Joseph Kavana lands $30M loan for existing condo inventory at Metropica

Financing is for existing unsold units and for next phase of Metropica development

Joseph Kavana with Metropica.
Joseph Kavana with Metropica. (Metropica)

Developer Joseph Kavana closed on a $30 million condo inventory loan for the first tower of his $1.5 billion master-planned community in Sunrise, The Real Deal has learned.

Kavana’s Metropica Development secured the financing from Madison Realty Capital, a New York-based private equity firm led by managing principal and co-founder Josh Zegen, according to a press release. Melissa Rose of JLL arranged the financing.

The Sunrise project, at 2000 Metropica Way, is just east of the Florida Everglades.

The mortgage is for the 89 unsold units at the 263-unit One Metropica, which is 66 percent sold. The developer has sold 174 units since launching sales more than six years ago. The 28-story building was completed a year ago. Kavana said more than 10 units are under contract and are expected to close in the next two weeks.

The loan will also be used for the second planned 250-unit condo building on a 10-acre property that serves as collateral for the lender, as well as to pay off the construction loan for the first building, Kavana and Zegen said.

The first tower was designed by architect Chad Oppenheim and London-based interior designer YOO Design Group. Units at the completed building range from 960 square feet to about 2,000 square feet. For the remaining units, prices range from $594,000 to just over $2 million, including penthouses. The building includes a saltwater swimming pool, lounges, movie theater, fitness center, massage and yoga centers, and a children’s playroom.

The developer is handling sales in-house. Kavana plans to launch sales of the second tower by the end of this year.

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Kavana financed construction of the first condo building with a $64.5 million loan from Canadian lender Romspen in 2017.

In all, the mixed-use development, on 65 acres west of Sawgrass Mills, will have about 2,200 residential units across eight towers, office space, nearly 250,000 square feet of retail, and a hotel.

Kavana said he reduced the amount of retail space and increased the amount of office and residential space as a result of shifting demands due to the pandemic. A central park is expected to be completed in the next 18 months, he said.

Last year, the buyers of a $605,000 unit at the first tower sued the developer over delays, seeking a refund of their roughly $150,000 deposit. Court records filed in May show that the unit owners were seeking enforcement of the settlement owed to them by the developer.

Madison Realty has been active in South Florida, providing financing to projects that include the recently completed Monad Terrace in Miami Beach and the Mandarin Oriental Residences in Boca Raton.