Drilling has started at 300 NE 3rd Avenue as developers press ahead on Ombelle, a two‑tower residential complex that marks one of the largest projects to begin construction in downtown Fort Lauderdale in recent years.
Project scope and features
Dependable Equities and ODA Architecture are building the pair of 44‑story towers that will include 754 residences within a development that totals about 1.46 million square feet. The project site sits in Flagler Village, a neighborhood that has become central to the city's downtown residential surge.
- Residences: 754 units across two 44‑story towers
- Retail and restaurants: more than 11,000 square feet at street level along NE 3rd Avenue
- Amenities: over 100,000 square feet above retail, including pools, wellness spaces and recreation
- Fitness anchor: a 35,000‑square‑foot Equinox — the chain’s first location in Fort Lauderdale and Broward County
Rendering descriptions provided by the development team indicate two distinct pool decks — one oriented to morning light, another capturing sunset views — along with interior features such as ceramic‑clad kitchens, a golf simulator and a cold plunge. Recreational and lifestyle offerings on upper floors are expected to include pickleball courts, a podcast studio and a pet spa.
"We're building for people who want to live, work, and recover in one place, not commute across the city for it," said a principal at Dependable Equities.
Design team and related pipeline
New York‑based ODA Architecture is handling architecture, interiors and landscape design in‑house. The firm is known for residential work in Brooklyn and Manhattan and is serving as design partner on several other Fort Lauderdale projects for the same developer.
Dependable Equities, described as the South Florida arm of Sky Equity Group, has a local pipeline that includes a proposed 47‑story sculptural tower at 633 SE Third Avenue and a 45‑story mixed‑use tower at 101 SE 7th Street along the New River. Those projects, together with Ombelle, signal the developer’s sizable commitment to the downtown market.
Where Ombelle fits in Fort Lauderdale’s growth
Flagler Village has emerged as a focal point for the city's residential expansion. Developers and city planners have pointed to migration of wealth and finance from the Northeast as a driver of demand in Broward County. Even so, local builders and brokers have said the supply of luxury towers has struggled to keep pace with that demand, a dynamic that developers cite in pursuing large mixed‑use projects.
Ombelle will add to a corridor of new and planned projects that includes the FAT Village arts district redevelopment and other branded and mixed‑use towers. At street level, the project’s more than 11,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space is positioned to activate NE 3rd Avenue and contribute to the neighborhood’s commercial life, while the Equinox club is expected to be a regional draw.
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Towers | 2 (44 stories each) |
| Residences | 754 units |
| Total development size | ~1.46 million sq ft |
| Amenities | >100,000 sq ft |
| Retail | >11,000 sq ft |
| Equinox | 35,000 sq ft (first in Broward County) |
Construction on a development of this scale will carry implications for traffic, local services and housing supply as it progresses through drilling, foundation work and vertical construction. The project also touches on longer‑running policy conversations about downtown density, transit access and the balance between market‑rate luxury units and broader affordable housing needs — debates that Fort Lauderdale officials and neighborhood groups have faced in recent years as new towers rise.
For now, the visible milestone is the start of drilling at 300 NE 3rd Avenue and the arrival of large amenity offerings, including the county’s first Equinox, which together underline the scale and market orientation of the new complex.
Additional details on construction timelines, unit mix, pricing and public‑private infrastructure agreements were not provided in the project summary released ahead of groundbreaking.
