Jesse Scheckner
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is joining the board of advisers for ISG World, a South Florida luxury real estate brokerage that last month obtained an investment from one of his two private-sector employers.
A statement from the company says Suarez will advise management on “rapidly changing dynamics of the real estate industry.”
The role will be unpaid, the Miami Herald reported.
In a prepared statement, Suarez said he was eager to join the newly formed board.
“With my vision for city growth, new technology and my previous experience in real estate law, I will advise ISG World on strategic real estate and development growth in new markets,” Suarez said.
Since May, Suarez has worked two paid, concurrent jobs outside City Hall. He is counsel at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, self-described as “the largest law firm in the world devoted solely to business litigation and arbitration.”
Suarez is also senior operating partner at DaGrosa Capital Partners LLC, a Miami-based private equity firm. In October, DaGrosa invested in ISG World based on a deal with ISG CEO Craig Studnicky. DaGrosa did not say how much he invested.
The firm’s founder and Chair, Joseph DaGrosa Jr., also has a seat on the board alongside Studnicky, the board chair, and ISG President Michael Ambrosio.
ISG specializes in new and pre-construction condo sales. Through some 150 projects since its 1992 founding, the brokerage has sold more than $12 billion worth of real estate.
ISG is also celebrating 10 years as a partner in Related ISG Realty, a collaboration between Studnicky and billionaire real estate developer Jorge Pérez, who is widely known as the “condo king” of Miami.
Saurez, 44, overwhelmingly won re-election last month. In his Nov. 3 victory speech, he listed second-term priorities including expanding affordable housing, using public lands for public good, eliminating homelessness, keeping taxes low and continuing to make Miami a cryptocurrency hub and “the capitol of capital.”
He left his four mayoral opponents in the dust when it came to fundraising, amassing nearly $6.3 million in the lead up to Election Day. Of that, he still holds $4.8 million to spend toward his next political conquest — including a potential run at the White House in 2024.
