Subscribe via:
Show Summary
In this episode, Scott Bursey sits down with Husein Sonara, a leading South Florida developer specializing in luxury multifamily and condominium projects. Husein shares his journey from the New York City market to Hollywood Beach, offering a behind-the-scenes look at high-end development, architectural precision, and disciplined execution. Listeners will gain insights into navigating market dynamics, managing institutional relationships, and building a reputation for long-term success in real estate development.
Resources and Links from this show:
-
Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode
Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Husein Sonara (00:00)
Well, definitely nail on the head in terms of relationships. I consider us builders and people say, what’s the difference between a builder and like developer or contractor or any of that? Well, you know, a developer can just be somebody who’s behind an Excel spreadsheet and nothing more, you know, just moving money around. A contractor is somebody who is going to pick up the contract and earn a fee working for a developer. But a builder is a combination of all of that.Scott Bursey (02:02)
everybody and welcome to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I’m your host, Scott Bursey. And today I’m joined by someone I’ve really been looking forward to chatting with, Husein Sonara. When speaking with Husein, you are moving into the elite world of South Florida’s luxury development. He isn’t just selling homes, he is a seasoned developer behind high end project in Hollywood Beach. Husein, welcome to the show.Husein Sonara (02:30)
Thank you, Scott. Pleasure to be here.Scott Bursey (02:32)
Awesome to have you. I think our audience is really going to take something away from your unique perspective as a developer. Most of us see the finished product, but you understand that years of vision, risk taking, and architectural precision is the key to creating a landmark before the first brick is even laid. Let’s dive in, shall we?Scott Bursey (02:54)
So first off, for people who may not be familiar with your world, give us the short version. What’s your main focus these days?Husein Sonara (03:02)
Our main focus these days is mainly in the realm of multi-family ground up condominium development. We’re involved in a few different sub markets in South Florida. ⁓ Some that are median ⁓ markets and some that are a little bit on the higher end of the scale markets in terms of premiums that are paid and expected. We’re a pretty versatile organization. So we’re able to deploy the same discipline and same approach to development.⁓ and underwriting in a number of different varying economically scaled markets. So ⁓ right now we have one project that we’re finishing that is a beachfront project in Hollywood Beach ⁓ and that is an excellent product, ⁓ really well positioned specifically and targeted towards the demographic of that community. And we are soon to break ground on a project in Bay Harbor Islands.
which is a little bit of a different scale market, ⁓ very significant upward pressure on pricing and premium expectation. So we are able to navigate all of these worlds. And we like to think that we bring to any project, no matter what the economics around it might be, the same level of quality ⁓ and execution and delivery. wherever the opportunities might find.
Scott Bursey (04:27)
That’s awesome. Interested to know what was the specific leading indicator that made you want to plant a flag in South Florida? Was it job growth, landlord friendly laws, or just where the best margins were?Husein Sonara (04:44)
Well, ⁓ most of my partnership, ⁓ all of us have New York City and greater New York metropolitan area roots. Most of our careers were forged and largely operated in that market. ⁓ And after the onset of ⁓ COVID,a lot of sort of broader business levers changed significantly and are still changing today.
South Florida, more than anything and any other domestically located market, is a market that is a pro-business environment. ⁓ Obviously has a different ⁓ taxation approach on people that domicile here and ⁓ has a excellent engine of ⁓ just general economic activity that I don’t think you really find anywhere else in the country today. ⁓ real estate development specifically.
is an industry that is lar activity and constant flywheeling to of a local economy has that today more so than any other domestic market. So it se choice for all of us as w folks. And it is definitely exactly that the way th
is not only operated, also the magnetism that it has to the rest of the world today is sort of unparalleled. And that is why it made it a natural choice and why we’ve all elected to put significant roots here.
