Five years after completing the first condominium tower at Metropica, a large-scale development in western Broward County, developer Joseph Kavana is moving forward with new phases of the project and has brought in new partners. Kavana, CEO of Metropica Development, announced at a ceremonial groundbreaking this week that construction on the next phase will begin in October.
To advance the retail component, Kavana has partnered with Poag Development, based in Memphis, Tennessee. Boca Raton-based Waypoint Residential will lead the residential portion. According to Metropica Development President Bernard Werner, Poag and Waypoint are expected to be responsible for about $300 million worth of development. Chris Moore, managing director at Waypoint, stated that his company plans to build at least 900 residential units over several years.
The overall plan for Metropica involves more than $1.5 billion in mixed-use development across 65 acres. The site is slated for more than 3,000 condos and apartments, 650,000 square feet of office space, 485,000 square feet of retail space and two hotels.
Kavana’s efforts have spanned decades; he began assembling land for the project in the early 1990s and secured approvals in 2014. Only one condo tower—Metropica One—was completed by 2020 at 1800 Northwest 136th Avenue. In 2024, brokers were engaged to help find joint venture partners for future phases. Last year, Sunrise officials approved increased density for the project so costs could be distributed across additional 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 during Tuesday’s event.
The upcoming stage of Metropica is being called its first phase by Kavana and is projected to open within three years. Plans include nearly 1,000 luxury apartments and more than 150,000 square feet of retail space; an additional approximately 50,000 square feet of office condos will be built above these retail areas. According to Kavana, the retail section will focus on restaurants, specialty shops and entertainment options intended to complement nearby Sawgrass Mills mall.
Metropica Development sold parts of its property to Poag and Waypoint but did not disclose purchase prices. The company will continue handling infrastructure responsibilities and retains participation rights in their 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.”
