'Lucky' Condo King Sees Beyond U.S. City's Froth U.S. Housing Boom: After The 'Gold Rush' : Urban Transformation

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Jacqueline Thorpe

Financial Post

 Saturday, May 13, 2006

'If you ask me what the No. 1 risk is to the U.S. economy: It is going to be what the house-price landscape is, what happens to house prices.' -- David Rosenberg, chief North American economist, Merrill Lynch

MIAMI - Catch the opening credits of CSI Miami, the forensic police drama, and you will see the handiwork of Jorge Perez, founder and major shareholder of The Related Group of Florida.

His luxury condominiums -- Portofino Tower and Murano Grande -- come into view as the show reveals a city sizzling with money, beautiful people and sex.

From tacky to hip in little more than a decade, Miami has undergone one of the greatest urban transformations in U.S. history and Mr. Perez has been a driving force behind it.

It has been a long time brewing for Mr. Perez, 57, who has been in the development business for 25 years.

Born in Buenos Aires, to Cuban parents, he started out building suburban apartments and affordable housing.

With a canny sense of timing he switched to building condos about a decade ago just as the craze took off. He believes urbanization and city intensification will continue to be the trend for the United States, even after the current froth blows over.

"We took a lucky bet, the market has exploded and we've become the largest multi-family developer in the country -- not just in Florida but in the country," says Mr. Perez, speaking a mile a minute in his office in Coral Gables.

"I think we have been the catalyst for the redevelopment of the major cities in South Florida ... this whole urban expansion."

He has 19 projects under development, most luxury condominiums and has built 400 communities with 55,000 units in the last 25 years.

Design is the fun part of his job, but also essential to stay ahead of consumer demand, he says.

"When you see new people coming in with sales offices, I'm going and looking and seeing what materials they're using for their kitchens and bathrooms," he says. "I'm doing that not only here but in New York and Dallas and California. When I go to Europe I go to the bathroom and kitchen shows."

The Italians, he says, still lead in the design of fixtures.

His designers include Philippe Stark, who is working on his ICON project in Miami Beach.

Toronto-based firm Yabu Pushelberg is designing the interior of Apogee in South Beach, which will be the crown jewel of the Related empire.

The "creative manipulation of texture and colour" will "contribute to the consummate living experience for residents" at Apogee.

It will have the latest high-tech gadgetry, including fingerprint door entry and smart wiring. Residents will be able to access the valet service, reserve pool lounge chairs, or book a spa treatment through a touch panel in their home. In drawings, it looks like a gigantic mille feuille cake.

Mr. Perez is clearly obsessed with his job. "I'm not saying that I'm making every decision -- with this many units it's impossible," he says.

"But at least once a month, more like twice a month, I go and take a day, two days off and get in the car with a driver so I don't have to park, I go through every one of my jobs and see where they are, how the sales are doing, see what the construction is doing."

He says he is nimble enough to figure out where the next trend will be as the current market cools. It sounds like a point of honour.

"For me not to respond would be throwing in the towel," he says. "I could -- we've got enough projects in the pipeline that are already sold for the next three years for me to say, 'Hey, let me just concentrate on construction.' But then that's boring."

With a much lower profile than Donald Trump, Mr. Perez's offices are in a rather shabby little building on an unspectacular street in Coral Gables. Related has been there since its start.

But it will soon move into slick new digs at one of his developments in Miami. Hopefully, Mr. Perez is not superstitious and that's not one of those freakish signs the market is about to dive.