The real estate developer panel at the Haute Residence 2020 Luxury Miami Real Estate Summit taking place next Wednesday, February 12th at Residences by Armani/Casa (18975 Collins Ave.) is a "who's who" in the industry.
The event will be covered extensively by Fox Business Network and Anchor of FBN:AM, Cheryl Casone, who is taking her New York film crew to Miami's sandy beaches to interview some of the real estate industry's biggest names at the Summit.
The "Titans of Miami" panelists will start this year's Summit at one of the grandest residential locations in all of South Florida, where they will speak of the luxury real estate market and where they see it heading. Listen and learn from them by purchasing your ticket to the Summit HERE.
They are:
Gil Dezer, President, Dezer Development
Photo Credit: Dezer Development
An accomplished businessman and humanitarian, Gil Dezer is a visionary developer, and one of the largest oceanfront property owners in Sunny Isles Beach. Dezer and his father, Michael Dezer, own just over 27 acres of prime oceanfront property, arguably one of the largest holdings of beachfront property owned and developable in the state of Florida.
Dezer has been instrumental in changing the face and value of the South Florida residential real estate industry through the introduction of brand partnerships, connecting his developments with some of the world’s most recognized brand names.
In collaboration with real estate mogul and now-President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, Dezer led the Trump Organization’s first foray into the South Florida real estate market through the successful development of Trump Grande Ocean Resort and Residences and Trump Towers in Sunny Isles Beach.
Dezer Development received a $214 million construction loan from Wells Fargo in September 2013, at the time marking the largest loan for a single construction project in the Southeast in the post-recession era. The highly-anticipated Porsche Design Tower officially became a reality in the first quarter of 2017, marking the completion of the iconic tower.
Dezer leveraged this track record of success with marquee lifestyle brands to enter into an exclusive partnership with The Related Group and Armani/Casa Interior Design Studio to launch the world-renowned fashion and furnishings designer, Giorgio Armani’s, first residential tower in the U.S. real estate market, Residences by Armani/Casa. Designed by globally-acclaimed Argentine-born architect, César Pelli, the 56-story oceanfront tower features 308 luxurious residences and incomparable amenities spanning two floors, all exquisitely designed by Armani/Casa with rich textiles and custom furnishings.
Louis Birdman, Co-Developer, One Thousand Museum by Zaha Hadid Architects
Photo Credit: Louis Birdman Architect
For nearly three decades, real estate industry veteran Louis Birdman has taken a leadership role in the development of over 70 residential projects, comprising more than 18,000 residential units nationwide.
Mr. Birdman has a significant background in property acquisitions, dispositions, entitlements, financing, planning, design, construction, sales, and marketing. Mr. Birdman has been a principal investor and developer in numerous real estate development projects throughout Florida and nationwide, including Las Vegas, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas.
He is also the founder and principal of Louis Birdman Architect, an architectural consulting practice that provides consulting services to developers of real estate in both related and unrelated entities. He has been a registered architect licensed in Florida since 1989 and has held architectural licenses in multiple jurisdictions in the United States, including Chicago, New York, and Nevada.
Mr. Birdman is the co-Developer of One Thousand Museum Residences by Zaha Hadid Architects, a 62-story condominium tower in Miami with 84 half-floor and full-floor residences. One Thousand Museum just completed, ushering in a new era of luxury living in Miami.
Edgardo Defortuna, President, CEO and Founder, Fortune International Group
Photo Credit: Fortune International Group
Edgardo Defortuna is President, CEO and Founder of Fortune International Group, a Miami-based full-service real estate firm recognized throughout South Florida, Latin America and Europe as a leader in high-end luxury real estate. He oversees all of the company's activities across all of its business units.
Mr. Defortuna brings 30+ years of experience in the real estate industry and is considered a visionary and a driving force in South Florida real estate. Since its launch in 1983, Fortune International Group has been a preeminent leader in real estate sales, management, and development, successfully operating and building in South Florida’s best neighborhoods including Brickell, Key Biscayne, Coral Gables, Miami Beach, Aventura, and Sunny Isles Beach. Today, Fortune International Group maintains 18 offices worldwide with over 1000 agents. In addition, its portfolio of developments includes Jade Residences at Brickell Bay, Jade Beach, Jade Ocean, Auberge Beach Residences & Spa Fort Lauderdale, The Ritz-Carlton Sunny Isles Beach, and Jade Signature.
Fortune International Group is well-known around the world, with a strong presence in Latin America. The company has also penetrated the European and Asian markets at full speed, with a special focus on Spain, Britain, France, Turkey, and Russia. Through his company’s success, Mr. Defortuna is widely recognized for having made a significant contribution to the internationalization of Miami and its reputation as a global business, trade and vacation hub.
