5 Questions With Isaac Toledano of BH Group

Isaac and Liat Toledano, founders of BH Group, are taking South Florida by storm. 

The family-owned real estate investment and development firm based in Aventura completed over $300 million in acquisitions in 2024. And this year, BH Group’s marquee project, the Residences at Six Fisher Island — a $1 billion, ultra-luxury condo developed with Related Group — is already more than 60 percent sold.

The firm is also behind the Ritz-Carlton Residences in West Palm Beach, W Pompano Beach, the Viceroy Residences Aventura, and The Crosby and Paraiso Bayviews towers, in various stages across Florida. 

BH Group CEO Isaac Toledano sat down with Commercial Observer to discuss housing supply and demand in South Florida, marketing to the luxury buyers, the tariff turmoil, and more.

The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Commercial Observer: There’s a general sense that not enough housing is being built in South Florida to keep up with demand. But I look at your project list, and I see a lot of new activity.

Isaac Toledano: We are very bullish on the South Florida market. We are very active. We have over 30 projects in the pipeline right now. We have over 1,000 units under construction, at prices starting from $1 million and going all the way up to $20 million. We also own some retail and office buildings. We still see tenants coming and coming.

So no slowing or shifting of momentum away from South Florida?

Many analysts and some reporters were a little bit skeptical – they thought the momentum for South Florida was temporary. Guess what? Nobody speaks about COVID anymore, but they’re still speaking about South Florida.

You’re targeting luxury buyers. The stereotype is that those buyers aren’t sensitive to mortgage rates, but they do pay attention to stock market volatility. What sentiment are you seeing?

The beauty of the buyer coming in and buying pre-construction is they don’t need to worry about mortgage rates, because they’re not closing for a couple years. Everybody believes and predicts that rates will go down by the end of 2025 and into 2026. As far as buyers who are sensitive to the stock market roller coaster, they realize they’re better off investing in real estate because it’s real. It doesn’t go up 500 points one day and down 1,000 points the next.

How is the tariff tango affecting your business?

So far, we don’t see any effect. If we see an effect, it’s six to nine months away. President Trump is very smart. He is a former real estate investor and real estate builder. His family is heavily invested in real estate, and I think the last thing President Trump wants is to hurt the real estate economy. I think he’s making a smart negotiation.

You and your wife are partners. Any advice on combining work and personal lives in a productive way?

If there is trust and friendship, you can survive a lot of things. My wife and I are best friends. We have eight kids together and one grandchild.

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