Miami sells itself, but it takes skilled developers like Carlos Rosso to bring inventory to the market.
Rosso, president of condominium development for Related Group, has directed all aspects of residential development for the company in Florida, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Uruguay.
When he recently returned from a business trip to Bogota and Buenos Aires, he was struck by a not-so-obvious fact about the Miami market.
“I’m surprised that Miami is still so affordable. Contrary to what people think, Miami is attracting investment from all over the world, and our prices are extremely competitive,” he told me on a recent show.
In Miami, he said, Related sells to residents of 72 different countries. I think this is evidence that it’s now Miami’s time. When you look back over history, there’s always a city of the century: London, Hong Kong, New York. This is the century of Miami.
And Rosso agrees.
“In this particular cycle, we are finding a Miami that’s at a different level. In the previous cycles, we didn’t have museums being built downtown. We didn’t have a port that was completely dredged and prepared for the Panamax ships when the Panama Canal gets expanded,” he said.
Brickell, Rosso said, is now seeing $2 billion in investment in shopping centers. Swire discussing an 80-story office tower. All of these features of Miami enhance the work of Related Group, he said.
There is a huge correlation between the progress of Miami and the buyers that Related is attracting, Rosso said. Most buyers now are purchasing with very little leverage – and they aren’t selling even though prices have risen markedly.
It all makes for healthy projects and a healthy market.
Miami has traditionally been a market for U.S. residents from the Northeastern and Midwestern portions of the country, and activity from this demographic is picking up for Related. In fact, the second most-active buyer class is from the U.S., Rosso said, due largely to the fact that the Brickell submarket is filling in with shopping and other necessities for full-time residents.
With Related Group just finishing the Icon Bay project and getting to work on Paraiso Bay, I had to ask why Edgewater figures so prominently in Related’s vision for Miami.
Rosso said Edgewater, unlike many Miami-area submarkets, is surrounded by great neighborhoods on all sides. The company just needs more time to develop it.
“I think Edgewater is the next Brickell. Edgewater has great bones,” he said.
Click here to listen to the full interview with Carlos Rosso of Related Group.
