Many condo owners flee while developers are still making big bets on luxury projects
Canadians have long comprised a substantial slice of snowbird tourism in South Florida, and thousands have purchased condos in the area, especially in Broward County. In recent years, however, it’s been the Canadian commercial investors who have made huge investments in luxury properties.
Case in point: Canadian investors are partnering with PMG (Property Markets Group) of Miami in developing one of the most distinctive buildings in the U.S.: the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and Residences Miami. This spectacular building is slated to be the city’s tallest and the highest residential tower south of New York City.
Toronto-based Greybrook Realty Partners and PMG joined forces to develop the iconic hotel and residential tower at 300 Biscayne Blvd. With an estimated completion date of 2028, the 100-story tower will consist of nine unevenly stacked, massive cubes of glass, concrete and metal reaching 1,049 ft. above sea level (1,040 above ground level), the maximum allowable height for Miami. The $668 million construction loan was the biggest for a residential condo project in Florida’s history.
Sasha Cucuz, CEO of Greybrook Securities and Partner in Greybrook Capital, tells Global Miami Magazine that, despite the Trump administration’s recent tariffs on Canadian imports (as well as suggestions that Canada should become our 51st state), “We’re very bullish on continuing to invest in Miami and in Florida. It’s a business-friendly jurisdiction and has a nice cultural mix. There is a particular excitement about the Miami market.”
As for future investments in the U.S., “I would say that for the moment, we have no plans to stop investing or change our investment strategy. We believe the U.S. market is an important one… notwithstanding that we’d like to see relations between Canada and the U.S. get back on the right track.”
Greybrook, with real estate projects worth $40 billion in Canada and the U.S., has partnered with PMG on two other completed luxury projects in Miami: The Elser Hotel & Residences in the downtown, and the X Wynwood, a mixed-use property with rental apartments in Wynwood. In downtown Fort Lauderdale, the two partners also developed Society Las Olas, two multi-residential rental towers. Greybrook estimates the completion value of their South Florida projects with PMG at more than $2.3 billion.
Greybrook is just one of the Canadian developers that have invested – and continue to invest – in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Ottawa-based Claridge Homes is building three new projects in Pompano Beach in Broward County. Claridge, a major builder of homes, condo, and retirement properties in Canada, is developing 3000 Waterside, a 19-story luxury tower with 129 condos on the Intracoastal Waterway. It also plans to erect a 15-story luxury hotel (Courtyard by Marriott) and a 10-story mixed-use condo tower.
Bill Malhotra, founder and CEO of Claridge, tells Global Miami Magazine that he and his family began coming to Florida in the late 1980s, bought some properties in Broward and began developing condos here “as a hobby” while he continued to manage major projects in Canada. One of those was the 16-story Sonata Beach Club in Pompano Beach, finished in 2008.
A regular on Forbes’ annual list of billionaires, Malhotra divides his year by spending six months in Ottawa and six months in Pompano Beach. While Malhotra did not provide a firm figure on Claridge’s current capital outlays, he says it runs into the tens of millions of dollars. “We use our own capital, 100%,” he says. “No financing.”
Other Canadian companies active in the South Florida real estate market include:
- H&R REIT of Toronto, which is partnering with Coral Gables-based Urban-X to develop a $452 million mixed-use project at River Landing along the Miami River. The first phase of the project, a retail section, is already operating.
- The Jesta Group of Montreal acquired Shuckers Waterfront Bar & Grill and the abutting Best Western in North Bay Village in 2016 for $16 million, and earlier this year sold the properties to the Continuum Company of New York for $75 million.
- Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management bought the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina Hotel in 2018 for $170.6 million and last year sold the 1,000-room Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood for a reported $850 million.
- A group owned by Montreal developers Efstathios Tsatas and Nicolas Tsatas paid $9.5 million for a site in Pompano Beach to build a 21-story condo-hotel. This is their second project in the city.
Lisa Colon, an attorney and expert in real estate development and construction, tells Global Miami Magazine that the current tariffs on construction inputs from Canada will have little impact on the luxury side of the spectrum. While the National Association of Home Builders estimates that the cost of building a single-family home could rise by $7,500 to $10,000, “High-end developments often have larger budgets and profit margins, allowing them to absorb increased material costs more effectively than mid-range projects,” says Colon, a partner at Saul Ewing LLP in Miami.
WHAT ABOUT CANADIAN HOME BUYERS?
In terms of home purchases, Canada continues to rank as one of the top three sources. It is not clear, however, if they will continue to play a key role in purchasing residential properties for seasonal living, retirement, and rentals – for economic reasons as much as the cooling of U.S./Canada relations.
In its 2024 profile of international buyers of residential real estate in South Florida, the Miami Association of Realtors® and Florida Realtors® reported that overall sales exceeded $3.1 billion from buyers in 49 countries (Miami-Dade County $2.3 billion; Broward $584 million; Palm Beach $94 million).
The 2024 profile, which was carried out prior to Trump tariffs on Canada, and showed that Canadians — from both French- and English-speaking provinces — invested $303 million in existing South Florida residences (mostly condos), accounting for 8 percent of all foreign buyers. They were in third place, following Argentina (#1) and Colombia (#2).
But with soaring increases in condo fees following the 2021 collapse of the Surfside condominium, plus a weak Canadian dollar and surging costs for homeowner insurance, condo assessments, and property taxes, South Florida real estate agents report that more Canadians are now selling condos than buying them.
“The two [previous] years [2022 and 2023] were super, with people buying and selling condos,” says Manon Nadeau, a real estate agent based in Coral Springs who works with many Canadians, mostly French-speaking. “But 2024 [was] different … people were mostly selling,” says the Quebec native who works with CENTURY 21 Tenace Realty and covers Broward County. “Condo fees, taxes and insurance are going up and this is affecting many retirees. Some people have to sell and try to rent if they want to stay, or they have to go somewhere else.” Nadeau mostly handles properties in the $100,000 to $400,000 range.
Linda S. Hoyt, another bilingual realtor who works with Canadian clients, has seen a major change in the condo market. “With higher reserves mandated after the Surfside condo collapse, plus rising property taxes and insurance premiums, the condo market has definitely taken a hit,” says Hoyt, who works with ONE Sotheby’s International Realty in Fort Lauderdale; she handles properties from $100,000 to $3.5 million. “The current situation is pricing a lot of people out of the market, especially older people on fixed incomes.”
While Florida remains a highly attractive place for Canadians seeking residences, vacation homes, or rental properties, it is not clear how they will react to the unfriendly climate created by the Trump administration. Many may decide to go elsewhere or stay at home.
Following the announcement of the tariff hikes, Canadian airlines serving U.S. destinations cut their seating capacity. According to a study by Visual Approach Analytics, by the beginning of April, flights to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International were down 20 percent from January, to Fort Myers by 30 percent, and to Palm Beach by 43 percent.
“Canadians have been buying condos and homes in Broward since the 1950s and 1960s,” Malhotra says. “It has become a tradition to be around other Canadian friends here.” Under the current chill in U.S.-Canadian relations, it remains to be seen if this tradition continues.
