The sunny shores of South Florida have long attracted flight capital from Canadian cities such as Toronto and Montreal. PROFILEmiami had the opportunity to sit down with Simon Mass of the Toronto-based The Condo Store, which as for more than 20 years been one of the largest Toronto based pre-construction investment companies in Canada, to discuss how his firm is rapidly expanding in South Florida’s evolving marketplace.

The Condo Store has been instrumental in investing in the development of the city skylines with master planned community projects, as well as many singular based condominium developments all across the downtown core for its two owners, Simon S. Mass and John Mehlenbacher as well as their niche client base of approx 350 of the top doctors and surgeons in Canada.

Since its inception in 2005, The Condo Store’s clients have invested in 49,000+ condominium residences with over $25 nillion in investments that were meticulously designed with finishes and amenities that transform Toronto neighborhoods and communities into vibrant residential environments and part of the new fabric of making Toronto a world class city. Answering the demands and desires of a new generation of sophisticated physician-based investors, The Condo Store has helped to define Toronto’s urban evolution through its dynamic investment model that has and continues to create new communities.

Many of The Condo Store’s go-to developer relationships were for properties in the gentrification of older parts of the city; they are distinguished by groundbreaking partnerships with world-renowned architects, designers, and artists who help to create residential developments recognized as urban landmarks. With a long history of local philanthropic support for many urban hospitals, The Condo Store’s commitment to support its investor clients in their workplace efforts and vice versa to have one of the most successful referral-based enterprises has and continues to drive the growth of the company that prides itself on rarely advertising its services to the public. The organic growth, community support, impressive and consistent double-digit ROI’s achieved for clients and customer service excellence has resulted in a host of accolades.

PM: What is your outlook for TCS in the real estate market in South Florida?

Simon Mass: From day one, I envisioned The Condo Store as more than just another real estate-based investment company; we set out to change the skyline of the city of Toronto for the better and set an example for others to follow in terms of making Canada a number one destination for innovation and growth.

Over the years, my regular travels to Miami led me to envision a time when we could grow our business and add another major cosmopolitan city to our portfolio of desired locations to invest in and grow our client’s wealth through prominent real estate opportunities. Miami is a vibrant and internationally recognized city with incredible weather, a growing arts and culture ecosystem and, most importantly, unmatched forward momentum that has been accelerated in the past 2-years of life under the storm of a global pandemic. Thousands of people are migrating here, and many companies in a variety of industries are following suit in the pursuit of a better live-work environment. It was evidently clear to us that this was bound to happen and we’re finally at an inflection point where corporations (and individuals) are leaving established markets like New York City, California and Chicago in search of a more enjoyable lifestyle, favorable tax environment and sunny skies and beautiful beaches.

Part of the satisfaction of being a top-tier investment firm with a stellar reputation in Canada is being able to immediately enter a new market like Miami and work with the best, whether in sales and marketing, or architecture and design. The future is bright for The Condo Store’s expansion plans for its Florida operations.

PM: Do you feel that this is why Miami is a good investment for a buyer?

Simon Mass: Miami is a great investment for Canadian buyers in general and it’s evident from the incredibly international flavor of the city and its population, it’s a feeling that millions of people from all over the world have become aware of and love about this city. For Canadian investors, the all-too-common issue of FX has less impact now as the overall price point of real estate in Miami allow is almost at an equalization point as its fair to say that condominium per sf pricing is lower in Miami than in Toronto.

Let’s not forget how easy it is to fly into Miami from many of the major cities in Canada (with many more flights being added monthly) and generally not have any jet lag issues as most flights are under 3-hours. Canadian’s are here because of this new and highly affordable accessibility and because Miami continues to grow and sophisticate itself as it continues to evolve into a major city.

PM: Give us a brief summary/history on yourself (Simon Mass) and TCS as well as how the company has evolved?

Simon Mass: Our Story began with a simple objective: the acquisition of pre-construction condominiums – in bulk. As is the case with many prosperous business ventures, our success stems from passion, vision, and impeccable timing. I met my partner John Mehlenbacher in 2002 and we established The Condo Store Group of Companies. 17 years later and $25 billion in investments, the business thrives today and has within its management some of the leading minds in the real estate sector.

Investing side by side with our clients is the core to our success. The Condo Store presents our clients with three to four pre-construction condominium investment offerings annually. Sometimes they are timed perfectly and land in inboxes quarterly, and other times they may all be presented together. It is all about deal-flow timing and having the right investor friendly terms to make the deals as lucrative as possible for all of us. Why all of us? Well, our core business relies on our founders, Simon and John, investing alongside you in every single offering. We are not selling to you; we are investing with you.

Earned trust is paramount to our growth. So many opinions and data points are available in the market, it can be hard for clients to see the forest for the trees. We are trusted because of our way of doing business, not because of flashy marketing materials and advertisements. Above all, trust remains the most important core value, essential for the day-to-day relationships with our clients. Our business is earned through referrals from existing clients and built on the back of our impeccable reputation. You can speak to our clients and see how they fared and realized annual ROIs in the 40% range, year after year.

PM: Can you provide an overview of TCS current projects?

