5 Questions With Asi Cymbal of Cymbal DLT

Asi Cymbal, chairman of the company, holds both a law degree and a general contractor license. He spoke with Commercial Observer about his unique approach to development.

The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Commercial Observer: What was your experience with developing under the Live Local Act?

Asi Cymbal: We’re really excited to bring forth South Florida’s first project under Live Local. Our intent was to have all 341 of our units at Laguna Gardens be market rate. When Live Local came around, we thought this would be a great opportunity to make luxury living more affordable and more attainable to more people. I grew up in a public housing project in Brooklyn. My mother supported us on food stamps for a while. The public housing I lived in was a sadder, concrete type of design. I’m really sensitive to being able to give people great design that’s financially attainable. People deserve to experience that. Live Local does that. It’s a great act.

What’s the difference between rental rates under Live Local compared to market rates?

There’s at least a 10 percent delta between what the rents cost under market rate, and what it is under Live Local. One-bedrooms are just under $2,000, two-bedrooms are just under $2,500, three-bedrooms are just under $3,000. We’ve been very successful. We started leasing in March or April, and we’re 75 percent leased. There’s been just tremendous interest in the project.

We just completed Oasis Point, which is 301 market-rate units in Dania Beach. Our one-bedrooms start at $2,400, the two-bedrooms are close to $3,000, the three-bedrooms could be closer to $4,000. So there’s at least a $500 difference in unit costs, and the materials aren’t any different.

Where do you see rents going?

We’re seeing rent growth moderate and concession growth increasing. We’re expecting rents to plateau for the next nine months. But we’re expecting rent growth beyond that, because supply growth will be contracting. We believe now is a great time to break ground on new projects, because supply will be limited.

Florida was just hit by Hurricane Milton. Are these severe weather events a wake-up call about the viability of Florida?

Most of the country is experiencing severe weather. I lived in Los Angeles when I went to law school. You can prepare for hurricanes; you can’t prepare for earthquakes, you can’t prepare for mudslides. We saw North Carolina isn’t immune to severe weather. If severe weather is affecting the whole country, I’d rather be in a place with low taxes, with warm weather and sunshine. I’m not sure why anyone would live anywhere besides South Florida. That said, we’re making sure all of our buildings can withstand really intense hurricanes. The building codes have become really stringent in South Florida – in a good way.

Your company acts as both developer and general contractor. Why the vertical integration?

We’re able to build more quickly and for less money. I’ve always been brought up as an owner-builder. When I was working for a developer in New York City, the developer was also the contractor. Sixty-five percent of the costs on a construction project are construction costs. It was really important to get a handle on all of our costs, not just the 35 percent we controlled as a developer. Imagine you’re building a widget, and you’re giving up two-thirds of your cost to a third party. But this is only good for companies who really know construction. You need to have construction in your bones.

Jeff Ostrowski can be reached at jostrowski@commercialobserver.com.