Menu
FL Star Development, founded and managed by a team with extensive knowledge and experience, continues to achieve acclaim in every facet of real estate. Our strategy is identifying, qualifying, acquiring, and developing these select real estate assets.
We began – and will continue — to invest in a broad portfolio of real estate assets through targeting properties requiring entitlement, development, or repositioning in markets and submarkets with high growth potential.
FL Star Development, founded and managed by a team with extensive knowledge and experience, continues to achieve acclaim in every facet of real estate. Our strategy is identifying, qualifying, acquiring, and developing these select real estate assets.
We began – and will continue — to invest in a broad portfolio of real estate assets through targeting properties requiring entitlement, development, or repositioning in markets and submarkets with high growth potential.
David Torres serves as Chief Executive Officer for FL Star and is responsible for guiding the company’s investment strategy and development operations as well as managing our firm’s private equity and family office partnerships. David has been involved in the development of thousands of residential units throughout the state of Florida during the last 25 years. Prior to the founding of FL Star, David was division president for Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) and was heavily involved in land acquisition, representing thousands of lots for future development. During his career with Toll Brothers, he held various positions including senior project manager, overseeing the construction of both single-family homes and multi-family neighborhoods. Before joining Toll Brothers, David was an analyst with the New York City office of national management consulting firm Booz Allen & Hamilton.
David is both a licensed Florida Certified General Contractor and Florida real estate agent. He graduated from Columbia University in New York City, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a minor in Economics. He also received the Citation for Excellence in Civil Engineering and was a Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society member.
Gary Hains serves as Chief Operating Officer for FL Star with direct responsibility and oversight of the daily operations of FL Star Construction and FL Star Realty, our general contracting and real estate brokerage affiliates. Gary has been in the management of the construction and sales of thousands of units during his career spanning over 25 years.
Before joining FL Star, Gary was division vice president for Toll Brothers’ Southwest Florida Division. During his tenure with Toll Brothers, Gary was responsible for locating, financially analyzing, conducting market research, and negotiating land acquisition for the future development of various projects throughout Florida. A participant in Toll Brothers Management Training Program, he also previously served as a senior project manager for Toll Brothers, responsible for constructing single-family homes and multi-family projects.
Prior to joining Toll Brothers, Gary worked for LaBranche & Co. in New York City as a financial analyst and New York Stock Exchange Floor Clerk. Gary, a Florida-licensed real estate agent, graduated from Brown University and studied abroad at the London School of Economics in London, England.
Alex Licata is a native Floridian from Palm Harbor who studied Business Law and received his Master of Business degree in Real Estate Development from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Alex joined FL Star Construction in 2021, and as Project Manager, is involved in property management, project management, commercial brokerage, financial modeling, and construction staffing. Prior to FL Star, Alex served in property management with Reddy Living and Greystar.
Fred Herbst serves as Controller for FL Star and is responsible for overseeing the financial functions of the company. Fred brings 13 years of experience in accounting and software implementation as well as vast experience in real estate and hospitality accounting. Since joining FL Star, Fred has managed the successful implementation of multiple accounting and operational softwares. Prior to FL Star, Fred served in accounting roles at Great Jones and TerraCap Management. He is a Business Management graduate from Florida Gulf Coast University.
Taylor Whitcomb serves as Development Manager for our FL Star Development affiliate. His experience encompasses civil engineering and entitlements of dozens of development projects throughout Southwest Florida. Taylor studied mechanical engineering and mathematics at Southern Methodist University before working for local civil engineering firm Waldrop Engineering prior to joining FL Star. An avid outdoorsman, he spends most of his spare time chasing tarpon with fly rods or calling in turkeys.
Jason Tomassetti serves as a Development Manager for FL Star Development. Before joining the firm, Jason was a Public Works engineer at the City of Marco Island and prior to that, Director of Engineering for a local engineering firm. Jason has extensive experience in land development, utilities, stormwater management, and construction in both the private and public sectors. He is a licensed professional engineer in Florida and Connecticut, and a graduate of Lafayette College in Easton, PA where he received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.
Rob Johnson joined FL Star in 2021 after moving from New York, where he spent 30 years in the construction industry. As Construction Manager, Rob’s responsibilities include all aspects of vertical construction from start to finish. He has worked in the commercial sector, for national homebuilders, and constructing custom homes. Prior to FL Star, Rob served as construction superintendent for D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI).
Norm Mahanke relocated to Naples from Michigan in 2003. While in Michigan, he was a licensed residential builder of single-family homes. Before joining FL Star as a Construction Manager, Norm worked locally with national homebuilder Lennar Homes (NYSE: LEN). He has been in the construction industry for more than 30 years.
Dean Harris joined FL Star in May 2015 as a Construction Manager, with over 30 years of experience in the industry. His experience includes both commercial and residential construction while working for national homebuilders and commercial general contractors. Before moving to Southwest Florida to study at Florida A&M University more than 30 years ago, Dean lived in New York.
Tammy Schroder has resided in Southwest Florida for over 40 years after leaving Michigan behind. Joining FL Star as Project Administrator in August 2016, Tammy handles several areas including warranty operations, accounts payable, contracts, insurance compliance, and county permitting.
FL Star develops properties from concept to completion, consistently building a track record of landmark projects. Our expertise is locating land for future development through a rigorous process of analysis, market research, negotiation, and acquisition – putting together parcels; obtaining state, federal, and local permits for development; developing infrastructure; and marketing what we create.
Our experience is broad, and our results are precise – whether we’re developing mixed-use, multi-family, single-family, or commercial projects.
FL Star Development provides development management services and has extensive experience in the development of multifamily communities, single family subdivision and master planned communities as well as office, industrial and retail developments. We develop projects, from simple to complex, with the goal of delivering value, and doing so with expertise and accountability. FL Star helps define every project’s unique strategy, collaborates to meet and earn trust, deliver reliability, and build relationships.
FL Star Construction, our general contracting affiliate, builds with competence, care, and expertise. We have decades of experience delivering projects of every kind: condominium, single-family, multi-family, townhome, luxury apartments as well as commercial endeavors including shopping centers, retail, and office tenant improvements.
FL Star Management, our property management affiliate, provides investment and asset management as well as property management services. We strive to provide superb living experiences for our residents while creating value for our investment partners.
FL Star serves as general partner for real estate partnerships and funds involved in the development of new real estate assets as well as the opportunistic acquisition of undervalued real estate. We invest alongside our family office and private equity partners across the real estate spectrum and seek capital growth while limiting risk.
3520 Kraft Rd.
Suite 201
Naples, FL 34105
FL Star © 2024. All Rights Reserved.
3520 Kraft Rd.
Suite 201
Naples, FL 34105
FL Star © 2023. All Rights Reserved.