Nitin Motwani.
Nitin Motwani
Managing partner at Miami Worldcenter Associates and Merrimac Ventures
Few projects have shaped a downtown like Miami Worldcenter.
The $4 billion mixed-use development chock full of apartments, retail, condos, hotels and offices across 10 blocks has helped give Downtown Miami a nightlife. The deal-making behind the evolution was busy and brisk. Developers like Related Group, Witkoff Group and many others are building within those blocks, and the last developable parcel sold last month.
Miami Worldcenter scored Lululemon, Posman Books and Rihanna’s lingerie brand Savage X Fenty as tenants last year, leaving Nitin Motwani, one of its developers, with some free time on his hands. Motwani, however, is far from finished with South Florida’s real estate scene. He plans to work with his brother Dev Motwani at the duo’s firm Merrimac Ventures to focus on longer-term projects.
“[My brother and I] wanted to take the time to really focus on the growth that we felt South Florida is about to undergo and utilize some of the liquidity that we created to build more projects ourselves, many of which we plan to own long term,” Nitin Motwani said.
Some of those developments include the 751-unit under-construction tower at 317 Flagler in Fort Lauderdale, the recently completed Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale, the luxury condo 600 Miami Worldcenter, and the Crosby at Miami Worldcenter, a fully sold-out condominium project Merrimac is building with Related Group, Motwani said. Merrimac also plans to develop the Four Seasons Telluride in Telluride, Colo., he added.
Motwani was confident in the future of South Florida’s multifamily market despite higher interest rates, though he added that he’s focused on working with strong lenders on deals in markets he knows well.
“We’re very cautiously optimistic,” Motwani said. “We are lucky to be in South Florida, which is having a very different experience than many parts of the country and certainly the world.” —C.Y.
