In the wake of the Great Recession, Miami's still-hot condominium construction sector was one of the first few markets in the country to boom. When this second wave of luxury condo projects began taking off a few years ago, it took many people by surprise, who thought that the city's multifamily sector was still overbuilt from the previous boom.

Of course, not everyone was caught off-guard, including several South Florida residential developers, and especially Related Group of Florida. Long considered the region's most prominent condo developer—the company calls itself the "nation's leading builder of luxury condominiums"—Related is widely credited with leading this second wave of high-rise residential development, despite the fact that few construction loans were being provided for South Florida condo projects at the time.

Also, according to Dodge Data & Analytics' database ranking of owners in the four-state Southeast region, Related ranks as the #1 project owner that is not either a state transportation department, an energy utility or a single-family housing developer.

And for good reason. The Miami-based multifamily developer’s projects are numerous, including the $283-million Hyde Park Resort; the $250-million Brickell Heights; the $200-million Paraiso Bay condo; the $140-million SLS Brickell Hotel; $118-million Icon Bay; the $105M Millecento Residences by Pininfarina; and many others.

Additionally, the company’s chairman and CEO, Jorge Perez, is well-known for his philanthropic contributions to the Miami community, having providing funding for the recently completed Perez Art Museum Miami. and, less recently, the Jorge M. Perez Architecture Center at the University of Miami.

For these reasons, ENR Southeast announces Related Group as this year's Southeast Owner of the Year. We'll publish more information about Related in the March 23 print edition of ENR Southeast.