MIAMI—Last week, the Miami City Commission, along with Mayor Tomas P. Regalado, proclaimed Dec. 11 as “Jose Luis Melo Day” in a tribute to the patriarch of the Melo Group. Melo is the family-owned residential high-rise development firm credited with reviving South Florida's preconstruction condo market after the 2007 real estate crash.

Back in 2011 as this current real estate cycle was starting, the Melo launched presales for the 23 Biscayne Bay condo tower in the Edgewater neighborhood of Greater Downtown Miami using a 50% deposit structure for preconstruction buyers that has become the norm in South Florida. By comparison, most developers during the last condo boom collected 20% deposits from presale buyers, leading some industry watchers to conclude this approach led to widespread speculation and overbuilding.

To date,  Melo “has completed six successful rental and condo towers in the Edgewater area and have another half dozen in planning or construction,” according to the official proclamation signed by Regalado and City Commission Chairman Willy Gort. Melo was also featured as Daily Business Review “People of the Year.”

Click here to review my coverage of Melo this year.