Carlos Rosso, CEO, Rosso Development

Invest: spoke with Carlos Rosso, CEO of Rosso Development, about how branded residential, true mixed-use planning, and public space are reshaping Miami’s development pipeline. “Real estate development is about offering value to the buyers,” Rosso said.

What changes or trends have you noticed in the market over the past year that have influenced your strategy or the way you operate?

Real estate development is about offering value to the buyers, and one of the clearest ways to offer more value today is through branding and aligning projects with great brands. That is what we did with The Standard, and that is what we are doing now with Proper Hospitality at Midtown Park Residences by Proper.

In Miami, that approach has become even more important because the market is highly competitive. Projects are not only competing on price. They are competing on branding, on amenities, and on what a developer can offer beyond baseline expectations. At a certain point, every luxury product can promise strong finishes. The question becomes what else makes the project different, and what makes the investment opportunity compelling for an investor or a buyer.

What were some of the most important factors behind the progress at Midtown Park, and what does it mean for Rosso Development’s broader vision?

I have been a big believer in Midtown for a long time. This is our second project in Midtown with Rosso Development, and it is also a neighborhood I know well from earlier work. I did Hyde Midtown while I was at Related, and now we are completing The Standard Midtown, which is 228 units, with only five units left.

Now we are launching Midtown Park, and it reflects our conviction in Midtown as a long-term opportunity. Midtown is the only urban master-planned community in Miami. It is 55 acres, dedicated mainly to residential, and it is positioned in a way that is difficult to replicate. You are two blocks from the Design District and one block from Wynwood, so you are centrally located and connected to major neighborhoods that drive foot traffic.

The vision is consistent: active ground floors, great restaurants and outdoor cafes, and sidewalk activation that makes the neighborhood feel alive. With Midtown Park, we are taking that further because the site allows it. It is a five-acre site in the heart of Midtown, and that scale gives us the ability to think more holistically about what buyers are looking for: projects that are truly mixed-use, surrounded by retail and open space, and anchored by public amenities that create activity throughout the day.

We are adding an-8-court permanent racquet and padel club with Ultra Padel in the middle of Midtown. The project will incorporate the club as part of the amenity offering, and it will also help generate foot traffic for the retail. We are also adding boutique offices, including 60,000 square feet of office space, a 25,000 square foot gym, and a Montessori pre-K school for unit owners. Those activations in the first three floors are designed to give residents the uses they need at their doorstep while strengthening the neighborhood fabric.

From your perspective, what makes Miami and the broader region such a strong environment for your projects and for real estate investment more broadly?

Miami is an international city that receives nearly 30 million people per year who pass through as tourists. It is a destination that operates 365 days a year. That year-round demand is a major advantage compared to markets where seasons are short and tourism is concentrated into a few weeks.

That scale matters because there is strong demand from people who come to Miami, experience it, and then want to buy and invest here. On top of tourism, Miami has been growing and attracting companies from all over the country, particularly during the pandemic period. The opportunity in Miami, combined with Florida’s policies, including no state income tax and generally low taxes, creates a strong value proposition for people buying to rent or moving to Miami.

That is why we have been able to attract buyers from all over the world. In Midtown Park, we have buyers from Turkey, Italy, and Canada, as well as buyers from across the U.S., including the Northeast.

We also partnered with Proper Hospitality, which is based in Los Angeles and is one of the most compelling boutique brands in the business. They already have a hotel in South Beach called The Shelborne by Proper. Buyers at Midtown Park Residences by Proper will have access to its beach club in Miami. For us, it is about adding real value, not just a name, but a brand with real connections in Miami and amenities our buyers can actually use.

How do you balance luxury with community integration, and what does local engagement look like in your process?

We spend a lot of time analyzing and designing the site. This is my third project in Midtown, so we have years on the ground there and a strong understanding of the neighborhood. We meet with community boards across existing Midtown buildings and listen to what they want.

What we consistently hear is that the community wants projects that are accretive to Midtown, projects that build on what Midtown already has. Midtown already offers walkability, big sidewalks, outdoor cafes, and retail activation. Those elements are embedded in Midtown’s code, and our goal is to strengthen them with more open space and better connections.

With Midtown Park, we are incorporating two parks, one on Midtown Boulevard and another on North Miami Avenue, connected by two pedestrian paseos. Those paseos are designed with the same proportions and intent you see in successful pedestrian environments across Miami. The goal is permeability, so people can walk through the site, connect neighborhoods, and experience Midtown as a cohesive urban place.

