South Florida real estate’s top stories of 2017
Canceled projects, broker wars, secret backers… here’s what you need to know heading into next year By Katherine Kallergis Fake buyers, canceled projects, secret backers and heaps of broker drama made South Florida’s real estate market a hotbed of intrigue in 2017. Top condo developers were forced to reckon with a stuttering high-end residential market, exacerbated by Hurricane Irma, a tighter lending environment and growing buyer clout. Some, like Shahab Karmely and Vlad Doronin, forged ahead on developments despite slow or stagnant sales, while others like HFZ Capital Group and the Related Group canceled condo projects, shifting their attention – and money – elsewhere. The not-so-secret secret to building without buyers is cash. In Karmely’s case, The Real Deal revealed that his backer is Daniel Loeb, a billionaire investor who runs one of the world’s most dominant activist hedge funds. Condo builders looking for a Plan B opted to either jump to new marke