About Kass Construction & Development
Luxury Home Builder Fort Lauderdale: Who We Are and How We Build
Kass Construction
Architectural Vision. Engineered Execution. Build with Confidence. Live with Distinction.
Luxury Home Builder Fort Lauderdale: Who Is Kass Construction?
Kass Construction and Development is a boutique luxury home builder in Fort Lauderdale, serving Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties. The firm is led by Mitchell P. Kass, a licensed Florida general contractor who is also a practicing attorney, and it builds custom estates, waterfront homes, and high-end renovations.
Looking for a luxury home builder Fort Lauderdale owners keep coming back to? We are headquartered at 1610 Coral Ridge Drive in East Fort Lauderdale, minutes from the Intracoastal neighborhoods where most of our work sits. Founder Mitchell Kass and the firms he has led have delivered 100+ luxury residences across South Florida, over four decades in Florida real estate, law, and construction.
What makes the firm unusual is not the count. It is the combination of disciplines under one roof: licensed general contracting, construction and real estate law, and real estate brokerage. A single accountable party can price a change order, read the contract that governs it, and understand what the decision does to the long-term value of the property.
If you are still deciding who should build for you, our guide to choosing the right luxury custom home builder in South Florida sets out the questions worth asking any firm, including this one.
Why Does It Matter That Your Builder Is Also an Attorney?
Most construction disputes begin as contract and documentation problems, not craftsmanship problems. Because Mitch Kass is both a licensed general contractor and an attorney, contract review, scope definition, and change order language are handled in house, before they turn into the thing you argue about later.
Most construction firms focus on execution alone. Kass Construction and Development was built to cover the whole lifecycle of a project:
- Land acquisition and site feasibility
- Zoning and land use evaluation
- Contract structuring and review
- Architectural coordination
- Permit strategy and management
- Construction oversight and quality control
- Asset positioning and long-term value
Two of those deserve their own reading: how construction contracts for high-end residential work should be structured, and where luxury construction cost overruns actually come from.
What Licenses and Credentials Does Kass Construction Hold?
Mitchell P. Kass has been a Florida Certified General Contractor since 2006 (currently license CGC1529472), a member of The Florida Bar since 1988, and a licensed Florida real estate professional since 1980. Every Kass project is built under that license and that combination of qualifications, and each credential can be verified with the state.
The licenses are public, so we link them rather than ask you to take our word for it. You can check the general contractor license and the real estate license through the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and the bar membership through The Florida Bar.
Having all three in one firm changes what happens day to day. We review and negotiate contracts in house, identify title, zoning, or land use problems while they are still cheap to solve, structure developments properly from the start, and hold code compliance from day one rather than at inspection. In luxury construction, oversight is not optional; it is foundational.
Where Does Kass Construction Build?
Kass Construction builds throughout Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties, with most work concentrated in East Fort Lauderdale and the Intracoastal neighborhoods. Typical locations include Las Olas Isles, Coral Ridge, Victoria Park, Pompano Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and the barrier island communities.
South Florida is one of the most demanding construction environments in the country. Coastal building codes, hurricane mitigation standards, flood-zone elevation requirements, and municipal rules that change from city to city decide what can be built on a given lot and how long approval takes.
That is why location matters as much as design. We have written in depth about building in Fort Lauderdale, Las Olas Isles, Coral Ridge, and Boca Raton, and about the rules that govern them: flood-zone requirements in Broward County, hurricane-resistant construction, and waterfront home construction.
How Does a Kass Construction Project Run?
Every project moves through five stages: feasibility and pre-construction, contract and budget, permitting, construction, then handover and care. A high-end renovation often runs 6 to 14+ months and a ground-up custom build often runs 14 to 24+ months, depending on scope, complexity, approvals, and procurement.
Luxury projects fail for predictable reasons: incomplete pre-construction planning, weak contract structuring, poor permit strategy, lack of budget discipline, and insufficient oversight. Our approach is simple. Control the variables before they become problems.
- Feasibility and pre-construction. Zoning, elevation, structural condition, and budget modeling, before anyone commits. This is where most of a project’s risk is actually removed. See pre-construction planning.
- Contract and budget. Scope, allowances, and change-order language written to be read later, not argued over later. See construction contracts.
- Permitting. Applications, coastal and flood review where the site calls for it, and the municipal back and forth. See the South Florida permitting process.
- Construction. Field supervision, subcontractor coordination, inspections, and quality control against specification.
- Handover and care. Warranty, punch list, and long-term maintenance of the finished home.
Timelines move with the property. Our guide to how long it takes to build a custom luxury home in South Florida explains what pushes those ranges in either direction.
Who Does Kass Construction Build For?
