Nadim Ashi’s Fort Partners joined BH3 Management and Merrimac Ventures’ Watson Harbour mixed-use development in Miami, The Real Deal has learned.
Miami voters greenlit a referendum in 2024 allowing the sale of 3.2 acres at 888 MacArthur Causeway to a BH3-Merrimac joint venture. Late last year the Miami City Commission approved the sale despite concerns from residents regarding the appraisal.
The developers plan a mixed-use project with hotel, retail and condo components. Fort Partners’ role could be focused on the hotel and residential portion of the project, according to sources. The Miami-based firm is one of the most successful luxury condo developers in South Florida, having built or purchased all the Four Seasons developments in the region.
Fort Partners’ name appears in public records associated with the project as long as a year ago, when a project declaration and assignment of rights was recorded in Miami-Dade County that brought Fort Partners into the fold. But the development firm’s association with the project has not been previously reported.
BH3 and Merrimac said in a statement that the two firms look forward to working with Fort Partners on the project, confirming the partnership.
Ashi could not immediately be reached for comment. The city of Miami has not yet responded to a public records request for information about Fort Partners’ involvement.
Commissioner Damian Pardo and his chief of staff, Anthony Balzebre, confirmed Fort Partners is involved in Watson Harbour but said they didn’t know the specifics of the developer’s role. In addition to its completed luxury oceanfront condo projects in Surfside, Fort is co-developing the Four Seasons Residences in Coconut Grove, and is a partner in the Fouquet’s luxury hotel and condo project in the Miami Design District. Merrimac and Fort Partners are also working together on the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Telluride.
A year after the referendum, Miami City Commissioners approved the $29 million land sale of the site, which is on the southwest side of the island. The controversy over the sale stemmed from an appraisal that found the land could be worth between $257 million and $342 million, the Miami Herald reported. But the developers said that the existing long-term lease devalues the land.
As part of the deal, the developers will provide $9 million to be used for affordable housing and infrastructure improvements. The city was also tasked with negotiating with the state for the release of deed restrictions on the land, at a cost of $4 million, allowing the developers to build about 100 condos instead of previously approved timeshare units. The developers will continue to lease the remaining 7-plus acres of land that the city is retaining ownership of.
BH3 and Merrimac formed a joint venture in 2023 to take over that lease from the former developer, Mehmet Bayraktar’s Flagstone Property Group. Flagstone was tangled in years of delays and litigation with the city of Miami. Voters approved Bayraktar’s deal via a referendum in 2001, but his firm only completed a portion of the planned project.
On the same ballot in 2024, Miami voters also approved a referendum to sell land on the east side of the island to Terra and ESJ Capital Partners.
Fort Lauderdale-based BH3 is an investment, lending and development firm led by co-founders and co-CEOs Lebensohn and Greg Freedman. Merrimac, also based in Fort Lauderdale, is led by chairwoman Ramola Motwani and her sons, Nitin and Dev Motwani, who are both managing partners of the company.
Merrimac and Fort Partners are also working together on the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Telluride.
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