On the intersection of Design and Disruption / Presentation by Bernard Zyscovitch

Bernard Zyscovich at the Miami-Dade CCIM Meeting

On November 10^th 2017, the CCIM Miami-Dade district hosted its monthly meeting at Morton’s Steakhouse in Coral Gables. 

It was a unique occasion with guest speaker Bernard Zyscovich, founder and CEO of Zyscovich Architects. Mr. Zyscovich leads a transnational team of architects impacting lives around the world with innovative architecture and interior design for consumer consumption (see www.zyscovich.com/). 

Mr. Zyscovich's talk was entitled, “On the intersection of Design and Disruption.”

Disruption

The underlying theme of Mr. Zyscovich’s presentation is disruption. Disruption has been most evident in the sector of technology. For almost a century, Kodak held the dominant position in the photographic film industry. Remember the Kodak moment? Yet, they failed to adapt; the disruption of digital photography was in full force. Towards the end, Kodak became protector of patents, instead of innovator in technology.

Disruption is also felt in our social lives, where social media and cellphones rule. Through the advent of social media, it is hard to establish a network without Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram. 

These platforms are embedded into our social lives. Even in conversation with friends, we often show them a new picture on our phone. 

Block-chain such as the architecture of Bitcoin.  Other systems will emerge using "block-chain" which may change the way banking and financial transactions are transacted. 

Disruption and Design

Disruption is also occurring in the design sector, where micro apartments are the new buzz. Micro- apartments are units as small as 300 Sq.Ft. To put it into perspective, the average two-door garage is between 480 to 625 Sq.Ft. Now this begs the question, why would anyone want to live there? Mr. Zyscovich provides an answer. People, especially millennials are looking for an experience. These micro-apartments have a wall bed, kitchen, and bathroom, all you need for urban living. Furthermore, they form on social space, where people tend to congregate.

According to Mr. Zyscovich, the old gospel preaching location, location, location is not true anymore. Retailers, developers, designers must find where the people are. The people are looking for an experience, for amenities, communal work, walking space, social areas with Wifi. If you make a destination where it is cool and interesting, where people want to be, almost any use would work.

Mr. Zyscovich shared how the thinking in architecture has changed. Before, many architects had a vision of being the person that would change the world through design; now, many architects are happy to be a participant in a successful project. Collaboration in the office is essential and should be fun.  As an example, playing ping-pong with your colleagues should be part of the experience.

In the end, “the intersection of Design and disruption is to understand these trends and embrace them!” – Mr. Zyscovich.

To watch the full video of Bernard Zyscovitch's talk, please click here!

Upcoming CCIM Miami-Dade Events:

December 13th REEAC and CCIM Toy Drive Networker
Bocas House Coral Gables, 2 Aragon Avenue.
5:00 PM- 8:000 PM

January 17th, 2018 CCIM Outlook Commercial Real Estate Conference
Coral Gables Country Club
7:30 AM to Noon

Britt J. Rosen, CCIM, Miami-Dade District President &
Carlos Rodriguez Jr., CCIM Miami-Dade Board of Directors

CCIM Miami-Dade October Meeting / Gridics

On October 10^th, 2017, the CCIM Miami-Dade-Monroe district hosted its CCIM Monthly Meeting at Graziano’s in the Gables.

The luncheon included many of Miami’s commercial real estate professionals.  Also in attendance were attorneys, brokers, appraisers, architects, and zoning experts. 

Felipe Azenha and Max Zabala, Co-Founder and Vice President of Product Gridics, gave the talk entitled, ‘Become a Zoning Expert’.

Zoning

The beauty and uniqueness of a city is reflected by its development. Restaurants, concert halls, professional sport stadiums, universities, all give life to a city. Miami is an international city, going through an unprecedented redevelopment phase. Urban life is growing in Wynwood, high-rise condominiums are being completed in Brickell and waterfront luxury condos in Edgewater. Zoning is what controls these developments.

Zoning is a set of laws that restrict and define the type of land uses and development that can occur on each parcel of land.  Zoning includes regulations governing lot size, building bulk, placement, and other development standards.

 

Miami-Dade CCIM District Meeting at Graziano's in Coral Gables

Zonar

Zonar by Gridics is a proprietary zoning software that allows real estate professionals to understand the development potential of any site with a few clicks. It expedites the process by providing detailed feasibility reports. Currently the City of Miami is using Zonar for planning purposes, and processing development project reviews, which has helped reduce the process from 15 hours to 3 hours.

