Gil Dezer - President of Dezer Development | Designing the Luxury Experience

I'll never forget this. It was 2008. The building was ready. I sent out closing notices on a Monday and on Wednesday leaving the brothers And we were like, holy shit, what's gonna happen now? And that's when the struggle happened It's one of the kings of Miami real estate He's made millions on a stretch of sand just north of Miami one man silver treasures a sterling $20 million collection of wheels That matches his wings. I met a South American guy goes, you know what the problem with all your Americans and the five people is The problem with all your Americans is you have this great great great idea and then you f*** the death In 2001 we signed up with Donald Trump. It was right after September 11 Which was a very scary moment. We changed our project from the ocean brand to the Trump brand That was what got me realizing that this brand is really works You know, I had Trump on TV every Wednesday night for the apprentice That was the best advertisement to start a brand. I mean Where do you find ideas? Where do you go for the next thing? Are you bringing things in from Wow, that's a tough question Welcome to success story. I'm your host Scott Clary. The success story podcast is part of the HubSpot podcast network The HubSpot podcast network has supported this show for over two years now So give them some love. They're one of my all-time favorite tools And now HubSpot is starting to integrate more AI into their products Which means less time in office works smarter not harder the latest research says that marketers have been able to cut Their working time on manual admin tasks in half with the help of AI remember you're not going to be replaced by AI You're going to be replaced by somebody who uses AI so AI Tools have been integrated into the HubSpot platform ChatSpot and content assistant allow you with a simple chat-based command to summarize research Create copy pull data reports in seconds so you can spend more time on the action items. They're really count Listen the vibe is work smarter not harder and with HubSpot They're letting you actually enjoy some out of office time this summer get started for free today at HubSpot.com Well, there were several inflection points, you know when I first came down to Florida I was 18 years old. I was going to university Miami And I got on the plane and I remember and you know, I was born in New York And as a New Yorker you're taught that New York City is the center of the universe and everything happens over there And so you know as I got on the plane. I said I remember saying to myself Don't let yourself get stuck here in Miami And I was 18 years old it was the year was 1993 And um and I said to myself, you know, don't get stuck here in Miami And uh and that's exactly what happened. I came down Four years of college you get accustomed to you know, you start to acclimate and I I fell in love with this place And so if it wasn't for My college experience down here. I think I don't think everyone would have would have come here I was I was I was it was between University Miami and Boston University and at the time my father owned a hotel here And he said look we're in real state guys in New York. We don't know anything about the hotels go learn the hotel This is go we own a hotel. You should work and go to school and I said that. I'm I want to go to college I don't want to work, you know, so uh that's what happened the first year. I went to college I didn't do very well in college, you know, I was uh party too much and as we all were as we all were I mean that's what college is about, right? It's a growing experience So we were getting seized in these and my father said to me look We know you're never going to be a good student because I wasn't a good student in high school I had decent SAT scores, but that was it And so he said you know, we know you're never going to be a good student So I want you to come to work every day and take your classes at night And I was like whoa that kind of sucks, but but I um, I figured it out You know, I gave me a job in my hotel in management In reservations. I was in the reservation department and um And so I was going to work every day from 10 to 4 And then I drive down and start my classes at 5.30 and I drive down back to the University of Miami Start classes at 5.30 to 9 And then still went out and partied every night, you know It was still college, you know, I still have my experience, but um And that was myself. These were just starting to get cranky. It was when it was really really cool Um, and so uh, you know, and of course I was younger back then. So it was also really cooler now to get older You know, you know, need this stuff anymore So um, yeah, so that's that's that's my guess an inflection point of what brought me down here and what got me to want to stay here And and and want to and want to start a business here We owned a hotel. It was a little mo it was a hotel with the 227 rooms And I learned the hotel business. I learned. I don't like the hotel business I learned that real estate was um was something, you know, happening here in Miami and so uh and so after I graduated I went to work for uh The sales and marketing company called International Sales Group by SG And I worked for them for about two years In the real estate world and selling real estate Um, I told my father, hey, this uh, this this area here in Miami. There's an area called Sonny house. It's about the pop And so he came down and he saw the vision and he of course had the vision as well and and so um In 1997 he started buying up a lot of properties And that was when I first graduated from the university. So um But we've never built anything as a family before So you want to talk about inflection points. There's a second inflection point um We started a project in 1999 Called the Ocean Grand And we had partners in that project partners with a real development background great experience built beautiful buildings and uh And I don't remember exactly what the argument was but there was an argument Between my father and them about how fast-permoving and how things are going too slow and this is et cetera and so The gun to an argument where they said well, why don't you buy us out? And my father I will never forget we're sitting there in uh in in their office I was I was already 25 years old. The thing was this is like 2000 and um Yeah, this is mid 2000 and And they said why don't you buy us out my father made a deal right there in the spot He said, okay, this is how much I'll pay I walked out of that office. I was shaking. I was like what the fuck just happened here Pardon my foreign friends I didn't know it was going on It was the first time I had to see right in front of my father because I was like what really going on here Get me a little nervous and um And and and that was it. He said listen because he said my father had great confidence in me Which was always very very helpful He said to me you're smarter than all those three guys in that room together You'll be able to figure it out. That's we said to me verbatim And uh because that guy was telling me that who's gonna build this who's gonna but we don't have a build this we never built before He goes you're smarter than the whole of the three guys in the room you'll figure it out and I was like okay I mean at that point he had a built before he hadn't he hasn't done anything like this before No, all right his his business in New York was buying existing buildings converting them to lofts and and condos Simply changing elevators changing heating and air conditioning some windows if you needed to some flooring But never ground up construction never went through a permit phase dealt with architects Um and and never really designed his own thing, you know Because those buildings in New York they're all square boxes and you get what you get so um So we came down and and you know like I said I was shaking my pants and uh and that's really and he kind of threw me into the into the scene So go swim and that's how we figured it out The real answer is you know construction is something that's been going on for Thousands of years if you think about since the pyramids. I mean as far as we know So it's not brain surgery It's