Lessons - How One Family Reshaped Miami's Skyline | Gil Dezer - President of Dezer Development ($4B+ in Sales)

Summary

Success Story with Scott D. Clary

Episode: Lessons - How One Family Reshaped Miami's Skyline | Gil Dezer - President of Dezer Development

Original Release: March 30, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Scott D. Clary sits down with Gil Dezer, President of Dezer Development, to explore how the Dezer family reshaped Miami’s skyline through innovation in luxury real estate. The conversation dives deep into the power of strategic branding partnerships (with names like Trump, Porsche, and Armani), the impact of innovative amenities (like the world-famous car elevator), and how external factors—such as COVID-19 and shifts in global wealth—have accelerated Miami’s transformation as a luxury destination. Gil Dezer offers candid insights, tactical lessons, and memorable anecdotes from the frontlines of real estate development.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Power of Branding in Luxury Real Estate

[02:09 – 05:41]

• Brand Collaborations as Differentiators
  • Gil discusses how partnering with globally recognized brands like Trump and Porsche propelled new projects:

    “The Trump got me addicted to the branding. I realized that we get tremendous amounts of press without having to pay for it. That’s where I realized that this branding thing is a great way to… you know, a project starts, they call themselves Wind… Who’s going to know about it? … With Trump, I said to myself, why… we don’t need to create brands. We can associate with brands.” — Gil Dezer [02:09]

• Why Porsche?
  • Gil explains that as a huge Porsche fan (owning 17 cars himself), he was excited for the partnership, yet aware of the challenge:

    “What does Porsche have to do with real estate? How do you incorporate Porsche into real estate? And my father was one who piped up and said, we need to put a car elevator in the building.” — Gil Dezer [02:50]

The Innovation: Car Elevators & Unique Amenities

[03:40 – 05:41]

• Aha Moment with the Car Elevator
  • The idea: Integrate a car elevator that allows residents to park their vehicles in sky-high, in-unit garages.

    “We sat there with an architect and said, hey, how do we put a car in a garage? … We found out that by putting the garages up there, it doesn’t take away from the [floor area ratio]. … Let’s give these people some free space… Since it’s free to us, it’s free to them.” — Gil Dezer [04:08]

• Marketing & Buyer Appeal
  • The amenity was marketed successfully: “We sold the entire apartment where my neighbors were selling at $1,200 a square foot, I was selling at $1,200 a square foot too. However, I was selling the entire square footage, the apartment and the garage… People wanted it… especially South Americans and celebrities… They saw a way of privacy of getting into their apartment… without having to go through a lobby.” — Gil Dezer [04:52]
  • Gil adds, tongue-in-cheek:

    “Everybody has their Picasso on their walls. F*** Picasso. I want my $25 million Ferrari GTO in my living room.” [05:42]

Privacy, Lifestyle, and the “House in the Sky”

[05:41 – 07:30]

• Meeting Market Desires
  • High privacy, unique amenities (private pools on every balcony, in-unit dining, etc.):

    “This is a building where you never have to leave your unit if you want to be a hermit. You have everything you need.” — Gil Dezer [06:30]

• Global Influence & Expansion
  • Inspired by international developments (Armani Hotel in Dubai), Gil pursued collaborations with luxury brands like Armani and Lalique for his Miami projects.

Navigating External Events: COVID-19 Impact

[08:29 – 12:33]

• Timing & Market Response
  • The Armani Casa building opened just before the pandemic; their high-profile launch (with Pitbull performing) was impacted as COVID-19 hit:

    “End of 2019, we had our opening party March 7th of 2020… Amazing party… And already the Italians from Armani told us we can’t come to the party because COVID was starting to happen.” — Gil Dezer [08:29]

• Sales Freeze and Rapid Comeback
  • Sales stalled during lockdown, but by October 2021, the remaining units sold out in a matter of months.

