Carlos Yepes, Owner, Belleair Development Group
July 2026 — Carlos Yepes, owner of Belleair Development Group, spoke with Invest: about retail demand, workforce housing, permitting challenges, and development across Tampa Bay. “Following human behavior is really what we have to do,” Yepes said.
What have been some of the most important milestones or changes for Belleair Development Group over the past year?
The past 12 months brought a shift in multifamily, industrial land, and retail. We completed two large multifamily developments, one in The Villages and another in Pasco County, for our own portfolio.
We are also doing development under the Live Local Act. We are probably one of the most active groups using the Live Local Act. We have been filing for approvals for multifamily projects totaling around 2,000 units in different areas, and right now we have about 800 units in the pipeline.
We are still doing a lot of retail. Construction costs have gone crazy, which has made it difficult for new retailers to find space. We are running 100% occupancy in our retail portfolio and do not have open space. When we have to build something new, the rents are much higher than we expected. Two or three years ago, we never imagined rents would get to this level, but they have, and tenants have to pay because costs are too high.
Construction costs have totally changed our industry, along with the availability of land, especially in Pinellas County.
Which asset classes currently present the strongest opportunities in the region?
We are very big in retail. One of our largest shopping centers is The Shoppes at Park Place at U.S. 19 and Park Boulevard. That shopping center has 6.5 million visitors annually.
The demand for retail is there. We just got approval for another 30,000 square feet, and we are going to add a hotel to the shopping center. We will have more retail and maybe multifamily later.
Retailers have changed their approach to online sales and store pickup. Stores have become distribution centers for online businesses, so everybody is getting more creative in how they do business.
We also have a 16-screen movie theater in one of our shopping centers. One interesting thing movie theaters are doing is buying concerts so people can see a live concert in a theater for $15 instead of driving to Orlando or Miami. They can get food and drinks and have a different experience. We still see theater traffic increasing when new movies come out.
Artificial intelligence is also changing things dramatically. We recently developed plans for a new spec home in St. Pete Beach. The architect gave us the elevation, and one of my project managers took it to ChatGPT and had a color rendering done in literally three minutes. Three years ago, that would have taken a week and cost $500 to $1,000. Today, it was done in minutes. AI is definitely coming into play for us.
How are changing consumer habits and lifestyle preferences impacting development today?
Following human behavior is really what we have to do. What do people want? Where do people want to live? What do they want to do, and how much do they want to spend for that experience?
Live-work-play has become very popular, especially combining multifamily and retail. Look at Water Street in Tampa. It has been a great success. You can live there, go out to eat, and go to work without having to go anywhere else. We did not expect that trend to happen that fast, but it is happening faster and faster.
From a developer’s perspective, what should regional leaders prioritize to support long-term growth?
One thing that always affects us is whether utilities are there, especially water and sewer. But the most difficult part for us in development today is getting permits.
Municipalities have gone digital, but they still cannot keep up with the flow. Some have done a great job. Sumter County, for example, is super fast. But St. Petersburg is brutal for permits. Even a small remodeling project can take six months to permit on an existing building. For a new building, we project nine months to get permits, and sometimes it takes up to a year.
Stormwater requirements are also changing and making our ponds larger to create more responsible systems. That takes a long time, and the cost is substantial.
When projects get delayed, cities miss out on taxes, and delivery to tenants becomes a problem. Municipalities could outsource some of that work to private companies that process permits. We have private provider rules for architectural plans, but we get stuck on the civil side, where it has to be done by the city.
People think it is easy, but it takes a lot of permits and planning to get a project off the ground.
How important is it for developers to create projects that contribute to placemaking and community identity rather than simply adding density?
We decided years ago that we would only do projects in Tampa Bay. Pinellas County is our primary focus. We have projects on Fourth Street North, Park Boulevard, and 66th Street. In Largo, we are getting ready to do another 400 multifamily units, and we are wrapping up about 580 units.
There is a huge need for affordable housing. I am not talking about Section 8 housing. Affordable means workforce housing for people making $75,000 to $120,000 who still have a hard time finding a place to live at a reasonable number. Our mission is to deliver that product if we can.
The Live Local Act has been a great blessing because it allows us to build multifamily without going through all the public hearings and processes in the cities, as long as the property is commercially or industrially zoned. We have been able to deliver good product to people who otherwise could not afford to live there.
We are also doing townhouses in the $850,000 range, but in today’s world, you cannot find a decent house for less than $600,000 or $650,000. We are planning another 116 townhouses with target pricing around $600,000 to $750,000 to give people a more attainable option to buy.
How are sustainability and hurricane resilience influencing project planning?
Our construction is more resilient today than it has ever been. We are building windows that can withstand higher wind loads, and when we build new buildings, we have to meet new codes and standards. Many times, we exceed those standards.
On one townhouse project, the elevation needed to be about 6 feet minimum, so we elevated it another 4 feet and put four-car garages underneath. We created a much more resilient infrastructure and built the townhouses out of concrete. It costs more money, but it is the right thing to do.
That project was previously a mobile home park with 112 units, and a hurricane would have taken them all out. We did something similar in Largo, where we replaced 186 mobile home units with 256 multifamily units in four-story buildings. It totally improved the area.
Electricity is probably the weakest link when a storm comes. A lot of people are putting generators in their homes and using battery backup systems that can keep them going for several days until power comes back. We are seeing a lot of investment in infrastructure and solar systems.
Looking ahead, what are your key goals and priorities for the company?
Our goals are to secure land that we can develop in the future. It is becoming more difficult, especially with larger tracts, so we are contracting for larger parcels that give us time to plan communities the way we want.
We are looking for retail, multifamily, and industrial land. We did not used to do much industrial, but it is becoming very important because of last-mile distribution for retailers.
Right now, we are doing an 80,000-square-foot warehouse for one of the top sellers in Amazon’s network. Warehouse ceiling heights are increasing from 32 feet to 42 feet so products can be stacked higher within the same footprint. It is expensive, but it is much better than having two buildings.
We are also seeing more retail wanting to come into the area, but locations are hard to find. The price of land, construction costs, and rents make it difficult.
Fast-food brands like Raising Cane’s and Whataburger are entering the market. There is also a coffee wave with companies like 7 Brew and Dutch Bros. competing with Starbucks.
One thing to watch is the restaurant industry. There are going to be a lot of restaurants closing because the margins have become very narrow. The cost of food has gone absolutely crazy, and a lot of restaurants are not making money. By the time they print the menu, the prices are already outdated.
