Art Miami sculptures to fill Metropica

Developer will spend a minimum of $2.5M on 50 sculptures

Joseph Kavana a rendering of Metropica and a Stefan Szczesny sculpture
Joseph Kavana a rendering of Metropica and a Stefan Szczesny sculpture

On the heels of Miami Art Week, developer Joseph Kavana secured a deal to bring up to 50 sculptures to his master-planned community in Sunrise.

Kavana said the steel and aluminum sculptures by artist Stefan Szczesny are priced between $50,000 and $75,000, each. That means that the developer will spend a minimum of $2.5 million on the artwork, part of the development’s art in public places initiative.

Kavana is about to deliver the 65-acre Metropica development’s first building, called One Metropica Residences, designed by Yoo. There, the first three sculptures by Szczesny, depicting nature, wellness and happiness, will be installed. They are each about six feet tall.

In all, the $1.5 billion development will span roughly 4 million square feet with more than 2,250 residential units, up to 485,000 square feet of retail space, 650,000 square feet of Class A office space, and public spaces.

Each building will have Szczesny sculptures in the outdoor common areas. Kavana said he had seen the artist’s work in Europe and was already far along in talks to purchase sculptures from him. The German painter and sculptor most recently exhibited at the Art Miami/Context art fair. Metropica plans to purchase more sculptures every year, Kavana said.

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One Metropica, a 28-story, 263-unit luxury condo building, will be delivered in mid-January, he said. The building, at 2000 Metropica Way, is about 75 percent presold. Architect Chad Oppenheim and London-based interior designer YOO Design Group, founded by John Hitchcox and Philippe Starck, designed One Metropica.

Units start in the $450,000 range, according to a fact sheet. ON Collaborative by Coldwell Banker was tapped to take over sales and marketing of the building earlier this year.

Next, the developer plans to launch sales for the second luxury residential tower between April and May.

Construction is underway on underground infrastructure for the retail component of the project. The second phase of infrastructure will begin in February, and Kavana hopes to complete the retail space by 2022. Next year, construction will begin on 165,000 square feet of office space and a multifamily project.

The west Broward city is home to major employers such as American Express and Ultimate Software.