The Miami Effect: Influx of Wealth & Cultural Shifts After COVID

[12:33 – 15:11]

• Miami Attracts New Money
  • On why Miami thrived post-pandemic:

    “Everybody else is closed and you’re open. You’re going to get the business, right? … DeSantis took a risk and it paid off.” — Gil Dezer [13:20]

  • Safety and stability, compared to other major US cities:

    “We didn’t have any of that BS going on of rioting… The police here take it seriously… They’re strong and they don’t mess around. And that created a real safe environment… It was COVID and it was safe, and it was a reason to come down.” — Gil Dezer [13:59]

• Changing Demographics of Luxury Buyers
  • The pandemic shifted buyer profiles, especially as wealthy buyers from NY and LA arrived:

    “We used to get a lot of South Americans… The market today is rough because the exchange rates… What happened specifically was, there was a lot of people coming for a small amount of inventory on the high end… Bidding wars… But at the end of the day they still got a deal, a 30% discount to New York… They won.” — Gil Dezer [15:33]

• Inventory, Demand, and Cost Challenges
  • Despite higher sales, profits are squeezed by rising costs (especially insurance and labor):

    “Although we’re selling for more money, we’re not making more money… Unfortunately, costs went up in ratio and even actually higher than the cost per square foot… Labor moved up a good 40-50%.” — Gil Dezer [17:20]

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Memorable Quotes

• “Why create a brand when you can associate with a brand?” — Gil Dezer [02:30]
• “The coolest thing in the world is your car in your living room… Two cars in your living room.” — Gil Dezer [05:00]
• “Everybody has their Picasso… F*** Picasso. I want my $25 million Ferrari GTO in my living room.” — Gil Dezer [05:42]
• “This is a building where you never have to leave your unit if you want to be a hermit.” — Gil Dezer [06:30]
• “Everybody else is closed and you’re open, you’re going to get the business, right? … That’s exactly what happened.” — Gil Dezer [13:20]
• “Although we’re selling for more money, we’re not making more money… Labor moved up a good 40-50% from where it used to be.” — Gil Dezer [17:20]

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Important Timestamps

• 02:09: Why strategic brand partnerships drive luxury real estate
• 03:40: Genesis and implementation of the Porsche car elevator concept
• 05:41: Unique amenities create differentiation and buyer loyalty
• 08:29: COVID-19’s immediate impact on Miami launch events and sales
• 12:33: Post-pandemic influx of wealth and Miami’s unique market conditions
• 15:33: Demographic shifts, bidding wars, shifting market fundamentals
• 17:20: The challenge of rising construction and labor costs despite higher sales

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Final Thoughts

This episode offers an inside look at how vision, branding, and timing were engineered to reshape not only Miami’s skyline but also the city’s reputation as a haven for global luxury. Gil Dezer’s candid, energetic delivery provides both inspiration and practical lessons for anyone interested in real estate, branding, or innovative entrepreneurship.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Yeah. So, you know, I can answer that question in four different steps. First step was, yeah, the Trump got me addicted to the branding. I realized that we get tremendous amounts of press without having to pay for it. That's where I realized that this branding thing is a great way to, you know, a project starts, they call themselves Wind, right? Or sun or Rise or whatever stupid name they come up with. Who's going to know about it. It doesn't say where you are, it doesn't say what you are. It doesn't even say, you know, you just. And so that developer is going to spend millions of dollars promoting that brand. And then what happens when the building's over, it's gone, right? And he spent all that money to create what is this building? And then he's. And he sold out and is done. We said, well, why? You know, when. When I. When I realized the Trump effect and how positive that was, I said to myself, why? Why? You know, we don't need to create brands. We can associate with brands. And that's what we did. So now when Porsche came and they were looking for something to do, at first, I was like, I'm a huge Porsche fan. I. I don't know if you know, but I'm a huge. I have one on my wall in my house. I have about. I think I have 17 Porsches that I own from all different ranges, old ones, new ones, and everything in between. So I'm a huge Porsche fan. So I was chomping at the bit when. When they said, hey, let's do a building. But then we all sat there in the rooms and asked the same exact question. What does Porsche have to do with real estate? How do you incorporate Porsche into real estate? And my father was one who piped up and said, we need to put a car elevator in the building.

[A]

Oh, I see. That's the connection.

[B]

That's the connection. He said, we need to put a car elevator in the building and make it. Make it a car building. And the idea at first was like, you know, I don't know. But we had to start thinking about it. And then as we started to look at it and. And we sat there with an architect and said, hey, how do we put a car in a garage? And then we started reading the zoning code. That's when we had the aha moment. The aha moment was that garages in the units above 24ft high do not affect your far. Your floor area ratio, which means your sellable square feet, which means a given site. Porsche, for example, had a maximum salable square footage by far, by code, of 525,000 square feet, which is already a big building. We found out that by putting the garages up there, it doesn't take away from the 525,000ft. So we took the philosophy of, hey, let's give these people some free space. You know, since it's free to us, it's free. To them. And, and so our marketing efforts, we sold the entire apartment where my neighbors were selling at twelve hundred dollars a square foot. I was selling at twelve hundred a square foot too. However, I was selling the entire square footage, the apartment and the garage. So where you had a unit that was 5,000 square feet total that we were selling for 1200 or 6 million dollar price point, that unit was, was actually 3,500 square feet interior. And we disclosed it. We didn't trick anybody. We didn't do. But it's because I was able to sell the garage space as part of the unit. And the answer was people wanted it. You know, if you didn't want it, there was a lot of people. We said, hey, this is not for you. Why do I need my car in my living room? What if it's dirty? This is not for you. Go next door. Go someplace else. But then we did. We found a group of people saying especially South Americans and celebrities. You see, I did it. I wanted the car. I thought the coolest thing in the world is your car in your living room. Two cars in your living room.

