The Jade Collection’s reputation rests on more than oceanfront real estate — it rests on the credentials of the people who built it. All three buildings were developed by Fortune International Group and designed by two of the most accomplished architectural names to ever work in South Florida: Carlos Ott (Jade Beach and Jade Ocean) and Herzog & de Meuron (Jade Signature), winners of the Pritzker Prize.
This page profiles each of them — their history, their broader body of work, and what their involvement means for the long-term value and significance of the Jade Collection.
Fortune International Group: The Developer
Fortune International Group is one of South Florida’s most established and respected luxury real estate development firms, with a multi-decade track record of delivering some of the region’s most significant residential towers.
Company Background
Fortune International Group has built a reputation over several decades for developing oceanfront and waterfront luxury residential properties throughout Miami-Dade County, with a particular concentration in Sunny Isles Beach and the broader Collins Avenue corridor. The firm is known for pairing world-class architectural talent with disciplined execution — a combination that is harder to find in luxury development than it might appear, where ambition and architectural vision frequently outpace a developer’s ability to deliver.
Notable Fortune International Developments
Beyond the Jade Collection, Fortune International Group’s portfolio includes other significant South Florida luxury residential projects, such as St. Regis Sunny Isles Beach, ORA by Casa Tua, and Mandarin Oriental Residences Brickell Key, reflecting a consistent strategy of identifying premier oceanfront and waterfront sites and pairing them with architecturally distinguished design.
Why the Developer Matters to Buyers
When evaluating a pre-construction or relatively new luxury building, the developer’s track record is one of the most important due diligence factors — arguably more important than the architecture itself in terms of risk assessment. A developer’s history of:
- Delivering on schedule and on the promised specifications
- Maintaining building quality and structural integrity over time
- Managing well-funded HOA reserves from day one
- Securing top-tier architectural and design talent consistently
…directly affects the long-term value and livability of every unit in the building. Fortune International Group’s track record across all three Jade buildings — now spanning from 2006 to 2018 — gives buyers nearly two decades of evidence about how the company builds and how its buildings perform over time. All three Jade buildings have maintained their position as among the most desirable addresses in Sunny Isles Beach since their respective deliveries, a meaningful indicator of developer execution quality.
Carlos Ott: Architect of Jade Beach and Jade Ocean
Carlos Ott is a Uruguayan-Canadian architect whose career spans more than four decades and five continents, with a portfolio of landmark cultural, civic, and residential projects around the world.
Background and Career
Carlos Ott first gained international recognition by winning the competition to design the Opéra Bastille in Paris, completed in 1989 — a major civic and cultural commission that established his reputation on the global architectural stage. Since then, Ott has built an extensive international practice, with completed projects across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.
Ott’s work spans a wide range of building types — opera houses, museums, civic buildings, hotels, and residential towers — but he has developed a particularly strong reputation in luxury residential architecture, including a substantial body of work in South Florida.
Notable Carlos Ott Projects
Ott’s broader portfolio includes the Opéra Bastille in Paris, along with numerous luxury residential and hospitality projects throughout Latin America, the Middle East, and the United States — with Sunny Isles Beach representing one of the most concentrated expressions of his residential design work in any single market.
Ott’s Design Approach at Jade Beach and Jade Ocean
What is particularly notable about Ott’s work in the Jade Collection is the deliberate differentiation between his two buildings, completed just three years apart. Rather than repeating a formula, Ott developed genuinely distinct architectural responses for each site:
- Jade Beach (2006): Organic curves, a warm exterior palette, and a sculptural massing that flows with the coastline — a design language characterized by softness and integration with the natural beach environment
- Jade Ocean (2009): A dramatically different all-glass curtain-wall approach, with a sharper, more transparent, more overtly contemporary aesthetic anchored by the building’s signature waterfall entrance
This range — producing two architecturally distinct buildings within the same developer relationship and the same immediate site context — demonstrates the design range that has made Ott a sought-after architect for developers seeking a building with genuine identity rather than a generic luxury tower.
Full Jade Beach Guide →
Full Jade Ocean Guide →
Herzog & de Meuron: Architects of Jade Signature
Herzog & de Meuron is the Swiss architecture firm founded by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, and recipients of the 2001 Pritzker Architecture Prize — widely regarded as architecture’s highest honor.
