Developer Sets Sights on Fort Lauderdale's Flagler Village With $14M Purchase
Dev Motwani bought nearly 2 acres on North Federal Highway from the Fox family.
Fort Lauderdale developer Dev Motwani bought two properties for $14 million in downtown Fort Lauderdale’s quickly redeveloping Flagler Village district.
Motwani affiliate 616 SE 4th Avenue LLC bought 1.75 acres development site from J&C Fox Family LLC and Joel Fox Inc., affiliates of the Fox family who ran the Duron paint business, which was leased to Sherwin-Williams. The transaction closed Sept. 29.
The assemblage on North Federal Highway from Northeast Third Street to Fourth Street includes a Greyhound bus stop at 515 NE Third St., the Sherwin-Williams store at 317 N. Federal Highway and two parcels with parking lots east of the bus station.
The sellers provided $9.55 million in financing for the acquisition in a 1031 exchange, which allows a taxpayer to defer capital gains on real estate transactions.
Motwani, president and CEO of Merrimac Ventures, plans to build on the assemblage but hasn’t settled on a project. Residential, retail and a hotel are possibilities, according to a news release.
The Motwani family started their Fort Lauderdale investments in the 1980s with the purchase of the Merrimac hotel. Matriarch Ramola Motwani moved to South Florida with her husband, the late Bob Motwani, and sons Dev and Nitin Motwani.
The family’s Merrimac Ventures, now is playing a big role in the reinvention of beachfront Fort Lauderdale real estate with glistening, luxury towers.
The company is working on the 130-key hotel and 90-unit condo Four Seasons Hotel and Residences and the Gale Boutique Hotel and Residences, with 129 condos and 96 hotel rooms. Merrimac completed the 18-story, 95-unit beachfront Paramount Fort Lauderdale Beach.
The family business also has grown beyond Fort Lauderdale. Nitin Motwani is a partner in the 10-block Miami Worldcenter mixed-use downtown development.
Flagler Village, once a neglected neighborhood dominated by rundown warehouses, is being quickly redeveloped with high-rise multifamily buildings and renovations to old buildings where edgy retailers have opened.
Flagler Village is roughly from Federal Highway west to the Florida East Coast Railway and from Broward Boulevard to Sunrise Boulevard.
The property was put on the market in February, according to Ross Manella, a Hinshaw & Culbertson partner who represented the seller along with associate Ofonedu-Ime Goodwyn.
Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson shareholder Peter Desiderio represented Motwani.
Commercial real estate broker Tiktin Real Estate Investment Services president and broker Adam Tiktin and investment associate Alejandro Snyder represented both seller and buyer in the deal.
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