New Urbanism and Miami

With the evolution of the city of Miami, the Miami-21 Zoning Code has been updated to promote New Urbanism. This is “an approach to urban planning that integrates housing, workplaces, shopping, and recreation areas into compact, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use neighborhoods linked by transit, bikeways, and greenways. New urbanist development is characterized by buildings placed directly along relatively narrow streets, with parking and driveways located to the rear, complemented by pedestrian-oriented amenities such as front porches, retail, and sidewalk cafes.” (See  www.miami21.org)

There are several key principles that guide New Urbanism:

• Walkability: Most things an individual needs should be within a 10 minute walk from home and/or work.
• Mixed-Use and Diversity: A mix of shops, offices, apartments and homes. Promote safer neighborhoods of diversity.
• Urban design: Emphasis on beautiful surroundings, aesthetics, and creating a sense of place.
• Smart Transportation: network of high-quality transit alternatives connecting cities, towns and neighborhoods.
• Sustainability: Minimal environmental impact of development and its operations.

New Urbanism is Miami’s future.

Carlos Rodriguez Jr.

KW Commercial

www.linkedin.com/in/crodjr

References:

http://www.miami21.org/

Cyber Fraud Awareness - Commercial Real Estate and Banking

On June 9^th 2017, the CCIM Miami-Dade-Monroe District hosted its CCIM Monthly Meeting at Morton’s Steakhouse in Coral Gables. The topic was on Cyber Awareness by Chris Scott, an expert on Cyber Security.  Mr. Scott is also an "ethical hacker", advising banks and businesses on internet fraud. 

Miami-Dade CCIM District Monthly Meeting / Cyber Awareness re Fraud

Fraud is Everywhere in Our Digital Workplace

As we transact business in the information age, where global economies rely heavily on computers and e-commerce, we need to be alert to the various sources of fraud perpetrated via email and especially with bank wire transfers.  In commercial real estate, we spend a large portion of the day on our computers using the internet emailing clients, researching properties, market values, property owners, and analyzing investment properties. The computer and the internet have become an integral part of the profession.

Mr. Scott warned us to be extremely careful with our digital communications as cyber fraud is on the increase.  In particular, the headers of an email should be carefully examined to see the URL and information regarding the sender.

According to the AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey, 73% of companies were targets of payments fraud in 2015, up from 62 percent in 2014. Moreover, 39% of corporate practitioners from these companies report the potential loss from fraud was greater than $250,000. And the preferred payment method responsible for fraud loss was checks and wire transfers.

Common Fraud Tactics

Mr. Scott lists common fraud tactics:

• Phishing - An email that tricks recipient into taking some type of harmful action
• Business Email Compromise (BEC) - A certain attack where the attacker pretends to be an authorized user of a system in order to gain access to it
• Ransomware - A certain malicious software made to block access to a computer system
• Wire Fraud - Targeting of banks and financial institutions via wire transfers

Common Scenarios

As an example, ten employees work for a boutique real estate company. The company decides to hire a new employee to work in accounts payables.  A cyber criminal, without being noticed, may have already compromised the real estate company’s network as a result of prior surveillance and email communication. Cyber criminals do their homework and may have set up a fake URL that closely resembles the company information and web site. They monitor the existing network traffic and observe the writing styles of key figures in preparation to compromise the systems.

Another scenario: What if the Cyber Criminal masquerading as the company’s boss or high ranking employee sends an email to the new employee with wire instructions to send $100,000 to client?  He or she may not be fooled but that email, but what if the Cyber Criminal more clever?

Tips

Mr. Scott provides helpful tips against Cyber Criminals. They are:

• ·        Check the email address and email header. Look for the sender’s name and email header.
• ·        Be suspicious of attachments. Only download and open those that you are expecting.
• ·        Notice the email’s greeting. Does the sender know your name and use it?

Anyone can be a target of these cyber criminals, but it is our responsibility stay alert and educated.

by Carlos Rodriguez Jr. & Britt J. Rosen, CCIM

Contaminated Property and Sea Level Rise / S Florida

On the 10^th of February, the Miami-Dade District held its monthly luncheon at Morton’s Steakhouse in Coral Gables. The topic was “Environmentalism and Commercial Real Estate.” Michael Goldstein, Esq., Managing Partner at The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, gave the first presentation: An Environmental Primer to Help CCIMs Successfully Navigate Contaminated Land Transactions in South Florida.

