Bridge Industrial is moving quickly on its project on the former Park ‘N Fly property in Dania Beach. It scored a $28 million construction loan less than two months after scooping up the site
Windsor, Connecticut-based Talcott Resolution Life Insurance provided the financing for Bridge’s planned logistics facility at 2200 Northeast Seventh Avenue between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades, according to a mortgage record.
The developer, a prolific industrial real estate builder in South Florida, bought the 22.4-acre development site for $20 million in June. The property is just east of the airport, south of the port and off the I-595 Port Everglades exit.
The seller, Park ‘N Fly, had previously operated airport parking on the property.
The 170,892-square-foot planned project, called Bridge Point Port Everglades, will have 32-foot clear ceiling heights, 34 dock-high doors, a 120-foot truck court and 156 parking spaces, according to Bridge’s news release at the time of the purchase. Construction is expected to be completed in early 2024.
Chicago-based Bridge has placed a hefty focus on developing industrial real estate in South Florida.
In Doral, Bridge plans a roughly 2.6 million-square-foot project spanning 175 acres on the southwest corner of Northwest 107th Avenue and Northwest 41st Street. The preliminary plan for the project, called Bridge Point Doral, is for six buildings, although some buildings could be combined.
In July, Bridge paid $15.6 million for the development site for its Bridge Point Gratigny project on the southwest corner of Northwest 135th Street and 47th Avenue in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, just south of the Miami-Opa locka Executive Airport. Bridge bought the property by assuming the lease on the land. Miami-Dade Aviation Department is the landlord.
In all, the company has purchased roughly 700 acres in South Florida since 2012, and it has completed or is building more than 10 million square feet of projects, according to a July news release from Bridge. Steve Poulos is CEO and Kevin Carroll is the partner for the Southeast region.
The tri-county region’s industrial market is booming because of high demand, partly fueled by e-commerce. In the second quarter, Broward County’s vacancy rate dropped to 3.6 percent, from 6.7 percent during the same period of last year, according to a Colliers report. The tight market also pushed asking rents to $12.18 per square foot, up year over year from $9.95 a square foot.