From the South Florida website: Top broker and Miami native Horacio LeDon, president of Douglas Elliman Development Marketing for Florida and California, announced his resignation today, The Real Deal has learned.
After a 13-year career selling billions of dollars in new development deals in New York, Miami and Los Angeles, LeDon said through a spokesperson that he’s pursuing his own development opportunities, but will remain licensed as a real estate broker with Douglas Elliman in the New York, California and Florida offices.
“I am lucky to have been given the opportunity to work with Susan de França, who has been a game changer for Douglas Elliman,” he said in a statement.
LeDon was unavailable for interviews on Thursday, a spokesperson told TRD.
Jay Parker, CEO of Douglas Elliman’s Florida brokerage, told TRD that the decision for LeDon to step down as president of development marketing for Florida and California was a mutual decision, long thought-out by both LeDon and Elliman. It was a decision that took into account what LeDon wanted to do with his time, and the demands of the job.
“It was becoming sort of mutually compromising for Horacio to continue to travel the continent while still having to carry the torch,” Parker told TRD. “So we have ultimately very, very strategically and in a timely fashion weaned Horacio out of the position so it didn’t compromise any of us.”
LeDon will continue to play an active role in recruiting development projects, Parker said. “He remains a stand-up asset to the company,” he said.
Since joining Douglas Elliman Development Marketing in 2013, LeDon spearheaded all projects in Florida. He helped lead marketing efforts for such projects such as Ian Schrager’s the Residences at the Miami Beach Edition and Alan Faena’s Faena House. While overseeing the new development category in Florida, LeDon helped grow the portfolio from $500 million to more than $5 billion, he said.
Just this spring, he moved to California, when the company was selected to exclusively handle the sales and marketing for Metropolis Los Angeles.
Before joining Elliman in early 2013, LeDon was the founder of the eponymous brokerage Horacio LeDon Real Estate. LeDon operated his firm in Florida, New York and London.
A former Related Cos. executive, he was the West Coast senior vice president for Starwood Capital’s ST Residential unit before starting his own brokerage in 2012.