Palm Beach State of the Market

Jaime Sturgis is the Founder and CEO of Native Realty Co., a Fort Lauderdale-based team of talented and aggressive real estate professionals who are disrupting the industry. A pioneering broker with nearly a decade of leasing and investment sales experience, Sturgis has become a household name in the real estate industry through his role curating emerging urban neighborhoods. His place making efforts began in Miami’s Wynwood and continued in Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village, where he has completed more than 1 million square feet in transactions over the last few years and set property sale pricing records. Sturgis is now expanding into new cutting-edge neighborhoods throughout South Florida. Sturgis has authored published pieces for National Real Estate Investor and the Daily Business Review and has been featured in The Real Deal, Sun Sentinel, GlobeSt and many other publications. A Florida State University alumnus, Sturgis graduated cum laude with a triple major in Real Estate, Professional Sales and Entrepreneurship.

Mr. Schlank is a Founder and Managing Partner of Savanna. At Savanna, Mr. Schlank sits on the investment committee and is in charge of construction and redevelopment and shares responsibilities for asset management, sales and marketing and acquisitions. Mr. Schlank has overseen the acquisition and redevelopment of more than 70 real estate assets, comprising over 20 million square feet of space and nearly $3.8 billion of total capitalization, including raw land development sites, apartments, office buildings, industrial to residential conversions, retail and warehouse/distribution properties. Prior to founding Savanna, Mr. Schlank was a project manager for the Westside Federation for Senior Housing, a New York-based developer of low-income housing. Mr. Schlank received an MS in Real Estate Development from the Columbia School of Architecture and a BA in Urban Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Schlank is an Assistant Adjunct Professor at Columbia University where he teaches a seminar in Real Estate Finance to graduate students in the Columbia Architecture School’s Real Estate Master’s Degree Program.

Jeffrey Ardizon is Principal at The Estate Companies, a Miami-based full-service, vertically integrated developer, owner and operator of residential communities throughout the tri-county region, and one of the largest and most active multifamily developers in Florida. The firm is best known for its institutionally recognized Soleste brand which features Class A multi-family communities throughout South Florida’s urban core and submarket locations. Mr. Ardizon has been credited for identifying and evaluating off-market opportunities, temporary market dislocations, special workouts, overall capitalization and general overall direction of the firm. The Estate Companies has implemented its strategic plan is to increase its focus on development in Broward and Palm Beach counties, and has many luxury projects in various stages of development including Pompano Beach, Dania Beach, Riviera Beach, West Palm Beach, three projects in Hollywood, two in North Miami Beach, and Spring Gardens, among others. Mr. Ardizon was instrumental in structuring and executing one of South Florida's first opportunity zone transactions, Soleste Grand Central, a 360-unit Class A multifamily project in Downtown Miami. Prior to joining The Estate Companies, Mr. Ardizon was the co-founder and principal of ECI, a real estate investment, management and development firm based in South Florida. The firm focused on providing GP/LP equity and debt for multi-family real estate developments and value-add opportunities across a diverse portfolio of asset classes. During that time, Mr. Ardizon was credited for strategically structuring and creating one of the more notable single-family offices in South Florida. Mr. Ardizon began his real estate career with one of the largest nationally ranked advisory firms in the country, where he led the firm's real estate practice for nearly a decade. He represented some of the largest real estate developers, REIT’s, operators and sponsors in the region. Under his leadership, the firm was awarded the top real estate tax firm by various publications. Mr. Ardizon was a top revenue producer for the firm and quickly gained industry recognition as a leading go-to advisor, advising clients on over $3 billion in transactional value.

