The Condo Kings dig in: Phil Spiegelman and Craig Studnicky, the partners behind International Sales Group, have ridden the high-rise wave to become the kings of condo sales in South Florida. Here's how they did it - ISG - Cover Story

South Florida CEO, Feb, 2004 by Charles Flowers

"We have people who have been with us for 10 years, but who have had 20 or 30 years of experience. This brings incredible technical capability--in management, construction, advertising and public relations--to our developer clients in a consultation format that way exceeds the simple ability to sell their product," he says.

Take, for example, Stuart Feder, a former partner in Lazarus Communities, which built thousands of homes in Broward and Palm Beach. Or Don Alexander, formerly head of marketing and sales for Gulfstream Land and Development, which developed subdivisions in Plantation and Boca. Or Michael Neumann, who had 25 years in development and sales of luxury golf course communities in Naples. All are part of the ISG sales and marketing force, including even Studnicky's cousin Jack Studnicky, who for 35 years ran JPS Associates, one of the largest real estate sales and marketing companies in the US, with clients such as Kaufman Broad (now KB Homes), US Home, Pulte and Centex.

"That capability is a value-added layer of service that begins from the moment of land acquisition and design, and goes through to delivery and post delivery of the property," says Spiegelman. "That's the value of a totally outsourced sales and marking organization that would be impossible to build from the inside of a developer's company."

>> PUTTING THE INTERNATIONAL IN ISG

Their corporate bios don't do the Condo Kings justice. How Studnicky, a youthful New Jersey boy who attended Virginia Tech on a golf scholarship, and Spiegelman, a ruddy, nattily-dressed promoter who cut his teeth on smaller-scale developments far from the glitter of Miami Beach--met on a golf course and decided to throw in together--reads like a legend. There was, for instance, a third partner who is not discussed--although Spiegelman's golf handicap of 12 is proudly noted.

What may make these two non-Spanish speaking Americans most noteworthy, however, is another club in the bag--the good sense they showed in going after the international market, and the better sense they had in hiring Latins as the condo market began its resurgence after 9/11. And not just any Latins, but people who knew the cultures of, and the prospects in, the Southern Hemisphere.

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Like Sergio Pintos, 42, a Uruguayan native whose Montevideo-based company, Pintos Risso, has developed 35 million square feet--10 million more than leading South Florida developer Terry Stiles. When ISG added Sergio as director of international sales and marketing in January 2002, the Uruguayan and Argentine markets had turned soft and the shockwaves from September 11 were still being felt in every sector.

"Sergio comes from a very well-known family in Uruguay," says Rick Barrow, a principal in the Barrow & Beber Silverstein advertising/marketing agency, who has created campaigns for Spiegelman and Studnicky for years. "Here's a guy who can move in any circle in South America. Suddenly, ISG has the strength to compete and win in the South American market, at the same time the South American market became the dominant one in Miami."