A pioneer in many areas, Mr. Defortuna can be credited for being of the first Miami developers to align with international “starchitects” to bring his vision to fruition. Fortune International Group has worked with the very best in the world including Herzog & De Meuron, Pierre Yves Rochon, Michele Bonan, Arquitectonica, Carlos Ott and others.
According to Mr. Defortuna, “the keys to successful residential real estate development include market knowledge, construction experience and access to plenty of capital. Equally important are ambition and reputation.”
Shahab S. Karmely, Founder, KAR Properties LLC
Photo Credit: KAR Properties LLC
With 35 years of international real estate experience, Shahab S. Karmely has honed an impressive pedigree in transactional, managerial, and developmental disciplines. These, combined with an extensive background in fine arts and design, are the foundational elements of his development expertise and overall vision. As the founder of KAR Properties LLC, and through KAR and/or its affiliates, Mr. Karmely has acquired, repositioned, and monetized over 3 million square feet of office, luxury mixed-use, and industrial space in the US, Southeast Asia, and Europe. With offices in New York and Miami, KAR currently oversees the management of a core portfolio of assets and a development pipeline in excess of 5 million square feet.
KAR has made a significant entry into the Miami market with acquisitions and investments in excess of $300 million in established and emerging neighborhoods. Mr.Karmely’s background as a developer/owner/manager gives him a unique perspective and invaluable insights in analyzing and implementing the appropriate strategies for a variety of asset classes. He champions innovative and inventive approaches in response to changing market conditions, trends, and new opportunities as is required in today’s dynamic and challenging real estate markets.
Marcelo Kingston, Managing Partner, Multiplan Real Estate Asset Management (REAM)
Photo Credit: Multiplan Real Estate Asset Management
Marcelo Kingston, Managing Partner of Multiplan Real Estate Asset Management (REAM), has more than 20 years of experience in the real estate development and financial sectors throughout the United States and Brazil.
Under Mr. Kingston’s oversight, Multiplan REAM--founded by José Isaac Peres, the internationally-recognized Brazilian developer, and owner of major residential and commercial real estate holdings--is currently developing 57 Ocean, a new, ultra-luxury wellness-inspired oceanfront condominium in Miami Beach. Designed by globally-acclaimed Miami-based firm Arquitectonica, the enclave will feature a limited collection of 81 residences in a one-of-a-kind, elegant and high-profile boutique residential building with luxury amenities.
Mr. Kingston is also the founder and former CEO of PatioMix Shopping Centers, a fully-integrated Brazilian mall company with development, construction, leasing and management capabilities. Active in the industry, as well as his surrounding community, he is a member of the ULI Florida Multifamily Product Council, the Key Biscayne Village Educational Advisory Board, and the Key Biscayne K-8 Educational Excellence School Advisory Council.
Mr. Kingston holds a BA in Finance from Louisiana State University, a Master of Design from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Daniel Kodsi, CEO, Royal Palm Companies
Photo Credit: Royal Palm Companies
Daniel Kodsi is a real estate veteran who has successfully developed or repositioned over 6,000 units across mixed-use developments, multi-family, residential communities, and hospitality assets. Mr. Kodsi is CEO of Royal Palm Companies, a Miami based development firm established in the 1970s, and the visionary behind PARAMOUNT Branded Developments, one of the leading luxury real estate brands in Florida. With $2 billion in completed projects, he brings a proven track record of identifying underserved market opportunities, executing complex large-scale projects, and generating value for private and institutional investors.
Mr. Kodsi has been consistently credited with defining new neighborhoods and development trends and is regarded as an industry leader. Some of his most notable projects include the signature PARAMOUNT Miami Worldcenter, West Palm Beach’s Esplanade Grande, and PARAMOUNT Bay in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood. Mr. Kodsi’s projects have attracted buyers from more than 50 different countries and continue to raise the bar with record resales in price per foot.
As an industry leader, Kodsi has appeared as a guest speaker and panel member for The Urban Land Institute (ULI), Real Deal, Biz Now, National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and the EB-5 Council. Kodsi has also appeared as a guest on national television newscasts on major networks and is a member of the Haute 100 list of most influential people in Miami.
Mr. Kodsi has earned a Bachelor’s degree in Real Estate Finance with a concentration in Urban Planning from the University of Miami and has been a licensed General Contractor since 1992. Active in the community, Mr. Kodsi is regularly called upon to share his expert knowledge with industry colleagues and leaders, and has previously served as Vice President and Executive Board Member for the Urban Land Institute (ULI), as well as on the boards of the Developer Business Alliance (DBA) and the Builders Association of South Florida (BASF).