[A]

It's very cool.

[B]

Everybody has their Picasso on their walls. Fuck Picasso. I want my $25 million Ferrari GTO in my living room. Right? In a Porsche building or in any branded building because, like, the brand really didn't matter. So. So that was my goal. But when the buyer saw it and the South Americans and celebrities saw it, they saw something completely different, which I didn't even notice or pay attention to. They saw a way of getting home without seeing anybody or asking for assistance. They saw a way of privacy of getting into their apartment, going up to their apartment and inside their unit without having to go through a lobby, without having to say hello to anybody. And it really made it like a single family home. And so that's where the units started selling like crazy. Because people like the idea of having a house in the sky, and it was a real privacy. Every other condo sells house in the sky because they have an outdoor barbecue. That's, you know, bullshit in my opinion. We did. We did not just the outdoor barbecue. I put swimming pools on every balcony so you didn't have to go downstairs. You know, I have the car elevator in the unit. We have a restaurant in the building that orders room service. So this is a. This is a building where you never have to leave your unit if you want to be a hermit. You have everything you need in your house, in your house in this cot. And. And it took so well to the market that it Sold and resold and resold. And we're still doing resells right now. I mean, and then so from there we. I was on a trip to, in. In Dubai and I stayed at the Burj Khalifa at the Armani Hotel. And I saw this Armani thing and I'm like, how come we don't have this in America? You know? And so I contacted the Armani guys and I said, listen, I'm the brand new guy in the United States. Nobody else is doing what I'm doing at the time. You know, since then they've all copied me. But no, nobody's doing what I'm doing. I did, I did the Trump buildings. I'm doing Porsche now. Let's. Let's see what we can do with this one. And so I had also signed up Lalique, the glass company, to do a project with them. Unfortunately, nothing has happened with there, but I did have them as a brand signed up. So I went to Armani, I said, look, I'm your guy. Let's do a project. And signed them up. And that's where the residence by Armani Casa came from, which was $960 million bill and sold out. And that was where we finished that right before the pandemic. I started selling that in 2016. We finished it in 2019. End of 2019, we had our opening party March 7th of 2020. We had Pitbull come and sing to the crowd. Amazing party. Maybe 2,000, 3,000 people at the party. And then the. And already the Italians from Armani told us we can't come to the party because Covid was starting to happen.

[A]

Covid is already starting over there. Yeah.

[B]

And it's March 7th, March4, 14th lockdowns. So, you know, we had, at that time, we had 20% still left to sell in Armani. We'd sold 80%, closed 80%. And then. And then the lockdowns happened and we didn't know what the hell was going to happen. We thought having this huge party with Pitbull will make a lot of noise as we do, and we'll sell out the rest of the units. So that didn't happen. But then, so Covid, we were kind of stuck. We didn't sell anything. But at the same time we had paid off our loan. So we weren't like with a gun to our head. This is all profit. We're sitting there. So it was fine. We just had to pay maintenance on the units, carry the units, not a problem. And then towards the 2001, sorry, 20, 21 October 21, I remember the world kind of opened up and that's when we just. We sold everything. Between October and January, we sold.

[A]

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[B]

Last 20% in three months.

[A]

So what happened to the world? Even the South Florida world, the Miami world, the Aventura, the Sunny Isles? What happened to that world after Covid? Because I find it's just been absolute chaos. In a good way. For this, for. For this. I mean, I'm down here because of it. Yeah, Right.

[B]

So it was, it was, it was chaotic in many places. I mean, you know, really draconian going on over there. People getting arrested for not wearing masks. And, and, you know, and that wasn't happening here, you know, and that's where. And the word got out. Hey, Miami's open. It's not happening there. You know, and the word really got out. And, and, and, you know, they taught us this in university. It was the prisoner's dilemma. You heard about the prisoner's dilemma?

