By 2008, Jean François Roy had two high-profile luxury condominium projects in the works. Then the Great Recession hit, and he had none.

Today, Roy's Ocean Land Investments has come roaring back with three luxury condo projects finished and two more on the way. This time, all of them are in Fort Lauderdale.

For Roy, one of our panelists at next month's The Future of Fort Lauderdale event, Fort Lauderdale is now ground zero for his company's development pipeline. AquaMar, AquaLuna and AquaVita, which encompass more than 50 luxury condos starting at $1.5M, are already complete.

Ocean Land is underway with AquaVue, an eight-unit luxury project, and AquaBlu, with 35 units off Intracoastal Drive. All the units are waterfront with boat slips, Roy said. Beyond those, Ocean Land is dusting off plans for 1800 Las Olas, an eight-unit luxury condo project on the waterfront off Las Olas Boulevard that was put on hold three years ago.

Before the recession, Ocean Land was pushing on two high-rise condo projects, including 300 Grove Bay, a planned 224-unit, three-tower condo project that was slated to be developed in a joint venture with The Related Group in Coconut Grove. It was also pursuing The Pompano Beach Resort Hotel, a three-tower hotel project with 586 rooms in Pompano Beach that was scuttled after the recession hit.

Roy said there is good reason for Ocean Land to now focus on Fort Lauderdale. Unlike other South Florida cities, Ocean Land's condo customers there tend to be more local.

“Fort Lauderdale is changing very fast,” he said. "It's a city that's just beginning to flourish."

Some 90% of his buyers at the Aqua properties are domestic — a near polar opposite of the buyers seen in Miami — and 40% of those already live in Florida, including from Weston, he said. It is a customer base that will keep Ocean Land developing in Fort Lauderdale going forward, Roy said.

The condo and townhome sales metrics appear to support his bullish attitude on the city. According to data compiled by Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors, of the nearly 4,000 units sold in all of Broward County during the first quarter, Fort Lauderdale saw 388 units close, the most of any area in the county. There are another 400 units pending sale in the same quarter as well, according to data.

“I'm very committed [to Fort Lauderdale], and I understand the market,” Roy said.