Amanda Hertzler
As executive managing director and director of design at MKDA, a Miami architecture and interior design studio, Amanda Hertzler, NCIDQ, leads an innovative design studio that produces spaces unmatched in creativity yet rooted in the business of real estate.
Since establishing the studio in 2013, Amanda has been a trusted advisor on investment and development opportunities to major real estate owners and their agents, including East End Capital, Brickman, Goldman Properties, RedSky, The Safra Family, The Gindi Family and Metro1, among others.
She helps owners define opportunities and possibilities in areas under transformation—such as the Design District, Downtown Miami and Wynwood Arts District, where she was invited to sit on the Board of the Wynwood Design & Review Committee. She also assists owners and their agents with marketing, leasing, design and build-out. This work includes:
Wynwood Park, the adaptive-reuse of a full city block in Wynwood into 50,000-SF of retail space and 20,000-SF of green rooftop space on behalf of the Gindi Family
2407 NW 2nd Avenue, the adaptive-reuse of a Wynwood art gallery into two floors of retail and outdoor space on behalf of owner Redsky.
2509 N. Miami Avenue, the adaptive-reuse of a former Wynwood printing warehouse into a three-story office and retail building on behalf of co-developers Link Real Estate and Jameson Equities.
100 Biscayne, the repositioning of 100 Biscayne Blvd., formally New World Tower, in Downtown Miami on behalf of East End Capital. The MKDA upgrades include an amenity space, conference and fitness center, common corridors, bathrooms and prebuilt spaces.
80 NE 40th Street, the adaptive reuse of a dated Design District retail showroom into a 6,000-SF premier retail destination on behalf of Century Realty.
Under Amanda’s leadership, the studio has also completed work on Douglas Entrance, La Puerta del Sol, Brickell City Tower, Courthouse Tower and 200 Southeast First. She is additionally leading the design of a Wynwood hotel, and has undertaken hospitality assignments in Miami and the Caribbean, where the firm is nearing completion on Spanish Court Hotel Resort, a $12.5 million, 120,000-SF redevelopment.
Amanda is committed to being on the leading edge of design trends and the use of advanced technology, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) and 3D virtual reality, but it is her design vision—designing for the desired behavior of a space as well as functionality—that serves her clients well. In addition, she utilizes her marketing background to hone in on her clients’ strategic marketing positions to create branded environments alongside logos and signage to provide a cohesive image.
This integrated approach has aided Amanda in the design of many successful workplaces for brands that include Creative Artists Agency, SproutLoud, DLD Lawyers, Ink Global, Retail Outsource, Bayview Loan Services, Burr and Forman, VUMI, Liberty Power, Fanatics, Banyan Street Capital, and Offizina, a 16-story, ground-up office condo in Coral Gables.
Amanda has been named a 2019 South Florida Business Journal Most Influential Woman, 2018 Bisnow South Florida Power Woman and 2017 South Florida Business Journal 40 Under 40 Honoree. She has also secured a place for MKDA as one of South Florida Business Journal’s 2017 Best Places to Work.
She earned a Masters in Interior Design at New York’s prestigious Pratt Institute School of Art and Design after studying design and architecture in Paris, France at the Université de Sorbonne. Prior to joining MKDA, she worked for large, world-renowned architecture firms and was an owner of her own successful design studio.
Lastly, Amanda spent many years as an adjunct professor at Miami International University of Art & Design, teaching coursework that includes a variety of creative design studio and technology classes. She was also a former Committee Chair of UCREW, a subcommittee of CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women), a group that holds University programs to foster interest in commercial real estate and related fields as career choices.
MKDA
Executive Managing Director & Director of Design