Stephanie Shojaee was promoted to president of Shoma Group, the real estate development firm led by her husband, Shoma Chairman Masoud Shojaee, The Real Deal has learned.
Stephanie Shojaee, who joined Coral Gables-based Shoma in 2013 as chief marketing officer, eventually plans to expand Shoma in the U.S. and parts of Latin America, including California, Texas, Mexico and Colombia, she said.
Shojaee said her husband, who previously held the title of president, is “not stepping back at all.” Masoud Shojaee co-founded the company in 1988 with his ex-wife, and it has developed single-family home communities, commercial and mixed-use projects. Stephanie and Masoud were married in 2019.
“We’re going to stay in this together, and he’s obviously at the forefront of this ambition,” Stephanie Shojaee said.
In addition to overseeing marketing efforts, Shojaee works with the in-house sales, leasing and management divisions for Shoma’s new developments. She said her new title won’t mark a drastic change, as she was involved in the leasing and sale of Sanctuary Doral Apartments, as well as the $100 million sale of The Flats Apartments in Doral, and also the completion and sellout of the Ten30 South Beach condo project in Miami Beach. Sanctuary Doral was fully leased within eight months of opening. Avanti Residential bought the apartments for $102.5 million in October.
“My role has been very fluid since the beginning,” Stephanie Shojaee said. “I’ve been given a lot of hats.”
Now, she is working on all new ground-up developments, including multifamily projects in Hialeah, North Bay Village and near Coral Gables in Miami. The new developments, called Shoma Village, Shoma Bay and Shoma One, respectively, will total close to 1,000 units and include a Shoma Bazaar food hall. The first food hall recently opened in Doral. More multifamily projects are planned.
“I came up with the idea and I had to push Masoud. I was very adamant about wanting to do this,” Shojaee said, adding that she checks the daily sales figures at Shoma Bazaar in Doral every night since it opened.
Shojaee, who said she started the in-house management division, is working on building an affordable housing arm at Shoma. Shoma’s North Bay Village project will include a small portion of workforce housing.
She has a large social media following with 386,000 followers on Instagram, and said she is trying to motivate younger women.
“There’s just not many women in the real estate industry, especially ones in leadership positions. It was very hard to get accepted into this boys’ club,” Shojaee, 37, said. “I feel this urge to want to show women ‘yes we can do it all.’”