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

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A good place to see that trend unfold is the Biscayne Landing sales office, where, on a chilly Saturday afternoon in January, only a handful of prospective buyers have come to inquire about the well-publicized project. The walk-in trade is slim compared to word-of-mouth referrals from other brokers. And in truth, although there is a site, there is not much to see through the black construction blinders. There are no tours offered of what Spiegelman calls, "arguably the largest, most significant real estate development in South Florida."

Indeed, Biscayne Landing is a better dream than a reality right now. But the Condo Kings are proven masters of selling dreams, and Biscayne Landing is quite the reverie.

The idea for a giant development with as many as 6,000 units grew from a 2002 lunch meeting in Aventura. Present were Spiegelman, Brian Street of Boca Developers, and Michael Swerdlow of the Swerdlow Group. On the table was a plan to move the International Swimming Hall of Fame from Fort Lauderdale to Pompano Beach, with attendant development around it. That deal has since become "deeply mired in local politics," according to Street, and appears dead in the chlorinated water.

A South African native who now lives in Boca Raton, Street, 55, founded Boca Developers in the mid-'90s. His successful projects are all high-end condominiums east of US 1, from Mizner Grand and Aragon in Boca Raton to the two-phase Peninsula in Aventura. He builds big, elegant and expensive, despite a recent trend that shows that sector overbuilt in the two largest South Florida counties--numbers that Street happily ignores. "I've got no problem with my market," he says.

Swerdlow, on the other hand, has been a mega-developer of retail and commercial properties, from the Dolphin Mall and Beacon Trade Port/Light Speed project in west Miami-Dade to Oakwood Plaza in Hollywood and the Las Olas Riverfront in Fort Lauderdale. In the last couple of years he has sold off most of his retail portfolio, and is turning his sights toward residential.

The three-way discussion turned to a large site adjacent to Florida International University's north campus--until 1980 a municipal dump owned by the City of North Miami. Swerdlow had a plan at that time to develop rental apartments on the land, perhaps as many as 2,500 units. Then someone--Spiegelman won't say who--had an idea. And a big new deal emerged from the process.

"In the course of that discussion," Spiegelman says, "there was an inspiration that said, 'Why can't we build an upscale community? Why can't we build new condos? Why can't we take advantage of these fabulous open spaces and views, great recreation--all of these elements that make up this very unique piece of property? Why can't we turn this into a condominium community when everything around us is successfully being developed as a condominium?'"

The inspiration took, and a new partnership, Swerdlow Boca Development Company, was formed to make Biscayne Landing a reality. Barrow's ad agency added the image that may last until the first 22-story towers begin to rise this year--a lone kayaker paddling into a green and watery expanse of Biscayne Bay.