uh you just got to learn how it's done in the process and I kind of had a great on the job learning Uh on the first building after the first building I kind of knew what I was doing by the second building by the third no no Let's come a second nature ready to that point and then to the point we're almost they got a little boring I said let's change the game. Let's make let's make life as difficult as possible and stick car elevators in a building And bring cars to units and and so you know that's what that's that was uh That was uh what we did we started in 2012 10 years ago, you know with with the portion designed tower Which was a runaway success home run success Um and and that we built buildings with you see because I always took the simplest form of thinking about this And it's an elevator it goes up it goes down. What's wrong, you know Of course take tell that to the fire department. It's a whole different story. They they look at all the different problems But um, you know they but they they when we first met with the fire department they said was we cannot have Their concept is every time you start a car There's an inherent risk of explosion Which is somewhat true. I mean the engine is running and it's fire going through there So their their concept was we don't want you starting the car on the 30th or 50th floor of ability Because you have an explosion there. It's a big problem So that was every when we were trying to come up with this car elevator concept We said well how are we gonna do this and uh and so every time they told us no we went back to the drawing board We found a way to make it yes And there was systems that exist around the world that found a lot of stuff on youtube and on google You know that I was able to contact people and say hey come over We need to work together and see what we can do and that's exactly how we piece this whole this whole elevator system together And um and then when we found out nobody else was doing it They told me you should get a patent on this so I went I said okay. How do you get a patent? He said well first you need a trademark. What do you want to call this thing? I don't know what we call it. What do you call this thing? It's a car lift There's somebody said why did you call the deserator? I said okay. It's called the deserator and that name stuck It was uh, it's kind of funny how you know Now it's referred to as the deserator in the office. It was just a start as a joke But uh, but that's how the deserator came to me came to me I love this. I want to I want to I want to I'll go into the deserator. I'll go into innovation in a second I want to understand like when you look at a project So this is you know, I'm assuming you got way more value Out of working in the hotel jumping in the projects uh, then you ever did in school Like hands down you got way more value because you did it. I learned what real business is about you know, you know Everybody can do business in theory But you know you never understand the business that they're actually in it and all this surprise expenses and surprise issues and and review Goals you need to hit and et cetera, et cetera, so it and you know, I'll tell you more importantly As a college student it made me wake up in the morning, you know Because all my friends were waking up at noon and eleven and eleven and twelve and one o'clock and you know So uh, so I was waking up every day by eight. I was on the on the road by nine and the office by ten So I kind of started working at a young age, but also have a little responsibility and showing up to work and and I And I didn't want to just sit there and do nothing so I actually had to increase reviews for the company and and show my worth over there And so to show my dad that hey, I'm not just a a goof off student who's working you know at hotel and so we we did sell I did I just did several different things that that increased revenue for the company some of them not so legal But you know it all worked out So when you're looking at sunny isles because this sunny isles was that first major vision that you had You saw sunny isles you started buying up land So that's interesting because there's a lot of tactical things that probably people that are listening to this that are in real estate Could be like yeah, I've done those tactical things when I've built my own build or I haven't done elevator But you know, I know how to build a luxury or I know how to build this or I know how to do Something that caters with a certain market, but The vision the first thing that you did where you started buying up all these different properties I'm very curious Why were you the one to be able to do that? Why has no one else at this point in history when you started buying up those properties Look at sunny isles and see 20 years into the future 30 years into the future It's one of those things where when you know you you drive by something every single day and you just don't see it You know and sunny isles specifically if you know if you know my Andy we are Boarded by three three different towns. You have bell hard work to the south Which is for the longest time has been the very higher neighborhood because of them all and the condos on the ocean Commanding big dollars. You have Aventura to the west which again, which is a new neighborhood that started in the 80s or 90s They have the the aventura mall there. They have great condominium projects with from Williams Island The point great places to live mystic point great places to live turnberries there um and and so that really brought a mass to the northern Miami area of people a critical mass of people And created an you know a neighborhood there, which was a beautiful neighborhood. So so he had bell hard to the south aventura brand of neighborhood to the west and then to the north we had golden beach Which was the only place that you have houses on the ocean in all day county And so those houses back then we're starting at 10 million dollars back then today You can't talk for less than 25 to 30 for the nicer newer houses um, and so So it was we us you know being New Yorkers flying you know on the plane you look down And you said this is ocean front Surrounded by three of Miami's most affluent neighborhoods It's a natural that this is gonna be an infill, you know, and so that it was kind of a no-bringer But again people driving by this every single day all they saw were those motels those crappy motels And they didn't they didn't see the you know the basic fundamentals of how this is gonna fill back in and so um we we also heard at a time That the city was going to incorporate And when cities incorporate the first thing they do because they need to fill the city coffers as they change zoning codes And they can start charging developers money and and making money that way and increasing the tax base of the city The city had two or three story motels all over the place which were At the time that we bought it was part of unincorporated gate county Which means if you needed a police officer there it took 45 minutes to get a cop And and so what that does is allows for you know the world to go bad We were buying motels that were full of prostitutes and drug dealers and stuff like that and uh and having the deal with all that And that's why that's another reason why nobody wanted to touch But we weren't afraid of that We again, we saw it as land not as a hotel And so people were buying these properties based on hotel cash flows and and we said no this land is gonna be very valuable one day And so we came in and and bought as much as we could We actually sold two pieces to go get funds to buy more and and it was a it was a great thing with monopoly I mean little with monopoly at all on board you know settler yeah And and so we were able to come in and my father was very aggressive on the buying I learned a lot from him on on how to get people who to sell when they don't exactly want to sell and and how to convince them to do And so you know and it was great I mean it was really a great experience on the on the buy side and then like that was in 97 99 2000 we started on project 99 we started with the product with partners 2000 we took over Um, and then that's it that's all she wrote from there. I mean it's been You know in 2001 We