For years, Nitin and Dev Motwani have been the talking heads (and managing partners) of their family company, Merrimac Ventures, which has completed more than $3 billion in projects in South Florida. But the two brothers wouldn’t be in their positions without their mother, Ramola.
Ramola Motwani and their father, her late husband Ramesh “Bob” Motwani, moved from St. Charles, Missouri, where they had an import-export business, to Fort Lauderdale in 1986 when they purchased their first motel and began acquiring several others.
Ramesh had been diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease called scleroderma. When he died suddenly in 1994, Ramola was in charge of running the business by herself. Her first task? Finding a lender to refinance a private loan at risk of foreclosure.
Once that was handled, Ramola went to the only architect her husband knew. “I have two acres of oceanfront, and I want you to draw something for me,” she said — a development for the site of that first motel. She asked the architect, who had never worked on a project in the city, to have everything ready for her by the end of the week and presented the project herself.
“I got unanimous approval for the first project,” she said. It was 2000. The site became the Ocean Resort Residences at Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach.
Merrimac was key to the transformation of Fort Lauderdale Beach from an oceanfront town that banned rowdy spring-breakers to a luxury destination with a number of condo-hotels that dot the beach. Today, the company is involved in the development of Miami Worldcenter, a Waldorf Astoria-branded condo development in Pompano Beach and more.
Motwani, chairwoman of Merrimac, sat down with The Real Deal at her condo in Fort Lauderdale to talk about how she got into real estate via the motel business, her adaptations as a single mother and working with her two sons.
This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Born: April 26, 1947
Hometown: Sindh, India
Lives: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Family: Widowed, sons Dev and Nitin Motwani
You grew up in a big family, with four sisters and three brothers. What was your childhood like?
My childhood was beautiful. We grew up together, even my cousins. That was the culture of India at that time.
I was very fortunate to have the parents I had, and my grandfather, who was like a royal man. Back in those days, not everyone spoke English, but my family, my grandfather and my father, spoke very fluent English. They were very forward-thinking. There was no technology, there was no Internet, there was no [iPhone], but he knew so much. They used to read a lot. One of the beautiful things in our family is we had a good balance. Have fun, enjoy life. Have a couple of drinks. But we were also very spiritual.
Many people don’t realize that when you have a balance, even your challenges go smoothly because you have that calmness, that attitude of acceptance, that positive energy to take it, learn from it and move on.
How did you adapt to living and working in the U.S. when you arrived in 1975?
I moved to the U.S. because of the love of my life, my husband. We were soul mates, and we met during my first year of college.
Back in those days, India did not have many opportunities, even if you were highly qualified. So I [joined him] here, we got married and we settled down.
“I came this close to foreclosure when Bob passed away. We had a private mortgage on the Merrimac. [When Bob died,
the family who sold the property and provided the loan said,] “You have to pay me off in 90 days.”
I adapt to things very easily. I just rolled up my sleeves. I landed one evening; the next morning I went with my husband to work.
I had great neighbors. People can try and say discrimination, this, that. I never experienced anything. This is the most amazing, beautiful country on Earth, the best there can be, even ’til today.
You and your family moved to Fort Lauderdale after your husband was diagnosed with scleroderma. What drove that decision?
For a couple years, I told him, “Why don’t you go to India?” We have a big family to take care of you, just to get away from the cold [which worsened his illness]. But that would be very hard for me, with two babies. On top of it, I had to take care of the business and housework. Doctors had given him warning that he didn’t have too much time. So I felt this was a good choice. I thought, this will be nice because we will live under the same roof. We were very excited. We bought the place [the Merrimac], and we started remodeling because spring break was around the corner. We did our homework. We interviewed some businesses, and everyone raved about it. They said, “You make so much money in season that even if you don’t work in the off-season, you will still have a good life.”
But then the city cracked down on spring break.
God had some other plan. We put all our eggs in one basket. And spring break didn’t happen. We are waiting, we are waiting. We have six rooms filled where we were expecting to be sold out completely.
The [other motel] owners disappeared in the night because they had so many bills to pay and the immediate future didn’t look good. Then the drugs, prostitution and the bad elements came in, and the room rates dropped to nothing, $25 a night.
How did you adapt?
I did not sell [the business in Missouri]. I kept it open with a manager running it. Every two weeks I used to go to St. Charles, update the accounts. That helped us at least float for a while.
Our vision in Fort Lauderdale was to expand. It was always “location, location, location.” This beach is not going anywhere. That asset is permanent. We have to just revive it. So we started working with the city. Many people were very mad at the city.
We called tour operators. We had a big meeting at the chamber and we asked them the questions. People are looking for new products. They want amenities, comforts, luxury, and this market doesn’t have that.
All these different companies from Sweden came with busloads of people who flew into Miami, every two weeks. So we asked them, “What do you want?” Whatever they asked us, we gave them what they were looking for. We had them for 12 years.
