Brian Van Slyke, President, West Coast of Florida, Kolter Urban

July 2026 — Invest: spoke with Brian Van Slyke, president of Florida’s West Coast at Kolter Urban, about how luxury condo demand is changing along the Gulf coast and what buyers increasingly expect from high-rise living. “What we’re currently seeing in the market is real demand for lifestyle, health, and wellness within the building,” Van Slyke said.

What changes over the past year impacted Kolter Urban, and in what ways?

From a sales perspective, this year was a little bit slower nationwide and in Florida. The uncertainty in the stock market, interest rates, and tariffs all kind of put a damper on the economy as a whole. Fortunately, we still remained steady, so we were still selling, just not at the pace we had seen in previous years.

So far this season, it’s been active. We just delivered a project in St. Pete, and sales are steady. Our Ritz-Carlton Residences in Sarasota has been selling well, and we recently topped that out. So there are good signs that people are back in the market and willing to purchase, and we’re excited about the year to come.

With so many high-profile groundbreakings, completions, and sales, which recent wins best define where your team is at?

Our strongest momentum today is in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. In St. Pete, we recently delivered Art House, a 42-story luxury condominium and our fifth residential project in the market. With each development, we continue to elevate the experience, and Art House is a reflection of that evolution.

One of the defining features of Art House is its expansive amenity offering, with more than a full floor dedicated to wellness, recreation, and social spaces. We’ve thoughtfully curated a lifestyle that resonates with today’s luxury buyer, and the response has been tremendous.

In Sarasota, The Ritz-Carlton Residences offer a distinct branded luxury experience, pairing exceptional waterfront living with an extensive collection of amenities and services.

Across both markets, we’re seeing a clear trend: buyers are placing increasing value on lifestyle-driven living, with a strong emphasis on health, wellness, convenience, and opportunities for connection within the building itself.

What trends are you observing right now, and how are you adjusting your building designs to meet demand?

Health and wellness have become increasingly important components of the luxury residential experience. While we’ve always incorporated exceptional fitness centers into our communities, today’s buyers are looking for a more comprehensive wellness offering. We’re expanding our fitness amenities with a greater variety of equipment, dedicated group fitness studios featuring interactive classes, and private training rooms that provide residents with space to work one-on-one with personal trainers.

We’re also enhancing the wellness experience with amenities such as steam rooms, saunas, cold plunge pools, massage therapy spaces, resort-style pools with lap lanes, and outdoor spas.

At the same time, entertainment amenities are becoming more interactive and socially focused. Golf simulators remain popular, but we’re also seeing strong interest in multi-sport simulators and even Formula 1 racing simulators, which create immersive experiences for residents and their guests. Beyond technology-driven entertainment, we’re creating inviting spaces for residents to gather, whether that’s in game lounges, social clubs, or private dining rooms designed for larger groups and special occasions.

Another area of growing importance is flexibility for remote and hybrid work. We are increasingly incorporating co-working environments, boardrooms, and smaller breakout rooms where residents can hold meetings, collaborate, or take video calls without leaving the building. We also frequently include guest suites, allowing residents to comfortably host family and friends while maintaining the privacy and enjoyment of their own residence

What is your main strategy for finding and keeping the right experts to manage these luxury buildings?

It starts with our internal team. We’ve assembled a talented, professional group of people with extensive experience. Their tenure with the company probably averages 10-plus years, so we keep and maintain our talent. That allows us to leverage shared knowledge of our goals, our culture, and how we deliver projects.

That extends to our consultants as well. We have a strong group of design professionals, and we do repeat work with many of them. We build rapport, and they understand how we approach design.

We’re floor plan focused. People live in the floor plans, and we’re amenity focused, too, so we prioritize functional, well-designed living spaces. It’s helped us build a brand.

That translates to repeat customers who buy. They live in one building, experience the quality firsthand, and then they see the next offering and buy into our next projects as well. That consistency is a big part of how we’ve been able to grow.

Despite demand in Florida, rising construction costs and insurance rates remain top concerns. How is your team staying ahead of those challenges?

A lot of it has to do with relationships and experience. Our team has a lot of construction knowledge, so we understand the most efficient ways to build and how to manage costs as best we can.

We also have extensive trade partner and vendor relationships through the supply chain, from manufacturers to subcontractors. Those relationships help us understand trends and the most effective ways to buy materials.

Design efficiency matters, too. We want a beautiful design, but one that can be implemented in a cost-effective way. You can’t eliminate cost pressure, but you can mitigate it.

On insurance, we focus on mitigation measures on site to manage risk during construction. Water is often the biggest risk, whether it’s outside water from storms or inside water from building systems during construction, so we employ strategies to control exposure, respond quickly, and reduce potential losses. Those steps help, even as insurance rates continue to move.

How do you make sure these large luxury buildings benefit and blend in with the existing local community?

We’re well established in our communities, and our teams live here. I live on the west coast of Florida and have for over 20 years, so we understand the markets we build in and the communities around our sites.

We try to bridge growth potential with harmony in the surrounding area, and we spend time listening to stakeholders and understanding the character of the neighborhood. Art House is an example where there’s a historic building across the street, so we used materials and colors that were sensitive to the existing architecture and made it more compatible.

At One Tampa, we designed an older building facade into the base, so from a pedestrian scale it still feels like an old brick industrial building blended into a modern high-rise.

How would you describe the role luxury real estate plays in keeping the Tampa Bay economy strong and growing?

From our projects, it’s attracted business owners. People like Cathie Wood with ARK Invest relocated to St. Pete and bought one of our condos. We’ve had other major business owners buy and live in our buildings.

The lifestyle, weather, and taxes help draw people, and then we provide new, resilient construction in the best locations to support that lifestyle.

Employees want to live downtown and be in vibrant areas, so it helps draw people, their businesses, and their teams into these downtown cores.

What are your key goals and priorities for the company for the next two to three years?

We’ve got a significant pipeline. We have several projects in construction, so the priority is delivering those projects.

We also have a few projects moving through entitlements that will be launching sales later this year. 

And we’re still active in acquisitions. We have a couple sites under contract, and we hope to complete those acquisitions in late 2026.

We’re still strong on the overall strength of the economy. These are our core markets, and we have a long-term view.