signed up with Donald Trump. It was right after September 11 We were talking to him before September 11, but then September 11th happened Which was a very scary moment. Nobody knew what was gonna happen in the world and uh and so we said we need a shot in the arm This project to help sales et cetera and we heard Trump was looking for something to do in South in South Florida So we signed them up and um and we changed our project from the ocean grant to the Trump grant And that was that would be the first of like many major partners That was the first one You know, I mean I had Trump on TV every Wednesday night for the apprentice. That was the best advertising I could have had You know, I mean it was You see people come in. I saw him last night at TV and they buy units. It was amazing And and of course he was showing up to our events because he wasn't running for office at the time and you know So he was he was a great great great partner to have a great situation great relationship We did very well. We sold out all these buildings. We did get stuck in the downturn 2008 Um, not anybody's fault. It was just the way the market Got got got halted there. I did have three or four buildings four Trump buildings and the Trump royal and Trump towers one two and three That went into uh into a special servicing um because of the crisis and uh by 2011, you know, we really 2008 was when it started happening Banks didn't know what the hell they were doing until 2010 We finally made a deal in 2010 to how to how to get out of this situation Um, everybody had their head in the sand for a good year. Nobody knows what's gonna happen Um, and then and then by 2010 we started to make a formal deal on how we're gonna pay these banks back and by late 2011 I had paid back $475 million of debt So unit by unit by unit by unit one by one by one We were fortunate that we had great marketing down in Brazil Um, the Brazil the real was very strong to the dollar at the time so the Brazilians were coming like crazy and the Trump brand brought them in because um, you know, they love the branded projects and and so Brazil saved us we we uh, we actually didn't lose money during the crisis where we made less money But we didn't lose anything we didn't lose any buildings I think I can say I'm the only developer in all of Miami that didn't lose the building Didn't have a deed in the box didn't have some sort of a special deal with the I just uh We were able to get extensions on our loans and payback scenarios and and we hit all the paybacks now We hit the paybacks inherent to the point where we got all the interest rebated to us because that was incentive to sell faster Very impressed very impressive. So like you would say like you weathered not just weathered that storm It was not it was not yeah You want to talk about winning? We um, we picked up a few other projects and that thing that went bust And uh, well, that's people make money in times like that people make a shit ton of money when I mean you You had the up you first of all you had the playbook. Yeah, which is the most important And you know what you know I was buying mortgages. I bought a mortgage from a guy who was half on a construction I paid 17 million dollars resolder for 55 You know after going through a closure. I mean it was there was money to be made all of it Yeah, you always have had an incredible amount of confidence in the work that you do and I think that that That is an advantage It's a competitive advantage that I think people don't understand As much as they should because every project you've taken on even even coming from when your dad bought those developer or the the builders out of that first project You were like, you know what We trust ourselves will figure it out That's and that's always been key. It seems like that's like being your whole life That's what I learned. I don't invest in companies that I don't own People come to me with investment ideas. I said if I don't run it and own it You know, I'll bet on myself all day long, but I have I have confidence issues but depending on other people I try not to buy stocks I had a friend who was one of the first Founding guys at Yahoo, and he said to me he said never buy stocks and any of these tech companies They're spending money like crazy. There's they don't have to listen anybody to do whatever they want if it was your company cringe you kill yourself, you know, so I don't know the stocks, but I yeah when we invest in ourselves and we invest in businesses that we run And You know, I don't love the hotel business. We own hotels. I you know, we own restaurants. I hate the restaurant business too But we have it, you know, but that's what it is um You know, I see a lot of people that get into real estate and they and they start very small And they'll do fix and flips or I'm not even a real estate guy But I see what my friends do and I see them operate at certain level or do like Airbnb's or go get so many You know multi-family it seems like from the get go you really Went you know for these homerun large large projects. So What what enabled you was it the confidence was it the relationships was it the I'm not afraid to fail I'll figure it out mentality because you went for these big projects almost immediately You're building a build from the ground up Like you know, you're coming out of university of Miami at whatever 25 26 That's not a small thing a lot of people coming at the university like y'all buy my first house And I'll I'll fix it up and I'll flip it in a year and a half. You're like no, we're gonna we're gonna do this We're gonna do this enormous development And I mean, I gotta say that a lot of the confidence came from my father In his confidence in me and then when you sit there and do it on the job, you know It's not that that hard you figured out every my job What I learned is the developer's job is a problem solving slash Putting out fires kind of guy Everything that has to do with money Comes to us because we have to pay for it So there's a hundred ways to handle every situation and I learned from I also had great I mean great people working with me that I learned a lot from I learned how to build from my architecture I'll see he thought me so much on the construction side. I had a Construction manager ac kid who's no longer with us greatest guy ever He also taught me a lot of that construction So I mean you learn these things, you know, you've seen it you didn't know how to Identify it with terminology maybe what you saw happening, but um, but you see it and so and so you learn It takes a little bit to really become an expert. I'd say after the third building. I really became a construction I wouldn't I still don't call myself an expert, but I know enough to be dangerous You know, I know enough where a GC can't play with me and they know that as well Because you've I've done this before you know and and so yeah, I guess I started with with uh They say the only thing harder to build in a hotel is a hospital And so I guess I started with the hardest form of construction going Which it was difficult. There were nights and days and it was it was terrible It was difficult definitely difficult, but it was also figured out You know, everything was a puzzle figured out. I love playing puzzles. I love playing cards I love trying to figure things out Then as a matter of fact, that's where my father and I where we split um, you know responsibilities You know at the time he would say that he's the captain of the ship He'd say hey, we need to get to here, but I'm the navigator. I was like I figured out how to get there You know, and so that's that's kind of where we did he said hey He was one who started the the condo hotel partnership with these guys and then inherited to me I never thought that the condo hotel Consent was such a great business. Why don't we just sell condos people want to buy condos We were sitting there in convincing people that they want to buy a condo that they're not going to use and rent it out In reality, it's a great investment. It's a great thing to own if you're not if you're planning on coming to Miami less than a month a year But um, but it was just a difficult sell because it was a new type of product and we have to teach people how it worked And explain to them