Introducing

Jorge Perez is no stranger to superlatives. The Argentina native is chairman and CEO of the Related Group of Florida, a Miami-based company that's the largest multifamily residential developer in the state. After starting in affordable housing, Perez has assembled a portfolio of more than $6 billion in real estate assets. Additionally, he's well known in art circles as a major collector, has won numerous civic awards and is a friend of Bill (Clinton, that is).

Now he's turned his formidable attentions to Fort Myers with a new 16-plus-acre, five-tower resort-style residential complex he's building along the Caloosahatchee. The high-end Oasis is the largest such project in Fort Myers.

"You need people to create downtowns," says Perez. He hopes his company's housing development will help pave the way for the revitalized downtown Andrés Duany envisioned for the city. Within the next five years, Perez predicts, "you're going to see a real change for the better in the development of downtown as a 24-hour city."

Perez, who holds a master's degree in urban planning from the University of Michigan, settled in Miami in the mid-'70s after being offered a job by the city as an urban planner. He later worked as a real estate consultant and eventually turned his attentions to his own company, which he founded in 1979. Now, with more than 50,000 multifamily and mixed-use residential units in South Florida, and a further 10,000 under construction or ready to break ground, the Related Group is a driving force of South Florida's rapid development.

The company's endeavors in Fort Myers were the result of research to find the area's most attractive building opportunities along the Gulf Coast. After seeing the development explosion in Sarasota and Naples, says Perez, "We felt Fort Myers offered the best opportunity for growth."

But Perez isn't strictly focused on the bottom line. Southwest Florida is dear to his heart for a number of reasons. "The beaches are fabulous; people are friendly; the government is well-thought-out and definitely has the best interests of the city [at heart]." Most of all, he says, "The city has character. You can create new towns but they're fictitious; they're like Disney World."

Once he and his firm decided to focus their efforts on Fort Myers as a new regional capital, they immediately began trying to become part of the fabric of the city. "Whenever we go into a community, we like to get involved in the community-particularly in the arts," Perez says.

An art lover and collector himself, with a personal collection that includes works by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Fernando Botero and other Latin American artists, Perez knows the value of the arts. "If we have one thing that makes us stand out, we put a lot of museum-quality art in our developments," he says.

And his efforts extend beyond his own developments. The Related Group has pledged $35,000 for the new Cultural Arts Center downtown, to be matched by that organization, and another $150,000 toward art for the city's public areas. "We like to bring art to people," Perez explains.

He also plans to build dozens of affordable housing units on a separate Fort Myers site.

Perez maintains a residence in Miami, where in addition to his favorite hobby, art, he loves reading and his daily passion: tennis. He plays twice a week with tennis pros, the rest of the time with friends, and even takes on his three oldest children-"all great tennis players," he boasts-whenever he gets the chance. "I'm 55 years old, but I still give my kids a run for their money," he states proudly.

He travels to Fort Myers every couple of weeks to oversee the construction of his company's nearly 1,100 new units, sales for which have already opened. "It's very peaceful for me," he says of this area. "It's much less hectic here in Fort Myers."

But that may be changing. "I think Fort Myers is in its infancy," Perez says. He sees the city becoming a competitor to Naples and Sarasota as a Southwest Florida hub, with its major university, airport and central riverfront location.

That kind of development alarms some in Southwest Florida who appreciate the same peaceful, relaxed atmosphere here that Perez himself does. "I wish I could tell you everything will always be bucolic and pastoral," he says of such concerns. "As towns change, the atmosphere changes. You want to keep the soul of what it is and make sure the change happens in a way that doesn't destroy it."

He sees the city's biggest challenges at the moment as being the protection of the environment and the development of parking and transportation systems to support the hoped-for increase in population-both areas in which he has an interest and a concern to help solve.

"We really do want to become an integral part of the community," Perez says.