The Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) Real Estate Council in partnership with the Miami Association of Realtors hosted its annual Real Estate Luncheon and Panel Discussion with nearly 500 attendees at the luxurious Loews Hotel Miami Beach.
Held on Friday, September 19, the event was organized under the Chair of the Real Estate Council and Design Principal of Miami based architecture firm Borges + Associates Reinaldo Borges. Chamber Chairman and SVP of Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust Michael S. Goldberg welcomed everyone and thanked Borges for his leadership and growth of the real estate council.
“Miami Tomorrow: Visionaries and Their Global Insight” was a discussion centered on the transformative projects that have been occurring in Miami Beach and Miami and the cities design evolution. Moderated by Architecture Critic for Vanity Fair and Author Paul Goldberger, the panel was comprised of CEO of Douglas Elliman Jay Parker, Principal at Arquitectonica Bernardo Fort-Brescia, President and Co-Founder of Terra Group David Martin, Landscape Architect Raymond Jungles, President of the Condominium Division for the Related Group Carlos Rosso, Associate Partner at Richard Meier & Partners Architects Bernhard Karpf and CEO from the Miami Association of Realtors Teresa King Kinney.
Kicking off the panel and setting the tone for the discussion, Goldberger noted the emergence of new architecture in Miami and its evolution by saying, “What takes me to Miami now is to see important new architecture in Miami, which wasn’t the case even 15 or 20 years ago.”
The major topic that the panel focused on was the role of design in the Miami market, which Rosso said was an important element in the real estate industry due to buyers being sophisticated thanks to Art Basel and the explosion of culture in Miami. The panelists all agreed that Miami buyers have a superior palate for innovation and all see the importance of design in their purchase.
“You can be design oriented or design driven,” said Martin. “We see people wanting to be more rather than have more in Miami. What does that mean? You have to spend more time developing your product. This is a very special time in our city thanks to people like Bernardo and Raymond.”
Parker agreed and noted that Miami has evolved as a city. “Design has led the trend and permeated every aspect of the real estate market. We are becoming a city that is a spot light for the rest of the world,” he said.
Bernardo, an expert in the Condo Market, said buyers are the most informed they have ever been. He noted, “Miami is becoming a more ‘complete city’ because there is a work force, there is entertainment, there is food and beverage of the highest quality and there is everything else – it’s no longer just owning an apartment that’s on the beach.”
The title sponsor of the event was award winning architectural interior designer Alfred Karram Jr., from AKJ Design Concepts, who received the prestigious 2013 Stars on the Rise Award by the Design Center of the Americas. Karram presented a video about his firm, which showcased the exclusive and high end projects they have worked on.
“My firm strives to educate our clients as to which projects they should be considering,” Karram said. He spoke about his successful track record in being able to appropriately place clients in the right projects and suit their lifestyles.
Flown in from New York City for the event, Goldberger is an American architectural critic and educator, and a Contributing Editor for Vanity Fair magazine. From 1997 to 2011 he was the Architecture Critic for The New Yorker where he wrote the magazine’s celebrated “Sky Line” column. He also holds the Joseph Urban Chair in Design and Architecture at The New School in New York City. He was formerly Dean of the Parsons School of Design , a division of The New School. The Huffington Post has said that he is “arguably the leading figure in architecture criticism.”
The Real Estate Council at the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce hosts informational seminars and workshops with the goal of sharing experiences and offering guidelines to other Chamber members within the real estate industry.
City Builder Sponsors were Terra Group, Related Group, Douglas Elliman and presenting sponsors are Vine Communications, Borges + Associates, LSN Partners, Finvarb Group, Pathman Lewis, LLP and Multimedia Innovations.
(Panel Moderated by Vanity Fair Critic and Author Paul Goldberger).