the revenues and the splits and then you always have these naysayers Well, what if my room's not gonna get rented or what if the hotel doesn't work by the way, you know Knock on wood the hotel's been running since 2002 so we're 21 years and and it's doing unbelievable I mean the rates that we're getting today are four or five times what we thought we're gonna get back in 2000 and so um You know all the stories we told people are gonna rent for so much and that it's all true, you know It all came true and and and the rental works and and people are happy. I got three hundred and ninety eight owners over there All happy all getting checks every single month for the last 21 years Except for drink COVID we had an issue Um, so we'll talk we can that's another crisis. We'll go we'll go into that because that's obviously a massive shift in in the south florida Environment and the people that move down here and the money that came down here anyway. Yeah, go ahead. Sorry No, so um, so so I mean it was selling in condo hotel back in 2001 Which was a tough sell we once we went into the condos the trump palace for a while now I was selling condos with hotel services So I was the first guy to really sell the hotel lifestyle in these condominiums where you can order You know a bottle a bottle of vodka from the hotel and they'll bring it over three o'clock in the morning or or to room service to your apartment or have your your full apartment catered by by the hotel chef and and so we were doing that as the first one That's before all these hotel chains got into the management with the rich carl to the st. Regis is of the world, you know That's so before they even got in there. We we kind of created a concept and it and it stemmed really from Being a new yorker and you know, you need a pack of cigarettes and three o'clock in the morning you can call a bodega It was there in five minutes, you know, and I said how can we don't have that here in Florida? We don't have to get in the car go to the gas station if it's open So I said Florida needs that kind of Miami needs that kind of you know New York and I say well service it and so yeah We sold it as part of the package you bought in the in the condos You have full access to the hotel to the bars and the beach the spa, etc We still have a and I still put spas in my buildings But we didn't staff them with masseuses or with the you know the people who do the the facials and all like I said The idea was it's in the hotel when you want it you just call them right over they walk next door and they're there See it they they're not sitting there on the associations dying It's literally their thumbs and costing money to the association. So The concept went crazy every I mean we sold these buildings out textbook, you know I sold out even the Trump Royale 384 units Textbook sold it out, but then we sold it out in 2006 to 2005 to 2006 built the building that was ready I'll never forget this. It was 2008 the building was ready I sent out closing notices on a Monday and on Wednesday. Leave it bro this collapsed And we were like holy shit what's gonna happen now and that's when the struggle happened, you know And that's where I think really separated the men from the boys back then Um, I had 384 units at Royale that I think about 60 closed At 320 to sell I had 890 units that Trump towers were like maybe 150 closed And we had to buckle down and start selling that was it. I mean I went and I personally got on the phone with every single one of my contract holders A guy had a $3 million apartment with with just that was the problem The real problem back then was everybody put 20% deposits. So he had a $3 million apartment with $600,000 deposit I'd say to him hey buddy listen don't lose your deposit. I don't want to take your $600,000 Let me apply it to something for a million bucks You know that we used to be a million five we took prices down to a million I applied it towards the 600,000 and he would come and close and that's how I was negotiating one by one by one by one with 800 people trying to get the post a lot of them just said You know screw you on and try and get my deposit back and went to a lawyer Then I was negotiating with the lawyer and Who you know, I really learned what the term of you know, keep your friends close to you and I'd be closer You know, I took the lawyer to lunch. I said don't look, you know You and I we're gonna be here after the fact these clients are here today gone tomorrow. We need to work together And you know, I'm not gonna mention his name, but he was an unscrupulous lawyer and through his clients under the bus to make a fee so So you know, but this was about getting in there myself Not listening to a sales director not listening to people getting in there myself and making the calls myself And meeting with the people myself And I really got my hands dirty in the trenches Negotiating with the banks Negotiating with with a you know, I don't know if this is good to say on a on a private on a public call But negotiate with a bluff of hey take the keys back. I would have never given the keys back I always have to say hey, you can take the keys back as my as my out And so that's how we negotiated we got good terms that were great for that listen. They got paid back You know nobody I think I pay back in full So everybody else was discounting loans 50% 60% I walked on water when I get got these guys back all their money 100% of minus the interest because they offered it back to me, but paid them back in time So long story short, I mean, you know, I was a the only guy who paid back loans in 2011 When we at that time we're sitting there all looking at each other saying I was selling at a thousand bucks a foot I just lowered my prices down to 500 foot Construction costs are even higher than that now, you know post post prices everything changed How am I going to sell the same exact 2,000 3000 square foot unit in the same market when I got my own product competing at less money So, you know, we all look usually it's it's just simply not going to happen, you know So we said let's change the game and that's what we've heard that Porsche was looking for somebody to do something with and we were able to link up with them As a matter of fact, we linked up with them already in 2007 we signed the agreement with them in 2007 When we thought the world was going to continue forever and when the crisis happened We we agreed to put a stay on the agreement that bought us a few years But in that time we got to play, you know, we were playing with the architects You know, we weren't rushing to do something and that's what gave us the time to figure out how to make this elevator Everybody was not busy everybody meeting in the construction world from the elevator departments in Miami They weren't reviewing plans because nobody was starting new projects So I had everybody's attention and I got everybody's excitement and I got everybody's buying on this thing You know, this car elevator was a was a real coup to get done because it was more knows than yes is to get it done Um, and so I got everybody's buying on it because they weren't busy and they loved the concept and we came in there politely And and and addressed every single one of their concerns, but by far more than they ever expected Um, and so and that's how we came up with this concept and then we took to the market and um We it was very interesting. We started, you know, that we went to the city to get the building approved as a excitement approval Was that before the elevator concept or was that As we were figuring it out. We did we figured out more or less how to build it. We do figure out who's going to build it It was in the plans Um, we had renderings done. We had some virtual realities done And we were codenaming the project was built on the site was called golden nugget So we codename our projects by the old site just so, you know, it doesn't get out in the press etc The architect left on the plans portion design tower when he submitted to the city And somebody in the press picked it up And it made front page of Yahoo autos on Yahoo at the time. I don't know who uses the auto anymore, but Yahoo at the time And uh and and and it went crazy the phone started ringing and people I want to buy I want to buy