Florida–Israel Real Estate: The Israeli Developers Building South Florida's Luxury Skyline

The Israeli-founded real estate presence in Florida is anchored by one family: the Dezers. Michael Dezer — born in Tel Aviv in 1941, Israeli Air Force veteran, son of a bus driver — began buying oceanfront hotel properties in Sunny Isles Beach in 1995. Thirty years later, Dezer Development owns 27 acres of prime oceanfront property in Sunny Isles and has developed nine luxury high-rise towers that redefined the city's skyline.

This is the first Olam sector directory for the Florida–Israel corridor. It maps the Israeli-founded and Israeli-connected real estate developers, investors, and operators active in Florida — the property layer underneath the $7.3 billion economic footprint documented in the 5WPR Israeli Tech in Florida Report.

The Dezer Empire: Porsche Design Tower, Armani/Casa, Bentley Residences, and 27 Oceanfront Acres

Michael Dezer and his son Gil Dezer are the largest private oceanfront landowners in Sunny Isles Beach. Their portfolio includes six Trump-branded towers (developed in partnership with Donald Trump), the Porsche Design Tower (60 stories, the world's first branded residential tower with a car elevator — the patented "Dezervator" that delivers residents and their cars to glass-enclosed sky garages), Residences by Armani/Casa (co-developed with Related Group), and the Bentley Residences — groundbreaking in 2024, the world's first Bentley-branded residential tower.

In 2026, Dezer Development partnered with Related Group and BH Group to file plans for a 62-story, 145-unit luxury condo tower at 19051 Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles Beach, following a $131.8 million buyout of the 108-unit Miami Beach Club. Additionally, Dezer filed for Dezerland Park West — a 586-unit residential development in North Miami.

The Dezer model: buy oceanfront land, partner with ultra-luxury brands, build branded towers for international buyers. The buyer base includes Israeli, Latin American, Russian, and European UHNW families. Sunny Isles Beach is sometimes called "Little Moscow" for its Russian buyer concentration — but the developer who built it is Israeli.

Adam Neumann's Flow: The WeWork Founder's $200M Florida Bet

Adam Neumann's Flow took a 50% stake in the 318-unit Society Wynwood in a roughly $200 million deal — the marquee Israeli-founded name in Florida residential. Flow's thesis: community-oriented, tech-enabled apartment living, applied to Miami's hottest neighborhood. Neumann, the most globally famous Israeli founder after Assaf Rappaport, is building his second act in Florida.

Michael Shvo: The Israeli-Born Developer Reshaping Miami Beach and Brickell

Michael Shvo — born in Israel, raised in New York — operates through Shvo and partners on marquee Miami Beach and Brickell projects. His portfolio includes the Raleigh Hotel on Miami Beach (acquired and repositioned) and the Mandarin Oriental Brickell Key (a luxury condo-hotel development). Shvo operates at the intersection of Israeli-origin capital and New York development execution, deploying in Florida's highest-value locations.

BH Group: Isaac and Liat Toledano's Israeli-Brazilian Development Platform

BH Group, led by Israeli-Brazilian developer Isaac Toledano and Liat Toledano, is one of the most active luxury condo developers in South Florida. BH Group has partnered with Related Group and Dezer Development on the 62-story Sunny Isles tower. The firm operates across Miami-Dade and Broward, bridging Israeli, Brazilian, and Latin American buyer networks — a cross-border capital flow that defines South Florida's luxury market.

The Broader Israeli-Connected Florida RE Landscape

Africa Israel — Lev Leviev's conglomerate — had historical Florida residential exposure during the mid-2000s development boom, particularly through Danya Cebus construction operations. The 2008-2010 collapse curtailed Africa Israel's US real estate ambitions, but the Leviev-era Florida presence established a template for Israeli developer entry into the market.

Lendai — a Tel Aviv-founded proptech platform providing US mortgages to foreign investors — set up South Florida operations in 2021, with offices in Miami and Aventura. The company has processed over $150 million in transactions, serving as financial infrastructure for Israeli and international buyers acquiring Florida property.

The South Florida Jewish wealth corridor — Aventura, Boca Raton, Palm Beach — creates a natural buyer base for Israeli-developed properties. The community infrastructure (synagogues, day schools, Israeli cultural institutions) compounds demand. Miami's family office corridor provides the wealth management layer that services these transactions.

What Defines the Israeli Developer Model in Florida

Israeli developers in Florida share structural characteristics: branded luxury positioning (Porsche, Armani, Bentley — the brand licenses a name, the Israeli developer builds and sells), international buyer networks (Latin American, Israeli, Russian, European UHNW clients reached through cross-border sales operations), oceanfront concentration (Sunny Isles, Miami Beach, Brickell — the highest-value coastal land), and family-controlled structures (Dezer is father-son, BH is husband-wife, the operational model is principal-driven).

The real estate layer is distinct from the tech layer documented in the 5WPR Israeli Tech in Florida Report. The tech companies generate jobs and economic output. The developers shape the physical landscape. Together they define what Florida as Israel's new American address actually looks like — on the ground.