Historically, contaminated land has been a problem for buyer / sellers and to finance. It was considered not only an environmental problem, but also a business problem. Banks would not lend, thus deals would not close. But Mr. Goldstein explained how contaminated land is not a problem but rather an opportunity for investors, developers, and government to cooperate. 

One of the earliest brownfield (land with environmental issues) projects in Miami-Dade County was AMD Codina Beacon Lakes- NW 117^TH AVE and NW 25^TH street. It was a massive illegal landfill site, contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons and arsenic. Through State Liability Protection and Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credits, the site was redeveloped into an office warehouse park.

Mr. Goldstein debunked several myths concerning contaminated land:

-         Myth: It is impossible to transact contaminated land in Miami-Dade County.

-         Fact: Goldstein Environmental Law firm supported over 100 such transactions in 2016.

-         Myth: You can’t get financing on contaminated land.

Fact: Lenders routinely lend on contaminated land of all kinds.

-         Myth: You can’t insure contaminated land.

-         Fact: The marketplace is awash with environmental insurance.

State and Federal governments are subsidizing cleanup costs for these development projects, which represents a wonderful opportunity for investors.

The second talk was given by Wayne M. Pathman. He is managing partner of Miami-based Pathman Lewis. He is one of Florida’s distinguished lawyers with more than 30 years’ experience. Mr. Pathman heads the firm’s Land Use, Zoning, and Environmental Law Section. He is the Chair of the City of Miami’s Sea Level Rise Committee and the Chair of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce. 

Wayne M. Pathman, Esq.

Mr. Pathman spoke about the risks of sea-level rise, especially in Miami and costal areas. Sea-level rise is not something that will happen in 20 years or in 10; it is occurring every day. In West Miami, some residents were recently concerned of a foul odor, and one of the reasons was attributed to sea-level rise. About 40% of Miami-Dade County has septic tanks which are vulnerable to the water table rising due to waste collecting below ground which would be exposed to the rising water.  Also, sewer lines that are buried underground are vulnerable to sea level rise.  Thus, there is a lot of work to be done with our infrastructure in getting it ready for the water level rise.   It is interesting to note that FEMA has done little to remap the United States with regard to coastal area and this issue.

Miami is vulnerable to sea-level rise because of its low-line geology and limestone foundation. This will inevitably have an effect on both residential and commercial real estate. We are witnessing it now in Miami Beach, where insurance premiums are and will continue to rise.  

Sea-level rise affect other sectors of business including financing, environmental laws and taxes. Most importantly, how will it affect south Florida investments and investors?

Carlos Rodriguez Jr. // KW Commercial

www.linkedin.com/in/crodjr

2017 Environmental Primer // South Florida Commercial Real Estate Transactions

What Commercial Real Estate Professionals Need to Know About Sea Level Rise and Chemical Contamination / Brownfields

On February 10, 2017 - The Miami-Dade CCIM District is excited to announce this timely, cutting edge lunch seminar focusing on two very pressing and unique South Florida environmental concerns that real estate professionals are increasingly confronted with when negotiating deals - chemical contamination and sea level rise.  

We are fortunate to have two experienced legal practitioners to speak to these issues and provide insight into how CCIMs' and their guests can successfully navigate the challenges, recognize and take advantage of the opportunities, and advise buyers and sellers regading negotiations resulting in a successful closing. 

Michael R. Goldstein is the Managing Partner of The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A. in downtown Miami, FL. Michel R. Goldstein is a Martindale Hubble AV Preeminent and Chambers & Partners rated attorney and the Managing Partner of The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A., a boutique Florida environmental practice focusing on property transactions, Brownfields redevelopment, pollution assessment and remediation, facility permitting, compliance assurance, defense of regulatory enforcement proceedings, and environmental based economic incentives. Michael's practice over the past 25 years has emphasized helping clients navigate environmental risk and liability risk issues associated with buying, selling, financing, building on, and otherwise reusing properties impacted by contamination. 

Wayne Pathman, the Managing Partner of Pathman Lewis, LLP will be on the panel of speakers.

Wayne M. Pathman is managing partner of Miami-based Pathman Lewis. He is one of Florida’s distinguished lawyers with more than 30 years’ experience. Mr. Pathman heads the firm’s Land Use, Zoning, and Environmental Law Section. He is the Chair of the City of Miami’s Sea Level Rise Committee and the Chair of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce.