I want to buy and we want ready all we have with the set of plans and then approval at the city So we weren't ready so My salespeople said I have people I want I said your people just want to see what this is all about They're not for real. They just want to show and tell it I said if anybody really really really wants to buy a unit like this and loves it so much Show me that there's that interest to give me a check for a hundred thousand dollars We'll put it in escrow and I'll sit down with them personally and and and show them the unit We got 34 checks 34 people stepped up for a hundred thousand dollars site unseen I had meetings with them. I had to run to the force design store I said hey, I'm gonna I'm gonna have a meeting with this guy and he's gonna walk out with it with a with a zerox So I ran to the force design store. I bought some sunglasses and pens to give them as a little gift as they walk out and And you know and and we sold 34 people site unseen without even knowing they just love the concept of the other Then we opened up the sales office and that was it, you know, I I thought it was very important to show how the cars communicate with the unit So we built these little dollhouse marketas, you know, like with little scale models But they're dollhouse scale models and and they really helped like gonna show the picture They really helped kind of place the client in the unit show them, you know, how the car communicates with the living room et cetera, et cetera And we had some great videos on on how the elevator was working and our competitors were so scared On there forget there was this one jerk from the building next door who kept on telling people Oh, you're gonna want to go to the opera at night and the car elevator is not gonna work and blah blah blah And that's and that's how they were trying to sell their projects not not by selling their project by by scary people And then so the buyer would come back. Oh, he said the other is not gonna work I said, well, you know, that's him work. It is right And then and then I made a point because that really upset me during the construction I made a point that when the building was open. I made I had we had our opening Remarks and everything else at two thousand people there We opened the building at least the keys came to sing. It was a big deal And I made a point to say you remember that guy and everybody who was talking about I'm not gonna mention his name here But I remember I remember that guy who's telling everybody these elevators aren't gonna work and this building is not gonna work I said who's gonna listen to that idiot now and you know, that was you know So um, it was it was almost like you know, I got my revenge by by building the building properly and making everything work the way I promised to do and Good and discrediting discrediting my competition along the way As y'all know success story is part of the HubSpot podcast network The HubSpot network has incredible podcasts like the gold digger podcasts If you are looking for a new podcast You have to check it out. It's hosted by Jenna Kutcher The gold digger podcast helps you discover your dream career with productivity tips social strategies business hacks inspirational stories and so much more I tune into them every single week They just did an episode on a four-day work week experiment that they actually conducted in their own office A few other recent episodes I enjoyed were on how to hire a players in your organization in 14 days or less Jenna Kutcher is an OG in the podcasting game You got to go check out the gold digger podcasts at the HubSpot podcast network or wherever you get your podcast Tell me tell me I want to talk about luxury and innovation. So I want to understand Pre pre you building in Florida. There was a version of of South Florida There's a version of luxury and then you started to innovate you Innovated with the amenities that you add on you innovate with the car elevator And then you get to the point where you start to think I'm gonna co-brand I co-branded with Trump I'm gonna co-brand with now Porsche. Where does that thought come from? How does Porsche equate to a luxury Place to live because you know now you have a car company you could have had a car elevator and you could have Partnered up with LVMH or you could have partnered up with any other luxury brand, but you chose car luck car brands is like the luxury partner Yeah So you know I can answer that question in four different steps First step was yeah the Trump got me addicted to the brand new I realized that we get Tremendous amounts of press without having to pay for it. That's where I realized that this brand new thing is a great way to You know a project starts they call themselves wind right or sun or rise or wherever stupid name they come of Who's gonna know about it? It doesn't say where you are. It doesn't say what you are It doesn't even say you know you just and so that developer is gonna spend millions of dollars Promoting that brand and then what happens when the building's over it's gone Right and he spent all that money to create what is this building and then he's and he sold out and it's done We said well, you know, I went when I when I realized the Trump effect and how positive That was I said to myself why why you know, we don't need to create brands. We can associate with brand and that's what we did So now when Porsche came and they were looking for something to do At first I was like I'm a huge Porsche fan. I don't know if you know, but I'm a huge I have one on my wall in my house I have about I think I have about 17 portions that I own from all different ranges old ones new ones and everything in between so I'm a huge Porsche fan so I was Champion of the bit when they said hey, let's do a building But then we all sat there in the room and asked the same exact question. What does Porsche have to do with real estate? How do you incorporate? Portion to real estate and my father was one who piped up and said We need to put a car elevator in the building Oh, I see that's the connection. That's the connection. He said we need to put a car elevator in the building and make it make it a car building And the idea first was like, you know, I don't know what we have to start thinking about And then as we started to look at it and and we sat there with an architect and said hey, how do we put a car in a garage and And then we started reading the zoning code. That's when we had the aha moment The aha moment was that garages in the units above 24 feet high Do not affect your FAR your floor area ratio, which means you're sellable square feet Which means a given site Porsche for example had a maximum sellable square footage by FAR by code of 525,000 square feet Which is already a big building We found out that by putting the garages up there It doesn't take away from the 525,000 feet So we took the philosophy of hey, let's give these people some free space, you know, since it's free to us. It's free to them and And so our marketing efforts we sold the entire apartment Where my neighbors were selling at $1,200 square foot. I was selling at $1,200 square foot too However, I was selling the entire square footage the apartment and the garage So where you had a unit that was 5,000 square feet total that we were selling for $1,200 or $6 million price point That unit was was actually 3500 square feet interior And we disclosed that we didn't trick anybody we didn't do so much but it's but because I was able to sell the garage space as part of the unit And the answer was people wanted it, you know, if you didn't want it And we there was a lot of people we said hey, this is not for you. Why do I need my car in my living room? What if it's dirty? It's not for you to go next door or someplace else But then we found a group of people saying especially South Americans and celebrities You see Would I did it I wanted to I thought the coolest thing in the world is a car in your living room two cars in your living room It's very cool. Everybody has their Picasso on their walls. Fuck Picasso. I'm on my 25 million dollar Ferrari GTO in my living room, right In a forced building or in any branded building because like the brand really didn't matter um so So that was my goal But when the buyers saw it