Mukang Cho founded Morning Calm Management and is the firm’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Principal. Prior to joining Morning Calm Management, Mr. Cho was Chief Executive Officer and Principal of In-Rel Properties, a Managing Principal in charge of real estate strategy at Crown Capital Management and its affiliates, and a partner in the real estate practice group of Kirkland & Ellis. He began his career as a corporate attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and then served as a principal of Trifecta, a distress focused middle market investment firm. In his capacities as principal and advisor, Mr. Cho has successfully completed hundreds of transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $100 billion. Mr. Cho is a member of the President’s Council of The Real Estate Roundtable and the Cornell Real Estate Council. He is also a Vice Chairman of the Medical Peace Foundation, a non-profit organization started by his late father which develops free medical centers around the world. Mr. Cho graduated with a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. From Cornell University (with distinction). Morning Calm Management is a real estate investment firm with a focus on special situation investing and commercial real estate credit. Through its affiliates, the firm owns and operates approximately 10 million square feet of commercial real estate throughout the United States and manages a series of separate accounts, funds and ventures for its equity and credit strategies.

Charles J. Abrams is a well-rounded real estate attorney who represents developers, investors, owners, landlords, tenants, borrowers and lenders across a broad spectrum of commercial real estate and secured financing transactions. He has experience representing homebuilders in land acquisitions, dispositions and project development, including negotiating complex development agreements, resolving title issues, and coordinating the installation and maintenance of infrastructure and amenities. In addition, Chuck has represented borrowers as well as national and regional financial institutions in various forms of credit arrangements, including the negotiation and documentation of acquisition, construction and revolving credit loan facilities.

Since 2013, Jay Parker has been the Chief Executive Officer of Douglas Elliman Florida Brokerage where he has capitalized on his extensive brokerage relationships and realtor contacts to grow Douglas Elliman’s presence in Miami, Miami Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Aventura, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Palm Beach and Jupiter. Jay has shown a propensity for leadership throughout his career. His fundamental role in handling over $300 million in mergers and acquisitions at the Law Firm of Gunster Yoakley Valdez Fauli & Stewart in the Miami and Palm Beach Real Estate Departments ultimately led his client to an IPO. Then, as General Counsel for LandTel Communications in New York, he oversaw the implementation of a Pan-European fixed wireless market. In this role, he raised over $375 million from numerous private equity firms and restructured the company’s assets after recognizing a funding gap at a time when the industry was in distress, thereby avoiding bankruptcy. In late 2001, Jay returned to Miami Beach to form Clear Title Group, LLC a boutique real estate title insurance company focused on offering closing services to luxury condominium and home buyers. After strengthening his brokerage roots in South Florida while also representing Titan Capital as the company’s local counsel, Jay sought a joint venture, founding Titan Capital Florida, LLC in 2006. Jay continues to serve as Managing Partner of Titan Capital Florida, a Direct Lender with offices in New York, Connecticut and Miami. In its first year of operations, Titan Capital Florida closed on over $100 million in transactions. In 2010, Jay formed Beloff Parker which grew to Beloff Parker Jacobs, a real estate and transactional law firm based in Miami Beach. Building off Parker and Beloff’s long- standing relationships in the Miami market, Clear Title Group quickly distinguished itself as one of the largest and most successful real estate law firms in the area, representing many of Miami Beach’s most respected developers, landlords and tenants, as well as handling some of their most significant real estate transactions. Jay received a Bachleor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario located in London Ontario Canada. During this time, he spent a year studying abroad in Tel Aviv. Jay completed his studies at the University of Miami, School of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctorate in 1998. Today, Jay lives with his twin boys in Miami where he is a member of the Florida Bar Association and serves on the Board of Governors for the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce. Jay is also President of the Executive Board of Mt. Sinai Medical Center Foundation and sits on the Miami Association of Realtors Leadership Board.

