Construction begins on The Dunes Fort Lauderdale along A1A
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, August 16, 2025
Moss has started construction on The Dunes Fort Lauderdale, a 16-story, 205-room oceanfront hotel at 441 South Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard to be managed by Marriott’s Autograph Collection. The roughly 206,000-square-foot project, developed by G. Holdings (Granite) and costing more than $175 million, includes ocean-facing dining, a mezzanine event venue, a third-floor pool deck, a rooftop bar, and subterranean valet parking. The groundbreak comes amid a cooling national hotel pipeline driven mainly by higher financing costs, prompting more renovations and conversions while many planned projects remain stalled.
Construction has started on The Dunes Fort Lauderdale, a 16-story, 205-room hotel being built as part of the Autograph Collection. The project is moving forward even as the national hotel development pipeline piles up, with roughly 139,000 rooms under construction and more than 615,000 rooms stalled in planning stages. The contrast highlights a market where developers still want to build but face stiff financial and logistical headwinds.
The Dunes Fort Lauderdale is being constructed by Moss as construction manager for developer G. Holdings (Granite) and will be operated by a major hotel operator. The 16-story building will total about 206,000 square feet and is estimated at more than $175 million. Located at 441 South Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard along A1A, it marks the first Autograph Collection property in Fort Lauderdale.
Guest accommodations include 205 rooms. Public amenities are planned to feature an ocean-facing restaurant, a mezzanine-level event venue, a third-floor pool and bar deck and a rooftop bar and dining venue with panoramic views. The design team includes FSMY Architects & Planners for architecture and Studio Munge for interiors. A valet-operated subterranean parking garage is part of the scope. No construction completion date has been released.
Industry data shows roughly 139,000 hotel rooms under construction nationwide at the end of the second quarter, a drop of about 15,000 rooms compared with the same period a year earlier. At the same time the number of rooms in planning and final planning stages has swelled to more than 615,000 rooms. Rooms in final planning rose nearly 10 percent year over year, indicating projects are lining up but not moving to shovels in the ground.
Elevated interest rates are the primary reason many planned hotels are not breaking ground. Tight lending conditions make many development deals financially unworkable when combined with the higher cost of capital. While labor and material costs remain concerns, they have not been the main driver of the slowdown. The financing squeeze is forcing developers to reassess return assumptions and push projects back or pause them entirely.
Because of the gap between planned projects and projects that can be financed, developers are increasingly favoring property conversions and renovations over new ground-up construction. That shift reduces upfront capital needs and shortens timelines, making it easier to align projects with available financing and workforce limits.
Despite the current chill in new-build starts, many in the industry remain hopeful conditions will improve by 2026. Until then, the hotel pipeline is expected to show congestion with a high number of projects remaining in planning. The slowdown in rooms under construction suggests that national supply growth could stall further if financing conditions do not ease.
Moss, which has offices in Florida, Texas, and Hawaii, serves as construction manager on The Dunes project. The firm has overseen other hospitality projects in Florida, including several beachfront and resort properties. In this case, the team brought together a developer, operator, designer, and construction manager to advance a high-profile beachside hotel despite broader market headwinds.
For Fort Lauderdale the new Autograph Collection hotel adds a branded, upper-tier lodging option and a cluster of public amenities aimed at both visitors and local events. For developers elsewhere, the deal underscores two simultaneous realities: there is still appetite from brands and owners to expand the lodging base, but many projects remain contingent on capital markets and interest-rate direction.
The Dunes Fort Lauderdale is a planned 16-story, 205-room hotel in Fort Lauderdale being built for an Autograph Collection flag. It includes restaurants, event space, pool and rooftop amenities.
Moss is serving as construction manager; the developer is G. Holdings (Granite), and the hotel will be operated by a major international hotel operator under the Autograph Collection brand.
The site address is 441 South Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard, located along A1A on the beachfront corridor.
The project is estimated at more than $175 million and spans roughly 206,000 square feet across 16 stories.
The main issue is elevated interest rates and tight lending conditions, which have made many development deals financially unworkable. Labor and materials are factors but not the primary cause of the current stall.
Many developers expect conditions to improve around 2026, but recovery will depend on interest rate trends, credit availability, and construction costs.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Project name | The Dunes Fort Lauderdale |
| Brand | Autograph Collection |
| Rooms | 205 guest rooms |
| Stories / Size | 16 stories / ~206,000 sq ft |
| Estimated cost | More than $175 million |
| Location | 441 South Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard (A1A) |
| Design | FSMY Architects & Planners; Studio Munge interiors |
| Notable amenities | Ocean-facing restaurant; mezzanine event venue; third-floor pool/bar deck; rooftop bar and dining; subterranean valet parking |
| Construction manager | Moss |
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