Following the economic collapse of 2008, the South Florida condominium market has shown signs of a slow and steady recovery, with developers successfully unloading previously unsold units to wealthy foreign investors. Developers report that the increased demand for condominium units has prompted new construction in South Florida; in the past two years, twenty five new condominium projects have been announced. The New York Times recently ran a story on this mini construction boom, recognizing noteworthy projects like Brickell CityCentre, a $1.05 billion shopping and mixed-use development located south of the Miami River and west of Brickell Avenue. The project’s developers are working with the Whitman family, owners of Bal Harbour Shops, to turn Brickell CityCentre’s 500-square foot retail space into an attractive luxury shopping destination along with a 1,600 space underground parking lot and renovated public transportation facilities. The project’s objective is to diversify the downtown area by offering accessible luxury retail to a location traditionally associated with offices and hotels.
WSH’s Real Estate Group employs high quality attorneys with extensive experience representing private investors, developers, lenders and local governments in all aspects of real estate transactions. The Group advises private commercial real estate clients in the purchase and sale of real estate assets, including vacant land, office building, shopping centers, hotels, condominiums, apartment buildings, industrial parks and mixed use projects. Our attorneys also provide counsel relating to entity structuring and organization in connection with such acquisitions. Founding Member Stephen J. Helfman has extensive experience handling real estate, zoning, growth management, and land development matters. Partner Joe Hernandez has over twenty five years of real estate and corporate experience from his prior career as a real estate and corporate banker; he routinely handles acquisitions, development, financing, leasing joint ventures, and advising clients in connection with raising capital for real estate projects in the United States and the Caribbean. Carlos M. Rodriguez, Of Counsel to WSH, advises on foreign title insurance matters, site location, valuation, acquisition, disposition, and leasing of real property, as well as construction financing, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and licensing agreements. Gil Pastoriza, who serves as Chair of WSH’s Private Land Use and Zoning Group, handles all aspects of real estate development matters from property acquisition to certificates of occupancy for completed buildings; he has years of experience representing private sector clients on obtaining governmental approvals for property development. Our attorneys have been principally involved in some of the most notable and complex transactions in Florida, including the City of Boca Raton Blue Lake/IBM property acquisitions, the re-development of the Homestead/Miami-Dade Motorsports Complex, and the Miramar Town Center project.
On May 13, WSH will host a cocktail reception for developers and investors to meet members of Cantor Commercial Real Estate, a commercial real estate finance company affiliated with Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. The party will be held at Bistro Moderne Lounge at the JW Marriott Marquis Miami. For more information about the reception, including the deadline to RSVP, please click here.
Author(s): Brooke P. Dolara
