Dan Kodsi

Daniel Kodsi had a lot of bad conversations in 2023. Tough. Disappointing to anyone looking for capital. But no surprise to the developer who has headed Royal Palm Companies since 1991. Kodsi also owns and runs the private equity real estate investment firm Participant Capital.  

Back in 2021, when some were high-fiving over stimulus-created hyper liquidity and the related opportunity to inflate prices, Kodsi was thinking about fool’s gold and how hard the market swings. He was thinking about zoning, permits, construction, and everything that makes real estate a long game.

“People who understand the business know that when there’s that much of a liquid market it’s time to sell. It’s time to go the opposite of where the capital is going,” said Kodsi. 

He took his advice literally. Famous for buildings that define the Miami skyline, including the 58-story Paramount Worldcenter and the under-construction 50-story Legacy Hotel and Residences, Kodsi shifted his focus to garden-style apartments. To the perplexed he responded: Garden apartments always make sense. They’re one of the safest asset classes. The only thing that will be able to be financed in a bad market is garden apartments, and multifamily in general.

Sure enough, this April, Royal Palm, in partnership with the Mattoni Group, secured an $86 million construction financing package — everything from senior loans to limited partner equity — for a new 420-unit multifamily complex north of Orlando in Sanford, Fla. 

Foresight is rewarding, and this year’s conversations are better as capital loosens up a bit, but what really makes Kodsi smile is that his teenage daughters still want to hang out with him. Tough conversations, he says to other dads, are how to stay in the room.