Fort Partners, the developer behind every Four Seasons property in South Florida, has quietly joined the team redeveloping Watson Island's Watson Harbour site, adding ultra-luxury hospitality muscle to a project that has already weathered a bruising fight over its $29 million price tag. The addition puts Fort Partners alongside BH3 Management and Merrimac Ventures on the 3.2-acre parcel at 888 MacArthur Causeway, a stretch of waterfront that spent two decades tied up in litigation before the city finally cleared a path to redevelop it.
According to The Real Deal, a project declaration and assignment of rights formally brought Fort Partners into the Watson Harbour venture, and public records show the firm's name attached to the project as early as a year before the outlet's report. Miami Commissioner Damian Pardo and Commissioner Anthony Balzebre both confirmed Fort Partners' involvement, though the outlet reported that neither said he knew the specifics of the firm's role. BH3 Management and Merrimac Ventures told The Real Deal they look forward to working with Fort Partners and confirmed the partnership, while sources cited by the outlet said Fort Partners may focus on the hotel and residential portions of the development. The City of Miami had not responded to a public records request about Fort Partners' involvement, per the same report.
A Site With Two Decades of Baggage
Watson Harbour sits on land with a long and litigious history. BH3 and Merrimac formed a joint venture in 2023 to take over the lease from Mehmet Bayraktar's Flagstone Property Group, whose Island Gardens project had been approved by Miami voters back in 2001 but ultimately delivered only a megayacht marina before years of delays and litigation with the city, according to Commercial Observer. That legal fight culminated in a 2019 settlement requiring the City of Miami to pay Flagstone $20 million, the outlet reported.
Miami voters approved a 2024 referendum allowing the city to sell the 3.2-acre site to the BH3-Merrimac joint venture, and the Miami City Commission followed up by voting 4-1 in December 2025 to approve the $29 million sale, according to Miami Today. The deal includes a $9 million public benefits package for affordable housing and infrastructure improvements, the outlet reported. Developers will also continue to lease more than 7 acres retained by the city, per The Real Deal's reporting.
The Valuation Fight That Nearly Sank the Deal
The sale price drew sharp scrutiny because an independent appraisal, reported by the Miami Herald and cited in The Real Deal's coverage, valued the land at between $257 million and $342 million as unencumbered property — a gap that fueled public debate over whether the city got fair value. BH3 and Merrimac countered that the existing long-term lease heavily devalued the parcel, an argument that The Real Deal reported the developers made directly to the city.
To blunt concerns that developers might simply flip the waterfront property for a windfall, commissioners added a safeguard requiring BH3 and Merrimac to pay the city 10% of any future profits if the Watson Harbour land is resold, according to CiberCuba. The political fight over the sale did not end with the December vote — Commissioner Ralph Rosado, the lone dissenting vote, introduced a resolution in January to reexamine and potentially renegotiate the deal during the first commission meeting under newly elected Mayor Eileen Higgins, according to WLRN. Rosado ultimately withdrew that resolution, allowing the sale to stand.
Trading Timeshares for Condos
Part of what makes Watson Harbour buildable as envisioned is a regulatory maneuver: the agreement converts 105 previously approved timeshare units into roughly 100 luxury condominiums, a shift that required a $4 million payment to the state of Florida to lift historic deed restrictions on the property, per Traded's reporting. Miami was tasked with negotiating that release of deed restrictions with the state, and the release is what allows the developers to build condominiums instead of the timeshare units originally approved, according to The Real Deal.
BH3 Management and Merrimac Ventures plan hotel, retail, condominium and office components for the site, which sits on the southwest side of Watson Island. The design also calls for a 2.2-acre public waterfront promenade along Biscayne Bay, a seawall built above base flood elevation standards, and an on-site stormwater system meant to eliminate runoff into the bay, according to Florida YIMBY.
Watson Island's Bigger Picture
Watson Harbour isn't the only major transaction reshaping the island. The same November 2024 election cycle that approved the Watson Harbour referendum also saw Miami voters approve a separate sale of 5.4 acres on the island's north side to Terra and ESJ Capital Partners for up to 600 condos and a 13-acre public park, a $135 million deal reported by World Red Eye. Together, the two projects represent more than $160 million in direct revenue and contributions for the city, according to the same outlet.
Fort Partners' Four Seasons Pedigree
Fort Partners, led by founder and CEO Nadim Ashi, has built or purchased every Four Seasons development in South Florida, including The Surf Club in Surfside and the Four Seasons Hotel Miami, according to Coconut Grove Magazine. The firm has also completed luxury oceanfront condominium projects in Surfside — a market Hoodline has covered extensively — and is co-developing the Four Seasons Residences in Coconut Grove, Florida's first standalone Four Seasons residences.
Fort Partners and Merrimac Ventures already have a working relationship outside South Florida, co-developing the Four Seasons Resort and Residences in Telluride, Colorado. Merrimac Ventures, based in Fort Lauderdale and led by chairwoman Ramola Motwani along with managing partners Nitin Motwani and Dev Motwani, has a project pipeline exceeding $3.7 billion, per the Telluride development team's own materials. BH3 Management, also based in Fort Lauderdale, is led by co-founders and co-CEOs Daniel Lebensohn and Greg Freedman. Fort Partners is separately a partner in the Fouquet's luxury hotel and condominium project in Miami's Design District, a venture Hoodline previously reported brings the storied Paris hotspot to South Florida.
