Ignacio Montes, President, ALTA Developers

Invest: spoke with Ignacio Montes, president of ALTA Developers, about how the firm identifies opportunities across South Florida, designs communities with long-term value in mind, and manages approvals in a region where demand is high and review capacity is strained. “We want to give residents the best bang for their buck, or the best value proposition,” Montes said.

How does ALTA approach site selection to balance growth potential with community impact and local planning requirements?

We focus on residential development in South Florida, and the first thing to understand is that South Florida is a broad and diverse array of sub-markets. When we approach site selection, we are not looking at the region as one monolith. We spend time studying each sub-market and asking where we can ensure delivery of a high-quality product that makes sense for the people who will live there, whether they are buying or renting.

We are always focused on the delivery of high-quality product for our end users, meaning the residents of our properties. That focus shapes how we underwrite a location. It is not just about what is popular today. We want to be at the forefront of what is next, where demand is building, where the community fabric is improving, and where our product can bring a clear value proposition.

There are markets that everyone knows and talks about. A lot of people may be focused on Brickell and downtown, and there are great things being built there. But we are also looking beyond those headline areas. If you look at our portfolio, we are developing in places such as Coral Gables, where there are few new development projects. In a market like that, the design and approval process can be intensive, and it requires time and patience. But the scarcity of new product can also create a strong selling environment, because buyers are not choosing among dozens of similar new projects.

You have started to see more projects come to life in the past year, even in those markets, and we want to be ahead of that curve. Another example is Hollywood, including Hollywood Beach. It sits between high-income pockets of demand, and the city is seeing a tremendous transformation. We are paying attention to visible investment and activity, including redevelopment, public improvements, and momentum inside city processes. Those signals help us determine where we can bring something meaningful, not just another project, but a product that fits what residents want and how they want to live.

Now, on the public side, we consider how cities function in terms of planning requirements and approvals. In an ideal world, you want to be in cities where there is a genuinely pro-development posture, where local governments want to support growth, and they have the capacity to guide projects through review. What we have seen across South Florida is that even in places that are supportive in principle, the approval process can be challenging.

There is a scarcity of city reviewers. Many cities are dealing with an influx of new projects, all of which need to be reviewed and confirmed for compliance with city code. The issue is not always the quality of the designs. A lot of the time, the review process itself has become more difficult, simply because the teams doing the reviews are small relative to the amount of activity. Miami-Dade County, for example, can have hundreds of projects in motion, and the reviewing team is limited. When you scale activity without scaling review capacity, it becomes harder for projects to come to fruition in a timely fashion.

So, we still live by location, location, location, but the definition of “location” is broad. We are looking at what sub-markets residents want to call home, where demographics are moving, where transit and amenities make daily life easier, and where communities are well served. We are also paying attention to how quickly and effectively a city can process review, because that has become a real factor in execution across the region.

What processes or philosophies guide ALTA when it comes to collaborating with architects, designers, or contractors to ensure consistent quality across projects?

We have a hands-on process. My partner, Raimundo, is an architect by trade, and that shapes how we work. We are deeply involved in the design process, the choices that affect livability, and the decisions that drive long-term cost and quality.

We work with multiple architecture firms, and we select the team on a project-by-project basis. Each project has a different location, a different context, and a different value proposition, and we want to choose the right partner to bring that specific vision and product to life.

Over time, we have worked with the best design teams in the market—architects, engineers, and specialized consultants—who collaborate closely on the design and execution of each project. We think the best outcomes come from assembling the right group for the particular scope, being clear about how the building will perform, and staying engaged throughout the process rather than treating design as a handoff.

That approach is how we ensure consistency. Our projects may not all look the same because they are built in different places and for different end users, but the level of rigor should be consistent. We want to be confident that the end product reflects the intent, the details are resolved thoughtfully, and the resident experience is aligned with the standards we set at the beginning.

