Cocoa Village Apartments: 242 Units, $93M Proposed at 430 Brevard

A developer wants to build 242 Cocoa Village apartments on the 1.95-acre block at 430 Brevard Avenue, and it is asking the Cocoa Community Redevelopment Agency for about $6.23 million in tax increment money to do it. The CRA board reviews the final application on Monday, October 5, 2026.

The applicant is 430 Brevard, LLC, which the city's staff memo identifies as The Framework Group. The numbers below come from that memo and the application attached to the meeting packet.

What the Cocoa Village Apartments Plan Includes

The building would be up to eight stories and 238,270 square feet. It would hold no fewer than 242 market-rate apartments, from studios to three-bedrooms, plus 2,800 square feet of ground-level retail and commercial space. Parking is covered and enclosed. The application says 25 spaces would be open to Cocoa Village visitors, gated off from resident parking.

The site is zoned CBD-CVO, the Central Business District with the Cocoa Village Overlay. Staff's review describes the block as left blighted by the departure of Bank of America.

The developer's cost estimate totals about $93 million: $4.5 million for land, $72.8 million in direct construction, $1 million in furniture and equipment, $5.5 million in soft costs, $5.9 million in development and other costs, and $3.1 million in financing. Staff reports the developer documented 43.97 percent owner equity, against a program minimum of 20 percent, with The Barclay Group named as the capital partner. First Florida Constructors prepared the cost analysis.

What the Developer Is Asking the Cocoa CRA For

The request is a 10-year agreement that pays the developer 90 percent of the new property tax increment the project creates inside the CRA. Staff projects those payments at about $6.23 million over the ten years. The CRA would keep the other 10 percent, estimated at $692,000 over the same period. The land generates about $15,000 a year in increment today.

The developer first asked for 95 percent and revised the request to 90 percent, which is the program maximum. This is the first application under the reinvestment policy the CRA adopted by Resolution 2025-083, so staff is asking the board for direction before it drafts the agreement. The draft would come back to the board at a later meeting. The next regular CRA meeting is November 2.

Staff's written comments flag one open issue. The policy expects construction to be substantially complete within two years of permits. The applicant answered that a project this size cannot be built in 24 months and submitted a longer schedule. We covered how the CRA's increment works in Cocoa CRA Tax Increment Financing.

RCRE Take

Divide the budget by the unit count and this project costs about $384,000 per apartment to build. Direct construction alone is about $305 per square foot of building. The last countywide figure we published for apartment sales was $132,136 per unit, in our second-quarter market post, with vacancy at 13.0 percent and asking rent at $1,635 a month. Rents on new downtown product have to carry a cost basis nearly three times what existing apartments trade for, and that gap is the reason the developer is asking for the increment.

For owners in Cocoa Village, the project adds only 2,800 square feet of retail. The application projects 350 to 400 full-time residents, so existing storefronts on Brevard Avenue get the new customers without much new space competing for them. If you are pricing a building near the site, we can show you what multifamily is selling for in Brevard and what retail space is asking.

Nothing is approved. The board gives direction on Monday, and a binding agreement needs a second vote.

If you own property in Cocoa Village and want to know where it prices with a 242-unit building on the next block, call 321-514-0876 or email cassandra@reachcommercialre.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

When would the Cocoa CRA start paying the 430 Brevard reimbursement?

Per the staff memo, payments begin the year after the project receives its certificate of occupancy. The developer gets 90 percent of the first year's increment and that same dollar amount in each of the next nine years, and has to show its property taxes were paid.

Will the amenities at 430 Brevard be open to the public?

The application says the gym and spa would be available to the public through a paid membership, and 25 garage spaces would be open to Cocoa Village visitors. The pool, courtyard, and clubhouse are described as resident amenities.

Sources

• Cocoa Community Redevelopment Agency meeting packet, October 5, 2026): staff memo dated August 27, 2026, final application cover letter dated August 20, 2026, staff comments and applicant responses. Source for unit count, building size, cost estimate, equity, the 90 percent and $6.23 million request, and the schedule comment. Retrieved October 3, 2026.

• Reach Commercial Real Estate, Brevard County CRE Q2 2026: per-unit sale price, vacancy, and asking rent for Brevard multifamily, published June 17, 2026.

• Cost per unit and cost per square foot are our arithmetic from the developer's figures: $93 million divided by 242 units, and $72.8 million divided by 238,270 square feet.

Written by Cassandra Hartford, founder and CEO of Reach Commercial Real Estate. She has worked in Brevard County commercial real estate for 18 years, representing buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants across Florida's Space Coast.