Michael Chen, Director, Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency

Michael Chen, director of the Dania Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, spoke with Invest: about the remarkable growth recently experienced by Dania Beach due to its strategic location, employment opportunities, and investment in infrastructure and the public sector.

What achievements has the Community Redevelopment Agency achieved over the last year?

In April 2023, we adopted a new CRA plan update, which was the first revision since 2008, and this has been a welcome evolution to keep us focused on current priorities. It provides a clear direction of priorities, as well as a summary of our focuses and goals. Since April 2023, we have begun implementation of every single one of our priorities that were outlined in the revised plan and have also initiated a downtown vision plan. The expectation is that Dania Beach will continue to grow and attract more residential investment, which in turn, brings a higher population. 

We needed to improve our downtown to accommodate future traffic and adapt to an environment with a residential population. Dania Beach has also opened 3,500 new residential units in the city with another 2,500-3,000 units under construction. This level of investment is expected to continue. The plan also describes intentions for walkable corridors and improved streetscape, as well as how we manage the commercial side of those properties. Many new projects have ground-floor retail, office, or mixed-use. These types of uses need to be served by truck traffic, so navigating efficient use of available corridors is critical.

What is the importance of addressing infrastructure, and how does Dania Beach mitigate long-term challenges for residents and businesses?

The city is proactive in trying to get in front of infrastructure improvements, as well as examining how to improve services and care for our residents. For instance, the city recently bought high-water vehicles to assist people who are subject to the impacts of flooding and facilitate our ability to conduct rescues. Meanwhile, we have initiated a $100 million project to improve our stormwater drainage. We are attacking the potential issues both from our current, practical side, as well as being proactive on more permanent solutions.

How does Dania Beach’s strategic location help attract business and investment to the area?

Broward County is a strong business center of our region. We are the eighth largest metro area in the United States and experience continued, strong growth while continuing to attract relocation from the Northeast. Broward County is served by top-level economic engines, including Port Everglades and Fort Lauderdale International Airport, which is lauded as the third-best large hub airport in the country at a reasonable cost. We have over 8 million square feet of commercial space and over 6 million square feet of industrial space. An additional strength is found in the diversity and number of our 10 highly successful industry clusters, which speaks well to the stability of our economy. Our workforce is diverse, well-educated, and multilingual with C-Suite experience. We have the second-largest counselor network in the country. We take pride in being the marine center of Broward County, and Broward is the leading marine county in Florida. 

Is Dania Beach working with any specific programs to contribute to achieving the CRA’s goals?

Part of the Dania Beach Business Academy is reflecting an effective collaboration of partnerships. We partner with SCORE, Career Source, and other resources within Broward County. The support network here is incredible, and we all work together to strive for positive outcomes for both the county and individual pockets of commerce. Our business academy is evidence of these effective collaborative relationships. This past year, we’ve offered programs to first-time home buyers. Finding residential opportunities is a challenge in South Florida, and we help first-time buyers learn how to be successful in our local real estate market. We also partner with Habitat for Humanity to provide information to low-income buyers. Last month, we conducted a program to outline simple steps to starting a business, which calls back to our entrepreneurial position of helping people turn their personal interests into lifelong careers. This month, we have a program to provide financial strategies for small businesses to help them understand the importance of managing cash flow and developing stronger credit. 

What is Dania Beach CRA doing to attract new business and encourage economic investment?

The fundamental benefits available in Broward County are instrumental in attracting this growth. We have estimated that there are around 70,000 to 80,000 people a day migrating to Dania Beach to participate in our job center. This is part of what is driving our strong residential growth. People want to live closer to where they work and reduce their commute time. We have recently built out more than 1 million square feet of commercial space, and we expect this trend to continue.

What are the primary challenges facing Dania Beach?

There are a few ways in which we have become victims of our own success. The city experienced an unexpected surge of residential demand, and a year and a half ago, we ran out of our residential allocation from Broward County. We were unable to approve any residential building permits in the city, even for a single-family house. Broward County has since restored our residential allocation, which allows us to continue. The CRA is supposed to be a depressed area of the city, but our real estate markets are strong. Our industrial properties have 1.6% vacancy, which means there is no room to grow, and it is a challenge. Our office market has around a 5-6% vacancy rate. It is difficult to find space if you are looking to move here. The cap rates for the investment side of those properties are comparable to those of Fort Lauderdale, which are indicative of strong markets.

Could you describe a few projects that the CRA will focus on over the next year?

We are planning to go to construction drawings for the Downtown Vision Plan in 2025 and expect to follow with building out our construction plans. We also have an extensive streetscape plan which will connect the federal highway, downtown Dania Beach, and the beaches. East Dania Beach Boulevard has been a resource for several projects that are currently under construction. We intend to shore up and support private sector investment by putting forth public sector investment to improve the environment that supports those projects.