UPDATED, April 3, 4:50 p.m.: Developer Joseph Kavana hired ON Collaborative by Coldwell Banker to take over sales of Yoo Residences at Metropica, the first condo tower at the master-planned 65-acre community in Sunrise.
The firm, which is under the NRT umbrella, is replacing One Sotheby’s International Realty as the exclusive sales and marketing firm for the 28-story, 263-unit tower at 1800 Northwest 136th Avenue. Kavana said domestic buyers are more prevalent now than South American investors, and Coldwell Banker “has a better reach internally in the U.S.” than One Sotheby’s.
Foreign investment from South America in the Miami condo market has dropped significantly in recent years due in part to the strength of the dollar.
Daniel de la Vega, president of One Sotheby’s, said in a release that “it has been a privilege to work alongside Joseph Kavana and his team” and that One Sotheby’s will continue to support the project.
ON Collaborative has offices in Chicago, Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles. Yoo Residences marks the first project for ON Collaborative in South Florida, according to a release. Reiner Perez was named director of sales.
Yoo Residences is more than 70 percent sold since the project launched sales about four years ago, Kavana said. He’s expecting to deliver the building by the end of May. It’s the first building to be completed at the $1.5 billion community, which could eventually include up to 2,250 residences, 485,000 square feet of retail space, 650,000 square feet of office space, a luxury hotel, and parks and green spaces.
Prices at Yoo start in the high $400,000s.
Kavana, CEO of Metropica Development LLC, said work is underway on the first phase of retail. The 280,000 square of shopping and entertainment space, set to open in late 2020, is leased to Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Genuine Pizza, iPic Theaters and other tenants. The developer is also completing plans for a 350-unit rental building.
Metropica is just west of Sawgrass Mills, one of the Simon Property Group’s top grossing malls in the country. A number of major corporate tenants are based nearby, including American Express. Kavana expects that employees from companies like American Express and Magic Leap, based in Plantation, will consider living at Metropica.