Ricardo Tabet, Co-Founder and CEO, Optimum Development USA
Photo Credit: Optimum Development USA
Ricardo Tabet is the co-founder and CEO of Optimum Development USA LLC, a fully integrated real estate and development investment firm with offices in the U.S. and Europe. An accomplished professional with more than 22 years of experience in the real estate industry, Mr. Tabet is widely regarded as a highly respected business executive and successful residential and commercial developer.
Curating, creating and delivering unique, exclusive lifestyle and architecturally distinctive properties, Mr. Tabet specializes in developing ultra-luxury condominiums, high-end retail, strategically located lifestyle boutique hotels and “Class A” office buildings in prime locations throughout the world. Among the company’s most notable recent projects are The Celino Hotel in Miami Beach, a Small Luxury Hotels of the World brand; 160 Imlay in Brooklyn, a luxury residential condominium conversion that was formerly the New York Dock Co.; Labels Berlin 1 and 2 in Germany; and the Exchange Palace in Budapest, a mixed-use project being developed in one of the most renowned buildings in Europe that formerly housed the country’s stock exchange.
As a former senior executive of several large national and international investments firms, Mr. Tabet has been involved in more than $4 billion in real estate transaction deals and has led the acquisitions, repositions and development of major real estate assets in the Middle East, Europe, the United States, and South America. He has also acted as an exclusive representative and real estate investment advisor to many institutions, foreign investment banks, and family wealth management offices.
Mr. Tabet earned his bachelor’s degree in finance and hotel administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and his Master in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Eric Fordin, Vice President, The Related Group
Photo Credit: The Related Group
Eric Fordin is a Vice President at The Related Group. His commercial real estate experience spans more than 21 years, with specialization in the acquisition, entitlement, development, financing, sales, and marketing of multifamily and mixed use development projects.
Since joining Related in 2004, Mr. Fordin has been involved in the development, from concept through construction completion, of over 2,000 units with a value in excess of $3 billion. These projects include the Residences by Armani Casa, Hyde Resort & Residences, Apogee Beach, Beachwalk Resort & Residences, Hyde Beach House, Loft and Loft 2.
His oversight includes the negotiation of land acquisition and partnership agreements, development budget creation and project fiscal responsibility along with the overall management of the development process including overseeing the team of consultants including general contractors, architects, engineers and designers in the realization of The Related Group projects.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of South Florida, Mr. Fordin attended New York University where he completed real estate-related courses in project management, cash flow analysis, and construction essentials for owners and developers.
Full Schedule of Events at Haute Residence 2020 Luxury Miami Real Estate Summit:
11:00am – 11:30am: Welcome and Registration
11:45am – 1:15pm: Titans of Miami – “East Coast Kings”
Masters of the Miami skyline sound off on where they see the luxury market heading and its evolution.
Developer Panelists: Gil Dezer, Louis Birdman, Dan Kodsi, Shahab Karmely, Marcelo Kingston, Edgardo Defortuna, Ricardo Tabet, Eric Fordin
1:15pm – 1:30pm: Jumbo Loan King
Eric Fessler, expert entrepreneur, has over 30 years of mortgage banking experience closing over $10 billion. Fessler discusses the procurement of jumbo loans in single-family homes along with warranty and non-warranty new condominium developments on a nationwide scale.
1:30pm – 2:30pm: Lunch – Residences by Armani/Casa
Network with the greatest minds of development and brokerage in the luxury real estate market.
2:45pm – 3:45pm: International Power Brokers Panel
Top broker/agents from key international real estate meccas such as Miami Beach, Los Angeles, New York City and Cayman Islands sound off on the latest in market conditions and development.
Panelists: Dolly Lenz and Jenny Lenz (NYC), Mary Ann Osborn (LA), Richard Steinberg (NYC), Cody Vichinsky (NYC) Olivia Hsu Decker (San Francisco) Jay Parker (Miami), Ben Bacal (Hollywood Hills), Michael Goldstein (Miami), Sue Nickason (Cayman Islands)
4:00pm – 5:00pm: Miami Power Brokers
Top South Florida brokers share their knowledge on the evolution and direction of the luxury market today.
Panelists: Jill Eber, Maria Eugenia Alvarez Vitale, Jeff Miller, Lourdes Alatriste, Steve Solomon, Crista Ryan, Sebastian Tettamanti, Christian Martinez
5:00pm: Summit Closing Remarks