Scott Bursey (07:13)
Love it. What caught my attention about you was the way you’ve been able to consistently deliver projects, you know, that are both architecturally masterpieces and commercial successes. Being able to bridge that gap between high art and high ROI is a rare skill set in this business. That’s not easy, especially in this climate. What’s been the key to keeping that machine running smoothly for you, Husein?Husein Sonara (07:35)
certain.think that my partners and I are ⁓ like so many in the industry as you need to be extremely disciplined. ⁓ There is never, you know, for better or for worse, there’s never an end to the work. ⁓ You have to be willing to be single-minded of purpose and uniquely focused through adversity and smooth ride times with the same level of pressure and the same level of expectation. ⁓ I think that
from a practical standpoint, we have a very ⁓ shovel to final closeout mentality with respect to our projects, which simply means that we do not ⁓ underwrite a project, buy a project, and then turn the keys over to operating that project to external ⁓ operators. We have an excellent community and network of vendors, service providers, contractors that we work with, but
We stay extremely close to the action. stay extremely close to the details. And ⁓ we are not afraid to get our hands dirty. We are…
Scott Bursey (08:53)
And that hands-onapproach is very impressive. And, ⁓ you know, it’s really impressive that you reached that level of, I guess, autonomy, Hussein. Was there a specific moment or a particular deal where you realized, okay, this is actually working?
Husein Sonara (09:14)
⁓ I think I could answer that question best by ⁓ giving some insight into a project that didn’t work. And because it didn’t work, it gave extraordinary insight, albeit very expensive extraordinary insight, but insight nonetheless. ⁓ And without going into too much specificity, ⁓ project in New York City and Manhattan, very, very ⁓ exclusive and high end and incredible project.Unfortunately, the broader composition of the partners involved were not as aligned as everybody should have been. ⁓ And there were certain participants who had control over the execution and their agenda was not to protect the partnership
in total, but only to protect their individual interests. And in that experience, you begin to understand that ⁓ there are lots of ways of doing business, but not everybody is going to.
necessarily choose to do business with integrity, but rather protect their interests over the interests of broader constituency. These are not projects that unless you are individually economically dominant, these are all projects that require a community of people, that require a village of people to create at the partnership level and then down. So at the top, the partnership is not aligned.
It tends to become very costly and it tends to become a road towards dispute and ultimately a road towards derailment. ⁓ In that particular project, the derailment was largely a result of that misalignment. And it taught me specifically and personally that to be involved in these sorts of things, you have to be the one that is driving the ship.
⁓ for the betterment of not just yourself but for the betterment of everybody who is involved sometimes people are not going to appreciate that in real time but at the end of the day if you deliver protection if you deliver ⁓ you know surety of execution on behalf of not only yourself but everybody involved that tends to rise to the top and i think that you know going through an experience where the outcome is not that way it teaches you
that you can make a choice and your choice can either be I’m going to do right by everybody and myself or I’m going to do right just by myself regardless of who else is involved and whichever decision and whatever choice you make that’s going to largely ⁓ highlight what the outcome is likely to be. And the short term outcome if you choose one path over another might work out to your benefit but long term to grow to scale to expand especially in this industry.
You need people who want to work with you again and again, not just one time, get screwed over and then come back for seconds. It doesn’t work that way.
