Isaac Toledano jumped into the South Florida real estate game in 2000, starting with small investments, and moving onto bigger and bigger plays since then.
In 2009, he and his wife, Liat, launched BH Group, and they started partnering with the Pérez family’s Related in 2012.
But it wasn’t until the past half-decade that Toledano and BH Group amplified their image, with a prolific presence on social media, avidly marketing projects and making appearances on real estate panels. BH Group ramped up its pipeline, which now consists of more than 10,000 units planned and under construction. The firm also has completed over 2,000 units.
Its projects lean heavily toward branded luxury residences. That may spell competition, as it puts BH Group in good company with many other developers building branded homes in South Florida. Miami has become the epicenter of the asset class in the Western Hemisphere and is second in the world only to Dubai.
According to The Real Deal’s analysis, nearly 15,000 branded condos and condo-hotel units are planned, under construction or recently completed across 66 projects in South Florida.
But Toledano isn’t sweating it. He’s carefully picking sites to ensure demand, while his playbook of partnering with others is a hedge, he said. Plus, Toledano added, South Florida’s growth story is real.
“If you ask me if I want to do another condo job today where I have another 30 developers next to me competing, the answer is probably no,” he said. “I don’t know if a lot of developers in California and Chicago see a lot of Floridians coming in and buying, but we definitely see a lot of buyers from California, from Chicago, from New York and other states.”
Here’s a closer look at BH Group’s pipeline.
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Mall redevelopment
BH and Electra America have jumped on the nationwide trend of reimagining struggling malls as mixed-use projects.
On the 105 acres of Cutler Bay’s Southland Mall, they are planning nearly 5,000 residential units, a 150-key hotel, 60,000 square feet of medical office space, 150,000 square feet of retail outparcels and a community amphitheater. Some of the buildings may rise as tall as 18 stories, while the project includes renovations of the existing mall.
In 2024, BH and Electra scored a $125 million pre-development loan from Tyko Capital.
But the project, now called SouthPlace City Center, also is at the heart of a legal dispute between Toledano and one of his Israeli investors, Yaakov Morad. In dueling lawsuits, Morad claims he has ponied up $13.5 million for the project but has “nothing to show for it,” while Toledano has responded saying Morad’s affiliate failed to meet capital calls, despite Toledano’s efforts to help, including securing Morad an equity stake in the project. By now, Morad’s entity owes over $2 million, Toledano has said.
The dispute has spilled into bad blood, as Morad’s brother, Netanel, and Toledano’s daughter, Yarin, divorced late last year.
Branded condos in Coconut Grove
BH Group and Mast Capital plan to redevelop an aging condo building with a nine-story, 35-unit condo building branded by luxury hotel group Raffles in Miami’s Coconut Grove. Sales are expected to launch in the coming months, with prices starting at $4.5 million.
Early deal with Related Group
Toledano said he started partnering with the Pérez family’s Related Group in 2012. Among the BH-Related projects completed before Toledano came into the public spotlight was the 175-unit The Bradley apartment building in Miami’s Wynwood, finished in 2019.
Short-term rental friendly condo stake
During its low-key first act, BH Group also partnered with Related and the Motwani family’s Merrimac Ventures on The Crosby.
The 33-story, 450-unit tower is a short-term rental friendly condo. It was completed last year at the Miami Worldcenter mixed-use complex in the downtown Miami/Park West neighborhood.
Paraiso Bayviews
In Edgewater, BH was Related’s partner in the Paraiso Bayviews condo tower. It’s part of the larger multi-tower Paraiso complex Related developed.
Completed in 2018, Paraiso Bayviews is 46 stories and has 388 units.
District 225
One of the most recently finished projects is the 37-story, 343-unit District 225 short-term rental friendly condo.
The BH-Related partnership finished the project with ROVR Development.
Fisher Island
In one of the first publicly known projects by BH Group, the firm partnered with Related on a 10-story, 50-unit luxury condo in the exclusive Fisher Island near Miami Beach.
Sales at The Residences at Six Fisher Island, which is under construction, are now over $800 million, according to Toledano.
Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi — who made his fortune in gambling software development, fintech investments and later on real estate — is an investor in the project. Sagi is a frequent BH projects backer.
BH joins North Bay Village flurry
Last year, BH paid $83 million for the 10-story, 338-unit Wake Biscayne Bay apartment complex on a bayfront site in North Bay Village.
While most recent North Bay Village property purchases are redevelopment ploys, with investors planning to replace existing buildings with new ones, BH plans to hold the complex for now as an income-producing asset, a company representative has said.
North Beach
BH Group and Kolter Group also joined the crowded North Beach submarket.
Last year, the pair sought approval to redevelop the Crystal Beach Suites Miami Oceanfront Resort and adjacent Normandy Plaza Hotel. The proposal is for a 37-unit condo.
Miami Beach Club
Despite an outcry from residents opposing more development in tower-crowded Sunny Isles Beach, BH Group scored approval in February for a 62-story, 145-unit condo tower.
Related and Dezer Development are partners on the project.
This also will be a branded project, with sales expected to launch in the next three months, Toledano said.
Aventura City Center
On the site of BH Group’s headquarters, the firm plans a major mixed-use project, though this time it’s breaking from its modus operandi of partnering with Related.
