The Argentine touch converges with an iconic New York brand
As Manuel Grosskopf tells it, Château Group has always had a knack for anticipating what consumers want – even before they know it themselves. Manuel’s father Sergio, who founded the development company in Buenos Aires, debuted the city’s first modern shopping malls, including the Alto Palermo shopping center, located in the coveted Palermo neighborhood.
Manuel explains that sophisticated malls were unheard of in Argentina until Château Group introduced them in the 1990s. “We were the ones that brought in the concept,” he says. “Back then, there was only the main street, but not malls with all the benefits of security, climate control, dining, amusement parks, and other amenities.”
With local offices in Aventura, just north of Miami, Château Group began building in South Florida decades later. The Grosskopfs’ marquee properties include its namesake Château Beach Residences in Sunny Isles Beach, and, more importantly, the Fendi Château Residences in Surfside. The firm considers that project, branded with a global fashion company, another showcase of Château Group’s groundbreaking spirit – both for the project’s unlikely location and for the prestigious nature of the Fendi/Château Group partnership.
“We consider ourselves the pioneers in Surfside in 2011 and 2012,” Manuel says. “When we bought property in Surfside, there was no major development going on at that time. After what we accomplished, Four Seasons and others came into the picture.” (The Four Seasons opened its Surfside hotel at the historic Surf Club in 2017.) Now the Château Group is developing another Fendi residence – this time, in the resort city of Punta del Este, Uruguay, which Manuel calls “the St. Tropez of South America.”
TAKING SUNNY ISLES DEVELOPMENT TO NEW HEIGHTS
Now Manuel Grosskopf is launching a joint development with fellow Argentine Edgardo Defortuna, the prolific CEO of Fortune International Group, riding further the branded-residence trend. “We believe in adapting to what the buyers are looking for: branded projects, and very high-end architects and interior designers,” says Grosskopf. This time it will be The St. Regis Residences, Sunny Isles Beach, the latest in a veritable parade of branded luxury condos, like The Porsche Design Tower in Sunny Isles Beach (completed in 2017) and the Aston Martin Residences in downtown (completed 2024).
For the Argentine duo this is not new territory. The two formerly developed and sold out The Ritz-Carlton Residences, also on Sunny Isles Beach. But the St. Regis Residences aims to attain new heights. The two-tower oceanfront condominium, once complete, will rank as the tallest in Sunny Isles Beach. Construction on the South Tower is underway, and nearly 90% sold, including the duplex penthouse purchased for $55 million by an undisclosed Brazilian buyer. The North Tower is 30% sold, with the dual towers’ combined sell-out expected to approach $3 billion.
St. Regis is a heady and historic brand, to say the least. The original 18-story Beaux Arts landmark hotel was developed on a conspicuous corner of Fifth Avenue by John Jacob Astor IV just after the turn of the twentieth century. Astor, one of the wealthiest men in the world, went down with the Titanic in 1912, when he was just 47 years old. But he left behind, in what was arguably Manhattan’s first luxury hotel, the St. Regis’ signature amenities: its renowned butler service and iconic afternoon tea. Both traditions will carry on at The St. Regis Residences, Sunny Isles Beach.
