Five years after the completion of Metropica One, the first condominium tower at the Metropica development in western Broward County, developer Joseph Kavana has announced plans to move forward with the next phase of the project. The announcement was made during a ceremonial groundbreaking this week.
Kavana, CEO of Metropica Development, revealed that construction on the new phase is set to begin in October. He also introduced two new partners for the project: Poag Development from Memphis will handle the retail component, while Boca Raton-based Waypoint Residential will oversee residential development.
The master-planned project spans 65 acres and is valued at over $1.5 billion. It is expected to include more than 3,000 condos and apartments, 650,000 square feet of office space, 485,000 square feet of retail space, and two hotels.
Metropica Development President Bernard Werner stated that Poag and Waypoint are responsible for approximately $300 million worth of development within Metropica. Chris Moore, managing director at Waypoint Residential, said his company plans to build at least 900 residential units over several years.
Kavana began assembling land for Metropica in the early 1990s and received approvals for a mixed-use project in 2014. However, only one condo tower was completed by 2020. In 2024, Kavana sought brokers to help form a joint venture partnership. Last year, Sunrise officials approved an increase in density for the site so costs could be spread across 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 stage of construction—referred to as “the first phase” by Kavana—is expected to open within three years and will feature nearly 1,000 luxury apartments alongside more than 150,000 square feet of retail space. Plans also call for about 50,000 square feet of condo office space above retail stores. According to Kavana, most retailers will be restaurants or specialty shops designed to complement nearby Sawgrass Mills mall.
Metropica Development has sold parts of its property holdings to both Poag and Waypoint but did not disclose purchase prices. The company will continue managing infrastructure work and retains participation rights in their joint venture with these partners.
“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.”
