Downtown Fort Lauderdale has had a surge of high-rise residential developments, but one group of critics hasn’t always been happy. Members of the Fort Lauderdale City Commission have critiqued some projects as being overly boxy and lacking in distinctive architectural features.
However, that clearly won’t be the case with the upcoming Ombelle Fort Lauderdale.
The 43-story twin towers at 300 NE 3rd Avenue in Flagler Village have a distinctive curvy design. It’s the first of three Fort Lauderdale projects planned by Dependable Equities, a Brooklyn-based vertically integrated real estate investment firm and New York City’s ODA Architecture.
It’s further affirmation of the attention downtown Fort Lauderdale is drawing nationally.
“We try to pick an area that has the fundamentals to support growth and to support luxury development,” says Isaac Schlesinger, a cofounder of Dependable Equities. “Our design is going to be on par with the nicest development that anybody can imagine as well as the finishes of the apartments.”
Ombelle will include 775 residences, over 11,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, and over 100,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenities.
Schlesinger and co-founder Simon Dushinsky, who is also principal and founder of the Rabsky Group in New York, are responsible for developing thousands of luxury residential units there and have more than 2 million square feet under construction. The firm owns and manages a real estate portfolio of more than $4 billion.
Schlesinger says Dependable Equities is basically a continuation of Rabsky, which has been around for three decades and focused the last 15 years on a lot of high-end influential areas in Brooklyn, where it has done millions of square feet of residential. Schlesinger thinks they might be the most active residential developers in Brooklyn these days.
Expanding to Florida
“When we expanded three years ago to Florida, we opened up Dependable Equities and we’re looking to continue the same business model as we have done in the past years in Brooklyn to deliver a very, very high-quality residential development,” Schlesinger says. Dependable Equities has its own in-house general contractor, “which gives us an edge not only completing everything on time and the quality, but our budget is just what our construction cost is.”
Developers usually stick with boxy designs because it’s cheaper to build than a building with curves, Schlesinger explains. However, Dependable Equities’ in-house team was able to work with ODA to come up with an eye-catching design and avoid busting the budget.
The key for buyers is that units will be offered at a very attractive pricing for a project with a lengthy list of amenities, Schlesinger says. Units are starting in the $400,000s. The studios and three bedrooms will range from 465 square feet to just over 1,648 square feet, while penthouses will range from 2,400 square feet to just over 2,600 square feet.
Ombelle will offer the latest smart building technology, top-of-the-line appliances and exceptionally finished Italian custom designed kitchens and bathrooms. Each residence will feature airy, sophisticated interiors with designer-curated finish packages, open concept designs and 10-foot ceilings in main living areas.
Residents will have the option to choose fully furnished units and may rent out units for a minimum of 30 days.
The property’s lobby will have a wow factor at 15,000 square feet with an artistic cultural garden. Schlesinger says it will give the feeling of arriving at a grand hotel/spa. The ground floor will include a reception area, multiple lounges and an exclusive residents-only café — designed to foster social interaction and a sense of community.
Wellness and lifestyle-driven amenities are being curated by Arch Amenities Group, which manages 496 sites globally.
The north tower will include a landscaped indoor lounge space, a chef’s kitchen, dining room and dining lounge, a grab-and-go eatery, a dedicated coworking suite with lounge seating, private workstations and private conference rooms, a library, a music room, a recording studio with instrument storage and two private recording pods, a creative arts and crafts studio, a resident lounge and entertaining space and a fully equipped game lounge.
Two indoor pickleball courts with windows on the side will be located on one of the corners of the garage level, Schlesinger says. “We think that’s going to be very cool.”
The south tower features an additional indoor lounge space, a world-class state-of-the-art fitness center equipped with private training, Pilates, massage room, immersive studio and yoga studios; a wellness lounge with an outdoor sauna, cold plunge, treatment rooms, an experiential shower, steam room and sauna complemented with an outdoors Zen Garden; a video game room alongside a swing sports game simulator, and a children’s playroom with indoor and outdoor space. Outdoor, residents will have exclusive access to a resort-style lap pool and a plunge pool with pool-side cabanas and a summer kitchen with multiple seating areas.
“Because we’re building this large development, there’s going to be different people with different needs. So, we have put in every amenity that you can imagine,” Schlesinger says.
“We feel and think that this is going to make a difference in Fort Lauderdale,” Schlesinger says, noting that making a difference is a bedrock of the company’s philosophy. It’s one reason Dependable Equities chose Fort Lauderdale over Miami, which has an abundance of national developers.
Schlesinger said he expects construction to start in mid to late 2025. Dependable Equities is already talking with lenders and he doesn’t expect any issues because of its successful track record. That would contrast with dozens of projects in Flagler Village that have approvals but no announcements about financing.
Finding opportunity early on
Dependable Equities has three acres south of the New River at 633 SE Third Ave. (currently where the Trial Lawyers Building is located) and 101 SE 7th St.
“We see there’s a lot of development coming up south of the river and we feel that the downtown, the same way it expands north of Flagler, is going to expand south of the river,” Schlesinger says.
Schlesinger and his partner like to identify potential areas for projects early. For example, the identified the promise of Brooklyn’s North Williamsburg neighborhood about 20 years ago and it has turned into a global destination.
“We’re one of the first who were building luxury residential in that neighborhood and today it’s just one of the hottest neighborhoods, not only in Brooklyn, but even New York City as a whole.”
A City of Fort Lauderdale website says 633 SE Third Ave. has approval for 830 units and 101 SE 7th St. across the street has approvals for 630 units.
Schlesinger says details are being finalized. ODA’s website has a stylish rendering for a 47-story 633 SE Third Ave. with tubular shapes and scalloped balconies that keep the building from looking overly massive.
Schlesinger noted the new Federal Courthouse under construction about four blocks away at 1080 SE Third Ave. and likes his sites’ proximity to Rio Vista, one of Fort Lauderdale’s most prestigious neighborhoods.
He says, “We liked the fact that we were able to secure a three-acre site in a very densely populated downtown area, which gave us opportunity to create a really beautiful development that people will be able to appreciate and enjoy rather than kind of going and finding small sites and then building what I call ‘pencil towers.’”
