Evolution of Brickell & Downtown Miami

Stephen Owens is a 30-plus year veteran of Swire Properties, Inc., one of the leading real estate developers in South Florida and a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based Swire Properties Ltd, and has been in charge of U.S. operations since 1985. Prior to assuming his current role as President, Mr. Owens oversaw Swire’s commercial and residential investment portfolio totaling more than two million square feet.

Suzanne M. Amaducci-Adams, Real Estate Practice Group Leader, has extensive experience in handling all aspects of commercial real estate and finance transactions, including acquisitions, mixed-use development, leasing, public private partnerships, commercial mortgage backed securities, and loan restructurings. Suzanne is very active in the areas of marina and hotel acquisition, finance and development, and leads the firm's Hospitality Group.

​​Arnaud Karsenti is the Managing Principal of 13th Floor Investments where his core focus is on management and growth of the firm. Mr. Karsenti is primarily responsible for the general direction of the firm’s investment strategy and overall capitalization. In this capacity, Mr. Karsenti’s role is one of new business origination, deal structuring, and investor relations. Mr. Karsenti has been active in the real estate business since 2003 when he began his real estate career assembling and developing land parcels in Miami’s urban cores. These initial one-off acquisitions led to the creation of 13th Floor in 2007, which has acquired, developed and managed over $1.5 billion in real asset value since inception. These transactions have ranged from property acquisitions to restructuring of distressed debt, fractured residential inventory, community district development bonds, and a host of joint venture structures. Prior to founding 13th Floor, Mr. Karsenti founded Collegeboxes, the nation’s leading college-based shipping and storage companies, which was acquired by U-Haul in 2004. Mr. Karsenti is an active member of the Young President’s Organization, the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, and a variety of other local and national philanthropic organizations. Mr. Karsenti graduated cum laude from the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and holds an MBA from the Harvard School of Business.

Danet Linares has more than two decades of experience in the commercial real estate industry, she has been involved in some of the largest commercial real estate transactions to take place in South Florida including major office leases at 1450 Brickell, 396 Alhambra and One Park Square at Doral as well as being an integral team member in the representation of occupiers including The Miami Herald Media Company in its relocation to Doral and the law firm of White & Case for its Miami office. Other notable clients include The Miami Foundation and Knight Foundation. In addition, she represents notable institutional owners and developers such as Codina Parnters, Banyan Street Capital, Lincoln Property Group, and All Aboard Florida. Prior to joining Blanca Commercial Real Estate in 2009, Ms. Linares has managed leasing efforts for 600 Brickell, Miami Tower and Southeast Financial Center. Throughout her career, Ms. Linares has successfully completed over 3 million square feet of office lease transactions.

Jeronimo Hirschfeld is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of One Real Estate Investment (OREI). Under his direction, the Company has acquired and manages a portfolio of more than 2,000 multi- family residential apartments 160,000 sq. ft. of waterfront properties that are designated to be the future site of some 1,000 high-end condominiums and a 53-acre parcel of land that will be the future site of 650 single family home, his currently working on Wynwood Square a 600,00 sq. ft mix use development composed of residential office space and retail. He is a leading developer and sophisticated investor with seats on the Boards of a number of highly successful real estate-oriented companies.

As executive director for the Miami Downtown Development Authority (DDA), Alyce M. Robertson directs the activities of the public organization and help drives its mission to make Downtown Miami the most livable urban center in the nation and strengthen its position as an international center for commerce, culture, and tourism. With more than 36 years of experience in local government, Ms. Robertson has been instrumental to the development and execution of projects countywide. The Miami DDA won awards in 2012 from the American Society for Public Administration, South Florida Chapter for Agency of the Year and in 2014 the Economic Development Award from Miami Association of Realtors.

Center for Real Estate Education & Research, Florida State University, Executive Board Director, 2012-2014 Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami, Past President of Board, Board Member and Advisory Board Member St. Philips Episcopal Church, past member of Vestry Florida Bar, Section on Real Property, Probate and Trust Law James W. Shindell serves as Chair of the firm's Real Estate Group. His practice involves the representation of developers, owners, private and institutional investors and lenders in a broad range of real estate matters, including acquisitions, sales, financings, leasing, joint ventures, workouts and restructurings. These matters have involved office, retail, hotel, warehouse, industrial, residential, mixed-use, telecommunications and development properties.