We work with luxury homeowners, high-net-worth families, developers and investors, international property owners, and buyers acquiring teardown or redevelopment sites. Many clients also engage us as owner’s representative when they want experienced oversight and a single point of accountability.
The common thread is complexity. Our clients are usually building or renovating something a standard contract and a standard schedule cannot handle: a waterfront lot with elevation constraints, a 1990s estate that needs structural reconfiguration, or a purchase where the decision to renovate or rebuild has not been made yet.
Related reading: owner’s representation for luxury homes, teardown versus renovation, what international buyers should know about building in Florida, and whole-home luxury renovation.
We are particularly suited to clients who require discretion, strategic oversight, and experienced leadership on complex residential projects.
What Has Kass Construction Actually Built?
Founder Mitchell Kass and the firms he has led have completed 100+ luxury residences across South Florida (four decades in Florida real estate and 20 years as a Certified General Contractor), including custom waterfront estates, architect-driven homes, and whole-home renovations in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and the surrounding Intracoastal communities.
For any luxury home builder Fort Lauderdale buyers are considering, the portfolio is a better answer than any claim on a web page. You can see representative work on our projects page, and read how the process felt from the other side in our client stories.
If a project there resembles what you want to build, ask us about it directly. We are happy to walk through how it was engineered, what the permitting took, and what it took to hold the schedule.
Schedule a Private Consultation
Discuss your custom home, renovation, or development project with our team. Call 954-607-4335, email BuildWith@KassConstruction.com, or use the contact form. Our office is at 1610 Coral Ridge Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33305.
Meet Our Executive Leadership
Our leadership team covers construction management, financial control, field operations, long-term maintenance, and regulatory work. Every project is run by named people you will meet, not a rotating account manager.
The team works across custom waterfront estates, teardown redevelopments, and large-scale renovations in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach County.
Mitch Kass
President | Licensed Florida General Contractor, Attorney, Real Estate Agent
Florida Certified General Contractor #CGC1529472
Florida Bar #784583
Florida Real Estate Professional #SL334544
Mitch Kass has spent more than four decades at the intersection of Florida real estate, law, and construction. Licensed as a Florida real estate professional since 1980, he was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1988 (University of Miami School of Law) and has been a Florida Certified General Contractor since 2006, qualifying and leading multiple construction firms before founding Kass Construction & Development. That combination is the reason the firm exists: he can build the project, write and test the contract that governs it, and judge the legal and financial exposure in the same conversation.
Across 20 years as a Certified General Contractor, Mitch has led the delivery of 100+ luxury residences across South Florida through the firms he has qualified and led.
His expertise includes:
- Custom luxury home construction
- Waterfront estate development
- High-end residential renovations
- Teardown and redevelopment strategy
- Construction risk mitigation
- Budget discipline and cost containment
His approach centers on proactive planning, strict financial controls, and uncompromising build standards, so structural, regulatory, and architectural requirements are settled early rather than negotiated late.
Andrew Kass
Vice President | Luxury Residential Project Oversight
Andrew Kass brings financial analytics and operational discipline to the construction side of the business. After seven years in finance and data analytics, he moved into executive leadership at Kass Construction and Development, where he implemented structured project management, cost forecasting, and real-time budget tracking.
His leadership strengthens:
- Construction cost forecasting
- Schedule optimization
- Client transparency
- Change-order control
- High-end renovation oversight
- Custom estate build management
By putting the Buildertrend project management system at the center of communication between clients, architects, subcontractors, and vendors, Andrew made complex builds easier to follow for the people paying for them. He currently oversees custom homes and major renovations in Fort Lauderdale, Las Olas Isles, Coral Ridge, Boca Raton, and Palm Beach County.
Vince Gizzi
Vice President of Construction | Senior Construction Executive
Vince Gizzi is a licensed Florida General Contractor with more than 40 years in large-scale residential, hospitality, and commercial construction across North America. He has led projects valued at $50 million and above, including hospitality builds for Marriott, Hyatt, and Eden Roc.
At Kass Construction and Development, Vince directs field operations, superintendent oversight, structural execution, and quality assurance on high-end residential projects. His expertise includes:
- Complex structural systems integration
- High-value waterfront construction
- Multi-phase luxury developments
- Budget control and subcontractor coordination
- Building code compliance and inspection management
Decades of field leadership are why schedules hold, materials meet specification, and luxury finishes land the way the architect drew them. His multilingual capability and international project experience are an advantage in South Florida’s diverse market.
Efrain Rojas
Director of Construction Maintenance
Efrain Rojas is Director of Construction Maintenance. He oversees post-construction maintenance, warranty fulfillment, quality assurance, and long-term property care for the homes we have delivered across Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties.
