Scott Weiner

Apollo Global Management opened a Miami office only in 2021, but the private equity giant has quickly made a name for itself in the Sunshine State.

The company led by Marc Rowan put its massive pocketbook to use by funding some headline-grabbing deals around South Florida in the past year. For starters, there’s the $307 million in construction financing Apollo provided to Related Group and Dezer Development for their 10-story Rosewood Hotels & Resorts-branded luxury condominium project on the Hillsboro Beach oceanfront.

Sticking with the Rosewood brand, there’s also the $234 million in construction financing Apollo lent to The Ronto Group and Wheelock Street Capital for the 42-unit Rosewood Residences Naples condo building under construction in Naples.

The list goes on, with Apollo lending $172 million in construction financing to Apartment Investment and Management Company for the 144-unit The Hamilton residential tower in Miami; teaming with RXR to provide $114 million in permanent financing for Cymbal DLT Companies’ newly built Laguna Gardens apartment building in Miami Gardens; and an affiliate of Apollo lending $112.5 million for Faropoint to refinance a 2.97 million-square-foot logistics portfolio that includes two West Palm Beach warehouses.

The majority of activity flew through Apollo’s $60 billion real estate credit platform, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, which is led by Scott Weiner, its chief investment officer.

And, while Apollo did plenty in South Florida over the past year, a quick look outside the state affirms just what a massive real estate player the company remains. In February, it purchased real estate investment firm Bridge Investment Group, which specializes in residential and industrial properties and has $50 billion in assets, in a $1.5 billion, all-stock transaction. 

Then there’s the asset du jour — data centers — with Apollo reportedly in talks to lead an investor group to provide roughly $35 billion in financing to social media giant Meta Platforms for a major data center project. 

With all that activity, it’s no wonder Apollo ended 2024 with $751 billion in assets under management, a 15 percent year-over-year increase, and $1.4 billion in net income for the fourth quarter alone.