South Florida’s condo whisperer
Edgardo Defortuna walks a tightrope between developing his own projects and selling the competition’s units in South Florida
Edgardo Defortuna sells the American dream.
The 68-year-old developer and broker, who grew up in Argentina, holds the concept in high esteem, especially after his father was kidnapped for ransom in 1978, during a politically unstable time before Defortuna emigrated.
Defortuna’s voice softens more than usual when recounting the ordeal.
“It wasn’t a fun time, that’s for sure,” he said. “To come here and be able to be totally free and be able to work, to not have to worry about coming home [safely]. It was really a major, major difference and a game-changer for me.”
Ransom kidnapping in Argentina was a business at the time — if the families paid, their loved ones would typically be returned — and Defortuna’s late father came back. But he was never the same. Neither was his mother.
Defortuna, an engineer, moved to Miami more than 40 years ago, enrolling at the University of Miami to earn his MBA so he could stay in the U.S. He began managing properties for family and friends and bought a small brokerage in the Brickell area.
Since then, he has expanded his company, Fortune International Group, into one of the top brokerage and condo development firms in the region.
Unlike his competitors in the fields of development, resale brokerage and new development sales and marketing, his company is the only one at that level that does it all. This can create conflicts, or at least the perception of them. But it lets Defortuna switch perspectives on the market, giving him a quality of omniscience, though perceptions of this conflict can be a problem for maintaining strong relationships with developers and sales agents.
“When I sit in sales meetings with other developers, I try to put myself in their shoes and see where they’re at, value-engineering things, where we can raise prices or how we can impact the profitability of the project in a better way,” he said, “which is not the quote-unquote typical broker.”
Defortuna said Fortune keeps a “really perfect separation” between its in-house developments and the projects for which Fortune handles sales.
“There is the perception that ‘you’re gonna take buyers to your property rather than ours,’ and it never happens,” Defortuna said. “I always say that I’d rather lose a sale in my project, if there’s any doubt.”
Stephen Owens, former longtime head of Swire Properties’ U.S. arm, began working with Defortuna when they partnered on the development of Jade at Brickell Bay, Fortune’s first ground-up condo tower. Owens said that he was “a little apprehensive about [Defortuna] being part of the competition indirectly.”
“For him to be both a developer and a marketer of other developers’ projects speaks volumes,” Owens said. “There are very few that have been able to make that bridge and continue to do it.”
Since Jade Brickell, Defortuna has developed a dozen or so luxury condo projects with and without partners, working with companies like Ritz-Carlton and continuing with his Jade brand.
“I call him the smooth operator. He never gets upset. He doesn’t talk much, and when he talks it’s always very interesting.”
His next slate of projects includes a Casa Tua-branded tower in Brickell, the St. Regis Residences in Sunny Isles Beach and the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Pompano Beach. On the brokerage front, his firm partnered with Christie’s International last year and is working to expand in the luxury resale business.
If Jorge Pérez, who has commoditized condo development in Miami, is the city’s condo king, you could say Defortuna is Miami’s condo whisperer, often working with his competitors and retooling projects to sell them out quickly.
Like Related Group‘s Pérez, he has survived the dramatic booms and busts of South Florida real estate.
But unlike Pérez, who’s known for being a tough boss, Defortuna is quiet. Thoughtful. A listener.
“Most people in our business tend to want to talk way too much,” Owens said. “He thinks things through. He really cares. He doesn’t necessarily want to be the biggest at anything. He knows the art of listening.”
Because he is quiet, there’s a lot that most people may not know about Defortuna.
He lives in a waterfront property that was once home to President Richard Nixon’s Winter White House in Key Biscayne, a barrier-island town just off Brickell Avenue in Miami. Defortuna and his wife had the house torn down years ago, but they kept historical touches like the original doors with the presidential seal, as well as Nixon’s desk.
Though Defortuna is a determined person, the similarities with Nixon seem to end there.
Career-making deals
Up until the early 2000s, Fortune was primarily a brokerage. After acquiring the land for Jade Brickell, Defortuna began negotiating with equity partners.
Owens told Defortuna that Swire would offer the “least desirable financial deal” with him. Defortuna selected Swire anyway, though its involvement in the project was not publicly known until years later.
Fortune led the sales and marketing, while Owens focused on the construction and financing.
Jade Brickell marked Defortuna’s first major success in development. Despite uncertainty after 9/11 — would buyers want to purchase in a high-rise so soon after the terror attacks? — the 48-story, 340-unit high-rise was completed in 2004. Twenty years later, resales at Jade Brickell range from $1 million to $12 million and average about $1,600 per square foot, according to Miami Condo Investments.
The Jade brand continued, and the projects’ sophistication increased. In 2008, Defortuna completed Jade Beach, a 51-story, 248-unit tower in Sunny Isles Beach. Jade Ocean, a 52-story, 251-unit tower, was finished a year later, also in Sunny Isles. Jade stands for his late father’s initials — Jose Andres Defortuna — and the stone is associated with prosperity, well-being and nobility. Similar to Fortune or “de fortuna,” which means “of fortune.”
In 2018, Defortuna completed Jade Signature in Sunny Isles Beach as well.
Fortune tapped Pritzker Prize-winning architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron and interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon for the 57-story, 192-unit high-rise — a level up from the previous towers. Competitors doubted he could sell the units for enough to cover the cost of hiring a world-class architect.
Defortuna and his wife, Ana Cristina Defortuna, were determined to pull it off.
