On May 15th and 16th, Young Leaders from Miami, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, New York, Chicago, and New Orleans, gathered in Miami to participate in the 9th annual YL Leadership Exchange. Attendees experienced a day and a half tour of exciting projects throughout Miami, including the Lincoln Road shopping district in South Beach, the Brickell City Center, The Grove at Grand Bay, luxury condominium towers in Coconut Grove, the Perez Art Museum, and the Wynwood Arts District.

While the Exchange got off to a rocky start with a severe tropical rain storm that hit Miami just as we were about to begin our tour of the Lincoln Road shopping district, we quickly reconvened in Haven Lounge and made the most of our indoor discussion. There we met with Michael Comras, President of the Comras Group, who owns and leases several retail spaces on Lincoln Road. Mr. Comras spoke with us about how Lincoln Road has continued to grow into one of the most popular retail areas of the city attracting all of the major retailers and generating rents ten times the amount when he first began investing in the area in 2000. The evening continued with a happy hour hosted by ULI Southeast Florida/Caribbean District Council that provided an opportunity to network with local ULI real estate professionals over a few mojitos before ending for the evening.

On Friday, we began the day by viewing one of the largest current developments in Miami – the Brickell City Center, a $1.05 billion mixed-use development on 9.1 acres of land that will include 5.4 million square feet of office, residential, retail, hotel, and entertainment space. Chris Gandolfo and Mary Arda of Swire Properties provided an overview of the project, including a climate control ribbon that flows over the outdoor retail space with a thoughtful design to draw cool air to the area. Next, we met with David Martin, President of Terra Group, who spoke with us about his experience developing condominiums through the last recession and lessons he learned. Mr. Martin is currently overseeing a number of luxury residential projects, including The Grove at Grand Bay in Coconut Grove, a two tower development with 98 units on the site of the former Grand Bay Hotel. The Grove will be the first LEED gold certified residential building in Florida. After visiting these developments, we explored some of the artistic parts of Miami, including the recently completed Perez Art Museum – a unique contemporary museum overlooking the Biscayne Bay, ManaWynwood – a massive former distribution center that now serves as a venue for movie productions and concerts, and the Wynwood Arts District – a wholesale retail area that has developed into an arts district with magnificent street murals.

Overall, this year’s Leadership Exchange in Miami was a great event that provided the opportunity to view a wide range of residential and commercial projects and hear about them directly from the architects, developers, and owners. The Exchange was also an excellent chance to meet ULI young professionals from other cities and learn about their careers and experiences in an intimate group that allowed everyone to get to know one another. As we continue to move westward, I’m looking forward to seeing where next year’s Exchange will take us. Nashville, Austin, San Francisco, and Seattle are already some of the exciting destinations suggested for 2015!

Read more about the Exchange at ULI Southeast Florida/Caribbean website