Broward County's mixed-use market in 2026 is performing like two different asset classes disguised as one. Stabilized properties with credit retail anchors and full residential occupancy along Fort Lauderdale's Las Olas corridor and downtown Hollywood are trading at 5.5-6.5% cap rates with institutional-grade buyers paying cash. Meanwhile, pre-stabilized deals in Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, and parts of Davie are moving at 7-8% caps to value-add buyers who see the upside in lease-up or tenant mix rebalancing.
That pricing divergence is the story right now. If you're looking at Broward mixed-use as a single market, you're missing half the opportunity.
Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood Drive Stabilized Pricing
Fort Lauderdale's downtown core and Las Olas corridor continue to command premium pricing for anything delivering consistent cash flow Day 1. Mixed-use buildings with ground-floor retail (coffee shops, boutique fitness, neighborhood restaurants) and 20-40 residential units above are trading at sub-6% cap rates when occupancy is 90%+ and the retail tenants have five-year terms or longer.
Hollywood's downtown rejuvenation along Harrison Street and Young Circle is pulling similar pricing. Buyers here are typically South Florida-based family offices or 1031 exchange buyers stepping out of retail strip centers and into mixed-use for the diversification play. The kicker in these deals is the residential income stability offsets retail rollover risk, which is what institutional buyers are willing to pay for in 2026.
Asking prices in these stabilized corridors are running $350-$450 per square foot for the building as a whole, with sellers holding firm because replacement cost is $500+ per square foot if you tried to build new today. Lease rates on the retail component are $45-$65 NNN depending on corner exposure and foot traffic.
Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach Offer Pre-Stabilized Upside
Pompano Beach's Atlantic Boulevard corridor and Deerfield Beach's Federal Highway stretch are where the value-add opportunities live. These are older mixed-use conversions (originally built as strip retail, converted to add residential above in the 2010s) or new construction projects that delivered into softer lease-up conditions and are sitting at 70-80% occupancy.
These properties are trading at 7-8% cap rates on trailing NOI, but the underwriting story is what happens when you stabilize to 95% and backfill the retail vacancies with neighborhood-service tenants (salons, med spas, insurance offices, boutique gyms). I think the realistic exit cap on a stabilized basis is closer to 6.5%, which gives you 100-150 basis points of value creation if you can execute the lease-up in 18-24 months.
Typical buyers here are smaller private equity funds or high-net-worth individuals buying with agency debt (Freddie, Fannie) on the residential component and either leaving the retail unlevered or bringing a small balance loan against it. Asking prices are running $225-$300 per square foot, which pencils when you're underwriting to a post-stabilization valuation in the low $300s.
Coral Springs and Davie Cater to Owner-User Hybrids
Coral Springs and Davie have a different mixed-use buyer profile entirely: owner-users who want to live above their business. These are typically professional services operators (attorneys, accountants, wealth advisors, medical practices) who buy a 3,000-5,000 square foot mixed-use building, operate their practice on the ground floor, and either live in the residential unit above or lease it out for additional income.
Pricing here is less about cap rate and more about cost per square foot compared to buying a standalone office condo plus a separate residence. These deals are trading at $275-$350 per square foot depending on finish quality and parking availability. Lease comps on the surrounding retail space run $30-$40 NNN, but the owner-user isn't typically underwriting to market rent since they're occupying the commercial space themselves.
The opportunity in this submarket is finding sellers who purchased as an investment (not owner-occupied) and are frustrated with the tenant mix or the management intensity of operating both a commercial and residential asset under one roof. These sellers will often take a discount to exit quickly if you can close in 30-45 days with minimal contingencies.
Coconut Creek Struggles with Retail Vacancy
Coconut Creek's mixed-use inventory is limited, and what does exist tends to be older product (1990s-era construction) with high retail vacancy and deferred maintenance on the residential component. Cap rates here are theoretically in the 8-9% range, but the real story is replacement reserves and lease-up risk.
I'm cautious about mixed-use in Coconut Creek unless the basis is so low that you can afford to carry 50% retail vacancy for two years while you re-tenant. The residential units tend to lease fine (Class B rents in the $1,400-$1,800 range for 1-bed units), but the retail struggles because the surrounding demographics skew older and less walkable than Fort Lauderdale or Hollywood.
If you're looking at a Coconut Creek mixed-use deal, the value-add play is almost always converting unused retail square footage into additional residential units (subject to zoning). That changes the underwriting entirely and can justify a basis in the low $200s per square foot if the conversion pencils.
Who's Buying Broward Mixed-Use in 2026
The buyer pool breaks into four categories:
- 1031 exchange buyers stepping out of retail strip centers or older multifamily and looking for the diversification of mixed-use income. These buyers are willing to pay a premium for stabilized assets in Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood because the exchange timeline forces them to close fast.
- Value-add funds targeting pre-stabilized deals in Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach with 18-24 month business plans to increase NOI through lease-up and rent growth. Typical hold period is 3-5 years.
- Owner-users in Coral Springs and Davie who want to live above their business. These buyers don't underwrite to cap rate; they underwrite to total cost of ownership compared to buying separate commercial and residential properties.
- Family offices looking for inflation-hedged cash flow in walkable urban corridors. Fort Lauderdale downtown and Hollywood are the primary targets here.