Background and Career
Founded in 1978 in Basel, Switzerland, Herzog & de Meuron has become one of the most consequential and frequently studied architecture firms of the past four decades. The firm’s body of work includes some of the most recognized cultural and civic buildings constructed anywhere in the world during that period, and its 2001 Pritzker Prize places the firm among an extraordinarily small group — fewer than 50 architects or firms have received the honor since its founding in 1979.
Notable Herzog & de Meuron Projects
The firm’s global portfolio includes the Tate Modern in London, the Beijing National Stadium (“Bird’s Nest”) built for the 2008 Olympics, 56 Leonard Street in New York, the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, and 1111 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach.
Why Jade Signature Is a Rare Commission
Pritzker Prize-winning firms overwhelmingly direct their practices toward museums, cultural institutions, and civic buildings — multi-unit residential condominium towers are, with very few exceptions, simply not where these firms typically work. Jade Signature represents one of Herzog & de Meuron’s first major residential commissions in the United States, and remains one of the only Pritzker-designed residential towers anywhere in Florida.
Read the full story of Herzog & de Meuron’s design vision at Jade Signature →
Full Jade Signature Guide →
The Supporting Design Team at Jade Signature
Jade Signature’s design pedigree extends beyond its architect. The building’s interiors were designed by Pierre-Yves Rochon (PYR), the Paris-based firm behind the Four Seasons George V in Paris and the Waldorf Astoria Chicago, and its landscape was designed by Raymond Jungles Inc., a Miami-based firm recognized as one of the foremost landscape architects in the United States. Together with Herzog & de Meuron’s architecture, this represents one of the most comprehensively curated design teams ever assembled for a residential project in Sunny Isles Beach.
Why This Team Matters to the Jade Collection’s Long-Term Value
The combination of an established, multi-decade developer track record (Fortune International Group) and internationally significant architectural talent (Carlos Ott and Herzog & de Meuron) is genuinely uncommon in luxury residential real estate — most luxury buildings have one or the other, rarely both at this caliber simultaneously.
For buyers, this combination translates into:
- Confidence in construction quality and long-term building performance, backed by a developer with a multi-decade track record across all three buildings
- Architectural significance that compounds rather than depreciates — particularly at Jade Signature, where the Pritzker Prize pedigree is a permanent, non-repeatable credential
- Design coherence and intentionality rather than generic luxury tower features — each building reflects a genuine architectural point of view rather than a market-tested template
Frequently Asked Questions
Who developed the Jade Condos?
All three Jade Condos — Jade Beach, Jade Ocean, and Jade Signature — were developed by Fortune International Group.
Who designed Jade Beach and Jade Ocean?
Both buildings were designed by Carlos Ott, the Uruguayan-Canadian architect best known internationally for the Opéra Bastille in Paris.
Who designed Jade Signature?
Jade Signature was designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the Swiss architecture firm and 2001 Pritzker Architecture Prize recipients, known for the Tate Modern and the Beijing National Stadium.
What is Carlos Ott’s most famous building?
Carlos Ott is internationally best known for winning the competition to design the Opéra Bastille in Paris, completed in 1989, which established his global architectural reputation.
Is Jade Signature the only Pritzker Prize-designed building in Sunny Isles Beach?
Yes. Jade Signature is the only residential building in Sunny Isles Beach — and one of the very few in all of Florida — designed by a Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning firm.
Has Fortune International Group developed other buildings besides the Jade Collection?
Yes. Fortune International Group has a multi-decade track record of developing luxury oceanfront and waterfront residential properties throughout Miami-Dade County, beyond the Jade Collection.
Learn More About Each Building
Ashton Coleman has represented buyers and sellers across all three Jade buildings for over two decades and can speak in depth to the specific design and developer history behind each one.
Call or text: 305.978.7704
Email: AColeman@onesothebysrealty.com
Schedule a private consultation →
Related reading:
The Herzog & de Meuron Effect | Jade Beach Complete Guide | Jade Ocean Complete Guide | Jade Signature Complete Guide