and the South Americans and celebrities saw it They saw something completely different which I didn't even notice or pay attention to They saw a way of getting home without seeing anybody or asking for assistance They saw a way of a privacy of getting into their apartment going up to their apartment and inside their unit without having to go through a lobby Without having to say hello to anybody Um, and it really made it like a single family home and so that's where the units started selling like crazy because People like the idea of having a house in the sky and it was a real privacy every other condo sells house in the sky Because they have an outdoor barbecue. That's you know bullshit in my opinion We did we did not just the outdoor barbecue. I put swimming pools on every balcony So you didn't have to go downstairs, you know I have the car elevator in the unit We have a restaurant in the building that orders room service So this is a this is a building where you never have to leave your unit if you want to be a hermit You have everything you need in your house in your house in this car and and it took so well to the market that It sold and resold and resold and we're still doing resells right now I mean the the and then so from there we um I was on a trip to uh in in Dubai and I stayed at the Borsca leafa at the Armani hotel And I saw this Armani thing and like how can we don't have this in America, you know And so I caught up in the Armani guys and I said listen I'm the brand new guy in the United States. Nobody else is doing what I'm doing at the time You know since then they've all copied me But um nobody's doing what I'm doing. I did I did uh trump buildings. I'm doing for sure Now let's let's see what we can do with this one I um and and so I had also signed up la league the glass company to do a project with them Unfortunately nothing has happened with there, but I did have them as a brand signed up So um And once our money is to look on on your guy Let's do a project and sign them up and uh and that's where the residents of Armani cost the came from Which was uh 960 million dollar bill Um and uh sold out and that was where we finished that right before the pandemic I started selling that in 2016 We finished it in 2019 and the 2019 we had our opening party March 7th of 2020 We had pit bull come and sing to to the crowd Amazing party maybe two thousand three thousand people to party and then the fall and already the Italians from Armani Told us we can't come to the party because Covid was starting to happen. Covid is already starting over there yet And then so March 7th March 14th Lockdowns So uh, you know, we had at the time we had 20% still left the cell in our money We'd sold 80% closed 80% And then and then the lockdowns happened and we didn't know what the hell was gonna happen We thought having this huge party with pit bull will make a lot of noise as we do and and we'll sell out the rest of the units so that didn't happen So Covid we were kind of stuck we didn't sell anything but at the same time we we paid off our loan So we weren't like with the gun tour ahead. This is all profit. We're sitting here. So it was fine Um, we just had to pay maintenance on the units carry the units not a problem And then towards the 2001 is that sorry 2021 October 21 I remember the world kind of opened up and that's when we just we sold everything between October and January We sold the last 20% in three months So what happened to the world The even the south florida world the the the Miami world the adventurer the sunny is what happened to that world After Covid because I find it's just been absolute chaos in a good way. Yeah for this for this I mean, I'm down here because of it. Yeah, I mean it was it was chaotic in many places I mean, you know Really draconian shit going on over there people getting arrested from wearing masks and you know that wasn't happening here You know, and that's where and the word got out. Hey Miami's open. No, it's not happening there You know, and the word really got out and and and um You know, they they told us this in in a university was the The prisoners dilemma you heard about the prisoners dilemma you remember that A little bit. Yeah, I do. I do The simplest short does the shortest form of prisoners dilemma is everybody else is closed and you're open You're gonna get the business, right? Yeah That's the that's the shortest way of figuring out that prison's one and that's exactly what happened, you know, so um Everybody else is closed. We were open for business and you know the santa's Took a risk and paid off for him and it all worked out, you know, so um Uh, I got Covid twice It was nothing. There was a flu. I also think the climbing here in Florida because it was it was warmer It didn't you know, it didn't cause the Covid as much well people are outdoors too They're not all grouped in in tiny rooms and whatnot all winter like at some places of north. I think that helps Right, and then and then the other part that brought people here was and I and I really applaud the The police force in all of man Sonny house especially, but all man There was none of that BS going on of riding Of what was happening around the country where things started when they shut it down real quick I remember with their burning cop cars all over the place There was one police car burned in Miami kind of thing that that day was you know We didn't have those issues. We didn't have crime issues or I mean we always have crime issues right But the police here take it seriously. There's no defunding going on here There's none of that stuff. They took it seriously and and and and they're strong and they don't mess around and you know and that Created a real safe environment for everybody, you know, so it was Covid and it was safe and and and it was a reason to come down I mean there's so many places in America that turn to shit Over the George Floyd and everything else that you know, it was it's it's it's really scary to be honest with you. So I gotta say more luck and brains that were here, you know I can't say that we knew that was gonna happen But we happened to be in the right place at the right time when with respect to after Covid and And so that's clear in the way now and now as far as real state in the United States I think we're one of the few markets that are still popping, you know What what happened? So what did you see post Covid yet money moving down from New York yet money moving from Probably LA probably some of LA went to Vegas to talk to you about the influx of yeah talking about the influx of cash What people are starting to pay? Do you think this is gonna maintain like when you build your next build What are you expecting in terms of buyers that have moved down here now? Well, definitely the demographic has changed. We used to get a lot of South Americans Where the South American market today is rough because the exchange rates so that's so they're not there But what happened specifically was you know, there was a lot of people coming for a small amount of inventory on the high end Right, that's what you heard about and the small amount of inventory in the high end had to continue to go up based on the bitty wars And these people created amongst themselves and at the end of the day They still got a deal because whenever they bought spending too much money is still you know 30% discount to New York to what they're paying them in there So you know and they're on the waterfront in a tax-free environment. I mean they won. They won. They did right, you know, so um So that said but what happened was the market went crazy because there was only a certain amount of homes and a tremendous amount of buyers But and it didn't and like I said it affected us in that we sold out 60 our money units in 90 days, you know, which is kind of like pretty fast, you know But in the pre-construction game which we're in it kind of rising type raises ships But didn't raise the pre-construction ship because everybody wanted something now And so anybody who is selling today got a premium on what they're selling But then they couldn't replace it because everything else went up so um The pre-construction game was is a slow and steady kind of Turtle the wins It's it's designed for people who are planning