The real estate industry is no stranger to dynastic rule.
For as long as real estate has been a business, it’s been a family business. That tradition is alive and well with the Frisbie Group, a Palm Beach homegrown development firm where nearly every employee shares the same last name. Decades into the business, the family is aiming for the big leagues, partnering on billion-dollar projects with Terra, Related Ross and the Trump-affiliated 1789 Capital.
They are leveling up their projects, taking bigger swings with higher price tags, but the risk rises with the reward. Some of their most ambitious endeavors have been dogged by controversy and litigation.
The shift to more prodigious projects follows a quiet transition of power within their ranks in recent years. The first generation of Frisbies have handed over the reins to the second generation. Rob Frisbie Jr. and his brother-in-law, Cody Crowell, now stand at the helm of a small firm with growing ambitions in South Florida and beyond.
The first generation, brothers Rob Sr., Rick and Dave Frisbie, got their start in real estate renovating Boston brownstones while they were students at Harvard University in the 1970s. After separate careers, they launched the Frisbie Group in Palm Beach in 1996, starting with spec projects on the island and West Palm Beach’s downtown Clematis corridor.
Decades into the business, they were well positioned for Florida’s pandemic boom. In 2020, they completed Via Flagler, a 1.3-acre mixed-use development at 221 Royal Poinciana Way in Palm Beach that includes restaurants, retail, offices and six condominiums.
That same year, they completed an oceanfront resort in the Florida Keys, called Islands of Islamorada, which the family sold last in 2024 for $72 million. They bought the site for $7 million in 2017. In 2021, the Frisbies completed an oceanfront four-unit townhome development at 456 South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach. They acquired the site for $26.3 million in 2018, and sold all the units of the project for $109.1 million, records show.
Their current pipeline includes a 1,145-unit multifamily project slated for the former Palm Beach Kennel Club, for which they’ve partnered with David Martin’s Coconut Grove-based firm Terra. They also acquired 5,300 acres near Mountain City, Tennessee, where the family is planning a resort dubbed the Forge Mountain Club, WHJL reported last year.
It hasn’t been all smooth sailing, though. The Frisbies partnered with Hines in 2021 to buy a West Palm Beach development site where they planned a Robert A.M. Stern-designed luxury condo project. Two Roads Development sued Frisbie, alleging it was cut out of the deal. They reached a settlement in 2023, and a month later Frisbie and Hines sold the project to Related Companies for $194.6 million. Suzanne Frisbie, Dave Frisbie’s wife and a top agent with the Corcoran Group, stayed on to oversee sales for the project.
Last year, the Frisbies proposed a 37-unit residential project for a 5.8-acre Palm Beach site owned by Wells Fargo. The property is mostly occupied by an underutilized surface parking lot, and the Frisbies sought to build luxury homes in the style of Palm Beach’s celebrated early architects, John Volk, Maurice Fatio, Addison Mizner, Howard Major and Marion Sims Wyeth.
Paul Leone, the longtime CEO of the Breakers and a partner with the Frisbies on Via Flagler, defended their proposal for the site.
“Who better to develop it than the Frisbie Group, our neighbors with a track record,” he said at a town meeting last year.
Nonetheless, the Frisbies endured hours of withering criticism and accusations from their island neighbors in public meetings, and the project ultimately stalled out.
In Boca Raton, the Frisbies are partners with Terra on One Boca, a contentious redevelopment of the city’s government campus. An opposition group has gathered more than 7,000 resident signatures to fight the project, and approval now rests on a referendum slated for March of next year. Earlier this week, the partners announced scaled back plans with fewer residential units and office space.
“It can be scary, and it can be overwhelming to work on projects that do build a consensus,” Rob Frisbie Jr. said. “[It’s] not easy.”
But the sting of public backlash can be soothed by other projects with deep-pocketed backers. The firm is partnering with 1789 Capital, an “anti-woke” investment firm led by co-founders Omeed Malik and Chris Buskirk. Donald Trump Jr. is also a partner in 1789, which is launching a $1 billion fund with the Frisbies to focus on South Florida real estate projects.
Here’s a look at the Frisbie family:
The Founding Generation
Robert Frisbie Sr.
