Manhattan-based development firm L&L Holding Co. is launching a new company for its Florida projects, and it has hired Jim Zboril, the longtime president of Tavistock Development Co., as the division's CEO.

Zboril is heading up L&L Development Group, which will be based out of  West Palm Beach as the firm seeks to expand further into South Florida and the Sun Belt, according to a press release.

L&L Development Group is starting out with four employees and two major projects it's developing: the 131-acre Coral Grove mixed-use project in Cape Coral and The Residences of Palm Beach West, a 25-story luxury apartment and retail tower.

"There are lots of developers that have become more merchant, single-property builders, who quickly sell [the property],” Zboril told the Commercial Observer, which first reported the hire. “But for us, we’re looking to build these big, mixed-use projects and own them long term.”

Zboril was president of Tavistock Development for 16 years before shifting roles in March 2020 to managing director of Tavistock Group, according to his LinkedIn profile.

L&L has built some of the most ambitious projects in Manhattan in recent years, including the under-construction TSX Broadway, a $2.5B mixed-use project that incorporates the Palace Theatre, which the developer raised 30 feet over street level. It also redeveloped 425 Park Ave. into a trophy office tower that secured one of the most expensive leases in U.S. history with Citadel.

“L&L’s Florida operation has been two years in the making, and Jim’s expertise will help accelerate our growth in the region’s multifamily, retail, office, cultural and entertainment sectors,” L&L Holding Chairman and CEO David Levinson said in a statement.

The company's first foray into Miami was a deal for a 3-acre development site in Wynwood with Oak Row Equities, which the partners plan to develop into a 1M SF project with office, residential, retail and outdoor dubbed The Wynwood Plaza, Florida YIMBY reported.

CORRECTION, SEPT. 22, 11 A.M. ET: L&L Holding Co. launched a new, separate company for its Florida project, not a new arm of the firm as previously reported. This story has been updated.