Lender appetite is strong across all four buyer types. Freddie and Fannie will finance the residential component of mixed-use at 75-80% LTV if the property is at least 51% residential by square footage or income. The retail component either gets wrapped into the same loan (if the lender is comfortable) or financed separately with a local or regional bank at 65-70% LTV.
How I Source Mixed-Use Off Market in Broward
Most of the best mixed-use deals in Broward County never hit the MLS or Crexi. Sellers are either owner-occupants who are relocating or retiring, or small investors who bought a conversion project 5-10 years ago and are tired of the management complexity.
I find these deals through three channels:
- Direct mail to owner-occupants in Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Coral Springs who've owned 7+ years and are approaching retirement age. These owners often don't realize how much equity they're sitting on until I show them what stabilized mixed-use is trading at in 2026.
- Referrals from residential property managers who manage the upstairs units and hear from owners that they're frustrated with the retail component. The property manager refers the owner to me, I run a valuation, and we start a conversation about an off-market exit.
- Broker-to-broker reciprocity with commercial brokers who primarily work retail or multifamily and don't want to deal with the hybrid nature of mixed-use. I get the referral, they get a piece of the fee, the seller gets a specialist.
If you're looking at mixed-use in Broward and want access to properties before they're marketed publicly, sign up for our off-market opportunities list. I send out new inventory weekly, and the best deals typically go under contract within 10-14 days of the first showing.
Lease-Side Dynamics for Ground-Floor Retail
On the tenant representation side, ground-floor retail in Broward mixed-use buildings is some of the most sought-after space in South Florida right now. Neighborhood-service tenants (coffee shops, boutique fitness, salons, med spas, insurance offices) want the walkability and residential density that mixed-use provides, and they're willing to pay $45-$65 NNN for 1,200-2,500 square foot spaces in Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood.
Lease terms are running 5-7 years with 10-15% rent bumps every 2-3 years. Landlords are offering 3-6 months free rent on new leases to cover tenant build-out, but they're pushing most of the improvement cost back onto the tenant through a tenant improvement allowance (typically $40-$60 per square foot) rather than doing the work themselves.
The challenge on the lease side is parking. Most mixed-use buildings in Broward were built with just enough parking to satisfy code for the residential units, which leaves limited or zero dedicated parking for retail customers. Tenants who can operate without heavy parking demand (service businesses where clients book appointments, not walk-in retail) perform best in these buildings.
If you're a franchise operator or independent business owner looking for ground-floor retail space in a mixed-use building, I handle franchise site selection across South Florida and can show you what's available before it's publicly listed. Most landlords prefer to lease directly to an introduced tenant rather than pay a listing broker, so coming in through a tenant rep relationship gives you leverage on the deal terms.
The 1031 Exchange Angle
Broward mixed-use is one of the best replacement property categories for 1031 exchange buyers stepping out of retail strip centers or older multifamily in Palm Beach County. The diversification of having both retail and residential income appeals to investors who are tired of single-asset-class risk, and the replacement cost basis in Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood is high enough that you can deploy $3-5M of exchange proceeds into a single property.
The kicker in these exchanges is timing. Most of the stabilized mixed-use inventory in Broward trades off-market, which means you need to have the property identified and under contract within your 45-day identification window. I keep a running list of owners who are open to selling but haven't formally listed, which gives my exchange clients a head start on finding suitable replacement properties before the clock runs out.
If you're in an active 1031 exchange and looking at Broward mixed-use as a potential replacement property, reach out directly so we can walk through what's available and what the realistic closing timeline looks like. I also built a 1031 exchange calculator that helps you model the tax deferral and replacement property requirements so you know exactly how much equity you need to redeploy.
Where the Market Goes From Here
I think Broward mixed-use pricing holds firm through 2026 for stabilized assets in Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood. The buyer pool is deep, lender appetite is strong, and replacement cost is still 20-30% higher than what existing properties are trading at, which puts a floor under pricing.
The opportunity is in the pre-stabilized deals in Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, and Davie. These properties are mispriced relative to stabilized comps because sellers are underwriting to trailing NOI instead of pro forma NOI at stabilization. If you can execute the lease-up and backfill the retail vacancies with credit tenants, you're creating 100-150 basis points of value in 18-24 months, which translates to a 15-20% IRR on a levered basis.
Coconut Creek remains a question mark. I'd avoid it unless you're buying at a basis low enough to afford retail conversion risk, or you have a specific tenant already lined up for the ground-floor space.
For the latest insights on Broward County's broader commercial real estate market (across all asset classes, not just mixed-use), download the Broward County Market Report. It's updated quarterly and includes transaction comps, cap rate trends, and submarket breakdowns by asset class.
If you're ready to look at specific mixed-use properties in Broward County (either for sale or lease), the fastest way to see what's available is to browse our current mixed-use inventory or contact me directly to discuss your investment criteria. Most of the best deals never make it to the public market, so starting the conversation early is how you get first look.
Best regards,
Anthony Conners is a Florida licensed real estate sales associate (license SL3334618) with Atlantic Commercial Advisors, affiliated with KW Commercial and based in Boca Raton. He represents buyers and sellers of multifamily, retail, industrial, hospitality and net lease property across Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. About Anthony · Track record