Wayne M. Pathman, Esq. 

Mr. Pathman represents businesses, developers and individuals before administrative and regulatory bodies at the municipal, state, and federal levels in land use, zoning, and environmental matters. He is a leading authority and lecturer on issues regarding water law. 

To sign up for the event, please click here.

Early registration is recommended due to high demand and limited seating.

The meeting will be held at Morton's Steakouse in the BAC Colonnade Building in Coral Gables, one block north of Miracle Mile on the east side of Ponce de Leon. 

2017 Outlook Commercial Real Estate Conference

Coral Gables - January 18, 2017

The CCIM Institute Miami-Dade District hosted the event "Storms on the Horizon"  with 320 guests in attendance at the Coral Gables Country Club.  This annual Outlook Commercial Real Estate Conference was chaired by Paul White, CCIM. 

National CCIM President Robin L. Webb and CCIM State Chapter President Scott Lloyd were present.   

The conference featured economist George Ratiu, Director of Quantitative & Commercial Research with the National Association of REALTORS® in Washington, D.C.  Mr. Ratiu spoke about the local and national economy and expects the commercial and residential real estate industry to "continue its upward performance" this year despite Miami's large inventory of luxury condominiums.  Much of the optimism is fueled by South Florida's large population growth and low unemployment rate, Ratiu said. 

TotalBank was the Grand Sponsor for the 7th year, and Ten-X was the Platinum Sponsor. Ten-X also hosted a "The Night Before" party at Graziano's in Coral Gables. Ramon M. Rodriguez, EVP of TotalBank addressed the CCIM group along with Ten-X's Justin Latour and Marc Whol. Gold Sponsors included: Allied Building Inspection Services & Coconut Grove Bank.

Speakers on Miami-Dade commercial real estate sectors included the following:

• Office / Donna Abood , Avison Young
• Retail / Beth Azor – Azor AdvisoryServices, Inc. 
• CapitalMarkets / Manny De Zarraga - HHF
• Multi-Family / Arnaud Karsenti – 13th FloorInvestments
• Industrial  / Jose I. Juncadella, SIOR & Sebastian Juncadella, Fairchild Partners

The local economy and issues pertaining to Miami were covered by Tom Hudson, WLRN .      

·            

Britt J. Rosen, President CCIM Miami-Dade District

Xceligent – Welcome to Miami

August 9th - Coral Gables

The CCIM Miami-Dade-Monroe District hosted its monthly meeting at Morton’s Steakhouse in Coral Gables.

The topic was the commercial real estate company Xceligent, and its emergence into the Miami-Dade market.  Xceligent is a leading provider of proactively researched and verified commercial real estate property and listing information.

Wayne D’Amico, CCIM speaks to Miami CCIMsWayne is a Past President of the CCIM Institute

Two presentations were made. The first by Danny Rice, the Regional VP of Sales for the Florida market; the second by Wayne D’Amico, the Executive Vice President of Corporate Development & Strategic Relations. Also in attendance were Francisco Jaramillo and Ana Isabel Besu, Directors of Client Services and Sales, and Peter Morris, Director of Analytics.

Xceligent is a leading provider of commercial real estate information across the United States. Their research team pro-actively collects:

• Comprehensive inventory of commercial properties
• Buildings available for lease and sale
• Tenant information
• Sales and lease comparables
• Historical market analytics on vacancy, absorption and lease rates

Danny Rice, Regional VP - Exceligent

This invaluable information assists real estate professionals, appraisers, owners, investors, banks and developers that make strategic commercial real estate decisions. 

One of the main questions posed was: How does Exceligent differentiate itself from Costar.  The response included: 

• Analytics: Results in industry endorsed market analytics
• Certification: Provides a level of transparency and detail unseen before such as future vacancy and future occupancy.
• Move-in / Move-out: Secures the most accurate source of tenant move-in and move-out data.
• Data Strategies: Work with brokerage companies to establish the most efficient flow of information.

Xceligent, a leading provider of commercial real estate information, makes a powerful entrance into the Miami market as the sole challenger to Co-Star.

Reference:

Xceligent.com

Carlos Rodriguez Jr. // KW Commercial

www.linkedin.com/in/crodjr

FIU / Networking event / FIU Hollo School & CCIM / A Success!

