Billionaire real estate developer Stephen Ross, whose Related Companies built the Hudson Yards project on Manhattan's west side, said New York City's high taxes and crime rate will lead to more people and businesses heading to Florida.
Ross, whose company is looking to expand its presence in the Sunshine State beyond Miami and West Palm Beach, said Florida's ease of living is attracting people for job opportunities, not just retirement.
"People are looking from the Northeast and relocating for jobs — not retirement — and companies are looking [for offices]," Ross told Bloomberg News in an article published Wednesday. "It's tax issues, and there's the security issues. There's just the ease of living."
Ross, 82, a Detroit native who owns the NFL's Miami Dolphins, still sees potential in New York, Bloomberg reported. His company is set to build a casino resort as part of the second phase of the $25 billion Hudson Yards project, considered the largest private development in U.S. history; the first phase was completed in 2019.
"New York will continue to grow, but it has its challenges, and a lot of people who don't have to be there are looking not to be there," Ross said. "It's changing, it's getting younger, the older people are moving out, the wealthier people are moving out.
"We have huge investments [and] we're still doing tremendous developments in New York. But I think Florida is going to capture an awful lot of people."
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