Miami Condo King Jorge Perez Raises Sights With New High-Rises

Submitted by Anonymous on May 11, 2011 - 8:57am

Amid a glut of 5,000 unsold condominiums in Miami, developer Jorge Perez is doubling down.

Betting that buyers from Latin America and Europe will lead the South Florida real-estate market out of its funk, Perez has been snapping up distressed properties and buying new sites for development, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Perez's Related Group is expected to close this week on a deal to buy the Omni International Mall complex downtown. It includes a 500-room Hilton hotel and a 420,000-square-foot office complex.

But Perez's spending spree isn't impressing everyone. Buyers seeking to get their deposits back from stalled Perez projects say the condo magnate has pleaded poverty.

"Before they start building again, I want my 200 grand back," Joseph Ferrelli, a buyer at Perez's Trump Towers in Sunny Isles Beach, told the Journal.

Comments are now closed.