September 28, Miami, FL - 85 Students attended a Real Estate Trade Organization Professionals networking event at FIU's Business School. 

This event was coordinated by FIU / Hollo School and REAAC, the alumnus association. 

It was sponsored by The Jerome Bain Institute and RESA.

This was primarily for students who are going through the FIU real estate program.  They met various Realtors, and other professionals in the real estate business who explained the benefits of their respective professional designations to the students.  

CCIM had its own table in the large meeting hall.  The format was round tables with the students moving from table to table every 15 minutes in groups to hear about each group in a "speed dating" format.  It worked great and there are many students interested in attending the CCIM Monthly Meetings and joining the Miami-Dade District.  In addition to the real estate majors, there are other students majoring in finance, management and/or accounting and grad school students also attended. 

It was a great event for FIU Hollo School of Real Estate, CCIM Miami-Dade and related real estate professional organizations.

FIU Hollo School of Real Estate / Speakers at Networking Event

Britt J. Rosen Appears on 880 TheBiz AM Radio Promoting CCIM

Listen to Britt's interview on 880 The Biz w Jim Fried 

Britt J. Rosen CCIM, the Miami-Dade District President, appeared on Fried on Business at 6PM on 880AM, a regular Thursday radio show located in Miami, FL.

CCIM Miami-Dade & 880 TheBiz have a partnership that promotes CCIM at the same time invites the public and other commercial real estate practitioners to join us for the many events we have throughout the year.

Monthly meetings are held at Morton's Steakhouse in Coral Gables at noon.  There are also networking events and in January is the annual Outlook Conference at the Coral Gables Country Club.

The Miami Children's Hospital 5K on September 17th.

The next chapter meeting is September 9th at Mortons.

Click here to for the event calendar for more info.

CCIM Meeting / John Dohm, CCIM, SIOR & John Guitar of All Aboard Florida

On the 8^th of July 2016, the CCIM Miami-Dade-Monroe District hosted its monthly meeting at Morton’s Steakhouse in Coral Gables.

There were two key presentations: The first was by John Dohm, CCIM, SIOR, of Infinity Commercial Real Estate who is a highly-respected commercial broker nationwide. Dohm is a past regional director of SIOR and CCIM chapter president, past president of the Realtor's Commercial Alliance, and is currently Chairman of the Board of the Miami Association of Realtors. http://www.realcommercialproperties.com/

The second was by John Guitar of All Aboard Florida AllAboardFlorida.com Guitar is the Senior Vice President of Business Development for All Aboard Florida. He is responsible for the development and leasing activities for the stations and transit oriented development in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

“The only thing Miami cannot mess up is geography” – John Dohm

Dohm gave a comprehensive presentation entitled, “Ready for Globalization: South Florida’s Infrastructure and the Expanded Panama Canal.” He detailed the contributing factors that make Miami unique.

Immigration: According to the U.S Census Bureau, in 2013 there were 1.3 million people living in Miami-Dade County who were born outside of the United States. 1.2 million were from Latin America.

International Real Estate Sales: 50% of all International sales in the entire state of Florida are from Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.

Population Growth: From 2010 to 2015, the Miami-Dade county population grew from 2,496,435 to 2,693,117 representing a 7.88% increase.

Tourism: In 2014, the total overnight visitors to Miami-Dade was 14,563,200. In 2015, the total grew to 15,496,300, for an increase of 6.4%.

Infrastructure: South Florida has invested billions of dollars in key global infrastructure. There are the two international airports: Miami International and Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International. And there are the two international seaports: Port Everglades and Port Miami.

Miami International Airport: In 2015 there were 44.3 million passengers.

PortMiami: In 2015, PortMiami posted an increase of 15% in containerized cargo movements. 

PortMiami is the closest U.S. port to the Panama Canal.

Train Transportation. All Aboard Florida is developing Brightline, an express, intercity train service arriving 2017. It will connect the tri-county area of Miami-Dade, Broward and West Palm bringing a total of 4 million square feet of new transit oriented development around the South Florida stations.

And what does this all mean for the commercial real estate world? In London, the number of square meters $1 million USD can buy of prime residential real estate is 22. In New York, it is 27. As Miami becomes a more globalized city, its prices will become more “globalized” as well.

