Apartment tower rising near Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale

Downtown living, Jay Jacobson says, is all about convenience.

"People want to be able to walk up and down Las Olas Boulevard," said Jacobson, president of the residential group for the Stiles real estate firm. "They don't want to be schlepping up and down I-595 three or four times a day."

Fort Lauderdale -based Stiles recently broke ground on a 30-story apartment building at 215 S.E. 8th Ave., a block north of Las Olas. The 254-unit complex, due to be complete in December 2015, is the latest in a series of urban rentals planned for the city.

Stiles' project, to be developed as part of a joint venture with the Rockefeller Group, has not yet been named, and rental rates have not been set. But Jacobson said the luxury one-, two- and three-bedroom units will be large, averaging 1,200 square feet.

"What we're doing is catering to an older demographic," he said. "We're seeing a lot of demand from baby boomers, and they want to be someplace with a little bit larger apartment.

"They want the feel of a home, but without all the hassles and maintenance of a home."

The units will have floor-to-ceiling windows, granite countertops, in-unit washers and dryers and private balconies. Limited garage spaces also will be available.

Even as the housing market rebounds, rentals remain in high demand. Across Broward County, more than 3,200 apartment units are under construction, and more than 8,800 are in the planning stages, according to a report last week from Reinhold P. Wolff Economic Research in Oakland Park.

Strong competition for units is leading to steady rent increases. Broward's average rent at the end of the second quarter was $1,283, up 4.5 percent from a year ago, according to MPF Research, a Texas firm. Broward ranked 12th among the 100 largest metro areas for biggest rent growth, MPF said.

"Las Olas was pretty quiet during the recession, but I think it's coming back strong again," said Jack McCabe, a housing analyst in Deerfield Beach. "Stiles knows they have a hot market. By mid-2016, I bet they're near maximum occupancy."

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Apartment tower rising near Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale