As Ritz-Carlton Residences opens on Bayshore, Miami's condo king Jorge Perez says synagogue site is still in play
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: May 17, 2024

Miami's condo king believes the Ritz-Carlton Residences on Bayshore Boulevard has ushered in a new era of luxury real estate for the Tampa Bay region — and he sees room for more.

The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Tampa, has officially opened on the site of the former Bay Oaks apartment complex. A second phase of the Ritz, which will add 94 condos and six townhouse-style villas, is under construction on the site. While the property bears the Ritz-Carlton flag, it is strictly residential; the development has no hotel component.

Jorge Perez, founder, chairman, and CEO of Related Group, gestures around a first-floor lounge at the Ritz-Carlton: The marble. The built-in shelves. The art. All of it, he says, is evidence of a new level of luxury — not to mention the on-call service of a Ritz-Carlton concierge.

"I wanted to find what I felt was an important piece of land where I could do something that has never been seen in Tampa," Perez told the Tampa Bay Business Journal. "The luxury buildings here — we wouldn't call them luxury buildings."

Related, which Perez founded in 1979, has built and managed more than 100,000 residential units, mostly in its hometown of Miami (Perez considers Tampa Related's second biggest market outside of South Florida). The developer entered Tampa in 2013 with Pierhouse, a midrise complex in the Channel district, and soon became known as a pioneer in this market. Related broke ground on the 21-story Icon Harbour Island (now Olympus Harbour Island) in 2014 — a time when luxury high-rise apartments seemed too ambitious for Tampa. Perez and his team were also behind the redevelopment of the Tampa Tribune into what is now Arabelle Riverwalk.

The Ritz-Carlton has already set a record: The $11.6 million sale of its unfinished penthouse is the most expensive condo ever sold in Tampa. And if Perez has his way, there are more records to come.

"Would I build a 300-unit, super luxury condominium in Tampa? Absolutely not," Perez said. "This (the Ritz-Carlton) is the right size, 100 units per building. Do I think there's room in Tampa for other properties like this one? The answer is absolutely yes. And we are a market leader."

That includes a property less than a half-mile from the Ritz-Carlton Residences: the preschool at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, where Related wants to build a luxury condo tower. Tampa City Council has twice denied rezoning requests for the project, in May 2023 and in February 2024. In between hearings, Related reduced the project to 26 stories and 42 units from 29 stories and 60 units.

The February hearing lasted until the wee hours, and dozens of speakers turned out to oppose the redevelopment. But Related isn't deterred, Perez said, and plans to try again.

"This project will be done regardless of whether I do it or the next guy does it," Perez said. "So I find that it is very, very shortsighted, particularly since we are greatly reducing the density. We've done everything, I think, that the city has asked."

Has he considered suing the city over the denial? He wouldn't be the first: The property home to condo tower Hyde Park House, at Bayshore Boulevard and South Howard Avenue, cost the city millions in a 2012 legal settlement after city council repeatedly denied the previous developer's plans for the site.

But Perez says that's not his style.

"I'm not a litigious person. I haven't even thought of that," he said. "I'm optimistic that with a new plan, and taking into consideration everything that they've told us that they want, we're going to give them, that they're going to say, 'This is a great job.' If they don't, I don't know. We probably would just walk."

Regardless of what happens with the synagogue property, Related has a full slate of projects lined up in Tampa, from the Riverwalk district on the west bank of the Hillsborough River to Rome Yard. And he's looking at more sites, from a waterfront property in Tampa to a "large piece of land in St. Petersburg we think would be a fantastic project."

Perez declined to identify either site, citing ongoing negotiations. But he's as bullish as ever on Tampa Bay.

"We're seeing not only people but companies moving (to Florida from New York)," he said. "I think the two places in Florida that they'll pick are South Florida and the Tampa/St. Petersburg area. We're betting heavily that these two areas will be the high-growth areas. And that's why South Florida is our first market, and Tampa is definitely our second market."