Carlos Rodriguez Jr. // KW Commercial

www.linkedin.com/in/crodjr

CCM Sponsor / Jay Pelham, President, TotalBank

CCIM Miami-Dade-Monroe District Monthly Luncheon / Tom Dixon

On the 10^th of June 2016, it was back to Morton’s Steakhouse in Coral Gables for the CCIM Miami-Dade-Monroe District monthly luncheon.

Tom Dixon Addresses CCIM's

For the third consecutive month there was a sold-out crowd that included CCIM designees, CCIM candidates, lawyers, investors, sponsors, and many guests. The special talk of the day was on the Art of Negotiation by Tom Dixon, from Dixon Commercial Real Estate. He has been a resident of Miami for more than 40 years. His career began as an appraiser and transitioned into commercial brokerage and tax assessment. He is a past President of MAR (Miami Association of Realtors) and on the CIASF Board of Directors.

“The more the back and forth the stronger it is.”

 Tom Dixon

The first stage of negotiation is “Preparation”, where one must know the difference between position and interest.  A position is a specific solution that is not flexible. An interest is a desire that may be satisfied in several ways.

Mr. Dixon gave the example of an orange. Imagine two buyers who are looking for an orange. They both need an orange, which is their position. Unfortunately, there is only one orange, so one party wins and the other party loses.

Not so fast. What if we were to probe for the hidden reason, their interest, for their respective position? The first buyer needs an orange because her grandfather is sick and wants to make him orange juice; the second buyer needs an orange because the zest will give flavor to his cooking; their position is the same, both need an orange, but their interest is different. Hence, a creative approach to negotiation can actually produce a win/win situation.

Mr. Dixon went on to name some famous gambits of negotiation:

•  The Flinch: “You are asking for how much?”
•  Good Guy/ Bad Guy: “I would like to but they won’t approve.”
•  The Krunch: “But can’t you do better?”
•  The Bogey: “But this is all I got?”

The second stage of negotiation is “Action”. The strategy here is to have the other side make the first offer. Start with a high goal because the higher you aim the better you will come out. Also, remember the three F’s to avoid disagreement:

1.      Feel: I know how you feel…

2.      Felt: Others have felt the same…

3.      Found: I have found that…

The final stage of negotiation is “Agreement”. In this stage one must have an agreement in mind and be willing to walk away and walk back. If a deadlock is reached, one should seek common ground on a personal level and offer minor concessions; but don’t make a concession without getting something in return.

“When you give people what they want, they’ll give you what you want.”

Dr. Chester L. Karrass

Carlos Rodriguez Jr.

CCIM Candidate and Miami Dade-Monroe Blogger / KW Commercial

References:

http://www.dixoncommercialre.com

CCIM Sponsors:

http://www.raisal.com

http://www.vizzda.com

CCIM's at Morton's Steakhouse / Coral Gables

Sandra Goldstein, CCIM Introduces Speaker Jose Fernandez

CCIM Run Team // Miami Children's Hospital 5K

Coral Gables, FL - The CCIM Miami-Dade District running team is supporting MCH in the 5K run / walk this Saturday, September 19, 2015, in north Coral Gables.

The CCIM Miami team is 35 strong and includes a top runner in Miami-Dade and Special Olympics Athlete Nasif Ali who was the first to enter and complete the Miami Half Marathon.

Brian Sharkey of CCIM Miami leads a field f 36 runners in this #MCH5K fundraiser. He recently won the Palm Beaches Marathon & Run Fest.  Brian has consistently been one of Miami-Dade's top runners, winning numerous 5K events.  He is a local Pinecrest resident and attended Gulliver Academy where he ran cross country.

Also included on the team is Andrew Savysky of 123LumpSum, Coach and running partner of Nasif Ali.  Andrew is Chairman of the Resource Committee for Special Olympics Florida Miami-Dade County.  Andrew has run in more than 100 marathons.

Included on the team are six CCIM Miami Board of Director's members including: President Frank Rodriguez CCIM, Adriana Jimenez CCIM,  Zavier Moreno, Candidate, Elias Patsolos, CCIM, President Elect Britt J. Rosen, CCIM and Mitash Kripalani, CCIM.

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Stephen R. Rigl, MBA, SIOR, CCIM & Frank Melo, CCIM interview on Fried on Business / Radio

October 2, 2014 - Miami, FL

Stephen R. Rigl, MBA, SIOR, CCIM

On October 2nd Realtors from the CCIM Miami District appeared on Jim Fried's radio show to promote CCIM.

