Todd Michael Glaser 2.0: Shaping a Legacy

Todd Michael Glaser, renowned real estate developer and owner’s representative, recently appointed Brandon Zarco to reshape his company and build the future.

Photo Credit: Romain Maurice

Glaser’s success throughout the decades required him to find the right individual to help him with the next phase of his business, which he found in Zarco. “Brandon is here to help me manage and grow my development and owner’s rep company,” he said. In just the first four months of 2021, the team has transacted on $170M of real estate.

Zarco added, “Todd’s expertise is in very high demand. Our process is intentional and systematic. We don’t build fast; we build efficiently.” Glaser said, “We would like to take on more projects, but we are nearing capacity. We need to grow.” This is where the Glaser-Zarco dynamic comes in.

If the last name of Glaser’s new deputy sounds familiar to Haute Living readers, it’s not a coincidence: he’s the son of a long-time Haute Partner, attorney Robert Zarco.

The interview session was a short glimpse into the day-to-day rapport Glaser has  developed with Zarco, each of them complimenting and complementing the other’s talents and sentences, respectively.

Glaser saw the development experience Zarco acquired with the builders of The Four Seasons at The Surf Club, The Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale, and The Four Seasons Palm Beach as he considered and promptly brought him into the fold. Zarco achieved his MBA at the Robert H Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park with a focus on Finance, and later honed his skills in Washington D.C. where he spent a few years in real estate banking.

Photo Credit: Romain Maurice

“I saw a lot of me in him,” said Glaser, as he identified Zarco’s qualities. “There’s a lot of serendipity between us. His grandmother, an interior designer that predominantly worked with one wealthy family her entire career, gave Brandon his first design book for his Bar Mitzvah when he was 13 years old. It was a Zaha Hadid book. Years later, I co-developed the building, [One Thousand Museum by Zaha Hadid Architects in Downtown Miami].”

On that building, with a little prompting, Glaser added proudly, “It’s the best building in the world. There’s no residential building like it.”

Looking into the future, “The next chapter of Todd Michael Glaser 2.0 will focus on ‘Legacy Properties’,” said Zarco. “Our Palm Beach acquisitions approach is currently centered on procuring and developing uniquely positioned legacy properties. There are a few in the pipeline that we are excited to bring to market throughout 2021 and early 2022.”

Famous for purchasing historic estates in Palm Beach, Glaser and his wife, Kim, bought Villa Fontana, located at 127 Dunbar Road, for $17 million in mid-2020, and sold it in March of this year for $28 million. Keeping up with the efficiency rate he employs, Glaser added that they already have new, “Haute Living spectacular,” projects to acquire into their growing portfolio. To start, Glaser recently put under contract 10 Tarpon Isle, a 2.26 acre private island accessible via private bridge in the heart of Palm Beach with 1300’ of waterfront located just 0.5 miles south of Worth Avenue.

Photo Credit: Jay Bruns

An impressive detail to highlight about Glaser is that he knows the addresses of every one of his projects, radiating a paternal tone in his approach to each of them. More directly, he said, “I’m good with numbers and making my partners money. We have a great track record. I’ve been fortunate to have great partners throughout my life, including Alan Lieberman, Scott Robbins, Craig Robbins, Jerry Robbins, Armin Mattli, Jared Posner, Sean Posner, Rony Seikaly, Jonathan Fryd, and David Lombardi to name a few.”

One of Glaser’s top projects at the moment is a collaboration between architecture firm Kobi Karp, high-end furniture brand Artefacto, and Todd Michael Glaser, located at 394 S Hibiscus Drive. It’s the first endeavor between the three companies.

On their goals for the rest of 2021, as an active third of the year is in the books, Zarco said, “We’re in the process of restructuring and streamlining the operations of the business in a way that invites scale while maintaining the highest level of quality and unmatched style. Over the years, Todd has built a tremendous brand for himself. We want to take that brand, and coupled with newly envisioned legacy properties, be able to expand, so when people from anywhere in the country hear ‘Todd Michael Glaser’ they know the type of business and excellence of product that we provide.”

As the dialogue was coming to a close, the last question for Glaser generated his fastest response: Would you choose one of those $50 million waterfront homes in Palm Beach or the $50 million estates in The Hamptons? His answer, “I’m a Palm Beach guy.”