Jorge, Jon Paul, Nicholas Pérez

What’s $500 million to the Related Group, Miami’s largest condominium developer? Nothing to fret about.

Earlier this year, the developer, along with a partner, offered the figure to buy an ocean-front condominium in Miami Beach. The spending spree would only continue from there since the developers plan to tear down the property, which sits on four acres, and build an ultra-luxury project in its wake.

Sure, it’s Related’s biggest acquisition to date for something that amounts to just land. But “from a pure square-footage size, it’s actually relatively small. You’re talking about 100 units versus building a three-tower project all at once,” Jon Paul Pérez said.

Pérez’s blasé reaction speaks to the firm’s dominance in South Florida, even as the region has become one of the hottest markets in the country, if not the world. In 2020, Related sold out of $600 million in inventory. The following year, the company outdid itself, selling $900 million worth of condo units and $1.3 billion in multifamily assets.

Related is now aggressively developing and launching both low- and high-end projects with 31,000 units in the development pipeline as of late April, totaling $13 billion.

Despite other renowned developers chasing deals in the Sunshine State, the Pérezes aren’t worried. “We welcome the competition. We think we’re better not just because we have incredible people, but also we have incredible knowledge of this market,” said Jorge Pérez, Related’s founder. (The patriarch plans to cede control of the company to his two sons, Jon Paul and Nicholas Pérez, in the coming years.)

Related isn’t limiting itself to South Florida. It’s growing throughout the Southeast. For example, in Tampa, 85 percent of units for one luxury condo project were sold before construction even began. Related is unlikely to stop with the Southeast.

“We’d like to be known as the largest developer in the country,” added Nicholas Pérez.