Driftwood, Merrimac Land $145M Loan for Riverside Wharf

Driftwood Capital, Merrimac Ventures and MV Real Estate Holdings have landed a $145 million construction loan from Centennial Bank for Riverside Wharf, a hospitality and retail development on the Miami River in downtown Miami. The financing advances a $350 million project pairing a 167-room hotel with restaurants, event space and a nightclub on a 1.3-acre site the City of Miami partly owns.

Why it matters

The loan closes a major piece of the capital stack for one of downtown Miami’s most-watched waterfront redevelopments. Riverside Wharf sits on land the City of Miami owns in part, after voters approved a 50-year extension of the ground lease in 2022, so private construction debt moving forward signals the project has cleared its public approval hurdles and is ready to build.

The numbers

The $145 million construction loan backs a 200,000-square-foot development anchored by two nine-story hotel towers with 167 rooms combined. The build also includes a 30,000-square-foot nightclub, a 12,000-square-foot event hall and 16,000 square feet of restaurant space, all on a 1.3-acre parcel at 114 Southwest North River Drive. Total project cost is estimated at $350 million, and the developers have raised $15 million of a targeted $60 million through the EB-5 immigrant investor program.

What’s next

Moss Construction is the general contractor, and the developers are targeting completion in fall 2028. The project will keep the site’s existing Wharf outdoor bar in the mix while adding a public riverwalk and a new seawall along the Miami River. The deal adds to a wave of construction financing moving through South Florida hospitality projects this cycle.