Alan Ojeda, owner, founder and CEO, has developed real estate in South Florida since Rilea’s inception in 1981. Mr. Ojeda is committed to the South Florida Community, a former chairman and board member of Carrfour (www.carrfour.org) providing homes to the homeless, a board member of the Miami Children Hospital Foundation (www.mchf.org) the leader in local child healthcare, and to community planning as a board member of the Miami Downtown Development Authority (www.miamidda.com). Mr. Ojeda graduated from the Madrid School of Law and the Madrid School of Economics.

Matteo De Lise, born and raised in Italy, is the Managing Director of Pininfarina of America, first subsidiary in the USA of Pininfarina, the Italian Design House best known for its luxury sport cars, iconic product design and its awarded architectural projects across the globe. Working side by side with President Paolo Pininfarina, Mr. De Lise has been spearheading a transformative approach to Real Estate, Industrial Design, and Transportation projects that enhance overall community perception and user experience, resulting in tangible value creation for its strategic partners. Based in Miami, Florida, Mr. De Lise has implemented a culturally diversified design team that applies the holistic Pininfarina vision, recognized for its authentic innovation and sophisticated style, spanning its expertise across a number of different industries, ultimately setting Pininfarina apart from other one-dimensional firms. For over 10 years, Mr. De Lise has served the Pininfarina Group executive roles in different capacities. He has a strategic marketing approach with an eye for innovative design thinking. He has been driven business growth and brand awareness through well-positioned partnerships with leading corporations, local governments, and academic institutions, fostering the establishment of the Pininfarina legacy in Before joining Pininfarina, Mr. De Lise hold positions in Strategic Marketing in the Media industry in Italy, followed by Management Consulting roles in Milan and New York. Mr. De Lise obtained his Master’s in Business Administration from University of Turin, Italy and continued his cross discipline education in Real Estate, Finance and Design at Harvard Business School and Strategic Leadership at Oxford Said Business School, England.

One of the founders and the Executive Director of American Da Tang Group, Dr. Shanjie Li, is a practitioner in continually pursuing breakthrough and innovation.

Shay Pope joined CBRE in February 2013. Prior to joining CBRE, Shay was at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Miami office. Mr. Pope has 10 years of experience, having previously served as a member of Trammell Crow Company’s Corporate Advisory Services (CAS) practice where he advised a number of high profile clients such as American Express, Bank of America and Fidelity Investments. Mr. Pope exclusively advises a diverse base of industries ranging from law firms, financial services, technology, media and healthcare-related corporations, helping them develop and execute strategic estate plans designed to increase profitability and operational efficiencies while aligning a firm’s real estate portfolio with short and long term financial, operational and labor objectives.

Mr. LiMandri joined Vidaris in 2014, bringing with him strategic leadership experience and innovation. Currently Mr. LiMandri oversees operations and the company’s Code Advisory division. The newly formed group can deliver comprehensive solutions based on a deep understanding of building code and NYC zoning. He also explores strategic service offerings that can bridge current gaps within the complex real estate and construction market in New York City and other metropolitan markets around the country. Mr. LiMandri also serves as a member of the Management Committee. Before joining Vidaris, Mr. LiMandri served as New York City Department of Buildings Commissioner. He is an operational executive with a history of leadership in commercial real estate, construction, development standards, and oversight—with a tenure punctuated by widespread changes in building safety standards, technology initiatives, green building innovation, and code updates. Drawing on his background in fiscal oversight and P&L management, he has managed budgets exceeding $200M, in addition to a team of 1,100 attorneys, engineers, inspectors, and architects. His leadership impact can be felt throughout the city’s real estate industry with enhanced safety awareness, stringent mandates for construction, and quality and advances in sustainability. In addition, his innovative approach to technology utilization has saved his customers millions in staff time, while boosting customer satisfaction with the launch of cutting-edge online collaboration tools such as the paperless virtual approval of plans at the HUB, 3D site safety review, and a smart phone app. Mr. LiMandri has also held positions at Realfoundations as a management consultant, Jones Lang LaSalle managing Class A office, Columbia University, and Honeywell Corporation.