If you haven’t been to the Miami Design District lately and still need a 2018 New Year’s resolution, here is an easy one.  Go visit the Miami Design District.  It is so Miami!  In case you need more reasons than that, here are 5: Interesting architecture – Okay, between Miami Beach’s art deco district and an […]

If you are a landlord signing new leases in 2018, remember that the state sales tax on commercial leases has dropped from 6% to 5.8%.  As a result, the sales tax rate in Miami-Dade County will drop to 6.8% and in Broward it will drop to 5.8%.  Although the drop in rate may not sound […]

Mangos, delicious as they are or mixed in drinks, salsas, breads, desserts, or just about anything else you can dream up, are also extremely healthy.  Driving around the Villages of Pinecrest and Palmetto Bay, you will see mango stands manned by hot, summering students eager to earn extra money or unmanned stands that work on […]

  In a recent post about restaurants driving retail traffic, I listed restaurants that have been added to malls and downtowns.  Today’s blog is about one of my favorite local South Miami restaurants, Whisk Gourmet Food + Catering.  A recent blog in OpenTable,  Millennial Dining: How the Share Generation Is Shaping the Restaurant Experience, discusses several […]

Though the pace of commercial real estate transactions in South Florida has slowed down a bit, Miami continues to rack up big sales with the recent purchase of The Conrad Brickell Hotel for $72 million by Mast Capital and Angelo, Gordon and Company.  The 203-room hotel will be managed by HEI Hotels & Resorts, it’s first […]

    I just finished reading Thank You For Being Late by Thomas L. Friedman and think it is a must read for every politician, business leader, employee, employer…basically every one who needs to understand what is going on in the world today.  A timely read, it definitely is not a book to speed read […]

I just completed another successful lease transaction with Andrew Trench and Ryan Holtzman of Cushman and Wakefield.  It is the second office lease we have done together and they are wonderful to work with.  In addition to being the consummate professionals you would expect when dealing with Cushman, they are extremely responsive and readily available.    […]

The City of South Miami is trying to pass an ordinance that would require new homes to install solar panels.  I am all for solar energy and think if a house or business does not have tree cover and can install solar panels they should.  However, I think instead of mandating it, cities would be […]

  Food has always been important in retail centers; all you need to do is check out the food court at any major mall to see how much space is devoted to food.  Increasingly, more formal sit-down restaurants are what is needed to drive traffic to malls, strip centers, or downtowns.  Dadeland Mall added many dining […]

I moved here from the San Francisco Bay area over 25 years ago and am still amazed at the lack of public transportation options in Miami.  I have used Metrorail to get from my home in suburbia to downtown Miami and it is not as easy or user friendly as train systems in San Francisco, […]