Edgardo Defortuna’s Fortune International Group brought on Jim Cohen to lead all development sales, replacing a role previously filled by Andres Asion, as the firm prepares to launch several new projects this year.
Cohen was brought on at the start of 2017 as senior vice president of development sales, he told The Real Deal. He previously handled sales for the Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences in Fort Lauderdale, and before that the St. Regis Hotel and Residences in Bal Harbour. Cohen also worked for Turnberry Associates for 17 years.
At Fortune, he’s now leading sales for the company’s nearly $9 billion portfolio of new development sales, which includes projects like Naranza at Edgwater and Jade Signature. This year, Fortune’s sales and marketing arm will launch four third-party projects within the next two months, in areas like Wynwood, Coconut Grove, Miami Beach and the Miami River. The developer may also launch a project of its own by the end of the year depending on market conditions, Defortuna said.
Asion, who previously handled Fortune’s new development sales, left the company at the end of July to return to his company Miami Real Estate Group to capitalize on the condo market slowdown, and branch out beyond new development sales. Around the same time, Fortune brought on Susie Glass from Douglas Elliman as vice president of marketing to replace Andrea Greenberg’s role.
Preconstruction sales have remained stagnant in recent months, but Defortuna said the slowdown didn’t affect prices. He said there’s room for negotiating, but price cuts are not happening across the board.
Both Defortuna and Cohen said sales will bounce back this year, but that they are up to 50 percent off the peak. “Sales are very good considering the conditions of the market,” Defortuna, Fortune’s president and CEO, told TRD. “We’re very optimistic that Miami is still very healthy and preparing for the next wave.”
The traffic of buyers at sales centers and contracts signed since the start of the new year are both up for Fortune, Cohen told TRD. “I think everyone is reloading their ammunition,” he said.