Lineage: Married to Kim Frisbie, father to Robert Frisbie Jr., Frances Frisbie Criddle, Katie Frisbie Crowell and Richard (Rick) D.W. Frisbie. Brother to Rick Frisbie, Dave Frisbie
Title: Founder
Rob Sr. played lacrosse and graduated from Harvard University in 1975 and built a career investing in residential and commercial projects spanning Boston, Philadelphia, Palm Beach and Nantucket, according to published reports.
Rick Frisbie
Lineage: Married to Lisa Frisbie, father to Emily Frisbie Barker and Lizzy Frisbie Matteini. Brother to Robert Frisbie Sr., Dave Frisbie
Title: Founder
Rick Frisbie is the only member of the founding generation not based in Palm Beach. He graduated from Harvard University in 1971 and Harvard Law School in 1974. He is one of the many Frisbies to have played lacrosse at Harvard, and in 2008 he endowed the coaching position. Coaches are now the “Frisbie Family Endowed Coach for Men’s LaCross.”
Dave Frisbie
Lineage: Married to Suzanne Frisbie, father to Michaela Frisbie and Francie Frisbie. Brother to Robert Frisbie Sr., Rick Frisbie
Title: Founder
A former vice president with Hines, Dave is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Harvard Business School. He carved a career out of revitalization projects before co-founding Frisbie Group with his wife and brothers.
Suzanne Frisbie
Lineage: Married to Dave Frisbie, mother to Michaela and Francie Frisbie
Title: Founder, Realtor
Suzanne is a top broker with the Corcoran Group in Palm Beach, and placed fourth in The Real Deal’s 2025 ranking of Palm Beach County agents. She was one of the listing agents who sold the private Tarpon Island in Palm Beach for $150 million in 2024.
The Second Generation
Rob Frisbie Jr.
Lineage: Married to Ashley B.C. Frisbie, son of Kim and Robert Frisbie Sr.
Title: Principal
Rob Jr. is the son of Kim and Rob Sr. Like his father, he played lacrosse at Harvard. He started his career in 2014 at Kevin Chisholm’s New York-based real estate investment firm, 60 Guilders. He worked there as a vice president before joining the family business in 2016.
Cody Crowell
Lineage: Married to Katie Frisbie Crowell
Title: Principal
Cody Crowell played baseball at Vanderbilt University before a stint in the pros with the Toronto Blue Jays. He worked at the investment firms Interprise Partners and Portfolio Acquisition Group before joining Frisbie Group in 2016. Married to Katie Frisbie Crowell, he has also been involved in fundraising efforts to establish a Vanderbilt graduate school campus in West Palm Beach.
Katie Frisbie Crowell
Lineage: Married to Cody Crowell, daughter of Kim and Robert Frisbie Sr.
Title: Project Manager, Realtor
Katie is a project manager for her family’s firm and a realtor with the Corcoran Group. She holds degrees from Trinity College and Georgetown University and is married to Cody Crowell. Before joining the family business in 2013, she worked at CBRE in Washington, D.C.
Ashley B.C. Frisbie
Lineage: Married to Rob Frisbie Jr.
Title: Project Manager
Rob Jr.’s wife Ashley graduated from Colgate University and worked as a marketing executive in New York for firms like Conde Nast, BBDO and Anomaly before joining the Frisbie Group in 2016. She is the firm’s managing director for marketing and communications.
Michaela Frisbie Facchinei
Lineage: Married to Michael Facchinei, daughter of Dave and Suzanne Frisbie
Title: Managing Director
Michaela is managing director of impact, research and operations for Frisbie Group. A graduate of the University of Virginia, she spent six years working for the Council on Foreign Relations and two years as chief of staff at Openbox before joining Frisbie Group in 2019.
Frances Frisbie Criddle
Lineage: Married to John Criddle, daughter of Kim and Robert Frisbie Sr.
Title: Realtor
Frances is an agent with the Corcoran Group and oversees commercial leasing for the family business. She serves office and retail clients in Palm Beach.
Richard (Rick) D.W. Frisbie
Lineage: Son of Kim and Robert Frisbie Sr.
Title: Realtor
Rick started his real estate career in 2018 with the family business and as a realtor with Premier Estate Properties. He moved over to Corcoran in 2021, according to LinkedIn. He assists with operations at Frisbie Group and authors quarterly market reports.
