre site assembled by the Florida Department of Transportation between 2007 and 2008.
In June 2017, Tuttle agreed to buy the 30 acres after FDOT’s plans to build a new interchange there fell through. He had the property rezoned to allow for eight units per acre as well as to allow for commercial use.
Jay Bailyn of the Bailyn Group brokered the deal.
At least 19 percent of the apartments FCI builds will be designated workforce housing, Tuttle said. Plans include building a 300-student preschool and brining a high-end coffee shop, he said.
This isn’t the first time the developers have done deals together. FCI Residential is under contract to pay $15 million for land at Tuttle’s master-planned $650 million project under construction in Royal Palm Beach where it plans to build 325 apartments.
In July, FCI Residential paid $16.1 million for another development site in Miramar, with allowances to build 300 residential units, with no more than 120 units containing three or more bedrooms.