[A]

You remember that a little bit? Yeah, I do.

[B]

The simplest, shortest form of prisoner's dilemma is everybody else is closed and you're open. You're going to get the business right. Yeah. That's the shortest way of figuring out that prison dilemma. And that's exactly what happened, you know, so everybody else was closed. We were open for business. And, you know, DeSantis took a risk and it paid off for him, and it all worked out, you know, so I got Covid twice. It was nothing. It was a flu. I also think the climate here in Florida, because it was. It was warmer. It didn't, you know, it didn't cause the COVID as much.

[A]

Well, people are outdoors too. They're not all grouped in tiny rooms and whatnot. All winter, like at some places up north. I think that helps.

[B]

Right? And then. And then the other part that brought people here was. And I. And I really applaud the police force in all of Miami, Sunny Isles especially, but all of Miami. There was none of that BS going on of rioting that was happening around the country. Where things started, they shut it down real quick. I remember they're burning cop cars all over the place. There was one police car burned in Miami kind of thing that day. We didn't have those issues. We didn't have crime issues or. I mean, we always have crime issues. Right. But the police here take it seriously. There's no defunding going on here. There's none of that stuff. They took it seriously, and they're strong and they don't mess around. And, you know, and that created a real safe environment for everybody, you know, so it was Covid and it was safe, and it was a reason to come down. I mean, there's so many places in America that turned to shit over the George Floyd and everything else that, you know, it was. It's really scary, to be honest with you. So I gotta say, more luck than brains that were here. You know, I mean, for us, I can't say that we. We knew that was going to happen, but we happen to be in the right place at the right time with respect to after Covid and. And so that's clearing the way. And now as far as real estate in the United States, I think we're one of the few markets that are

[A]

still popping, you know, what happened? So what did you see post Covid, you had money moving down from New York, you had money moving from probably L. A, probably some of la, Went to Vegas too. Talk to me about the influx of. Yeah, talk about the influx of cash. What people are starting to pay. Do you think this is going to maintain? Like, when you build your next build, what are you expecting in terms of buyers that have moved down here now?

[B]

Well, definitely the demographic has changed. We used to Get a lot of South Americans where the South American. The market today is rough because the exchange rates. So that's. So they're not there. But what happened specifically was, you know, there was a lot of people coming for a small amount of inventory on the high end. Right? That's what you heard about. And the small amount of inventory on the high end had to continue to go up based on the bidding wars that these people created amongst themselves. And at the end of the day they still got a deal because whatever they bought, spending too much money is still, you know, a 30% discount to new York as to what they're paying over there. So, you know, and they're on the waterfront in a tax free environment. I mean, they won. They won. They did, right. You know, so. But what happened was the market went crazy because there was only a certain amount of homes and a tremendous amount of buyers. And it didn't. And like I said, it affected us in that we sold out 60 Armani units in 90 days, you know, which is kind of like pretty fast, you know, but in, in the pre construction game, which we're in, it kind of rising tide raises ships, but didn't raise the pre construction ship because everybody wanted something now. And so anybody who was selling today got a premium on what they were selling. But then they couldn't replace it because everything else went up. So the pre, the pre construction game was, is a slow and steady kind of turtle that wins. It's designed for people who are planning to the future because these buildings are already for three, four years and somebody who likes to pay as you go, so to speak. I mean our 50% deposits, we take in 10% increments, five payments over the course of four years. So that makes it comfortable for a buyer for somebody who wants to, you know, slowly move the money out of the country. Those, those things are, you know, that's where the pre construction market goes. So where the market went crazy, we got the benefit of the higher price per square foot on, on what things were selling. And we were able to sell at a higher price per square foot. But then of course costs went up. So you know, although we're selling for more money, we're not making more money. You know, unfortunately costs went up in ratio and even actually higher than, than the cost per square foot. And then stupid costs are still happening. Insurance, insurance is like completely out of control. You know, concrete and construction materials are getting back in control, but labor has gone out of control. Labor moved up a good 40, 50% from where it used to be pre pandemic, so labor rates, so, so there's still more expensive stuff that you know, and it's costing more expensive. So we're selling for more, costing more, trying to make a spread. That's, that's the name of our game, you know.

[A]

Thanks for tuning in. If you found this valuable, don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode. And if you want to dive deeper into this conversation, check out the links in the description to watch the full episode. See you in the next one.