{"id":217537,"date":"2026-04-03T14:13:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T14:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/217537\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T14:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T14:13:10","slug":"south-florida-real-estate-power-players-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/217537\/","title":{"rendered":"South Florida Real Estate Power Players List"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Real Deal\u2019s Top 100 in South Florida highlights the developers, financiers and brokers who transformed the region from resort market to global capital hub<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the foundation is Jorge M. P\u00e9rez<\/a>, whose Related Group has defined Miami\u2019s condo boom for decades and adapted its model after the 2008 crash<\/a> reshaped preconstruction risk. In Sunny Isles, Gil Dezer turned luxury auto brands into residential skyscrapers, proving that experiential branding can command oceanfront premiums.<\/p>\n

The migration north tells the next chapter. Stephen Ross is remaking downtown West Palm Beach into \u201cWall Street South,\u201d<\/a> while Ken Griffin<\/a> accelerated the shift with a billion-dollar land assembly and a planned Brickell headquarters that cemented Miami\u2019s financial ambitions.<\/p>\n

And on the resi side, Jill Hertzberg, Jill Eber and Judy Zeder dominate the luxury ranks, commanding staggering on- and off-market volume.<\/p>\n

Explore the full South Florida Top 100<\/a> to see the rest of the players defining this cycle.<\/p>\n

Jorge M. P\u00e9rez
\n\"Jorge<\/p>\n

P\u00e9rez, known as Miami\u2019s condo king<\/a>, founded the Related Group in 1979 with then-minority partner<\/a> Steve Ross, and got his start in the industry building affordable housing developments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His most notable condo projects include the three-tower Icon Brickell complex, SLS Lux and SLS Brickell, Apogee Miami Beach, and the Residences by Armani\/Casa, which Related co-developed with Dezer Development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

P\u00e9rez has been training two of his sons, Jon Paul<\/a> and Nicholas, to eventually take over the family firm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Jills Zeder Group
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Known as The Jills for decades, residential agents Jill Hertzberg and Jill Eber were at the top of Miami-Dade\u2019s rankings, alongside their longtime firm Coldwell Banker. They brokered some of the most high-profile deals in Miami Beach and Fisher Island, and brought members of the families into the mix.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2019, they made a strategic move that cemented their position as the top residential brokers. They merged with Judy Zeder\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

TRD ranks the Jills Zeder Group No. 1 in Miami-Dade<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gil Dezer
\n\"Gill<\/p>\n

Dezer is president of his family\u2019s firm, Dezer Development<\/a>, a Sunny Isles Beach-based company that builds luxury skyscrapers on the sand. His most famous project, the Porsche Design Tower<\/a>, ties both of his passions together: fast cars and high-end real estate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2018, federal authorities tied the purchase of some units at Porsche Design to money laundering schemes<\/a>. Dezer maintained that his firm operated within the law.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Dezer got into the business thanks to his father, Michael Dezer, who formed the family\u2019s partnership with Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stephen Ross
\n\"Stephen<\/p>\n

The billionaire who shaped New York\u2019s skyline over five decades is remaking Palm Beach County.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related Ross<\/a> dominates downtown West Palm: It has eight office buildings<\/a> and about 1,500 apartment, condo and hotel units, including purchased, developed, under construction and planned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ross developed his first downtown West Palm project, the mixed-use CityPlace, in 2000. He also owns the Miami Dolphins<\/a> and its home base Hard Rock Stadium and has a stake in Formula One Miami.<\/p>\n

Ken Griffin
\n\"Ken<\/p>\n

He may be the most influential billionaire<\/a> in South Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The founder and CEO of Citadel and founder of the hedge fund\u2019s sister firm, Citadel Securities, moved the headquarters<\/a> for both companies to Miami from Chicago after the pandemic. Griffin has spent more than $1 billion assembling land from Miami to Palm Beach, buying waterfront estates, land and commercial real estate.<\/p>\n

Griffin\u2019s moves spurred a wave of high-end financial firm relocations<\/a>, though some have criticized the \u201cCitadel effect\u201d<\/a> that has pushed some locals out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Explore the full list to see the rest of the players<\/a> defining this cycle.<\/p>\n

Are you featured on this list? Reach out to TRD\u2018s licensing partner at PARS International<\/a> to get access to exclusive branding elements and logos, or for reprints of these pages.<\/p>\n

\tRead more
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDevelopment\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSouth Florida\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Closing: Jon Paul P\u00e9rez<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDevelopment\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSouth Florida\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Steve Ross trades New York state of mind for West Palm Beach<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Meet Ken Griffin\u2019s platoon of planners and professionals building his business in South Florida\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Real Deal\u2019s Top 100 in South Florida highlights the developers, financiers and brokers who transformed the region…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124,98954],"class_list":["post-217537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-top-100-south-florida"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}