Miami's Emerging Neighborhoods

Tony Cho is a real estate pioneer, impact entrepreneur, and founder of the Future of Cities – a mission-driven consortium and multi-pronged platform invested in transforming the built environment by adopting environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies to improve the quality of urban living. Influenced by his work as founder and chairman of Metro 1 – an award-wining, forward-thinking real estate investment, brokerage, management, and development firm that he still leads - Cho’s career has focused on shaping neighborhoods and developing sustainable cities in South Florida and beyond. He has completed over $3 billion in real estate transactions since 2005.

Karyl Argamasilla is an Of Counsel Attorney in Bilzin Sumberg's Real Estate Group. Karyl focuses her practice on structuring and executing large commercial real estate transactions. She has represented national and local developers, lenders, landlords, tenants, sellers and purchasers in engagements such as acquisition, disposition and operation of property, development, financing, loan restructuring, leasing, condominium documentation and general corporate matters. Projects include office buildings, multi-family, restaurants, shopping centers, hotels, aircrafts, schools, condominiums, mixed-use and lot developments. She prepares and registers condominiums, as well as conversions, with the Florida Division of Land Sales Condominiums and Mobile Homes and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and handles compliance matters with both agencies.

Scott Sherman is Founder and Principal of Miami-Based Torose Equities. He is responsible for the firm's strategic direction, sourcing investment opportunities, capital markets and operations. Torose is a real estate investment firm with several different verticals, including a value-add urban retail, office, and mixed-use strategy within the Southeastern United States. Prior to launching Torose, Scott co-founded Tricera Capital where he led the charge on strategic direction, capital markets and sourcing investment opportunities. In this role, Scott built a portfolio in excess of $700M over five years and consistently delivered returns in excess of 20% IRR and a 2x multiple across realized investments. Scott maintains ownership and major decisions across the Tricera portfolio and continues to be a minority owner of Tricera Capital. Previously, Scott was Vice President of Acquisitions at Thor Equities. He was responsible for acquisitions in the Southeast United States including Miami, Washington, DC, Nashville, Austin and Charleston. Additionally, he was a key member of Thor’s expansion into Montreal, London and France. At Thor, Scott completed in excess of $2 Billion of acquisitions focusing on urban retail and mixed-use assets. Prior to Thor, Scott was the Director of Acquisitions at Becker Brothers where he was responsible for sourcing and executing value-add strategies across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S. During his tenure at Becker Brothers, he managed a mix of asset types including retail, office and parking garages. Before Becker Brothers, Scott began his career at Ernst & Young in the Transaction Real Estate Advisory group where he also obtained his CPA license in the state of NY. Scott is a native of South Florida and currently resides in Miami with his wife Laura, son Lucas, and daughter Lily. He received his MS and BS in Accounting from the University of Florida where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. Scott is a member of ICSC, and CIASF, in addition to several philanthropic organizations he dedicates time to in his community.

Avra Jain, a Purdue University industrial engineer graduate, has a reputation for developing projects around her favorite pursuits: art and architecture. The recipient of three Sundance Film Awards, Ms. Jain has directed boutique projects that range from converting a warehouse into luxury loft condominiums to the remake of The Vagabond Motel on Biscayne. She is a board member of the MiMo Biscayne Association.

Joe is Chair of our Real Estate Practice Group. Joe's transactional real estate and corporate experience spans over 30 years from his prior career as a real estate and corporate banker throughout his legal career. Joe represents a variety of clients, including real estate developers, financial institutions, private equity firms, high net worth individuals, and public entities in all phases of complex commercial real estate and business transactions. His experience includes acquisitions, development, financing, leasing, joint ventures, and advising clients in connection with raising capital for real estate projects in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. Joe is also an agent for several national title insurance companies and has handled the resolution of complex title insurance issues involving real property in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. Joe's representation of banks and other lending institutions includes lenders providing secured corporate loan transactions, including revolving credit facilities, asset-based lending, and other secured lending facilities. In addition, Joe has extensive experience with representing condominium associations, community associations, developers and investors in condominium projects and groups of unit owners in a variety of condominium law and community association matters. Joe has developed a special niche in representing condominium associations and cooperative corporations which are being pursued by developers for acquisition of all or substantially all of the units and frequently coordinates a multi-disciplinary approach to representing these clients in order to counsel and assist clients in navigating the myriad of legal issues faced by associations and unit owners in these situations. Joe and the condominium law attorneys at the Firm have also developed extensive experience representing condominium associations which are facing a significant casualty or construction defects issues. Prior to joining the firm, Joe served as General Counsel for an asset management firm owned by a large private equity firm which managed several luxury high-rise condominium projects. Prior to that, Joe was the head of the real estate practice group at the Miami office of Hogan Lovells and was also a shareholder in the real estate practice group at Greenberg Traurig in Miami. In April of 2017, Joe was elected as a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL). Joe is active in the community and was formerly the Chairman of the Board of Junior Achievement of Greater Miami and now serves as a board member. In addition, Joe is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law and teaches courses in real estate finance in the Real Property Development L.L.M Program.