to the future because these buildings are ready for three four years And somebody who likes to pay as you go so to speak I mean we're are 50% deposits we taken in 10% increments of five payments over the course of four years So that makes it comfortable for for a buyer for somebody who wants to, you know, slowly move the money out of the country Those those things are you know, that's where the pre-construction market goes So where the market went crazy we got the benefit of the higher price per square foot On what things were selling And we were able to sell it higher price per square foot, but then of course costs went up So you know, although we're selling for more money, we're not making more money, you know Unfortunately Costs went up in ratio and even I actually higher than than the cost per square foot and then stupid costs are still happening Insurance Insurance is like completely out of control You know, it's concrete and construction materials are getting back in control But labor has gone out out of control labor moved up a good 40-50% from where it used to be pre-pandemic So labor rates so so there's still more expensive stuff that you know and it's costing more expensive so we're selling for more Costy more Trying to make a spread that's that's the thing working, you know I know and and but you still innovate so I mean if you look at like I would say I would say that you are defining a lot of the The future of luxury and South Florida. So I mean like we're certainly going through this path You started with amenities you do a deservator a car elevator now you're bringing in Michelin stars chefs into your building you have One in the Bentley right now and I didn't speak about that for a second, but the question is Where do you find ideas? Where do you go for the next thing? Are you bringing things in from Dubai? For example that you're still looking at or are you finding new ways to innovate in South Florida that haven't even been done in Dubai Where's your vision for the future of luxury? Yeah, we're well ahead of Dubai You know, there's they're trying to play catch up with us I mean and if you go there Dubai you know Dubai specifically ruined the branding concept I think there's 82 branded residences. They're they're branding everything from you know from like from like Pick pick lighter tower, you know Everything on the tower days. I'm trying to you know, I went there. There's jewelry brands that you never even buy anyone's one of their jewelry But they're putting it on the brand over there. Um watch brands are putting on buildings kind of Yeah, they're they're they're exploiting the concept, you know, and as everything happens, you know, I met I met a South American guy I don't know if this is fit the print here, but I met a South American guy goes you know the problem with all you Americans and and I'm taking this to To Dubai people he says the problem with all you Americans is you guys you have this great great great great idea and then you fuck it to death And That's you know, I'm there for you when you told me that because it's true. Yeah, but it's so true. It's really true So so and here we have this this great idea with the branding and then the Dubai people are fucking definitely but um and and really you know Using it too too thinly What we do with our branding and the luxury where the ideas cover them it comes from everything that I would like to see in my own personal I have a philosophy of if I can't if I can't live there I can't sell it So everything I do is as if I was moving and living in the building myself and and I'm a pretty I guess uh Stuck up the certain guy if you will. I like everything to be absolutely meticulous and perfect all the time and a little OCD So things have to be perfectly linear and and I'm like that. I walk into my buildings today and fix this fix that because you know I don't like things out of place um So it's it's all a matter of what to make this better Why don't we have this and let me tell you something that this the getting a chef for Bentley Was 10 years in the making because I tried to do it for Portia and I couldn't get it done I couldn't get a chef to come lend his name to us et cetera et cetera So finally Todd English came up stepped up to the plate. He's a great guy easy to work with he understood the program He understood what was going on and he jumped on board and so we were able to get him You know what one what made me realize and I told you from back back in the in the trump tower Was what we needed here in Miami and to raise the bar was a level service And so a lot of developers went ahead and cheated and and and took on Um hotel management companies to do the service Which in several cases really didn't work um really didn't work and what I mean by that is There was in Bell Harbor. There was a regents that regent ran away. They stepped out Um, there was in sunny Aussie. There was a rosewood Rosewood ran away and stepped out Because they didn't want to be involved in this thing Um then then there was the the carolon hotel, which was a canyon ranch Which is in lawsuits and everything right now Canyon ranch stepped out so I looked at that climate and I said You know the idea of having hotel services in a building a is probably going to be extremely expensive to run Because that dog walkers sitting there anyway whether you walk your dog or not whether you have a dog or not Um, the you know the restaurants and everything we know how to run them ourselves So we know what that goes into and all these additional hotel and then the hotel management companies are there to make money So there's a management fee of dead money that goes to the hotel management guy every year So I that's right. I said to myself, you know, we should probably stay away from hotel deals You know in hotel branding and because to run a hotel style condo I can hire anybody from the four seasons or what's Carlton to come to my manager And that's exactly what we did So our our buildings are run as hotels without the transient guests You know, and that's where we let we lifted that level service already in the Trump palace and Trump royal buildings When I built them when I finished those in 2005-2006 and I think I might as well the market Mom because the people got used to it and then and then other developers they started saying well they have that at Trump Why don't we do it? I remember I have a competitor. I'm not gonna mention the names, but they were Advertising their claim the thing was our swimming pool is at beach level So you don't have to walk down steps to the beach and I'm like that's great guys, but I did that 10 years ago I mean, what's you know, what's your whole aha moment there, you know, so so um, but so People really we were innovators from the beginning and and because of the things that we've seen and wanted to do and people copied us from day one And so yeah, we we said I believe we said all what is expected in the luxury world and we're gonna continue to do so There's lots of other things we can put into the building Things from you know There's there's people who manage your closet. I don't know if you see those people very interesting The women with the with a $10,000 dresses if you want them in Paris or you want them in Monaco or you want them in Miami We'll ship them for it. So we can offer all the services. I have a feeling like I try not to do too much for the buyer Because I don't want to tell him how to live if he has those needs That that's the one point I wanted to say that you're still boots on the ground For the tourists and the selling and you still do that and you didn't you don't have to do it But you do you know what you do have to do it because nobody presents your product the way you do and and you know I was there from the inception. I can tell you why the windows are this size versus this size I can tell you why we did all these things and and and Bentley again We and I made my life even more difficult as usual. I put the swing pulls on the balcony sunken in I have this glass system that we have to spend $350,000 just to make sure it's approval, you know that that we can actually build it Because of the winds and the hurricanes and whatnot. So yeah, we but again, it's a for a unique building You know and these