One of the Defortunas’ wish-list items for Herzog & de Meuron was to find a way to eliminate the parking pedestal. Another was to increase sun exposure to the pool. Typically, in high-rises on the coast, the buildings block the sun, and the pools become completely shaded in the afternoon.
They flew to Switzerland for a meeting with the architects, who explained how to accomplish both goals. Herzog & de Meuron had turned the design of the planned building about 15 degrees, without turning the units, to maximize sun exposure.
Family ties
Family and work are intertwined.
Defortuna’s siblings and wife have been involved in the business since the start. Walter Defortuna, Edgardo’s brother, led Fortune International Realty for years but is less involved now. “He wants to enjoy life, and I’m totally in agreement with that,” Defortuna said. Their sister, Monica, is vice president of the company.
Ana Cristina, executive vice president of Fortune International Group, is a “force in terms of setting the style and feel” of projects, said developer Shahab Karmely.
The Defortunas now lean on their children. Their eldest son, who is in college, works part-time in Fortune’s office. The kids bring up affordable housing to him, as some of their teachers can’t afford to live in Miami-Dade County.
Traditionally a condo developer, Defortuna is now looking into using the Live Local Act, a new state law that incentivizes developers to build workforce housing with tax breaks and higher than usual density.
Fortune’s bread and butter continues to be luxury-branded developments.
During the pandemic lockdown, the family drove to Pompano Beach to see the Ritz-Carlton site, which includes more than 2 acres on the ocean and another 2-plus acres on the Intracoastal Waterway.
Defortuna remembered feeling doubtful.
“I said, ‘It’s a lot of money in a totally uncertain situation. We don’t know if we’re going to be locked down for two months or two years or more.’”
“They said, ‘Papi, it’s a no-brainer. You’re never going to get a property that is so nice that you can have your boat in your backyard and the beach club on the other side.’ And they were right,” Defortuna said.
The project is nearly sold out, and the developers, Fortune and Ricardo Dunin’s Oak Capital, secured a $259 million construction loan late last year.
Defortuna is also reportedly working on at least one condo buyout, the Tropicana at 15645 Collins Avenue, next to the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Sunny Isles Beach. Fortune and Château Group, which built the Ritz-Carlton, were sued by the Tropicana almost a decade ago over an attempted buyout. If Fortune can complete the deal, it would give the firm an oceanfront site that sits next to a protected park — which means those views to the south can’t be blocked.
Partnerships and contacts
Brokers specializing in Latin American buyers are plentiful in Miami. But Defortuna’s ties are deeper. Buyers and investors become partners. That’s how it went with the Grosskopfs, who own Château. Château and Fortune are working on the planned St. Regis Residences, a two-tower condo development in Sunny Isles Beach.
The Defortunas have “deep contacts all over South America, the largest feeder for our condo markets,” Pérez wrote in an email to The Real Deal.
“It interests me what’s going on in every country, and what the ins and outs of both politics and economics are in the different countries,” said Defortuna, who can tell you how a Latin American country’s currency is faring, who is president, whether an election is coming up.
Defortuna has sported the same look for decades: understated, well-dressed, always in a suit or jacket. His full head of dark brown hair hovers over his shoulders. A Miami developer through and through, he drives a Rolls-Royce and wears a Bulgari watch.
At Cipriani, a popular Miami restaurant for developers, Defortuna is often greeted by a “steady stream of people coming to say hello,” said Karmely, comparing it to people kissing the rings of nobility and religious figures in medieval times.
Some developers may do one or two joint ventures with the same partners. Defortuna has maintained a decades-long relationship with Swire, even after Owens left. He has worked with Related Group for years and is a close friend of Pérez and his wife, Darlene.
“There is the perception that ‘you’re gonna take buyers to your property rather than ours,’ and it never happens. I always say that I’d rather lose a sale in my project, if there’s any doubt.”
Defortuna “has created one of the best sales organizations in South Florida,” Pérez wrote.
Three years ago, Defortuna teamed up with Karmely to acquire the remaining unsold inventory of condos at Swire’s Brickell City Centre. Swire needed to move on after completing the buildings in 2016. With Defortuna’s sales experience, they sold the units.
So when Karmely was looking for a new partner to help him revive One River Point, a planned luxury condo development along the Miami River, he turned to Defortuna.
They plan to relaunch the project, designed by the late Rafael Viñoly, in about three months. The build is now less expensive since the developers modified the internal design of the bridge connecting the two towers.
Defortuna was also able to succeed in getting what most developers have tried to win for years: a partnership with Casa Tua to build a branded condo tower.
Casa Tua co-founder Miky Grendene said he liked Defortuna’s “fair and very balanced approach.”
Ora by Casa Tua, their planned development, is in the presale phase. It would rise on Brickell Avenue near Fortune’s headquarters, also a future development site. Unlike most hospitality-branded buildings, the tower’s amenities will be spun out into commercial units owned by the developer. That lowers the cost to future buyers.
“Amenities affect monthly expenses,” Grendene said.
The building will also have a 24-hour gourmet market open to the public, an element that’s meaningful to Grendene and that Defortuna has therefore made happen.
“When you deal with somebody like me, he lets me do what I do best,” Grendene said. “Instead of developers who hire somebody and try to tell them how to do their job, he believes in our expertise. It’s one of the most important factors when you have to deal with a partner.”
“Ego is a very bad thing most of the time,” he added.
The two have known each other for years.
To Grendene, Defortuna is the “smooth operator.”
“He never gets upset. He doesn’t talk much. And when he talks, it’s always very interesting.”