We also met with the CDD, which controls much of the public space in Midtown, and shared the project early on. Their feedback shaped our approach, and they were supportive because the plan responds directly to what the community asked for. That local engagement is not a checkbox. It is part of designing something that works long-term.

Real estate development is often described as an economic engine. How does Rosso Development look at job creation and economic impact with projects like Midtown Park?

We look at the city and ask what works and what does not. One practical question is how much retail we can build on the ground floor to generate jobs and create a lifestyle that fits Midtown. Retail and restaurants are not just amenities. They are job creators, and they also create daily energy that makes a neighborhood desirable.

Then we look at the relationship between the residences above and the retail below. How many people do we need living above the retail so tenants feel confident there will be consistent support for their business? That combination matters.

We saw that model work at The Standard Residences in Midtown, where retail demand and pricing reflected the strength of having 228 units above. Midtown Park builds on that concept at a much larger scale. The mix of users and services, and the curation of tenants to match buyer expectations, is central to how we approach economic impact and long-term value.

You’re also adding office space. What are tenants looking for in these boutique offices, and how do you see office fitting into a mixed-use neighborhood like Midtown?

Tenants are looking for boutique buildings, not gigantic towers. They want a product where a single tenant can take significant space and create a branded environment that feels like their own building. They care about ceiling heights, ample parking, and a location where office users can live close by and have access to neighborhood amenities.

That is one of Midtown’s advantages. Midtown will end up with around 10,000 condos, and if you add what has happened in Edgewater and Wynwood, the area continues to densify. People are living in proximity, and we are trying to add uses that benefit those residents and workers, including social and wellness-driven amenities that make daily life easier and more connected.

We also believe public space adds value. Units around well-designed public environments are typically more desirable, and that desirability supports both residential pricing and the strength of retail and office demand.

What challenges do you see in the current market, and how is Rosso Development navigating them as you plan future projects?

There are a lot of luxury projects, and there are many developers adding brands to buildings where the brand does not have real significance. For buyers, it is not enough to look at finishes or a name attached to a building. Buyers also need to look at who is behind the project, what the developer is offering, and what the true value is beyond surface-level branding.

In our case, we differentiate through the overall offering. We are not just offering a building with a lobby and one floor of amenities. We are offering a piece of a new urban Midtown. With a five-acre site in the middle of Midtown, we have the opportunity to create something that functions like a city within a city, and that kind of place-making is what we believe will stand out over time.

How are you incorporating technology, data, or AI into your projects, and where do you see it adding the most value?

In the buildings themselves, we use the latest appliance packages, sanitary fixtures, flooring materials, and high-quality windows and glass types like low-E. That is part of delivering a modern luxury product.

But we are not focused on selling AI as a concept. For us, the real differentiator is quality of space. We are trying to give people more open space and better public space. At Midtown Park, we have amenities on the seventh floor that connect the four towers and look down into the padel club, the parks, and the paseos. We focus on the spaces between towers, what residents will look into, and how the site functions as a true urban environment. The goal is great public spaces and great open spaces that elevate the everyday experience.

As you look ahead two to three years, what are your top priorities, and what is your outlook for Miami’s market?

I think Miami continues to grow and will continue attracting international and national buyers, particularly from the Northeast and the Northwest. We also see buyers from California who are attracted to the Proper brand and to what Miami offers. Overall, the future of Miami looks bright.

You also see continued momentum from infrastructure and major events. There has been an announcement of an expansion of the airport. A new stadium for the Miami soccer team is being finalized. The World Cup is coming. Miami continues to host major sports events like Formula 1 and tennis. We are the largest terminal of cruise lines in the world. There is also a new convention center and a convention hotel being developed next to the existing convention center in Miami. On the business side, we continue seeing major firms moving here, and those trends support long-term demand.

It is also important for buyers and investors to understand that Miami is still completing these neighborhoods. When Midtown Park is finalized, we are going to connect the Design District, Midtown, Edgewater, and Wynwood in a more complete way. That increases foot traffic, increases retail rents, and makes areas more desirable. And the more desirable an area becomes, the higher the price of real estate.

Midtown Park is a unique project in Miami, and it is an opportunity for buyers to participate in the growth of this new Midtown within Midtown.