Gradually, I got more and more involved in [business and community] organizations. At that time, residents were afraid of change. They used to wear red T-shirts at the city meetings ’til 2 in the morning to oppose everything that was happening.
What has been your biggest success?
My children. They are my real treasure.
What was it like becoming a single parent?
When I lost Bob, we both were working 24/7. Now in 24 hours, I had to pack 48 hours of work, and the kids. Certain things were very important to me. Morning time — I had to give that time to my children. It was very important to take them to school and once a month go meet with their teachers.
And what about the business?
I came this close to foreclosure when Bob passed away. We had a private mortgage on the Merrimac. [When Bob died, the family who sold the property and provided the loan said,] “You have to pay me off in 90 days.”
First of all, I was still bleeding internally. I was strong but I was broken. I said, “Give me at least six months.” My journey began the next morning. I got a package ready. I started going from Hollywood to Plantation to Boca to Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale, any and every bank.
Think about it. Thirty years ago was a different world. I’m a woman, I’m single. Will I be able to hold on to this? I was only getting a very polite “No” from everyone, but I was smart to learn what they were looking for. The numbers will be the same, but the presentation should be different.
In 2000, you secured approval to redevelop the site where the Merrimac was into what’s now the Ocean Resort Residences at Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach. Was it a conscious choice to expand into development?
It was definitely conscious. I have a 320-room luxury hotel approved, right? I was going there because that’s where the value was. And also it was huge for the market. What happens is that flags always follow each other. It’s always the first that gets the most attention.
Your son Dev has said that he and Nitin didn’t plan to come back to Florida and work in the family business because they didn’t want to run motels. What changed?
They were not going to come back because they saw us working 24/7, there was no life. When this deal happened with the Merrimac, I called Nitin [who was working at Goldman Sachs] and Dev [who was working at Credit Suisse in Boston]. I said, “Boys, I’m going to be in New York for a business lunch meeting, and are you able to join?”
I read about that — they said they usually worked through lunch.
Dev says, “Oh, Mom, you know we cannot leave work like that.” I said, “I’m going to be meeting with the group from Trump.” Dev said, “What? Who are you meeting?”
My vision always was, I want to set the stage for my children without telling them.
What are you like as a boss?
In meetings, I don’t say anything until I have to say it.
Who is your mentor?
My God, Lord Krishna. [In many situations] I had no time to think. There was no time to say, “Oh, who should I go to? Who can I trust?”
There were a lot of good people that gave me that support. But I always have been very spiritual, too. I don’t know if you saw my temple. That’s how my parents taught me, and I’ve taught my children. My grandkids have little temples of their own.
Does anything keep you up at night?
No. I do my morning prayer. I’m an early riser. I usually get out of bed around 6, but before that, I will look at my day, accountability of what I did, if there was something I could have done better. My powerful thoughts come in the morning. I have a direction for the day.
You were given a Horatio Alger award, which is given to people who “personify the American Dream.” Your husband and your family are the namesake behind the hospitality and tourism management program at Broward College, among other community initiatives you are involved in. Why is this important to you?
When you educate a person, we educate the generation.
Hospitality initiatives are political — so many hospitality employees are immigrants. Have you ever thought about entering politics?
I’m a focused person, so education has been my focus, and to get into that nitty gritty of that and create opportunities. Do I get legally involved? No, because this is all about government. Trump came and he said, “No more immigrants,” right?
Then, who is going to work? [Trump] is saying that we don’t want immigrants, but those are hard-working people because they want to live the American dream, and then people like us give back.
How do you, Dev and Nitin work together? You said you are all involved in everything, but Dev and Nitin take the lead on different projects.
For example, Nitin is doing Miami Worldcenter, Dev is doing Waldorf Astoria. We are doing the Four Seasons in Telluride. I mean, these are difficult projects, so Dev has been working on the Four Seasons for a few years. It’s a humongous project, so then they work together. If I have any input to give, then I will give. We work together like one. I always tell them, you bring two different strengths to the table, and that’s powerful.
At the same time, they have to have that freedom. Sometimes, deals require you to say yes or no now. Everyone should have their own wings.
My dream always was to see my children working on their own in my lifetime. [South Florida car dealership mogul] Rick Case used to ask me, “Ramola, what did you do? How did you raise your children to be who they are?”
Sometimes parents also have to give up something. I gave them my chair, but it comes with responsibility. Not every parent is willing to do that.
It’s interesting because I have spoken to them over the years, and I’ve always seen them as the face of all these projects, but I haven’t spoken to you.
Because they are in the front now, and they are doing it. Then why would I be there?
I set the stage, but [my kids] are smart, good, intelligent, and they should get the credit if they are young. They can sit with, whether it’s a Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk, or whoever, they are capable of having that conversation. But at the same time, they will go to the orphanage and feed the poor, and they also know how to sit down there and make those kids happy.