EON at Flagler Village rendering EON at Flagler Village rendering

Fort Lauderdale's EON at Flagler Village apartments bagged $127.5 million in financing with South Florida's multifamily market chugging ahead at full speed.

EON, which is rising in the trendy Flagler Village, comprises a completed 206-unit, twin-tower building and a second 270-unit, twin-tower addition under construction for a spring 2021 completion. The three-year, floating-rate loan will pay off construction financing for the finished building and help pay for construction of the second building.

EON developer Alta Developers LLC, based in Miami, secured the financing Wednesday from Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies LP, the transitional assets lending arm of New York-based Mack Real Estate Group.

The adjacent EON buildings will be on 3.7 acres between Sistrunk Boulevard and Northeast Seventh Street and between Northeast Fourth and Fifth avenues at 421 NE Sixth St.

Alta Developers, a joint venture between principals Raimundo Onetto and Henry Pino, has been involved in other projects changing the South Florida skyline, including Le Parc at Brickell condominiums, the Baltus House condos in Miami and Neovita condos in Doral, according to Alta's website.

Onetto in a news release touted EON's design and amenities.

"Ahead of the curve with fresh concepts and design, our exclusive sky lounges have panoramic views of downtown Las Olas and the Atlantic Ocean, delivering a creative new lifestyle in the heart of Flagler Village," he said.

The buildings also include a pool, gym, yoga room, saunas, dry cleaning kiosk, lounge and storage rooms, according to EON's website. EON is pet-friendly and includes a dog-bath station.

Units include studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Studios measure around 400 square feet; one bedrooms are in the 700-square-foot range, although there also is a 916-square-foot floor plan; two-bedroom units are in the low 1,000-square-foot range; and a three-bedroom floor plan is 1,288 square feet.

Rents range from $1,793 to $3,313 a month, according to Fort Lauderdale-based property manager Greystar.

Flagler Village, which stretches from Boward Boulevard to Sunrise Boulevard and from Federal Highway to the Florida East Coast Railway tracks, used to be a neglected industrial area northwest of downtown Fort Lauderdale with some residences. Its redevelopment started in the early 2000s but really took off in the past five years with the rise of apartment towers and the adaptive reuse of warehouse space for retail.

Another new multifamily project in Flagler Village is the 292-unit ORA Flagler Village Apartments at  673 NE Third Ave.

Flagler Village's growth has caught the eye of investors such as WTI Inc., a California-based company with Silicon Valley ties, which bought ORA in September for $93 million.

Beyond Flagler Village, the multifamily market has been strong across South Florida, fueled by population growth and fresh tenant demand based on high barriers to homeownership.

The fundamentals speak well for the three counties in the region, according to a Marcus & Millichap report issued in November.

In Miami-Dade, 5,800 units were finished this year yet the vacancy rate still fell, while the average effective rent rose 5% to $1,672 a month. In Broward, 2,500 units were completed and the vacancy rate also decreased, while the average effective rent went up 4.9% to $1,620 a month. And in Palm Beach, 1,600 units were completed and the vacancy rate also decreased, while the average effective rent went up 5.7% to $1,644.

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