Marc knew Miami was growing after doing research and listening to his accountant. He moved from New York to Miami in 1998 for the weather and no state income tax. He quickly saw the influx of wealthy people moving to Miami and buying expensive houses on the water. He saw Downtown as an area with huge potential. Although everything was being built up in Miami Marc saw more affordable living. He also knew that people buying these places for so much money would seek a party scene off the beach and that Downtown could serve that overflow demand by younger people.
Now, no one wants to rent 50 to 80 year-old condos when they can rent a brand-new apartment Downtown. Most older buildings just don’t come with the most beautiful view. Add in doorman security, rooftop pools, and access to hundreds of things to do, including events at the AA Arena, a 38-acre park, the Adrienne Arscht Center for the Performing Arts, the Frost Science Museum, plus shopping and restaurants in walking distance. You get it.
Now, Marc and his partners own four prime corners – close to 15 million square feet upon which to build – right next to the $830 million Signature Bridge, where it intersects with Interstate 395, adjacent to a 55-acre park right next to Marc’s property.
The new Brighline train station is finishing up a $3 billion first phase right now and it goes between Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and eventually will go to Tampa and Orlando. Overtown is gradually being refurbished, and One Thousand Museum is building condos that are selling for $5MM to $30MM. Within a small radius of Marc’s land, there’s about $6 to $7 billion’s worth of development happening, with thousands of new apartment units right off the highway at Marc’s and his partners The Best Land in Miami.
Thousands of apartments being built, or just completed
In 2008, Marc faced the biggest adversity yet, and emerged victorious one more time. After the tsumami recession of 2008, everything Marc had initially pictured came to life. In hindsight, ‘08 was their opportunity to acquire land for less although initially it presented a huge loss and caused much restructuring and delays. Marc Roberts and Art Falcone never gave up, and pushed through together, from 2012 to 2017, relying on their ingenuity to recover their investment. More recently, in 2018, Marc teamed up with Romie Chaudhari. With the help of his partners, one could say the Roberts family has owned or does now own almost all the land in the neighborhood – 40 ACRES OF NEW DOWNTOWN MIAMI.
