Editor's Note: This is the first of two reports scheduled to be published in consecutive weeks summarizing the presentation by Carlos Rosso, president of the condo development division of the Related Group, at the CondoVultures.com 5th Annual State Of The South Florida Condo Market Seminar On Feb. 27, 2013. A video of the seminar, including Rosso's speech, as well as a copy of the 32-page data packet handout will be available for purchase on CondoVultures.com after the publication of the two-part series.  

With six new condo projects already at various stages of development from Greater Downtown Miami to Hollywood Beach, the Related Group - Florida's most prolific vertical condo developer - is planning to build an additional 10 projects in the South Florida region, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com. 

"I have already bought the elevators for 10 jobs," Carlos Rosso, the president of new condo development division of the Related Group, told a sold out crowd of 200 people at the CondoVultures.com 5th Annual State Of The South Florida Condo Market Seminar on Feb. 27, 2013 at the Met 1 condominium in Greater Downtown Miami. "I have already bought the tonnage of steel in futures for those 10 projects. We have done that. Why? Because we are Related. We can buy in bulk" to achieve attractive discounts on construction materials in a highly competitive industry.  

Rosso added: "If there is one developer that comes to try to compete in any [South Florida] submarket with Related, he is going to have a hard time to match the prices that Related will be able to offer. That gives us a tremendous advantage."

Rosso, who spoke for about 30 minutes about trends in the preconstruction condo market and the Related Group's development strategy, followed a presentation by Peter Zalewski, a principal with the real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC. 

Zalewski's presentation focused on the final 2012 developer condo sales statistics for South Florida's seven largest coastal markets of Greater Downtown Miami, South Beach, Bal Harbour / Surfside / Bay Harbor Islands, Sunny Isles Beach, Aventura, Hollywood / Hallandale Beach, Downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Beach, Pompano Beach, Boca Raton / Deerfield Beach, and Downtown West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Island.

The event was sponsored by The Continental Group, the Miami Association Of Realtors, CVR Realty™, Baker Real Estate, FirstService Residential, Evolution Ventures, and Global Mortgage Funding Corp. 

For the Related Group, the combination of bulk buying of construction materials at reduced prices coupled with acquiring distressed condo development sites in South Florida at big discounts during the real estate crash have placed the firm - headed by billionaire Jorge Perez - in a position to undercut the competition, Rosso said. 

"We think we have a competitive advantage to whoever bought another site at double the land base on a per unit basis," said Rosso, referring to the Related Group's reported $600 million of distressed asset purchases since 2009. "I can still sell a unit at $40,000 or $50,000 less than the competition and be able to make the same profits that the other guy was thinking of making. That is more or less like the chess game that is being played on the real estate side of Miami."         

Competition for buyers of preconstruction condo units is increasing in South Florida as more than 115 towers with nearly 16,000 units have been proposed for the tricounty South Florida region of coastal Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach as of March 9, 2013, according to the Cranespotters.com Preconstruction Condo Projects Database™ compiled by the licensed Florida brokerage CVR Realty™.

Some six years after the South Florida condo market began to stall, one new condo tower has already been completed in the tricounty region and 16 other highrises - Aventura's Bellini At Williams Island; Greater Downtown Miami's 1100 Millecento Residences, Brickell Citicentre (two towers), BrickellHouse, Habitat II,  and MyBrickell projects; Hollywood's Apogee Beach; Key Biscayne's Oceana (two towers); Miami Beach's Faena House Saxony and Residences At Miami Beach Edition; Palm Beach County's 4001 North Ocean project; and Sunny Isles Beach's Chateau Beach, Mansions At Acqualina and Regalia - are under construction as the post-crash development era gains momentum, according to a recent CondoVultures.com report.

The Related Group, for its part, has already proposed nine projects with more than 2,150 units in South Florida, according to CraneSpotters.com.  

In Greater Downtown Miami, the Related Group is proceeding with plans for at least four new towers - 1100 Millecento, SLS Hotel & Residences, ICON Bay, and MyBrickell - with a combined 1,325 condo units in a submarket defined as the Julia Tuttle Causeway south to the Rickenbacker Causeway, and Biscayne Bay west to Interstate 95, according to the Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide To Miami™.

Additionally, the Related Group has proposed five other projects with more than 825 units in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. 

The Related Group has proposed developing One Ocean and a yet-to-be-named project on the TRG-Alaska III site in the South Beach market, the Apogee Beach and Beachwalk in the Hollywood / Hallandale Beach market, and the ICON Palm Beach north of Downtown West Palm Beach, according to Cranespotters.com.

Condo Vultures® LLC is a real estate consultancy and marketing company based in the 225 Midtown Building at 225 NE 34th St., Suite 209B, Downtown Miami, Florida, 33137. Condo Vultures® LLC can be reached at 800-750-0517.