Tunnel to Towers proposes 121-unit veterans housing complex in Coral Springs

Tunnel to Towers proposed turning the La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Coral Springs Univ Dr into a 121-unit Veterans Village at 3701 N. University Drive, converting a five-story, 195,226-square-foot hotel into long-term housing for veterans and service members.

The site is an existing commercial-hotel parcel of 195,671 square feet, owned by OM Coral Springs LLC and built in 1980, according to county property records. Because the building already has 122 rooms, the project would amount to a near one-for-one conversion from transient lodging to permanent supportive housing.

The plan would give the Coral Springs property a different role than a standard apartment development. Tunnel to Towers has said its Veterans Villages program pairs long-term supportive housing with services meant to help residents stabilize and move toward financial independence. The Coral Springs concept could include dorm-style studios, a gym, cafeteria, pantry and a professional development center, making the property both a residence and a service campus.

That mix is likely to put the project squarely in front of Coral Springs land-use officials. The city’s planning and zoning process requires petitions such as rezoning, conditional use approval and related land-development reviews for projects like this, and those steps will shape whether the proposal can move from concept to construction. Parking, neighborhood traffic, on-site staffing and how the property would be managed are all issues that are likely to surface as the application advances.

The proposal also lands in the middle of Broward’s broader housing and homelessness pressures. Broward County’s annual Point-In-Time Homeless Count is required by HUD and helps determine federal funding for homeless services and programs, which is one reason local governments keep watching reuse projects that can add beds without waiting for new land to be assembled and built from scratch.

Tunnel to Towers has framed the Florida push as part of a wider campaign to end veteran homelessness. The Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs says veteran homelessness in the state has been cut by almost 70% since 2010, but the need for dedicated housing remains real enough to keep drawing public and private attention. The foundation has also been expanding elsewhere in Florida, breaking ground on a Bradenton Veterans Village on June 15, 2024 that was set to include an 84-unit apartment complex and 38 Comfort Homes.