GL Homes Approach: What Makes It Different?
Florida homebuyers have no shortage of choices, and after a few model home tours, most start asking the same thing: What makes one builder’s communities feel different from the next? For GL Homes President Misha Ezratti, much of the answer comes down to how the company works. Founded in 1976, GL Homes is both a land developer and a homebuilder, so it shapes each community long before the first home goes up. The roads, green space, amenities and homesites all start as part of one plan.
From The Land Up: GL Homes as a Developer and Builder
As a Florida land developer, GL Homes acquires and prepares each property. As a homebuilder, it designs and builds the homes that fill it. Under Misha Ezratti’s leadership, the company treats those two roles as one job, so the neighborhood residents move into was designed as a whole. Where possible, GL Homes preserves or relocates mature trees, and it landscapes with native plants and smart irrigation to conserve water.
In addition to community planning, GL Homes contributes design, resources and funding for roadway improvements, and it donates land for schools, parks and other civic sites near its developments. Those donations help cities and counties bring public services to growing areas without the cost of buying land.
For Misha Ezratti, that’s at the heart of the GL Homes approach. When the land, the amenities and the homes take shape together, GL Homes communities work the way residents expect them to, from their first drive through the entrance to years after move-in.
A Florida Company, Built For Florida Living
GL Homes has built exclusively in Florida throughout its history, and today its communities stretch across the state, from Miami-Dade County and Port St. Lucie on the east coast to Naples, Fort Myers and the Tampa Bay area on the west. Misha Ezratti, a South Florida native, leads a company whose whole business rests on knowing this one state well.
That knowledge starts with the climate. GL designs its homes for Florida’s tropical conditions and builds them to the latest building codes, which can help reduce insurance and utility costs. The GL Homes approach focuses on creating comfortable living spaces that suit Florida’s climate and lifestyle. Outdoor living is part of the design from the start. At The Estates at NOMAR in West Palm Beach, for example, homes include covered balconies and outdoor living areas designed for year-round use.
It extends to lifestyle, too. Many buyers move to Florida for sunshine, recreation and a more active pace of life. At Riverland, about half of buyers relocate from outside the state, drawn by Port St. Lucie’s growth, relative affordability and the community’s lifestyle offerings.
As a Florida homebuilder, GL Homes can concentrate on one state’s buyers, markets and way of life. Misha Ezratti points to GL Homes communities on both coasts as the result, with homes and amenities that reflect how Floridians want to live.
Planning Communities For Every Stage Of Life
A retired couple looking for new friends, a young family outgrowing its first home and a professional who wants to live near downtown all want different things from a neighborhood. GL Homes plans for each of them, and every community starts with a clear picture of the people who will live there.
For 55+ buyers, that picture comes to life in the company’s Valencia brand of active-adult communities in Florida. The homes are designed for ease, with open floor plans that make hosting simple, large guest suites for visiting children and grandchildren, flex rooms that can become an office or hobby space, and walk-in showers that make daily routines easier.
Alongside single-story layouts, communities like Valencia Sky in Naples and Valencia Del Mar in Boynton Beach also offer select two-story designs. On-site design experts help buyers personalize the details. The GL Homes approach focuses on providing lifestyle experiences that bring residents together through social activities, entertainment and recreation. Beyond the front door, full-time lifestyle staff fill the calendar with hundreds of clubs, shows, trips and events. A week might include a morning fitness class, an afternoon by the pool and dinner with neighbors, and residents can do as much or as little as they like.
The specific details change from one community to the next but, across GL Homes communities, the goal under Misha Ezratti holds steady: design each one around the people who will call it home.
Misha Ezratti: A Privately Held Builder With a Long-Term View
Founded by Itzhak Ezratti, GL Homes remains privately held, and it has grown into one of the largest private homebuilders in the country. In 2024, Builder Magazine ranked GL Homes the ninth-largest private builder in the U.S. by revenue.
That independence supports a long-term perspective on planning. GL Homes can commit to communities that take years, even decades, to complete.
Misha Ezratti has carried that long view forward. Under his leadership, GL Homes looks for prime suburban locations near major job centers, strong schools and a wide range of recreational and cultural amenities, a strategy he outlined in a 2024 statement on the company’s land acquisitions. In Misha Ezratti’s view, the payoff comes years down the road, when a community has grown into exactly what it was meant to be.
Culture and Giving as Part Of The Business
Inside GL Homes, Misha Ezratti leads with a short list of values: teamwork, integrity, honesty and hard work. When the South Florida Business Journal named him a 2024 Ultimate CEO honoree, he described a business that touches nearly every part of homebuilding. “I learn every single day,” he said. “We have so much going on: title, legal, personnel, commercial, land acquisition, HR. It never stops.” Keeping that many teams moving in the same direction is where those values matter most.
Giving follows the same pattern. GL Homes builds philanthropy into daily operations instead of treating it as a side project. Through its Make a House a Home program, the company repurposes surplus furniture, appliances and materials for families in need, giving leftover items a second life.
GL Homes supports more than 2,000 Florida charities, with a focus on breaking the cycle of homelessness, providing hunger relief and supporting children and families. Partners include Feeding South Florida, Habitat for Humanity, the Boys & Girls Clubs, The Lord’s Place and Gulfstream Goodwill. Employees often show up in person, too, for meal-packing shifts, holiday gift drives and other volunteer projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Makes GL Homes Different?
The GL Homes approach starts with the land. As both a Florida land developer and a homebuilder, GL plans each community’s roads, green space, amenities and homesites together. Led by GL Homes President Misha Ezratti, the company builds only in Florida, designs communities around residents’ stage of life and makes giving part of daily operations.
Who Is The President Of GL Homes?
Misha Ezratti is the president of GL Homes, a role he has held since 2016. Misha Ezratti joined the company in 2002 as a construction superintendent and later held leadership roles in project management, finance and land development. The South Florida Business Journal named him a 2024 Ultimate CEO honoree.
Who Founded GL Homes?
Itzhak Ezratti founded GL Homes in 1976. The privately held Florida homebuilder has since grown into one of the largest private builders in the U.S., ranked ninth by revenue by Builder Magazine in 2024. Today, Misha Ezratti leads the company as president, guiding its growth across both of Florida’s coasts.
What Types of Communities Does GL Homes Build?
GL Homes communities include Valencia-branded active-adult communities in Florida for buyers 55 and older, family-oriented neighborhoods such as APEX at Avenir in Palm Beach Gardens, and luxury homes at The Estates at NOMAR in West Palm Beach. Each one is designed with its future residents in mind, a priority Misha Ezratti sets across the company.
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