buildings bear my name as much as they bear the Bentley name We have started to transcend these brands as you know now people know I'm the brand guy So although the brand's name is on the building everybody knows that I'm the one behind it And so it's important for us to really deliver an amazing product. And that's what we do, you know I love it What would be one piece of advice for an entrepreneur that wants to build a luxury brand? It isn't in real estate. What is like that that piece of advice that would transcend any luxury brand? Do you need to start a luxury brand today? Is yeah, if they wanted to build something What do you think is the most important thing? I mean, you know, listen, there's There is always room at the top for quality and and and and quality good design functionality Which is the key a lot of these people slap shit together and you know, it's the apartments are not functional And so there's a lot of that that is but to start a brand. I mean, it's tough. It's tough Even I can't start a brand. How's that? I associated with a brand And and therefore I built my brand based on associated with other brands. That's a lesson that is a lesson reality You know, it's yeah to start a brand in the world today is like close to impossible, you know, so So um and not close to possible. There's people are doing it, you know, Tesla started out of nowhere But you have a lot of money behind them But yeah, it's it's one of those things I was able to associate the brands based on my track record based on on how well I've done And so um, and that's that's where they uh, they continue to uh to work with me and you know, I deliver which is a key Always do remember on your word Um, well, where is there anything else some some closing thoughts that uh that you wanted to leave the audience with anything that we didn't go into Um, and also feel free to to tell people where to go to find that more information About the Bentley about yourself where they can go uh, they can go find Well, you can definitely find more information at Bentley residents as Miami calm We have a great website that tells everything and stop by the sales office. I spent $11 million on that sales office So I want everybody to come see it because really it's the greatest sales office in Miami I've had other developers tell me that we um, we created the proper presentation To make somebody want to give you eight and a half million dollars by looking at a bunch of pictures So uh, you know, and that's good, right? So that that's what's important and that's and we've got it done and the project today is 40% sold Um, we're we're the market is a little slow. I'll be honest Well, we're still selling four to five units a month. We wanted to be selling 10 to 12 a month But we're selling half and so we'll get to our 50% pre-selling a few months after after we expected and everything's gonna work out You know, so I'm very excited for this building is gonna be the next iconic landmark here in Miami for sure Um, okay, let's let's let's close this out Last last question is just to to give um some of the audience some insights from from your career experience If you could tell your 20 year old self one less than what would that be Wow, that's a tough question If I can tell my 20 year old self Relax it'll work out That's all I can think I mean relax it'll work out. I was very nervous back then Very nervous in my 20s and 30s. I've matured now I'm 48 years old Um, I can tell that I've slowed down, you know, um, but uh Yeah Also the lesson that I have learned I learned how to delegate You gotta learn to delegate you gotta learn to find good people Don't be afraid to pay big salaries You know, I was winning my 20s. I was like this guy's gonna make so much money and I was afraid to pay big salaries for talented people And I was doing everything myself you think now I walk into this I was walking on the construction on the daily basis I was there Everything myself even one time on there forget we had some concrete that need to be chipped out And the guys yeah, we're gonna have to chip out this concrete and the GC system is gonna cause a four-day delay And I said come on show me what you're talking about Took me up to like 14th story of the building you know Building was there and there was a huge muscular black guy Huge like muscles like muscles muscles, you know, and he's sitting there with a jackhammer And and the jackhammer is jacking out the thing. I'm like I'm like that looks like fun, right? And this guy was making it. I said, let me try to use the jackhammer So I get the jackhammer and this thing was all over the place And I was like wow, I mean you never realized that that guy had to be that fucking strong just to operate this jackhammer Because the jackhammer goes over so I you know those therapies give me Respect for at least kind of you know those people were doing that job When everybody says uh everybody tells me oh you work hard. I said I don't work hard the guys out there at 100 degrees You know placing block placing it they work hard. I'm just I work with my mouth, you know Those guys are doing actually the hard labor So you know that's um that's that's what I learned so that my 20-year-old cell would be Relax it'll all be good, you know, and don't forget. Don't don't be afraid to delegate to the right people I love that and then last thing that we close up with for every show. What does success mean for you at this point in your life? You know at first at this point is different at first it was all about the money, you know You know you wanted to make a lot of money. I wanted You know I come from from a nice family, but it's it's family money So I wanted to make my own money So then when you finally make your own money, that's not the success anymore And now success is just seeing these buildings, you know every time go up from creation to to to the actual You know, it's it's it's a nice feeling, you know, it's a nice feeling that I built it I designed it that screw is there because I told him to put it there that tree is there because I told him to put it there And so you know all these things are you know, it's these are my babies. They're really my babies I grow with them and they are living really organisms that don't die You know, even when you're done building them. I don't walk away I live in one of my buildings right now. I've been living here since it was finished in 2006. I And I also sit on the boards of various other buildings that I've built before just to make sure the right hand is talking to the left I think I bring a tremendous value to the board with respect to things that need to get fixed or this or that I have contacts with my my subcontractors who you know A board member will call them. They don't answer, but I call and they come right out So there's a lot of that there's the added values to be staying on and and uh and like I said These are my business. I'm not afraid to be hands on. I'm not afraid to live in my own buildings because I know I built good stuff I know people love it and so and and I get complimented walking through a lobby So today on this project. So it works, you know, it's fine by me I love that I love I love how I love how um how involved you still are I think that's probably the testament. I think that's probably why you've been successful to be quite honest Yeah, that's that's this is what real estate is one of those localized hands-on businesses and and you know People came to me they said hey, let's build over there and let's build over here And and my father did teach me one thing So with one ask you can be in one place at one time and you know It's true you can't if you start spreading yourself thin to do a million things Unless you have the greatest team in the world to delegate with which can happen to but uh But even that I've seen bigger companies in myself with great great great guys But there's certain inefficiencies and and those great guys work for them. It's not with their company So, you know, they're more the motivations are are not aligned necessarily And so, you know, that's that's where it all comes from But um, we you know, I focus I stay very focused on my projects. I don't try to pick off too much more than I can chew Um, you know, and so uh that's where we are You