How Miami’s top home builders are tackling the growing billionaire boom

On February 5th, Artefacto and The Real Deal brought together Miami’s real estate elite to discuss strategies for courting the ultra-wealthy buyers flocking to South Florida at Artefacto’s sprawling Coral Gables flagship.

Hosted by Artefacto CEO Paulo Bacchi, whose company has furnished some of the city’s fastest-selling, record-breaking listings, the event featured a robust conversation between Miami’s biggest luxury builders: Todd Michael Glaser, Luis Bosch and Manny Varas.

Hannah Kramer, Luis Bosch, Todd Michael Glaser, & Manny Angelo Varas

The panelists took guests through the extraordinary evolution of the city’s super-high-end with references to their own projects across the years. Varas talked about the shift from pre-2008, when the market balked at $300 per square foot for a home he built on Hibiscus Island, to the post-COVID landscape, where his project in Indian Creek Village is expected to fetch $5,000 per square foot.

“The mansion tax pushed a lot of people away from the West Coast,” explained Glaser, who went on to give the audience a peek into the exclusive sales process for these properties. “A lot of brokers aren’t listing these homes…you can put it out to five or six brokers. We’re seeing homes selling that weren’t on the market.”

Hilda Jacobson, Fabiola Martins, & Sumita Sengupta

Bosch told the crowd how billionaires have created their own community in Miami, a loop that attracts more ultra-high-net-worth individuals to the area. “They meet in their homes, they have big lunches,” he said. “Now it’s a community where they get together.”

Stay tuned for more Artefacto and TRD events in New York and Miami later this year!