Barry Sternlicht and Jeffrey DiModica.
Barry Sternlicht and Jeffrey DiModica
Co-founder, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group; president of Starwood Property Trust
Starwood (STWD) Capital Group recently unveiled its brand spanking new office at 2340 Collins Avenue, but when it comes to putting down serious roots in Miami, it’s an O.G.
Seeing the draws of the city during the recovery following the Global Financial Crisis, the firm bought the Gansevoort Miami South Beach in 2012, reopened it in 2015 as the 1 Hotel South Beach — the first property under the 1 Hotels brand — and later sold it for a tidy profit in 2019.
The firm’s fearless leader, Barry Sternlicht, moved from Connecticut to Miami in 2016, Starwood’s headquarters followed in 2018, and the rest is history. Today the billionaire’s impressive empire-building is accompanied by a warm ocean breeze and, heck, probably a glass of freshly squeezed OJ with a side of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Having invested in more than $240 billion of real estate properties since its founding in 1991, the firm prides itself on its multi-cylinder approach to investing, pivoting between asset classes depending on market conditions, and playing up and down the capital stack.
Holding the debt side down in Miami is Jeff DiModica, who heads Starwood Property Trust, the largest commercial commercial mortgage real estate investment trust in the U.S. today. The lender consistently ranks in the top 10 of Commercial Observer’s Power Finance list, and racked up $15.9 billion in originations in the year ending April 2022.
Starwood’s reach expands far outside the Sunshine State, of course. The behemoth has amassed more than $120 billion in assets under management, with 4,500 employees in 16 offices across the globe and a diversified portfolio that would make most investors green with envy.
Despite predicting that a recession will hit in the third or fourth quarter of this year, Sternlicht isn’t slowing down.
In fact, the firm recently announced two big launches: Starwood Impact Investors, an investment platform that will target women- and minority-owned and -operated real estate opportunities, and Field & Stream, a new outdoor-focused hotel brand the firm will lead alongside partner AJ Capital Partners.—C.C.