Neisen Kasdin serves as the office managing partner of Akerman's Miami office. Neisen practices in the areas of land use and zoning and public-private partnerships.Neisen was involved in the revitalization of South Beach through his service as chair of the Community Development Corporation for South Beach and as a City Commissioner and Mayor of Miami Beach. He is a Governor of the Urban Land Institute. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for the Miami Downtown Development Authority and as past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the New World Symphony. Neisen has been recognized by Chambers USA and The Legal 500 as one of the leading land use lawyers in Florida.

Originally from Cincinnati, OH, Della has worked in the fields of political communications, textile manufacturing, and venture capital in the U.S., Israel, Jordan, China, and Ethiopia. She holds a BA in History and Spanish Literature from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is also a certified Bikram Yoga instructor with passion for holistic health and wellness. Della's desire to make healthy food affordable and accessible to all was the catalyst for della test kitchen, a globally-inspired, plant-based, fast-casual concept. After testing the concept in Boston, she moved to Miami in 2014 to open the first store. della test kitchen is a prototype restaurant designed to gather and adapt to community feedback in real time. The Wynwood Yard concept was galvanized by Della’s experience in attempting to find a location for her fast-casual restaurant in Miami. She realized that there was a great need for a culinary incubator and community hub to foster the development of innovative Miami food, culture, design and fitness entrepreneurs.

Co-founded in partnership with Ron Gottesmann, mortgage banker who oversaw the operation of the Miami branch of GFI Mortgage Bankers Inc. of New York, NRI is a fully integrated developer, owner and manager of real estate, with holdings that include large-scale office buildings, commercial shopping centers and multi-family housing. Their mission was, and remains, to improve the quality of life for both office tenants and residents of multi-family housing. As such, the firm focuses on property repositioning by acquiring underperforming buildings in high visibility locations and rehabilitating them to their full potential through extensive renovations and management restructuring, and converting leased office space to for-sale office / condominium product.

Jon Paul “JP” Pérez is responsible for overseeing development operations across the company’s various divisions, managing land acquisition efforts and leading the procurement of major construction financing. He also forms a part of Related’s Executive Committee, where he works with the firm’s C-level executives and division presidents to establish corporate priorities, growth strategies and other key company-wide initiatives. Jon Paul aims to continue supporting the firm’s reputation as a “market maker” and its proven ability to capitalize on opportunities well before competitors. A market maker himself, Jon Paul has personally spearheaded Related’s recent entrance into Miami’s popular Wynwood neighborhood, where he’s working to deliver several major mixed-use projects set to transform the area into a true live-work-play neighborhood. Current projects include Wynwood 25, a 289-unit luxury rental property across from the iconic Wynwood Walls; The Annex, an eight-story, 50,000-square-foot, class A office building; and The Bradley, a 175-unit rental tower with interior design by Kravitz Design. Since joining Related in 2012, Jon Paul has overseen the development of several thousand market-rate rental, affordable and luxury condominium units—including the 200-unit The Manor, the 365-unit Town City Center and the 690-unit Brickell Heights condo property. He has also played a key role in several marquee sales and acquisitions. Prior to joining Related, Jon Paul worked for The Related Companies of New York where he oversaw all aspects of the development process for more than 900 units, with direct responsibility for financial modeling, design programming and construction management. He also participated in securing capital for the firm’s $900 million distressed opportunity fund, and in 2009 successfully led efforts to sell 425 unsold condominium units in Fort Myers, Florida over the span of 18 months. Jon Paul graduated from the University of Miami in 2007 with a B.S in business administration and received his MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 2015. Nurturing Miami’s growing arts and culture community, Jon Paul remains closely aligned with the Pérez Art Museum Miami as well as with The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts), participating in its annual Miami YoungArts Week. He also sits on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami and is an active United Way Young Leader. Every holiday season, Jon Paul also puts together Related’s annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drive to coordinate the delivery of over 2,600 turkeys across Miami-Dade, including to the firm’s affordable housing properties.

http://www.mkda.com/miami/news/jorge-pernas-joins-mkda-miami-studio-technical-director/

Iris Escarrá is Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Land Use Practice and a deeply experienced attorney in zoning and land use law. Located in the firm’s Miami office, Iris regularly represents property owners and developers in large development projects valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. With her counsel, dozens of high-profile commercial, mixed-use, and residential projects have been completed throughout Miami over the past two decades. A Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist in city, county, and local government law, Iris guides clients through the municipal zoning and land use process to seek approvals for some of South Florida’s largest and most complex projects. She routinely helps clients obtain full entitlements for development, including navigating subdivision, zoning, and other applicable development regulations. She also assists in procuring government contracts and conducts due diligence to assess a property’s development potential. Her clients include many of South Florida’s largest developers, who appreciate her creative and pragmatic approach to their complex legal matters. Clients frequently praise Iris for her ability to leverage her wide-ranging knowledge of zoning and land use law to help bring their development projects to fruition.