Scott Bursey (12:50)
couldn’t agree more and thank you for that perspective. Now Husein, every operator I know has a moment where things got real. Maybe a deal went sideways or a time they had to pivot fast. You mind sharing one of those moments with us?Husein Sonara (13:05)
⁓ I think that we have encountered ⁓ moments where perhaps schedules don’t line up exactly right. You have obligations, have ⁓ debt burdens, have institutional responsibilities where significant sums of capital have been placed as a bet ⁓ on your business plan.And to see that maybe ⁓ timeline wise or ⁓ final deliverable wise, it’s not going to line up and you have to make decisions to ensure that those institutional participants remain happy and remain aligned and, you know, work yourself into a window where you can shunt into either a new ⁓ working relationship or change the business plan to account for perhaps
something that did not go exactly to plan. ⁓ think that, you know, typical story, at least in terms of my experience has been where you maybe created a for sale product and then realized, well, we have to change this to a for rent product in the interim because the market is not where we thought it would be to ⁓ offload X, Y, Z. ⁓ But we go this way in the interim, it saves everybody’s equity and it saves the institutional
⁓ perhaps institutional loan structure from an ugly situation. So I think that, you know, as you grow and you expand, those sorts of ⁓ happenings are typical. It’s just a function of can you identify it in the right amount of time to make that pivot ⁓ in order to protect your track record and protect your equity. In my case, ⁓ earlier on, it was exactly
that and we were able to come out the other side of it
whole, which is most important first, ⁓ and still maintain ⁓ the sanctity of the broader institutional relationship that we had. And we’re able to do business again and again and, you know, other ones can go better. And that’s something that has occurred and I think is a typical thing in the growth ⁓ arc for anybody in this industry.
Scott Bursey (16:09)
Looking at your business today, what tripwire or system have you built specifically so that exact misfortune can never happen again?Husein Sonara (16:19)
I think that it’s almost impossible in the speculative development side of this business to protect against that possibility. You’re building and developing and underwriting years in advance of delivering a large scale project and you’re doing it based on data that you have available at the moment of acquisition or the initial beginning of the development. You hope and you believe and the writing on the wall suggests that you’ll get to an intersection of time and value deliverable.that will support itself. But the truth of the matter is, is that the larger you get in terms of projects, the more tied to global economic conditions they are, even in the smallest of ways. Today, we’re looking at, you know, in this week, in the last few weeks, we’re looking at a global environment where oil prices might be double from where they are possibly. And that specific commodity
With that commodity, so goes every other commodity, every other service provider, every other lever in the economy. So you can do the very best that you can. You can plan and you can ensure that when you’re doing things like spending money, investing money, that you are really, really, really.
making your deals and structuring your payables and your commitments and obligations at the last dollar of obligation that you have to. If you go and you say, we’ll figure it out or spend a little bit more here, a little bit more there, that also is fairly typical, but it’s a very slippery slope. And then if you combine that slippery slope with macroeconomic conditions that you have zero control over, all of a sudden can turn into a landslide.
So for example, in our business project that we’re finishing now, ⁓ and I would love to say that it’s through some really genius, ⁓ you know, preemptive notion of our own, but really timing, timing that we acted in, and I guess we could say, hey, we were smart to act in that time, but we really didn’t know, ⁓ pre-tariff environment. So pre-tariff environment on materials, especially international imports, sometimes these projects require
European finishes Asian finishes things of this nature that you’re you’re buying You know months and months in advance and then they hit the port and all of a sudden you’re paying double the expected cost That presents a very significant problem. So ⁓ I would say that you know, we were managed to take good advantage of a good moment of time But if we had waited maybe six or nine months, we would have not been as fortunate so ⁓ I think it’s really all about staying close to the values staying close to
pennies because as it said, the pennies look after the pounds and making sure that you don’t just take anything on face value and you ensure that you get to the bottom line on everything that you do because that’s really going to be the only preemptive protection you can offer the broader picture and those little things add up to the big picture. ⁓ But if you allow it to just sort of have a mind of its own and go with whatever the flow of the moment is, you’re always going to pay a retail value and that retail value is
going to be not representative of the value of savings, which really mean the value of protecting yourself and protecting your product and protecting your investment. So I would say that that generally is ⁓ maybe the tripwire side of it, psychologically and philosophical alignment to make sure that we approach everything that way, ⁓ because that’s sort of really the only means of control that you can have.
