Everyone knows where Miami is, but Tampa is a harder sell, Related Group’s president and CEO said in a CNBC interview this week.
With some international investors, “we say, ‘Oh, would you want to go to Tampa?’ And they’re like, ‘Well, where’s Tampa on a map?’” Jon Paul Pérez told Diana Olick on the Property Play podcast.
Job growth is strong in the gulfside city, and “rents have caught up, and in some ways, surpassed where we are in Miami, in certain locations,” he said.
Luxury home sales and rentals are hot in Tampa, he said.
But the rest of its housing market is relatively flat. The median home price was $433,000 in March, up 2 percent from the previous year, according to Redfin. The middle of the market is shifting to favor buyers, due in part to high property taxes and insurance costs. Market-rate apartment rents are seeing modest growth.
“Tampa we love,” Pérez said. “Tampa is a market that some investors just won’t go to; they’re not comfortable going there.”
Related Group’s investments in the Tampa Bay market are in the billions of dollars, according to published reports.
“We are by far the largest development entity today in Tampa,” Jorge Pérez told the Tampa Bay Times in 2024. “We think the growth you’re seeing now is nothing compared to what you’re going to see in the next decade.”
The firm’s major projects in the region include the 183-unit Ritz-Carlton Residences, Tampa, at 3101 Bayshore Boulevard. Related completed a second residential tower there in March after completing the first one two years ago.
Jon Paul and Nick Pérez also touched on the South Florida market’s shift toward domestic buyers, the trends of branding and wellness in condo developments, and their firm’s work in West Palm Beach.
Domestic shift
While Miami has been known as a gateway to Latin America, it’s becoming “a gateway, global city,” that draws many of the same buyers as New York, said Nick Pérez, president of the family company.
With a proposed billionaire’s tax in California, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani saying “tax the rich,” developers see another wave of wealthy interstate migrants seeking shelter in Florida’s income-tax free shores.
American mega-billionaires buying homes here just this year include Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison — $923.1 billion is the back-of-the-napkin math on their combined net worth.
“If you look at our pipelines throughout all of our portfolio, it’s almost 80 percent domestic buyers, and that’s mainly Northeast, Midwest and West Coast,” Jon Paul Pérez said.
Venezuelans and Columbians are still active buyers, snapping up anything in the $2 million range, he said.
Branding and wellness
Related has been selective with brand partnerships, going mostly with hospitality flags and brands that can offer the level of service that ultra-wealthy buyers expect, Jon Paul said.
A wellness-branded condo is coming soon to Related’s pipeline, he said. “We’re talking to partners like The Well that have not only full gyms but also the whole longevity program that can be offered in your building,” he said.
“I’m a huge believer in where this movement is going … we don’t just do a gym, we don’t just do a spa,” Nick said. “It’s a wellness center. You’re seeing people incorporate longevity practices, biohacking, IV treatments, peptide treatments, into buildings. We’re actively looking for the right partner to do some of this stuff, and there’ll be some announcements later on.”
West Palm Beach
The Pérezes have no concerns about overbuilding in a town where condo buyouts keep setting records and billionaires like Steve Ross and Jeff Green are the biggest boosters.
“It’s our fastest selling market,” Jon Paul said regarding West Palm Beach. “We broke ground on Ritz-Carlton Residences a month ago, and we’re 95 percent sold” for the 130-unit project.
Next up, the Related Group and Isaac and Liat Toledano’s BH Group are planning the 90-unit Rosewood Residences at 2001 North Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach, The Real Deal previously reported.
The firm also self-funded a rental project at Raybovitch Marina, “and we’re 98 percent occupied at rents that are 30 percent higher than we thought,” Jon Paul said.
“So I think there’s still a lot of tailwind in West Palm.”