This summer, BH and the other project partner, Apollo Companies, bought out Related’s stake in the project.
The two-phase project will consist of a 250-unit apartment building with 10,000 square feet of retail and a 153-key Marriott. The office building on the site will remain.
ALF investments
BH Group recently partnered with Gold Standard of Care, led by Michael Verbitsky, with plans to invest in assisted-living facilities.
They purchased their first three properties at discounts from the previous sale prices. The pair bought a 171-unit center in Aventura for $12 million, or a 75 percent discount from its previous sale price, and a 160-bed center in Boca Raton for $12.2 million, or $10 million less than its last price. Blackstone was the seller of both.
Near Naples, BH and Gold Standard paid $12.2 million, a 63 percent discount, for an ALF with memory care. The seller was an entity tied to embattled ALF operator Aperion Care.
Golf course homes
A luxury single-family home community in Aventura has been in the works for over six years.
In 2020, Toledano bought the former Presidential Estates golf course for $5.8 million. Since then, BH and Lennar have finished and fully sold out the first 30-home phase of the Greenview at Presidential Estates development that will have a total of 103 homes. The second 30-home phase is half sold out, Toledano said.
In another golf course investment, BH this year closed on the nearly $21 million purchase of the closed Polo West Golf Course in Wellington. BH sued site seller Glenn Straub to force the sale, alleging Straub’s affiliate had backed out of the deal. The case settled.
Hollywood projects steps from the ocean
Across the street from the 1,000-unit oceanfront Diplomat Beach Resort, BH Group and Related are working on two projects.
The 31-story, 350-unit Icon Beach Residences condo, which is under construction after securing a $360 million debt this spring. Next door, the pair have approval for a 42-story, 500-unit condo-hotel tower, which is expected to help host large conventions at the Diplomat Beach Resort.
Farther north, BH and Related also are angling to purchase the 398-unit Hollywood Beach Resort, putting it under contract for $100 million. David Martin’s Terra is in talks to join the redevelopment.
First BH-Related project
BH Group’s partnership with Related started with the 41-story, 407-unit Lyfe Resort & Residences, formerly known as Hyde.
Toledano, who said he never cold calls potential partners but finds a common professional acquaintance to make the connection, was introduced to Related by Fortune International Group’s Edgardo Defortuna. Fortune partnered on the project.
Live Local Act bet
While most of BH Group’s pipeline is luxury condos and branded residences, it also has seized on the Live Local Act.
In Fort Lauderdale, the firm, Related and Pebb Enterprises have approval for the 33-story, 521-unit The Quay.
Downsizing multifamily
Amid a softer multifamily market, defined by a yearslong oversupply, slower leaseups and a decrease in rents, BH and Related opted to build fewer apartments in Plantation.
Their Plantation City Center project now is planned for 385 rentals, or 25 percent fewer than the previous proposal, and 12,100 square feet of retail.
W Pompano Beach Hotel & Residences
As part of BH’s hefty branded projects pipeline, the firm and Related plan to start construction of this project in the next month and a half.
The 24-story W Pompano Beach building is planned for 77 condos and 296 condo-hotel units.
Double bet on Ritz-Carlton brand
BH Group has two Ritz-Carlton projects in the pipeline.
Near the bay in West Palm Beach, BH and Related are building the 27-story, 138-unit Ritz-Carlton Residences, which Toledano said is 98 percent pre-sold.
In Palm Coast, north of Daytona Beach, BH has approval for a pair of 64-unit Ritz-Carlton buildings, marking the firm’s piece within the larger Hammock Dunes redevelopment. Sales to friends and family have launched, and will open to the public in the next month, according to Toledano.
More in West Palm
This summer, BH Group and Related scored approval for a 27-story, 90-unit condo building, near the waterfront in West Palm. The project will be branded by Rosewood.
Also, Terra and BH are buying a 1.6-acre site near Currie Park from Jeff Greene for about $100 million. The plan is for a 31-story, 281-unit condo tower.
Transit Village
West from West Palm’s waterfront, BH Group, along with Related and Sagi, plan nearly 1,000 residential units, as well as a hotel and commercial space, atop a public transit stop.
Transit Village is a hub for city trolleys, Greyhound buses, and Amtrak and Tri-Rail trains.
The trio is partnering with Michael Masanoff, who originally won a Palm Beach County solicitation to develop the site in 2010. After BH, Related and Sagi partnered on the project and obtained approvals for a tweaked project in 2022, the development hit another hurdle.
The development team sued the county, alleging it tried to increase by nearly tenfold the originally agreed upon purchase price of $3.6 million. The impasse was broken after an arbitrator outlined a path forward and after a change in Palm Beach County’s administrative leadership.
Office Depot HQ
With Pebb Enterprises, BH is developing Boca Raton’s The Eclipse, formerly known as the Office Depot headquarters, by adding retail space and an Equinox gym on outparcels.
BH, Pebb and Related recently started construction of a 494-unit apartment building on the site of one of the three office buildings at The Eclipse. Office Depot kept its HQ at the complex.
Olana Naples
BH Group has expanded its branded condo pipeline to Naples’ luxury market.
BH and Kolter Group scored a $197 million loan this year to build the 12-unit boutique Olana Naples. Construction is expected to start soon.
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“It was in my DNA”: How Isaac Toledano conquered South Florida real estate
