Five years after completing the first condominium tower at Metropica, a large master-planned development in western Broward County, the project’s developer is moving forward with new partners. Joseph Kavana, CEO of Metropica Development, announced at a ceremonial groundbreaking that construction on the next phase will begin in October.
Kavana has brought in Poag Development from Memphis to oversee the retail portion and Waypoint Residential from Boca Raton for the residential components. The overall project is valued at more than $1.5 billion and includes plans for over 3,000 condos and apartments, 650,000 square feet of office space, 485,000 square feet of retail space, and two hotels across 65 acres.
Metropica Development President Bernard Werner stated that Poag and Waypoint will handle about $300 million worth of development. Chris Moore, managing director at Waypoint Residential, said his company is committed to building at least 900 residential units over the coming years.
The site assembly began in the early 1990s and received approvals for mixed-use development in 2014. Only one condo tower—Metropica One with 263 units—was completed by 2020. In 2024, brokers were engaged to help structure a joint venture partnership. Last year, city officials approved increased density for the project to allow more residential units.
“This is my work, and we are going to keep fighting the same way we fought over the last 15 years to try to make this a reality,” Kavana said at Tuesday’s event.
The upcoming part of the project is being called its first phase by Kavana and is expected to be operational within three years. It will include nearly 1,000 luxury apartments and more than 150,000 square feet of retail space. Above some of the retail area will be about 50,000 square feet of condo office space. According to Kavana, much of the retail will focus on restaurants, specialty shops and entertainment venues that will complement nearby Sawgrass Mills.
Portions of land have been sold by Metropica Development to Poag and Waypoint; Kavana declined to disclose sale prices but noted that Metropica Development would manage infrastructure work and retain rights within the joint venture.
“All the stars are aligned right now for us to be able to carry forward. We were ready to do this back in 2020 when Covid hit, and we had just finished the first tower,” Kavana said. “We were ready to start with the retail. We had to wait for the right time.”