His team implements proactive maintenance protocols, manages high-value repairs and renovations, coordinates subcontractor relationships, and keeps communication open with clients long after the final inspection.
This is the part of the job most builders stop doing once the last check clears. It is what protects the craftsmanship and the finishes over the life of the house, and it is why Kass clients are still calling the same number years later.
George Martinez
Project Manager
George Martinez is a Project Manager overseeing the full lifecycle of high-end residential projects: bespoke custom estates, waterfront homes, and major renovations.
He coordinates clients, architects, designers, engineers, and subcontractors from pre-construction through final handover, and he is usually the person who catches the conflict between two drawings before it becomes a change order.
George’s clients tend to describe the same thing afterward: they always knew what was happening on site and what was coming next.
The Marketing Guy
Director of Marketing
Rich H. is Director of Marketing / behind the scene guy. With more than 30 years across online marketing, IT, telecommunications, and operations management, including multiple C-level roles, he leads brand development, digital strategy, and lead generation for the firm.
He is responsible for how the work is presented: the website, its search performance, and the Insights library that now runs to 185 guides on building, renovating, and protecting a South Florida home.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kass Construction a licensed general contractor in Florida?
Yes. Kass Construction and Development builds under Florida Certified General Contractor license CGC1529472, held by Mitchell P. Kass. The license can be verified through the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and his bar membership through The Florida Bar.
What areas of South Florida does Kass Construction serve?
We serve Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties from an office in East Fort Lauderdale. Most projects sit in the Intracoastal and barrier island neighborhoods, including Las Olas Isles, Coral Ridge, Victoria Park, Pompano Beach, and Boca Raton.
How long does a custom home or a major renovation take?
A high-end renovation often runs 6 to 14+ months. A ground-up custom build often runs 14 to 24+ months. The range depends on scope, complexity, approvals, and procurement, and coastal or flood-zone review can extend the permitting stage.
More detail: how long it takes to build a custom luxury home in South Florida.
Does Kass Construction work as an owner’s representative?
Yes. Owner’s representation is one of our engagement models, alongside building the project directly, and integrated engagements where one accountable party carries both roles under a single documentation standard.
More detail: owner’s representation for luxury homes in South Florida.
What makes building on the water different in South Florida?
Waterfront lots bring flood-zone elevation requirements, coastal building codes, seawall and dock considerations, and in some locations state or county review before a permit issues. Those rules decide what can be built and how long approval takes.
More detail: waterfront home construction in South Florida and flood-zone requirements in Broward County.
Should I renovate, or tear down and rebuild?
It depends on the structure, the elevation, and the value of what is already there. A feasibility review comparing structural condition, code compliance, and budget for both routes usually answers the question within weeks rather than months.
More detail: teardown versus renovation in South Florida.
How do I start a project with Kass Construction?
Call 954-607-4335 or email BuildWith@KassConstruction.com. The first conversation covers your goals, the property or target area, and your budget range. From there we run a feasibility review and recommend the path forward.
What does an integrated engagement actually mean?
It means one accountable party carries construction, contract and regulatory responsibility under a single documentation standard, rather than splitting them across a builder, a lawyer and a consultant who each see part of the picture. You get one set of records and one person answerable for them.
In practice that changes how problems surface. When a subcontractor submits a change order, the person pricing it is also the person who wrote the scope language it is being measured against. When a survey turns up an easement or a setback issue, the response is a legal read and a construction read at the same time, not two sequential opinions weeks apart. Owners tend to notice this most in the middle third of a project, where unmanaged issues normally compound.
Does Kass Construction work with an architect I have already hired?
Yes. Most projects arrive with an architect already engaged, and architect-integrated execution is the normal way we work. We coordinate drawings, constructability and permitting alongside your design team rather than replacing them.
If you have not selected an architect, we can point you toward firms whose portfolio suits the site and the brief. Our guide to how builders and architects collaborate explains where that relationship usually succeeds and where it strains.
What should I have ready before the first conversation?
Nothing is required. It helps to have the property address or the neighborhoods you are weighing, a rough timeline, and any drawings or inspiration you have collected. Many clients start with only a goal and a budget range.
If you already own the property, the most useful thing you can bring is the survey and any elevation certificate. Those two documents determine more about what is buildable than any other input, particularly on waterfront and barrier-island parcels where flood-zone requirements govern finished floor elevation.
Start the Conversation
Based in East Fort Lauderdale, Kass Construction and Development serves Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties, building custom luxury homes, waterfront estates, and high-end renovations. Explore the services we offer, browse the portfolio, or read the newest guides in our resources library before you call.