Jeff Burns is the Co-Founder and CEO of Affiliated. Mr. Burns has more than 13 years of experience in the acquisition, development, and finance of all property types in markets across the United States. With an extensive background and longstanding relationships, Mr. Burns has a proven track record to see real estate opportunities from conception through reality. Mr. Burns has been involved in the development of over 2 million square feet of real estate with a combined cost of roughly $500 million. Included in that is approximately 1,200 residential apartment units that will serve a wide variation of tenants from luxury market-rate occupants to low-income housing residents. Of these projects, nearly all incorporate public-private partnerships and various public financing resources such as Tax Increment Financing (TIF), Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), Tax Exempt Bonds, Special Assessment Financing, HUD Financing and local government housing grants. Mr. Burns got his start in the real estate industry as a commercial lender with the role of project origination for BB Syndication Services, Inc., a national syndicate lender out of Wisconsin. Mr. Burns originated and funded construction loans for developments across the country ranging in size from $11 million to $200 million in total cost. In 2006, Mr. Burns shifted his primary focus to development. Mr. Burns partnered with Rick Barrett and Tan Lo of Milwaukee, WI to develop The Moderne; a 30-story high-rise residential tower in Milwaukee’s downtown. The project is comprised of 203 market rate apartments, 14 condominiums and a 7,500-square foot restaurant. Mr. Burns and his partners managed to close on the financing of the $65 million project during the height of the US financial crisis and the project was completed in 2012 on time and on budget, is fully leased and won the Business Journal’s 2012 “Project of the Year” Award. Mr. Burns is a resident of the City of Fort Lauderdale. Mr. Burns is a member of the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Council board of Governors, and is a member of First Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale. Mr. Burns is a graduate of the University of Missouri Business School.

With more than 30 years of experience in the construction industry, Chris Kennedy is Vice President of Preconstruction for the company’s southeast region. Chris started with Suffolk as Project Manager, quickly proving his leadership ability. As Vice President, he provides top management involvement in projects, and stays continually aware of the status of Suffolk’s preconstruction and construction services, the budget, and progress of construction. He has successfully led project teams on some of Suffolk’s most complex projects including the iconic Hollywood Hard Rock Guitar Hotel & Casino, Las Olas River House, MET 2 – JW Marriott Marquis & Wells Fargo Center, and the Miami-Dade Children’s Courthouse. Mr. Kennedy is known among industry peers for his generosity; he previously led a partnership with the community to rebuild the home of the Gorenflos - a family with special needs in Palm Beach County. Mr. Kennedy is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Construction Engineering.

An honor graduate of the University of Miami, Jorge is the driving force behind the firm’s growth and development since 1987. Prior experience includes earning a reputation with highly acclaimed architectural as well as land development firms, where he grew to understand the importance of leadership within an organization, the community, and the unique ability of integrating innovative architecture with rational business criteria in a balanced format. Jorge’s primary focuses are corporate leadership, design, vision, collaboration, and growth development for the firm’s philosophical ideals. Jorge is a licensed architect in thirteen states with expertise in the design of national and international facilities including hotel & resorts, commercial, institutional, mixed-use developments, and residential, projects. He is a sought-after authority on the realities and challenges clients face in the planning, approval and entitlement processes found in today’s challenging development environment.

Austin Fox has created a very reputable, professional, and outstanding scope of work for any project he has worked on. Prior to becoming licensed, the journey had not always been so smooth. Regardless, he remained resilient and never lost sight of his end goal, to start his own firm and become his own boss. While working for multiple architectural firms while studying for his exams, Austin became fascinated by the idea of becoming an entrepreneur at a young age. Austin Fox Architecture was thus founded and created by Austin Fox. With an exponential level of growth in just a few months of being created, the company has been able to sign many projects on all sorts of levels. From multi-family apartment complexes, residential luxury homes, and commercial it is only the start for Austin Fox Architecture. To working a 9-5 job for a firm, to developing several million dollar projects with his sign and seal, Austin Fox has always presented with a superior level of professionalism, leaving each previous employer, and now his own clients with a great deal of satisfaction. Mr. Fox takes his time with each project to provide the highest quality of work for each individual client. His level of transparency, communication, and dedication has given him endless opportunities and he continues to use these assets to make him a strong entrepreneur and architect in the field.

With over a decade of construction and insurance experience, Daniel has managed nearly $1 billion dollars worth of new construction, commercial and residential remodeling. In addition, Daniel has placed hundreds of insurance policies, serves as an expert witness in thousands of insurance disputes, and assisted community associations, business owners and homeowners recover from a wide variety of property and business income losses. He maintains a strong commitment to the community and serves on the BB&T Local Advisory Board and as Vice-Chairman of Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce.