Ramola, Dev and Nitin Motwani

The Motwani family has built an empire in South Florida, including partnerships in the Miami Worldcenter mixed-use project and a Waldorf Astoria-branded oceanfront condo. They started from humble beginnings. 

In the 1980s, Ramesh ‘Bob’ and Ramola Motwani purchased their first hotel –– Merrimac, the namesake of their Merrimac Ventures firm –– in Fort Lauderdale, drawn by the prospect of profitable spring break seasons. Shortly after they bought the property, the city nixed the spring break partying. But the Motwanis managed to keep the hotel, continued investing and took a lead in pushing for the area’s economic growth. When Ramesh died suddenly in 1994, Ramola led the firm on her own and expanded it into ground-up development. 

Dev and Nitin initially had no plans to go into real estate and worked at Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, respectively, in New York. But after a fateful business lunch with their mother, they joined her at Merrimac. 

The brothers are now the face of the firm. Nitin is a partner in Miami Worldcenter Associates, the master developer that assembled and prepared 27 acres for Miami Worldcenter over 10-plus years. Merrimac is a partner in Miami Worldcenter’s Crosby and the nearby 600 Miami Worldcenter condo towers. Dev focuses on Pompano Beach’s Waldorf Astoria condo tower and led the redevelopment of Las Olas Riverfront, which the family sold to PMG. 

Merrimac’s portfolio consists of over $3 billion of finished projects and a $4 billion-plus pipeline. Other projects include Four Seasons in Fort Lauderdale and another in Colorado. In 2024, Merrimac and its partner scored referendum approval for a mixed-use project on Miami’s Watson Island. 

— Lidia Dinkova