How does ALTA focus on creating vibrant communities that foster social interaction and long-term resident satisfaction?

Once we have a site, we ask what we want to offer there, and we try to be realistic about how people will actually use a building. Social interaction and resident satisfaction are important, but they have to be designed into the community in a way that is functional, not just marketed.

Miami has often leaned into oversized amenity programs, where amenities serve as selling points without fully thinking through how those communities will work over time. What is rewarding as a developer is when you come to a project you worked through long before it existed physically, and seeing it come to life and being used the way you intended. Sometimes that is not a headline amenity at all. It might be a shaded outdoor area, landscaping that creates comfort, or a place where people naturally gather because it is genuinely pleasant.

When we think about amenities, we want to make sure they are efficient, that they match what people want, and that they are cost-effective. Cost of living has become a larger issue, and it is not just the cost of building. It is the cost of owning. Insurance costs, property taxes, and the cost of services can drive association fees, and association fees have become a major question for buyers. People are asking not only what it costs to buy and finance a unit, but what it will cost to own it year after year.

That is why we focus on the total cost of ownership as a guiding idea in development. We incorporate it through design and construction decisions. Insurance is a strong example. Insurance costs have gone up significantly, and now we are actively evaluating what design changes can make buildings more efficient from an insurance perspective. In some cases, that can mean spending more up front in construction to reduce operating exposure later.

We also think about cost in systems and services. It is easy to look at a single line item and optimize for short-term savings, but the resident ultimately experiences the long-term cost of maintenance and operations. When you choose equipment, when you think about service contracts, and when you decide what level of staffing and services will be required, those decisions show up in monthly fees and long-term satisfaction.

We are also building for how people live now. More people are working from home, so we are increasingly incorporating office and co-work space into projects. Convenience matters, too. We are including features like markets within a property where residents can pick up everyday items without leaving the building. We want a community that supports live, work, and daily life in a seamless way.

Fitness and wellness are also a major focus now. We include strong gym offerings so residents do not have to leave the property to find a quality option. And when we activate retail on the ground floor, we look for tenants that function as amenities to residents, not just tenants that pay rent. Concepts like fitness uses and coffee shops can add daily value and improve the lived experience for the community.

Ultimately, the goal is a building and a community that people want to call home, with amenities that are used, not just listed, and with operating choices that keep long-term costs reasonable.

Are there lessons from past developments that have influenced how ALTA designs and manages new projects today?

A key lesson is not to treat amenities like bullet points. It is easy to sell a building on a long list of services and features, but what matters is whether those amenities are practical, sustainable, and worth what they cost residents over time.

A clear example is the idea of including a restaurant as an amenity. On paper, it sounds great. In reality, a restaurant is a difficult business to operate, even without the added constraint of relying on a limited number of residents as the core customer base. More and more, you see projects that promoted a restaurant heavily and then the concept closes, or costs rise, or owners end up bearing expenses that were not fully anticipated. Miami already has a strong restaurant landscape, so the question becomes: how much value does it truly add for residents to carry the cost of an on-site restaurant versus living in a well-located neighborhood with great options nearby?

Valet parking is another example. It is often marketed as a luxury amenity, but many times it exists because of a parking constraint. The cost of full-time valet service becomes a large budget item, and after COVID, many residents prefer to park themselves. When you look line by line at association budgets, these services become huge expenses, and residents may not feel they are getting proportional value.

We have also seen a generational change. Some demographics may prefer a high-service model. Others are more cost-conscious and more focused on value. So we think amenities should be evaluated through a cost-benefit analysis, with resident needs at the center. We want to give buyers a solid value proposition, and we want that value proposition to remain true years after the sale.

We are involved in the market and are constantly working to better understand our buyers. We take feedback seriously, and we try to build in a way that supports long-term satisfaction. The goal is that five years down the road, residents feel proud about their purchase and the community they call home. That is how you protect the long-term health of a community and the long-term value of a property.