Scott Bursey (20:03)
Hey, that’s real talk, and that’s the kind of stuff people don’t talk about enough. And honestly, it’s what separates the folks who just dabble, Hussein, from the ones who stay in the game long term. Let me ask you this. What are you most focused on solving or scaling next?Husein Sonara (20:23)
think that ⁓ we’re most focused on solving ⁓ our efficiencies with respect to the soft side of the business, ⁓ engineering and design relationships, and the means and manners in which we ⁓ pursue governmental approvals. And to a degree similarly to global economy, you’re never going to have full control over that. But what you can have control over isinternal process and procedure and timelines and timeframes that you give yourself to collate all the documentation necessary so that when you go to a municipality when you want to do a project, you at least can say, from our side of this, we’re completely buttoned up. And to the extent that there are objections and clarifications and revisions, which are always are, we are well suited to respond to them and react to them very quickly and efficiently.
so as to not draw out what is already going to be drawn out process. And I think that the more we’re able to shorten that ⁓ internally on ourselves, that’s free time that we can gain on the other side of it, which you always need in large scale construction projects and large scale development projects.
Scott Bursey (21:41)
Absolutely, absolutely. What’s the next real goal for you? The big target, so to speak.Husein Sonara (21:49)
I think the big target for us is really longevity. ⁓ We want to ensure that ⁓ we’re responsible stewards of institutional capital and private limited partner capital that invests behind us. We want to be able to deliver for our investors. We want to be able to deliver for our lenders. And if there’s room at the end, we want to deliver for ourselves. But ⁓ at the end of the day, I think that ensuring that wemaintain those disciplines and those philosophies of approach, it gives us the ability to say, we can we can continue doing this for the rest of our careers. ⁓ Some will win, some will win not as much, but to ensure that you’ve got the standard of reputation and standard of stewardship in the eyes of the broader community of real estate, finance and ⁓ investor community. This is the thing that really
is always the focus. ⁓ We want people to see what we do and say, hey, we want to be part of that. would you allow us to invest with you? Would you allow us to support your ongoing ⁓ aspirations? That’s really what the real focus always is. ⁓ And from the standpoint of our various platforms that we own and operate, ⁓ providing services is a new
off ramp for us, ⁓ a new spur, let’s call it, for us. ⁓ But we are taking a lot of those philosophical alignments that we have for our own portfolio and offering them additionally as services to the broader market. And we want to maintain a reputation on both sides where, for our own projects, we are people that are looked upon as reliable and ⁓ trustworthy. And if a bet is going to be made, a bet is well placed in our hands.
⁓ And at the same time, if you have a project or you have a large scale development that you’re trying to get off the ground, we’re more than happy to be part and parcel to that as well ⁓ on a fee services platform basis as well. So all of these things feed into each other for us. And ⁓ I think that fundamentally the pursuit of making sure that there is longevity behind us and people look at us with that through that
lens, that’s the biggest pursuit, think, because everything else is doing the work, and that goes without saying, without having that reputation and maintained track record, you lose the ability to scale, and we don’t want to end up.
Scott Bursey (24:33)
In addition to that, we see people chase doors of revenue all the time. For you, is that goal the destination or is it just the fuel that allows you to do something even bigger?Husein Sonara (24:48)
I think it’s both. ⁓ We are absolutely ⁓ revenue and bottom line and profit minded as you have to be because all these activities take quite a bit of capital to operate and push forward. But the journey, especially in ground up development, occupies so much time that you have to be connectedto the process and connected to the execution and the delivery ⁓ as much as you have to be connected to the outcome. You can’t lose sight of what it takes to reach that endpoint ⁓ and have the expectation that it’s all going to work out if you’re not willing to fully embrace and lean into the process that gets you there. ⁓ And I think that myself and my partners, we have a very specific
⁓ mindset with respect to ⁓ We have to do what we have to do to get to the result and stay disciplined and stay on it. But it is in that pursuit that telegraphs to the broader market, to people that we do business with and to people that we want to do business with in the future, people that we’ve never met and may do business with in the future, that again, we’re there for the long term. We’re there to carry the ball until we get it into the end zone.
