William Ticona targets Miami’s Edgewater for project pipeline

More than a decade after acquiring his first development site in Miami’s Edgewater, Peruvian developer William Ticona is ready to ignite a pipeline of projects in the city’s booming neighborhood. 

“For a while the Miami market was getting too hot, so I was a bit worried that there could be a correction,” Ticona told The Real Deal over lattes in the lobby cafe of Hotel Riu Plaza Miami Beach. “But the Miami market has become more stable, sustainable and one of the most desirable in the world. And I have a desire to grow my development firm and achieve new heights.” 

A soft-spoken entrepreneur dressed in a polo shirt and khakis, Ticona laid out his strategy for expanding into Miami during a February business trip to meet with his development team. 

This month, Ticona and his team submitted a site plan to the city of Miami for a 60-story tower with 592 short-term rental condos on a 0.6-acre assemblage at 1825 and 1837 Northeast Fourth Avenue. In 2012, an affiliate of Ticona’s Lima, Peru-based Grupo T&C acquired the development site, which is adjacent to the Quantum on the Bay and Aria on the Bay condominiums.

In February, Grupo T&C paid $19.2 million for 0.8-acre assemblage on Northeast Fourth Avenue between Northeast 27th and 28th streets in Miami with partial water views where Ticona is mulling a boutique condominium. “We are looking for a third parcel with patience,” Ticona said. “We are in position to do more projects.”

Ticona’s ambitions aside, he’s jumping into Edgewater at a time when market conditions are difficult for new-to-market developers. Construction costs, including financing, are soaring, and Edgewater is experiencing a glut of new multifamily and condominium projects by established players such as David Martin’s Terra, Kushner Companies, Miami Beach-based Crescent Heights and Miami-based Melo Group. 

“The market is very challenging,” Stefano Santoro with Miami-based Disruptive Real Estate said. “There is not a lot of limited partner money, and obtaining construction financing isn’t easy. There’s also a lot of competition in Edgewater.”

Some developers pull back

At least one foreign developer has pulled out of Edgewater. Paris-based Groupe City, which sold the 0.8-acre assemblage to Ticona’s firm, abandoned plans for a 55-story condominium with 128 units, less than two years after previously paying $17.2 million for the development site. The canceled project would have been Groupe City’s first development in the U.S. 

Another new-to-market developer, Brooklyn-based Beitel Group, recently listed a 3-acre development site at 3333 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami for $75 million. In 2022, Beitel paid $46.8 million and entered into a joint venture with Dever-based multifamily developer Aimco to build a planned mixed-use project with more than 600 apartments. Beitel CEO Ben Beitel told TRD his firm intends to move forward with the project and only listed the site to obtain a “valuation.” 

The resale market for Edgewater development sites has slowed in recent months, said Jim Agard with Miami-based Vendome Capital, who represented Groupe City. “But out-of-state and foreign developers are very active and looking for sites to purchase in the area,” Agard said. “Developers I am in contact with usually put together a pipeline of development sites in prime locations and decide to build when they consider the timing is right.” 

Agard had several meetings with Ticona and his team during the negotiation and purchase process for the 0.8-acre assemblage. “Before moving forward with the sale, he knew the Edgewater market very well because he had already purchased land a few years ago. This guy knows what he is talking about.” 

From Lima to Miami

Over the past 21 years, Grupo T&C has developed more than a dozen condominiums in Lima, the firm’s home city. “We look to do projects in attractive areas of the city with great visibility and connectivity,” Ticona said. 

In 2020, eight years after acquiring the development site at 1825 and 1837 Northeast Fourth Avenue, Ticona initially planned to enter the Miami market. His firm submitted a site plan for a 36-story tower with 322 residential units and roughly 6,000 square feet of commercial space. The project was designed by Miami-based architect Kobi Karp. 

At the time, Ticona was worried about political upheaval in Peru as a result of socially conservative leftist Pedro Castillo being elected the country’s president that year, Ticona said. “There is always uncertainty when we have a socialist candidate,” Ticona said. “That always makes us nervous.”

But the political and economic climate remained stable and “everything returned to normal” in Peru, Ticona said. So he put his Edgewater aspirations on the back burner and continued to focus on Lima. 

Four years later, Grupo T&C is ready to move forward with its South Florida expansion plan, Ticona said. He reenlisted his development team, including Karp, Miami-based law firm Akerman and Cervera Real Estate commercial broker Francesco Canestri.

Ticona wants to build a larger condominium at 1825 and 1837 Northeast Fourth Avenue geared to buyers who want the option of renting out their units on a short-term basis. In Edgewater, Urbana is the only other developer planning a short-term rental condominium project, Canestri said. The Atlanta-based firm is developing Vida, a 121-unit project on 0.7 acres at 410 Northeast 35th Terrace. 

Short-term rental condo projects are a trend in other nearby neighborhoods such as Midtown Miami and downtown Miami. Among them, two short-term rental projects are planned for the $6 billion Miami Worldcenter mixed-use complex. Related Group and Merrimac Ventures are developing The Crosby, a 33-story tower with 450 units at 601 North Miami Avenue. And Miami-based Aria Development Group, led by David Arditi, is planning 600 Miami Worldcenter, a 32-story high-rise with 579 units. 

“In Edgewater, I don’t know anyone else who is doing short-term rentals,” Canestri said. “What William [Ticona] is offering is something no one on the south end of the neighborhood is offering. That is the strategy.” 

The development site is also near a Miami-Dade Metromover station, Margaret Pace Park and near Biscayne Boulevard. “The only thing it doesn’t have is water views,” Canestri said. “We couldn’t do luxury condos because of that. And there is a lot of multifamily planned for that area.” 

Ticona intends to develop a boutique condominium on the 0.8-acre site Grupo T&C acquired in February. But he said he is not ready to divulge any details. The property’s zoning allows for a maximum of 150 units per acre and a maximum height of 60 stories. 

The site appealed to him because Groupe City was eager to sell the assemblage quickly and because of the property’s proximity to Villa Miami, a planned 50-unit luxury condominium by Terra, One Thousand Group and Major Food Group; and Melo Group’s Aria Reserve, a two-tower project with 800 condo units. 

Grupo T&C will pay close attention to the sales activities of neighboring planned projects, in order to come up with a development that appeals to buyers who are priced out of Villa Miami, Aria Reserve and other similar luxury condos, Ticona said. 

“Edgewater is a very hot zone,” Ticona said. “Where our competitors are is where our customers are. We want to be in areas that have the most development.”