11 Jan ‘Wynwood of Fort Lauderdale’ set to break ground soon, developer says
By Erik Bojnansky
South Florida Business Journal
An entrepreneur who has been assembling warehouse space near downtown Fort Lauderdale will break ground near the end of the month on a 5.3-acre arts district that will include spaces for artists, restaurateurs, entertainment venues, and even a brewery.
Jonathan Fish, manager of Fish Property Management LLC, is marketing the future Thrive Progresso district as the “Wynwood of Fort Lauderdale.” He expects to deliver on the first renovated warehouse space by June, and aims to have eight of the ten industrial properties encompassing around 80,000 square feet of space ready for 40 to 60 tenants by the end of the year.
“This is not a small little project. This is an area that is going to be a new destination for people to go to in the Fort Lauderdale area,” Fish told the Business Journal.
Streetscape improvements such as concrete sidewalks, curbs, irrigation, landscaping and bioswales will also be added, according to the Fort Lauderdale Community Redevelopment Agency’s webpage.
Thrive Progresso is just a few blocks away from Flagler Village, where major redevelopment projects are being proposed by Houston-based Hines, the Kushner Cos., and other developers.
There will also be outdoor event space that can accommodate around 12,000 people.
“There is nobody that has that [capacity] in the area of Fort Lauderdale,” Fish said of the planned venue.
Fish and his brother, Abraham, invested about $15 million on this project so far, including around $7.4 million spent buying land near 701 N.W. 5th Ave. between October 2016 and June 2020.
The Fort Lauderdale CRA gave the project $2.8 million back in June 2019. Additionally, Fish said they obtained a $2.7 million mortgage from Ocean Bank to help finance the project.