Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021

Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 An in-depth review of the key issues facing Broward County’s economy, featuring the exclusive insights of prominent industry leaders

CONTENTS

Contents: 7

Economy:

39

8 Economy in numbers: 10 Leading destination: Whether for business or pleasure, Broward County is making the case for growth

41 Interview: Dean Trantalis, Mayor, City of Fort Lauderdale

11 Interview: Monica Cepero, Deputy County Administrator, Broward County

43 Interview: Chris Lagerbloom, City Manager, City of Fort Lauderdale

13 Interview: Bob Swindell, President & CEO, Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance

44 Market voices: Commissioner’s corner Heather Moraitis, Vice Mayor, City of Fort Lauderdale Steven Glassman, Commissioner, City of Fort Lauderdale Robert McKinzie, Commissioner, City of Fort Lauderdale Ben Sorensen, Commissioner, City of Fort Lauderdale

14 Interview: Kareen Boutros, Executive Director, Broward Workshop 16 Roundtable: Community leaders Jane Bolin, Mayor, City of Oakland Park Donald Decker, City Manager, City of Weston Rex Hardin, Mayor, City of Pompano Beach Sandy-Michael McDonald, Director, Broward County Office of Economic and Small Business Development

46 Interview: Rufus James, Airport Manager, Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport

18 Interview: Michelle Gomez, Mayor, City of Tamarac 19 Interview: Michael Stamm, Director of Planning & Economic Development, City of Pembroke Pines 20 Interview: Carol Hylton, President & CEO, CareerSource Broward

City of Fort Lauderdale:

40 Heart of the region: The City of Fort Lauderdale is fast developing beyond its reputation as a premier beach destination

49 Interview: Dan Lindblade, President & CEO, Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce

51

22 Market voices: Developing the region Jorge Camejo, Executive Director, Hollywood CRA Jeremy Earle, Interim City Manager, City of Hallandale Beach Jean McIntyre, President & CEO, Greater Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce Nguyen Tran, Director, Pompano Beach CRA 26 Roundtable: Managing the cities of Broward Ana Garcia, City Manager, City of Dania Beach Desorae Giles-Smith, City Manager, City of Lauderhill Leigh Ann Henderson, City Manager, City of Wilton Manors Mark Lubelski, City Manager, City of Sunrise 31 Reeling: Tourism took a definitive hit in 2020, but a comeback is expected to start by the end of 2021 32 Interview: Stacy Ritter, President & CEO, Visit Lauderdale 33 Interview: Tim Petrillo, CEO & Founder, The Restaurant People 35 Interview: Heiko Dobrikow, Executive Vice President & General Manager, The Las Olas Company & Riverside Hotel

4 | Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | CONTENTS

Professional Services:

52 Mixed year: Professional services firms have been in strong demand but the insurance sector faces challenges 53 Interview: Kerensa Butler, Office Leader - Fort Lauderdale, RSM US LLP 54 Interview: Andy Cagnetta, CEO, Transworld Business Advisors 56 Roundtable: Changes in the legal sector Suzanne Bogdan, Regional Managing Partner – Fort Lauderdale, Fisher Phillips Philip Rosen, Shareholder & Chair – Real Estate Practice Group, Becker William Scherer, Founder & Managing Partner, Conrad & Scherer Roberta Stanley, Managing Partner, Brinkley Morgan 58 Perspectives: COVID-19 impact 59 Interview: Eve Cann, Managing Shareholder, Baker Donelson 60 Market voices: Accounting services Michael Balter, Regional Managing Partner - Fort Lauderdale, Marcum LLP Cindy Kushner, Managing Partner, Crowe LLP Seth Siegel, Managing Partner - South Florida, Grant Thornton 61 Interview: Brian Riemer, CEO, Riemer Insurance Group, Inc. 62 Interview: Sheri Fiske, Managing Partner, Fiske & Company 63 Perspectives: Professional services

65

Real Estate:

66 Real Estate in numbers: 68 People power: Residential real estate was a surprise winner during COVID, thanks in part to a growing population 69 Interview: Patrick Simm, Broward President, Miami Association of Realtors 70 Interview: David Hammond, CEO, CSI International 71 Market voices: Real estate insight Ann Deibert, CEO, Broward County Housing Authority David Diestel, Regional President South, FirstService Residential Timothy Hernandez, Principal, New Urban Communities Edward Mitchell, President & Managing Principal, Mitchell Property Realty Inc 73 Perspectives: Industry trends & changes 74 Interview: Al Fernandez, President, ANF Group 75 Interview: Patricia Will, Founder & CEO, Belmont Village Senior Living 76 Roundtable: Changing dynamics Lloyd Berger, President, Berger Commercial Realty Daniel Chaberman, Co-Founder, Grupo Eco (Atlantic Village) PJ Charlton, Senior Vice President Investments, CenterPoint Properties Greg Matus, Senior Vice President Investment Sales, Franklin Street 78 Interview: Karen Johnson, President, Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors® 80 Interview: Ralph Godwin, President & CFO, YMP Real Estate Management, LLC 83 Perspectives: Outlook 2021 84 Market voices: Facing the challenges Scott Helms, Principal, Helms Development Terry Salzman, President & Principal, Salzman Real Estate Advisors Nicole Shiman, Senior Vice President of Investment, EDENS Andrew Zidar, Vice President of Development & Acquisitions, RK Centers

87

Construction:

88 Building growth: Being labeled ‘essential’ was a clear win in a year plagued by supply chain disruptions, price increases 89 Interview: Brian Sudduth, President, Miller Construction Company 90 Interview: Kerri Smith, Vice President – Southeast Region, Baker Concrete Construction

Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 92 Market voices: Design and engineering Sherif Ayad, President & CEO, ID & Design International Daniel Suarez, Office Principal, HDR Vince Yarina, Principal & Vice President, Langan Engineering & Environmental Services, Inc. 95 Interview: Bob Moss, Chairman & Founder, Moss & Associates 96 Interview: Ken Stiles, CEO & Board Director, Stiles Corporation 99 Interview: James Fox, President, Maddox Group

101

Banking & Finance:

102 Checking all boxes: Broward County is right in the mix amid financial sector growth in the Southeast 103 Interview: David Druey, Florida Regional President, Centennial Bank 104 Interview: Ginger Martin, President & CEO, American National Bank 106 Interview: Michael Tomko, President & CEO, BrightStar Credit Union 107 Perspectives: Snowbirds 109 Interview: Kevin Rogers, South Florida Regional President, Seaside Bank and Trust

111

Transportation, Infrastructure & Logistics:

112 Nimble response: Region responds to adversity with aplomb and ingenuity 113 Interview: Mark Gale, CEO & Director of Aviation, Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport 114 Interview: Michael Britton, CEO, Sealand – A Maersk Company 115 Perspectives: Covid impact 116 Interview: Jonathan Daniels, Chief Executive Officer, Port Everglades Authority 119 Interview: Gregory Stuart, Executive Director, Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization

120 Roundtable: Broward’s marine industry Tim Davey, Founder & Managing Director, Global Marine Travel Bob Denison, President & Founder, Denison Yacht Sales Michelle Fee, Founder & CEO, Cruise Planners Peter Hult, CEO, VIKAND 122 Interview: Bernard Paul-Hus, President & CEO, