Apollo, Liberty Base secure second phase of 101 Dania Beach project

Apollo Companies and Liberty Base Investments can forge ahead with the second phase of their mixed-use project, 101 Dania Beach, despite opposition from a top city official.

The Dania Beach City Commission on Tuesday, by a 3-2 vote, approved the joint venture’s site plan for a building with 102 apartments. The property is slated to include ground-floor live-work units, a ground-floor retail space and 22,000 square feet of office space, including ground-floor live-work units. 

The planned 12-story second phase would also include 31 on-site parking spaces, and the developers agreed to lease another 49 spaces in a nearby city-owned garage.

Apollo and Liberty Base, both based in Aventura, withstood a push from Dania Beach Mayor A.J. Ryan IV to chop off five stories from the project, according to video of the city commission meeting. Ryan, one of the nay votes, noted the city’s downtown is saturated with planned multifamily projects. 

“I like everything about it except the height and the density,” Ryan said about the project. “It doesn’t work with what I think the future of the city is headed.” 

Apollo CEO Edward Abbo told Ryan and city commissioners that reducing the second phase to seven stories would make the entire 101 Dania Beach project appear architecturally “lopsided.” 

The city commission last year authorized a site plan for 101 Dania Beach’s first phase, a 12-story building with 278 units at 101 Southwest First Street. The second building, which is at 46 Southwest First Avenue, will connect to the first phase via a pedestrian bridge, according to a Dania Beach city staff memo. 

Apollo and Liberty Base, both based in Aventura, plan on marketing the ground floor units to regional artists who will be able to display and sell their work during community events that attract crowds, the memo states. Office space will also be offered on the second and third floors of 101 Dania Beach’s second phase. The multifamily component would be a mix of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. 

In addition to the site plan, the city commission also approved three variances for the project, including allowing only nine trees instead of the required 20 trees. 

Apollo and Liberty Base assembled the 1.86-acre development site between last year and 2021, paying a combined $2.6 million, records show. 

Apollo focuses on multifamily, hotel, retail and office development, according to the firm’s website. The firm’s portfolio includes Turnberry Plaza office building in Aventura, the Hilton Aventura Miami hotel, the Courtyard Fort Lauderdale Downtown hotel and Quantum Apartments in Fort Lauderdale. 

Liberty Base, led by principal Leon Ojalvo, is a real estate investment firm focused on multifamily projects. In 2021, Liberty Base paid $15 million for Blue Lake Village Apartments, a 106-unit rental community near Miami Shores.