Developer Seeks Partner With $250M To Launch Massive Project Near Sawgrass Mills

Metropica development Sawgrass Mills Avison Young Joseph Kavana 1800 Northwest 136th Ave Wasielewski
Courtesy of Avison Young
The 48-Acre Metropica Development Site Is Master-Planned For 2,500 Residential Units And 600K Sf Of Office Space.

Developer Joseph Kavana is looking to raise more than $250M to construct a master-planned development adjacent to the Sawgrass Mills outlet mall in Sunrise.

Kavana is looking for a joint partner to build the project, called Metropica, which is being marketed as a “city-within-a-city” and is expected to include 2,500 residential units, 240 hotel rooms, 480K SF of retail space and 650K SF of office space.

Kavana acquired the parcels, which cover about 48 acres at 1800 Northwest 136th Ave., in 2015 and completed the 263-unit Metropica One condo there in 2020. The developer has yet to break ground on the other portions of the project and has been marketing an office building at the site since 2018, the South Florida Business Journal reported.

Now, Kavana is looking for a partner to provide equity for the project, tapping Karson & Co. and Avison Young to broker a deal that is expected to bring in more than $250M for the project, according to a release from Avison Young. The Metropica One condo property isn't expected to be part of the venture.

The development parcel, one of the largest contiguous land sites available in South Florida, is located inside a Community Development District and comes with attractive economic incentives, according to the release.

“In land-constrained South Florida, aggressively zoned greenfield sites of this scale are increasingly rare,” Avison Young Managing Director Michael Fay said in a statement. “The equity partner for Metropica will have the opportunity to develop a ‘city-within-a-city’ with its own center of gravity, making it a true legacy asset.”

The site surrounds the 2.3M SF Sawgrass Mills outlet mall, the largest single-story outlet mall in the country, according to Business Insider. The Simon Property Group-owned mall opened in 1990 and added an upscale expansion called The Colonnade Outlets at Sawgrass Mills in 2006. It was renovated in 2019, when the mall was seeing more than 30 million visits per year, the Miami Herald reported.

Sunrise has drawn significant interest from developers and investors in recent years. In October, Miami-based Circle Capital Partners paid $22.2M to purchase the 144-unit Heron Landing apartment complex. In February 2022, builder Luxcom secured a $41M loan to construct a 235-unit market-rate rental project in the neighborhood.

Avison Young’s Fay, David Duckworth, John Crotty, Keith O’Donnell and Brian de la Fé will work with Arden Karson of Karson & Co. to market the Metropica venture.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Related Topics: Jordan Kavana , Metropica , Sawgrass Mills
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's South Florida Newsletters
Related Stories

Penta And Staycity Team Up For £230M Farringdon Aparthotel

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Rewrite Underwriting Standards For NYC's Rent Freeze

Starwood Launches Residential Land JV Targeting $1B In Annual Originations

Kast Construction Names New CEO: The South Florida Deal Sheet

New Opportunity Zones May Help Finish California Projects, Not Start Them

Broward Lures Office Tenants Away From Miami-Dade

ISIF Commits €100M To IPUT's €500M Office Development Pipeline

Brookfield, CPP Complete $5.2B REIT Buyout, Pick Up U.S. Logistics Assets

Gencom-Led Partnership Acquires InterContinental Hotel In Downtown Miami

TPG, ACORE Raise Billions For Opportunistic CRE Funds

Newmark Cuts Earnings Outlook Despite Record Third Quarter

Battered Mortgage REIT Suspends Dividend To Preserve Cash