Nitin Motwani serves as Managing Partner of Merrimac Ventures and as Managing Partner of Miami Worldcenter Associates, a position he has held since 2006.
Merrimac is a Real Estate investment and development firm that has been based in South Florida for more than 30 years. As a leader of the firm, Mr. Motwani is involved in all aspects of acquisitions, development, and capital markets for mixed-use projects as well as hotel, office, retail, and residential assets.
While Merrimac’s primary development focus is on mixed-use developments comprising multifamily and hospitality uses, the firm also has experience building condominiums and commercial offices. Merrimac’s portfolio of current projects include the redevelopment of Miami’s Watson Island, The Crosby Miami Worldcenter, 600 Miami Worldcenter, and the Riverside Wharf Dream Miami Hotel.
As Managing Partner of Miami Worldcenter Associates, Mr. Motwani has overseen the development of a $6 billion mixed-use real estate project located in the heart of Downtown Miami, Florida. Encompassing 27 acres of retail, residential, commercial, and hotel uses, Miami Worldcenter is the largest urban development project underway in Miami and is among the largest in the U.S. Mr. Motwani is responsible for every facet of the project, including land acquisition, zoning and entitlements, financing (public and private), joint ventures and development.
Mr. Motwani also serves on the Investment Committee and advisory board for Driftwood Development Partners, LP, in addition to advisory boards for Driftwood Lending Partners, LP and DHM Holdings, LP. Driftwood Capital’s portfolio includes approximately 70 hotels, over 13,000 rooms and employs over 5,000 people.
Early in his career, Mr. Motwani was an equity derivatives trader at Goldman Sachs in New York. He returned to his hometown of South Florida in 2005. Shortly thereafter, he was involved in the creation of Encore Capital Management, a private equity fund that focused on opportunistic real estate investments and development in growth markets across the U.S. As managing director, Mr. Motwani helped grow Encore’s committed equity to over $1 billion.
An active member of the greater South Florida business community, Mr. Motwani is on the board of the University of Miami’s Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) program and previously served as Board Chair. He is also a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization’s (YPO) Miami Chapter and Global Chapter, the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the International Council of Shopping Center (ICSC), and of City Year’s Red Jacket Society. Additionally, Mr. Motwani is actively involved in the R. Motwani Family Academy of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Broward College. Previously, he served on the board of the Miami Downtown Development Authority for fifteen years where he was the co-chair of the enterprise committee; and as Co-Chair for One Community One Goal, Miami Dade County’s long term strategic plan for economic development.
Mr. Motwani has been recognized as an Ultimate CEO by the South Florida Business Journal; one of South Florida’s “20 Emerging Leaders Under 40” by The Miami Herald; “Young Leader of the Year” by the Urban Land Institute; a Power Leader in Commercial Real Estate by the South Florida Business Journal, and the recipient of the 2023 Alvah H. Chapman Jr. Award for Outstanding Young Leader.
Mr. Motwani earned a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Duke University and holds a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from Columbia University. He lives in Miami with his wife and three sons.