Real estate developer Dev Motwani, president of Merrimac Ventures, plans to build a three-story self-storage facility in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The building at 2201 W. Broward Blvd. will comprise 130,700 square feet of storage space and 8,000 square feet of retail frontage. Motwani is seeking $15 million to $20 million in construction financing for the project, according to the source.

“With the Fort Lauderdale residential trend shifting toward smaller units, we thought it would be a good addition,” Motwani said.

The property is part of a 17.7-acre industrial development site Motwani purchased in 2014 for $5.9 million, which was previously rezoned to allow commercial use. He recently sold 11.7 acres of the land to Bridge Development Partners, a Chicago-based industrial real estate developer, for $10.4 million. That company plans to build Bridge Point Riverbend, a 221,542-square-foot distribution facility, with a groundbreaking scheduled for next month, the source reported.

Motwani was represented in the transaction by land-use attorney Robert Lochrie III, a partner with Lochrie & Chakas P.A., and land-transaction attorney Andrew Gross of Hunting & Gross P.A.

Headquartered in Ft. Lauderdale, Merrimac Ventures is a real estate investment and development firm. Its primary focus is on resort and mixed-use development, but the company also has investments in multi-family residential, retail and office complexes.

Sources: