Developers refile for permits for 8-story apartment complex in Coral Springs
Developers aiming to build an eight-story, 377-unit apartment complex at the northeast corner of Sample Road and University Drive are now going through the permitting process for the second time, over two years after initially seeking permission to begin construction.
If the project sounds familiar, it’s because the planned development at the site of a former Publix is the fourth of its kind proposed in recent years.
Modera has built a pair of eight-story towers on the southwest corner of the intersection, and Amera Corporation is planning to build City Village on the northwest corner, starting with an eight-story apartment building and a second structure up to five stories with additional housing and retail space.
Just south of Modera on University Drive, another development called 32 Hundred will consist of an 11-story apartment complex and two-story commercial building.
Miami-based Key International and 13th Floor Investments purchased the 4.2-acre property at 3401-3445 University Drive for $8 million in May 2023, Broward County property records show.
Key International cited the “momentum” of downtown Coral Springs’ change in recent years as part of the reason for the move.
“Coral Springs has evolved tremendously in the last couple of years,” Inigo Ardid, co-president of Key International, told the South Florida Business Journal in 2023. “This development meets a surging demand for new, state-of-the-art housing and modern retail amenities to enhance the city’s urban core.”
The developers initially went through the approval process for the mixed-use housing and commercial venture in 2022 and 2023, receiving the necessary green lights and land use exemptions from city boards including the Development Review Committee, Architectural Review Committee and the City Commission.
Developers finally arrived at the last step of the process, obtaining the building permits, and submitted those in December 2023. But several city departments that needed to sign off on the plans rejected them.
“Plans demonstrate site configuration inconsistent with DRC approved plans,” planning manager Jenna Lane wrote in August 2024.
She noted a sidewalk had shifted north and the calculations for a pool or water area had increased.
A spokesperson for Greenspoon Marder, the law firm consulting on the project, said the plans have not changed.
The permits from that round went null and void, and in November 2025, the team resubmitted the permit applications and began the approval process again. But progress on pushing the permits through has slowed over a similar issue as last time, with city officials noting the new site plan and accompanying data appear different than the plan approved in 2022.
Various departments provided feedback and listed additional pieces of information that need to be included. Officials also shared that the county had to sign off on some of the plans first, possibly delaying the process.
The status of the permits is listed as on-hold as of March 5.
The complex will have 377 units of housing and 11,525 square feet of retail space that wraps around two courtyards, documents show. It would also include a 629-spot garage that would be set on the farthest corner back from the road to reduce its visibility.
“The site is in the heart of downtown Coral Springs on 4.2 acres, in an area which is undergoing a major transformation to create a vibrant live, work, play hub that is complementary to the city’s recent growth,” according to Key International’s website.