Related Group is a real estate development company that predominantly serves South Florida and Tampa Bay, including the upcoming Ritz Carlton Residences (luxury condos) in Tampa. It ranked among Florida’s 100 fastest-growing companies in 2019.
I was raised in Indiana and moved to Florida upon graduation from college. I initially entered commercial banking and while in banking, I was exposed to many real estate transactions. That spurred my interest in real estate, so I decided to go and get my MBA with a concentration in real estate development. At that time, there were not many MBA programs that offered a real estate development specialization, so I felt very fortunate to get into University of California, Berkeley’s MBA program. Following my graduation, I took a development associate role with Related Group in Miami.
In my current role at Related Group, I oversee the development of numerous luxury condominium developments across the state of Florida. I specialize in boutique, luxury condominiums, which means we are targeting end-users – those who are buying the residence as their primary residence. As far as my day-to-day work goes, I am responsible for all aspects of development – from site selection, overseeing architects and engineers, selecting and negotiating with contractors to working with sales and marketing to sell the units.
The most rewarding part of my job is the variety of tasks that I get to do every single day. Each project requires using a plethora of skill sets from budgeting, negotiating with both friendly and adversarial associates, public speaking, marketing and sales and most importantly, common sense.
I would describe the real estate and construction industries today as ever-growing and evolving. Despite the widespread labor shortages and inflation, the demand for construction and real estate is increasing substantially in South Florida, specifically due to companies and their employees moving their headquarters to the area in search of a more favorable climate and living expenses. At Related Group, we continue to produce distinguished residences featuring unique architecture with unmatched hotel-like services and amenities. We also often collaborate with ultra-luxe European-inspired brands — in conjunction with world-class architects and designers — that provide the same level of luxury one can expect in Los Angeles and New York.
Tampa Bay has become Related Group’s second most important market second only to our home market of South Florida. All of Related Group’s operating divisions — luxury condominium, market-rate rental and affordable/workforce — are very active in Tampa and will continue to be so in the future. For example, our affordable group, Related Urban, has been very active in the city of Tampa turning the West River community, as well as Rome Yards, into dynamic, mixed-use, mixed-income neighborhoods; Related Development, our market-rate rental development division, has developed numerous properties in the Tampa Bay area and has several more in the pipeline. They have recently developed three luxury rental properties in the city of Tampa and one in Downtown St. Petersburg. The condo division is currently working on The Ritz Carlton Residences, Tampa which is a two-phased development with a total sell-out of over half-a-billion dollars. The project represents Ritz-Carlton’s first residential Tampa property and it is bringing an all-new level of bespoke living to Central Florida.
We have no plans of slowing down and continue to actively look for sites in Tampa and St. Petersburg for new, affordable, market-rate and luxury products.
The best advice I’ve ever received is: Win the war, not all the battles.
The biggest honor of my life has been raising two wonderful children who are ambitious and independent. My daughter recently graduated from college and my son will be a junior in college. I’m looking forward to seeing them grow into happy, responsible adults.
My most unexpected hobby is Brazilian jiujitsu. I am currently a blue belt working my way toward a purple belt.
Most people would be surprised to know that if I was not a real estate developer, I would probably be a meteorologist.
My greatest extravagance or luxury is travel. I love to travel. I’ve been to all the continents except Antarctica and plan to visit it soon. I don’t really have a favorite place and equally love visiting cities and rural areas. Some of my favorite places that I have visited include Bhutan, Thailand, Italy and Paris. I’ve been to many of my favorite destinations several times.
My perfect day would be going on a strenuous hike through beautiful mountains and ending the day at a fabulous restaurant in a large city.