Scott Bursey (26:15)
Absolutely and getting it in the end zone with that extra point conversion is so critical. That’s big Especially when you’ve already got the resources in place Hussein that next move can you know either compound things or create chaos depending on how you play it Now I know a lot of our audience is either earlier in their journey or looking to level up And I think they’d benefit from hearing this when it comes to building relationships and growing your networkHusein Sonara (26:21)
Absolutely.Scott Bursey (26:45)
What’s made the biggest difference for you?Husein Sonara (26:49)
Well, definitely nail on the head in terms of relationships. I consider us builders and people say, what’s the difference between a builder and like developer or contractor or any of that? Well, you know, a developer can just be somebody who’s behind an Excel spreadsheet and nothing more, you know, just moving money around. A contractor is somebody who is going to pick up the contract and earn a fee working for a developer. But a builder is a combination of all of that.someone that is doing the underwriting and doing the Excel but also delivering the product and also most importantly besides that building the relationships. You’re a builder of much more than just the brick and the mortar. You’re building the relationships. So to do that and at the beginning of the journey I’d say that the single biggest piece of advice is to make sure you put yourself out there and put yourself in situations that can unfold to advance
your ambition and advance your agenda. ⁓ At the end of the day, it is rare that unless you’re born into specifically this industry, that anybody is going to take you by the hand and teach you how to be in this industry. You have to develop your own way and sense and style about how you’re going to pursue it. to that end, ⁓ you have to be willing to take big swings and you have to be willing to put yourself in situations that are maybe uncomfortable.
And you have to be willing to say, I’m going to test the limitations of my own knowledge and go to the extent that maybe is out of my comfort zone in order to move to the next level. And I think that, you know, that’s a difficult thing for anybody to do because there’s a lot of fear in the unknown. There’s a lot of unknown in the unknown. ⁓ And you have to be able to say, well, I’m willing to set aside my own reservations ⁓ in the pursuit of
the ambition and the pursuit of the goal. ⁓ And I have to go to steps that are outside of my experience realm to a limit. The other part of it also is that to build those relationships, certainly there are lots of communities and lots of different investment organizations and clubs and all of that. ⁓ we have not found our way into this industry through those channels. We found our way into this industry through the desire
to want to be in this industry and the aspiration of someday maybe being leaders within the industry. ⁓ to get to that from the first thought to get to it, I couldn’t tell you what it takes because I don’t think we’re there yet, but I think that ⁓ being willing to go outside of your comfort zone and have your own ability to know where that line is. Like you have to know what you know, you have to know what you don’t know.
and you have to be willing to maybe sometimes split the difference ⁓ on your own sense of ⁓ self-assurance or sense of self-confidence. You’re only going to have your own confidence in your own self before anybody else is going to have it. ⁓ So I don’t know how well that answers the question, but that would be what I would say.
Scott Bursey (30:03)
It answered it very well. And I’m glad that you mentioned relationships, because relationships are everything in this space. All right, before we wrap, if someone wanted to reach out, connect with you, maybe collaborate or learn more about what you’ve been doing, what’s the best way to say that they can contact you?Husein Sonara (30:21)
A company is called Hansford Boca and we are based here in Hollywood, Florida. ⁓ You can go to hansfordboca.com, h-a-n-s-f-o-r-d-b-o-c-a.com and you can get in touch with us and we’re happy to ⁓ socialize any and all things real estate. ⁓ Nothing too big, too small, just happy to connect.Scott Bursey (30:45)
Well, listen, I appreciate your time, your story, and your perspective. We need more people in this space who are doing it the right way. Thanks again for being here. And for those of you tuning in, if you got value from this, make sure you’re subscribed. We’ve got more conversations coming up with operators just like Hussein who are out there building real businesses. We’ll see you in the next episode, everybody.Husein Sonara (30:57)
Thank you, Scott.