Listen to the recording by clicking here.

Real Miami Commercial Real Estate Team

More info on CCIM and Jim Fried's show

Melo Real Estate Web Site

Note: Jim's Fried on Business show has become the voice of the small business community on the radio.  It is a place where thought leaders from across multiple business sectors come together and share ideas and new concepts.

Sandra Goldstein, CCIM, Featured on the Jim Fried Radio Program

Realtor and CCIM Sandra Goldstein talks to radio host Jim Fried about how the CCIM commercial real estate designation helps meet the challenge of being a woman in commercial real estate.

Click here to hear Sandra's interview. 

More about Sandra Goldstein, CCIM (her website)

Certified Commercial Investment Members (CCIM) are recognized experts in the disciplines of commercial and investment real estate, providing invaluable market insight, technical knowledge and best practices to their commercial real estate owner, investor and user clients.

Note: Jim's Fried on Business show has become the voice of the small business community on the radio.  It is a place where thought leaders from across multiple business sectors come together and share ideas and new concepts.

CCIM 2014 Commercial Real Estate Outlook Conference a Success

On January 22nd the The Miami-Dade CCIM Chapter held its annual Commercial Real Estate Outlook Conference at the Coral Gables County Club.  Approximately 300 Realtors, bankers, attorneys and allied trades attended. 

Economist Dr. Sean Snaith was the keynote speaker. He is the director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness and a nationally recognized economist in the field of business and economic forecasting.  

Dr. Snaith gave a comprehensive overview of current economic conditions beginning with the challenges due to the "weakest recovery in four plus years" and moving into a fifth year of economic uncertainty.  

He began his speech explaining the definition of uncertainty, and the three factors factoring into the uncertainty index.  They are: newspaper clippings, the number of Federal tax credits to expire and disagreement between and among economic forecasters.

Higher uncertainty means lower private investment, industrial production and employment. In spite of this, the economy continues to unfold and it "continues to accelerate", although he said "it will not be a rocket taking off."

Topics covered were employment, US forecasts, GDP, home equity, housing and a sector-by-sector analysis.  Leading the economy in new jobs will be the construction industry, he said. Regarding unemployment, Dr. Snaith explained that "the government does not count people as unemployed unless they are looking for work" and do not factor into the index. 

Regarding GDP and inflation Dr. Snaith mentioned in his forecast the "take away the punch-bowl just when the party gets going" theory of controlling inflation with higher interest rates, a reference to a 1965 quote by Fed Cheif William Martin who raised interest rates to stave off inflation. 

Additional presenters were:

• Edward J. Redlich, SIOR, CCIM of ComReal Miami, Inc. Industrial Markets
•  Minday Mcllory, VP Terranova Corp.  - Retail Market
• Alex Zylberglait, VP Marcus & Millichap - Investments
• Marty Busekrus, CCIM, Director HFF, LP - Capital Markets
• Jack Lowell, VP, Flagler Real Estate Services, Inc. - Office Market
• Tom Hudson, VP with WLRN - "Sunshine Economy"

Mr. Redlich, Past President of the local Miami CCIM Chapter and President of the Miami Association of Realtors (MAR) Realtor's Commercial Alliance (RCA) compared the 2012 vs. 2013 industrial markets pointing out that industrial lease rates increased from an average of $7.54 to $8.25 per square foot on an "industrial gross" basis. Vacancy, he said, lowered from 6.7% to 6.3%.  Redlich forecasts that the vacancy to drop to as low as 5% due to the strong demand for industrial properties. 

Speakers' PowerPoint presentations

Miami-Dade CCIM Chapter - Board of Directors

Using Land Trusts When Investing in Real Estate

On Friday, September 13, 2013, Louis P. Archambault, Esq., a Bar Certified Real Estate Expert from the law firm Pathman Lewis, LLP, gave a presentation to the CCIM Miami-Dade County/ Monroe Chapters on Florida Land Trusts.

Although routinely ignored by most real estate practitioners as an entity option for purchasing Florida real estate, a land trust could be a viable option depending upon the buyer and his needs.  For example, a land trust may be a great choice for a foreign investor seeking the confidentiality a land trust can provide, while allowing for retention of funds in the United States through the trust structure in an “all cash” investment.  

For more information about land trusts or assistance with your legal needs, please contact Louis at lpa@pathmanlewis.com.

Louis P. Archambault, Esq.