Tibor Hollo (July 13, 1927 – May 1, 2024) was a Hungarian-American real estate developer, Holocaust survivor, and founder of Florida East Coast Realty.
[1] Hollo returned to Paris and obtained a degree in architecture from Ecole Polytechnique Institute before immigrating to the United States with $18 to his name.
Recognizing that Miami had limited space as it was defined by the ocean on the east and the Everglades on the west, he believed that the future of the city was in vertical, downtown residential living.
[1] In 1973, Maurice Ferre, the newly elected mayor of Miami and the son of a Puerto Rican real estate developer, gave his support to Hollo allowing him to build the Omni International Mall in 1975 as well as the 810-unit Venetia Tower and marina.
[1] The Venetia Tower was unsuccessful due to the collapse of the South American economy in the late 1980s; and in 1988, after having only sold 57 of 810 units, Hollo was forced to cede ownership of the project.
[5] In 2012, he donated $2.5 million to fund the Tibor & Sheila Hollo School of Real Estate at Florida International University's Downtown Brickell campus.