Developers have started construction on a waterfront townhouse project in an upscale enclave of South Florida, about 30 miles north of President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club.
Forté Development and general contractor Kast Construction are building 17 units just beyond the Palm Beach County line in Martin County. Forté Luxe, with views of the Intracoastal Waterway, is priced from about $4 million to $8 million.
"The waterway is wide, and it's the most-blue water you can imagine, like in the Bahamas," Forté founder and CEO Marius Fortelni told Homes.com.
Because developers snapped up land for massive housing developments across South Florida in the 1980s and '90s, large parcels can be hard to find now. As a result, builders often resort to smaller infill projects such as the one Forté is developing.
Plans all for the three- and four-story Forté Luxe townhouses range in size from 3,550 to more than 5,000 square feet. The development is slated for completion next summer.
Martin County is wedged between fast-growing St. Lucie County to the north and Palm Beach County to the south. Martin has a high concentration of people 65 and over, and a large portion of its working-class residents commute to neighboring counties, according to Juan Arias, director of market analytics for Homes.com and CoStar.
Marine industry boosts employment
Marine and aerospace manufacturing are some of the industries located in Martin that have boosted employment, even as recent population growth has been more modest, Arias said in an email.
"The increasing interconnectedness with neighboring counties, growth in key industries, and attractiveness to retirees will continue to provide tailwinds for real estate projects in the area," he said.
Lenders typically require developers to have about 50% presales before granting construction loans, according to Fortelni. He said he met the required threshold but declined to reveal how many units are under contract.
He said he expects some buyers to come from Palm Beach and Martin counties, while others may want to move north out of high-density Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
Fortelni acquired the 2.5-acre site in 2021 and spent the next few years working with the county to get the necessary permitting.
The townhouses at Forté Luxe will have amenities including private terraces, rooftop decks, elevators, a swimming pool and a sun deck with entertainment areas, the developer said. The development also will have 13 private boat slips for vessels as large as 60 feet, with residents able to buy dockage, the developers said.