Simon Mass: At this time, we are working with a number of Hedge Funds and a well-established US based development group on a beautiful Bal/Bay Harbor boutique condominium project where we anticipate having 40% of the inventory allocated to our Canadian investors as part of their initial foray into the Florida landscape. La Baia North promises to be a unique and rare opportunity for our group to invest in a project that offers a beautiful waterfront setting, in a well-established and family orientated community setting that has given many of our physician clients the opportunity to own a holiday home that is a 2-minute drive to the glamorous Shops at Bal Harbor and the spectacular beaches at St. Regis and Four Seasons Hotel.

In Canada, we are in the final strokes of our last offering for 2022 in a stunning and well-established park laden neighbourhood where we plan to participate and purchase 50% of a project that will set itself as one of the most well designed and luxurious boutique developments to come to market in some time. The project, Craft Residences will likely be an oversubscribed offering, as all of our past project opportunities that are and often hard to negotiate in a booming real estate market that is on its 32nd year of a continuous upward ride.

PM: What have been the keys to TCS’s success and industry leadership?

Simon Mass: Being a game-changer in the residential real estate investment sector has and continues to be a goal for myself and my team. I feel that every system, in every industry can do a with a shake up and having entered into this space purely by accident, I feel blessed to have picked a vibrant sector that all-in-all provides one of the most important human needs.

We continue to lead the way in terms of negotiating out of the box with developers and providing our clients with added benefits that are not only the first of its kind but also often so expensive that we have become known for limiting our company’s revenue in lieu of increasing our clients returns.

One example that comes to mind was during the first year of the pandemic where we decided to ensure that we were in a position during a global pandemic to invest into a $180 million pre-construction opportunity with 90-clients who were all given a brand new 2022 Jaguar SUV as a signing bonus and for their loyalty to our brand and offerings. This was the biggest investor client loyalty gift in the history of real estate development sector in Canada. We have repeated the same program in 2022 with a collaboration with fully-electric car manufacturer Polestar to give away 30x Polestar 2 models to new clients that have joined the TCS family.

Bottom line, we care about making each of our clients much more financially astute and successful and entering markets better and prioritizing long-term client and community benefits over short-term economic gains; we make it a point to look at things holistically and always consider how we’ll impact not only our clients, but the city and country where we invest as a whole.

We talk to every client about our “Buy. Hold. Prosper” approach and I feel like this is a pertinent time to bring this up. Nothing is foolproof and 100% certain in any market, but, given the capital appreciation in short- and long-term historical data at hand, you can withstand changes like interest rates and other situations that arise by simply buying consistently with the goal of holding and being a long-term investor. Quick-buck strategies can work but are not for the long-term when we talk to clients about truly creating wealth for their families, potentially for generations.

I also like to think we are setting the tone for others to follow which has its challenges. We’ve been blessed and fortunate to have pioneered many of today’s industry standards in the pre-construction marketing and investing space and are focused on continuing that tradition for many years to come. This mindset allows us to forge ahead even during recessionary periods, global pandemics and who know what else, to bring our A-game to each new project, no matter the negativity in the marketplace to keep us on our toes.

PM: What do you see as the strengths of Miami from a business standpoint for Canadian buyers?

Simon Mass: The Condo Store has a vested interest to grow its business in Florida and in particular Miami. Things are going to continue to pick up from here, especially as our clients continue to want to explore the easy and clear choice of owning choice properties in this sunny local where rental returns are incredibly high and limited housing supply will continue for many years to come. The boom in the tech sector has been widely mentioned in the news as Miami grows its business markets exponentially and attracts industry leaders and a workforce to be reckoned with.

The Florida real estate landscape has changed over the past 3-years as international immigrants and residents have become lower in their decision to move to Florida and set-up a home here. The larger inflow to the population boom has and continues to come from other Americans moving from New York and California for the most part and officially changing their residency for many reasons, including taxes, weather and overall lifestyle choices. Miami is no longer a holiday and party city for many people. Its home.

PM: Tell us about how you are involved in Philanthropy?

Simon Mass: From the start, I knew I wanted to be remembered as someone who contributed in a meaningful way to the fabric of great cities and, most importantly, someone who helped make society a better place. I always felt that no matter how small a contribution one makes to any cause, it was better than no contribution and I’ve always encourages that mindset with my own team. Supporting a cause greater than my own personal business has always been hugely rewarding for me and for the most part, harder to manage than my core business and family life.

I was fortunate to have some incredibly talented surgeon investor clients who were running numerous research programs at some of Toronto’s most prominent hospitals and universities. My duty as a supporter to my clients causes and as a very junior philanthropist in a city where charity and support is paramount in many of its communities was to continuously contribute to the betterment of underserved groups and communities, particularly in the medical research and educational sectors. Early on we established a PhD Scholarship program and most recently we decided to continue in that realm and support three local Universities with student scholarship and mentorship programs to stand behind our youth and allow for them to gain some real insights.

The Condo Store is proud to support many worthwhile initiatives that care for the community and endeavours to make our home a better place for generations to come as well as looking to try to do the same in Florida. We have a multi-year tradition of charitable activities and patronage of incredible organizations such as the Sick Kids Foundation, St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation and Habitat for Humanity to name a few. While we aim to achieve leadership in all the businesses we operate, we strive not to lose sight of the importance of giving back to the society and communities in which we do business.

With so much need in the world, especially in the past few years of global instability, homing in our focus areas can be a challenge, but I’m fortunate to have a great team that keeps me on point on the causes where we can drive the most meaningful impact.