Billionaire real estate developer predicts MORE New Yorkers will flee to Florida because of high taxes

A billionaire real estate developer has predicted that more New Yorkers will flee to Florida due to high taxes and rising crime rates in the Big Apple.

Stephen Ross, 82, whose net worth is around $12 billion, has said that people in the Northeast seek warmer climates long before they retire.

‘People are… relocating for work, not retirement, and companies are looking for [for office space]’ said Ross, president of real estate development firm Related Companies, Bloomberg.

‘There are tax issues, and there are security issues. There is only the ease of living [in the South].’

Since the pandemic, and with the growing popularity of remote work, cities like New York have been suffering, as increasingly empty office buildings leave billions of dollars in vacant space.

And as crime rates rise, many have chosen not to return to the office. In New York, crime increased 2.6 percent compared to the same period last year, with robberies and aggravated assaults up 6.3 and 12.2 percent, respectively.

‘There are tax issues, and there are security issues. There is only the ease of living [in the South]’ Ross said. Crime rates rose 2.6 percent compared to the same period last year in the Big Apple, with robberies and aggravated assaults up 6.3 and 12.2 percent, respectively.

In the past two years, major tech, finance and law firms have abandoned big cities like New York and Chicago for the comfort of tax-free status.

Citadel, a hedge fund company, recently left Chicago for Miami. Apollo Global Management and Blackstone Inc., both originally based in New York, have also moved to Florida, according to Bloomberg.

One of Related’s properties, dubbed The Square, a mixed-use development, has attracted companies including Goldman Sachs and Steve Cohen-owned Point72 Asset Management.

Related acquired Rosemary Square in 2019 and Announced a five-year, $550 million investment plan to turn CityPlace from a “shopping and entertainment center into a vibrant community and destination.”

The property contained office and residential spaces, as well as dining and retail options.

Ross, whose corporate space in New York, has focused on development spaces in Florida. Related Companies, where Ross is president, announced in 2019 that it would invest $550 million in The Square in West Palm Beach (pictured), which is a mix of residential, corporate, and retail space.

The company’s next development project, One Flagler (pictured), is set to open in 2024. The company will acquire the property for $20 million in 2021 and the waterfront space will function as an office building.

It is also investing in Miami with its One Brickell City Center building (pictured), as vacancy rates are low in the city.

The real estate development company, which is also the mastermind behind the $25 billion Hudson Yards project in New York, also owns another property in West Palm Beach, One Flagler, which is set to open in 2024. The company acquired the property for $20 million in 2021.

It also has a property in Miami, dubbed One Brickell City Center, due to arrive in 2027. It is unknown how much the related companies paid for the development.

With the big developments in Florida, major cities have struggled to fill their offices.

As of September, New York City corporate space was 50 percent vacant, according to Investopedia. San Francisco was 26 percent vacant as of December, said Colin Yasukochi of the Tech Insights Center. CNBC. And Chicago was 15 percent vacant as of February, according to cawley chicago.

Vacancy rates are higher in large cities outside of Florida than in the state. New York City’s corporate vacancy rate is around 50 percent, compared to nine percent for West Palm Beach in Florida.

Meanwhile, popular destinations in Florida are thriving, with office vacancy rates remaining below the national average of 12.2 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

West Palm Beach has a vacancy rate of nearly 9 percent for corporate buildings and Miami has a 10 percent rate, according to NAR.

Despite all that, Ross said: ‘New York will continue to grow.

“But it does have its challenges, and a lot of people who don’t have to be there are looking to not be there,” he continued. “It’s changing, it’s getting younger, older people are moving out, wealthier people are moving out.”

However, he said that the younger crowd would still be drawn to the bright lights of New York City and that his development team would continue to have “big investments” in the Big Apple.

“But I think Florida is going to capture a lot of people,” he said.