US Buys Site for New Fort Lauderdale Federal Courthouse for $13.6M
The 3.3-acre site is comprised of seven lots just south of the Tarpon River and east of Southeast Third Avenue.
The U.S. government has purchased a 3.3-acre site for a new Fort Lauderdale federal courthouse for $13.6 million, a major move forward to replace the existing courthouse that’s in poor condition.
The federal government bought the site from Dunmore Properties Ltd., an affiliate of Fort Lauderdale-based venture capital firm Hudson Capital Group Inc. headed by Steven Hudson.
The transaction closed on Dec. 28.
The site spans seven adjacent lots immediately south of the Tarpon River and on the northeast corner of Southeast Third Avenue and 11th Street in downtown.
Five of the lots have a single office building on them, one has a single-family house and the biggest one at 66,000 square feet is a parking lot with a vacant field.
A renter of the house and three businesses in the office buildings have six months to relocate. Their leases included clauses warning them they would have to move in case the property is sold, Hudson said.
Congress in 2018 allocated $190 million for a new Fort Lauderdale federal courthouse as part of a larger $1.3 trillion spending bill.
A national study in 2016 ranked the existing building at 299 E. Broward Blvd. third for replacement, although the Broward County legal community had for over a decade prior to that griped about the condition of the current courthouse.
The building has leaks and mold, and it doesn’t meet federal security requirements.
The General Services Administration, which was charged with selecting a site, narrowed down possible locations to four, two along the CSX train tracks and two in downtown, eventually settling on Hudson’s property, he said.
Fort Lauderdale attorney Matthew Morrall represented Hudson in the transaction.
Four of the purchased lots are at 320, 311, 301 and 321 SE 10th Court; one is at 315 SE 11th St.; one is at 1080 SE Third Ave., and the parking lot and vacant field one is on the northeast corner of Southeast Fourth Avenue and 11th Street.
The transaction involved the city of Fort Lauderdale, a Federal Courthouse Task Force with local officials as members and the General Service Administration.