SOUTH FLORIDA NEWS - Larry Mastropieri

85% Sold Before Completion: Mr. C West Palm Beach Update

The Cipriani-branded tower is 16 floors up and pulling buyers faster than most projects in the downtown pipeline. Here is what is driving demand.

• Mr. C Hotel & Residences has climbed to the 16th floor in downtown West Palm Beach.
• The project is now over 85% sold, up from 70% at groundbreaking, with residences priced from $1.6 million to over $6 million.
• Completion is expected in 2027, making it the first Mr. C property in Palm Beach County.

Mr. C Hotel & Residences is another proof point that downtown West Palm Beach is no longer an emerging market story. It is already a luxury capital magnet. A $285 million project, 85% sold before completion, with residences ranging from $1.6 million to over $6 million, shows how much wealth is chasing…

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The Club at Emerald Hills Rezoning Approved in Hollywood

A 166-acre golf course will get a Nicklaus redesign, 284 homes, 40 hotel rooms, and new infrastructure. Residents are split on whether it helps or hurts flooding.

• Hollywood's planning board approved rezoning The Club at Emerald Hills from Country Club to Planned Development.
• The project includes 284 residential units, a rebuilt clubhouse, 40 lodging villas, and a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course.
• Residents debated whether the new drainage infrastructure would reduce or worsen flooding in the neighborhood.

The Emerald Hills rezoning debate is really the South Florida housing debate in one project. Residents want less traffic and less flood risk, but the region also needs more housing, better infrastructure, and updated land uses. On a…

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Fannie and Freddie Just Changed the Rules for Condo Loans

Starting August 3, a strong buyer can be turned down over their building's finances, no matter how solid their own credit is. The shift hits older, under-reserved condos hardest, which makes it a South Florida problem above all.

Key Takeaways

• As of August 3, 2026, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac retired the fast-track condo reviews that let strong buyers skip a look at the building's finances.
• Nearly every conventional condo loan in a building over 10 units now requires a full review of the association's reserves, budget, and insurance.
• If a building fails, it becomes "non-warrantable," and every owner can lose access to normal financing, which tends to push prices down.

A federal rule change that most buyers have never heard of just…

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Larry Mastropieri's Real Estate Machine: From Shoveling Ash to a Billion in Sales

Some real estate careers start with a family connection or a lucky flip. Ours started at a waste-to-energy power plant, shoveling ash on 12-hour shifts. We are thrilled to share highlights from Larry Mastropieri's recent Property Unpeeled podcast appearance. The Property Onion team walked Larry through his full arc from mechanical engineer to founder of The Mastropieri Group.

Career numbers include 2,000+ transactions and $1 billion in sales volume. The conversation covered his investor playbook, Property Onion Academy experience, hyper-disciplined mornings, and current market read. Also worth noting: the interview leaned into the personal side more than most previous podcasts have. Whether you're an investor, agent, buyer, or seller in South Florida,…

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Ken Griffin Barely Broke Even on His $86M Worth Avenue Sale

Blackstone is the buyer, chasing one of the country's priciest shopping streets. Griffin paid $83 million for the building just three years ago, and the flat exit lines up with his growing bet on Miami.

Key Takeaways

• Ken Griffin sold his 125 Worth Avenue office-and-retail building to Blackstone for $86 million, just $3 million above the $83 million he paid in 2023.
• After transaction costs, the sale is likely closer to a wash than a real profit, even for one of the world's richest people.
• It looks like the flat exit lines up with Griffin's shift toward Miami, where he is building a $2.5 billion Citadel headquarters.

Ken Griffin does not usually move real estate without a plan, so a near break-even sale from one of the world's richest…

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Larry Mastropieri on Building a Vertically Integrated Luxury Real Estate Brokerage in South Florida

Vertical integration inside a real estate brokerage sounds like startup jargon until you see what it actually produces. We are thrilled to share highlights from Larry Mastropieri's recent conversation on the AI Growth Partners podcast with Shelli Rayner. Our CEO walked through how The Mastropieri Group Realtors® runs its in-house film studio, marketing team, education platform, and proprietary tech suite together.

Larry laid out the model, the numbers behind it, and the moment vertical integration stopped being a choice for us. The conversation covered our growth from a mechanical engineer's side hustle to $110 million in closed South Florida volume this year. This article pulls the strongest sections from that interview into one read. Whether you're…

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West Palm's Biggest Office Project Rises on a $772M Loan

Related Ross's twin CityPlace towers, nearly a million square feet, already have four cranes up and marquee tenants like ServiceNow and Cleveland Clinic signed before a floor is finished. It is the clearest sign yet that West Palm's "Wall Street South" is here to stay.

Key Takeaways

• Related Ross is building twin CityPlace office towers, 10 and 15 CityPlace, totaling nearly 1 million square feet in downtown West Palm Beach.
• The project is backed by a $772 million construction loan, the largest ever recorded in Florida, with completion targeted for 2027.
• ServiceNow and Cleveland Clinic have already anchored the towers, proof the demand is real before the buildings are even finished.

For a few years, West Palm Beach's rise as "Wall…

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How Hollywood Beach Could Jump From 65 to 490 ft

The 490-foot number is tied to the "Grand Lady," a shuttered 1925 resort that Related and its partners have under contract for about $100 million.

Key Takeaways

• A proposed overlay district would let projects at the historic Hollywood Beach Resort rise to 490 feet, about 7.5 times the current 65-foot beach cap.
• The plan up-zones most of the barrier island too, allowing 150 to 200 feet in other precincts, with the resort as the tall exception.
• Related Group, BH Group, and Terra have the resort under contract for about $100 million and would benefit directly from the height increase.

Hollywood is about to decide how tall its beachfront can get, and the answer could reshape the barrier island for decades. According to The Real Deal, a…

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The 10 Most Exclusive Private Clubs in Palm Beach County

Palm Beach County is home to 59 billionaires with a combined net worth approaching $500 billion. Most of them belong to the same handful of private clubs. Here is how the top 10 rank.

• Initiation fees at the top clubs range from $130,000 to $500,000, with annual dues between $25,000 and $53,000.
• The most exclusive clubs are invitation-only with no formal application process.
• For buyers considering a country club home, touring the club and understanding the lifestyle is as important as seeing the property.

Palm Beach County's private club market is not one thing. Everglades and Bath & Tennis represent old Palm Beach social power. Seminole and The Bear's Club are serious golf prestige. Panther National is new-money exclusivity. And Boca…

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395 Apartments Coming to a Plantation Office Park

Suburban office parks built for a different era now have more land than they need. Developers are carving out the excess and building housing. Here is how it works.

• Intalex Capital paid $8.9 million for 5.26 acres of parking lot space at a Plantation office park, planning to build 395 apartments.
• The project follows a growing trend of converting underused office parking into multifamily housing across Broward County.
• Remote work has reduced parking demand at suburban office campuses, unlocking land that was previously off limits.

This deal is part of a broader shift in how developers think about suburban office properties. According to South Florida Business Journal, Intalex Capital acquired 5.26 acres at 1600 SW 80th Terrace in…

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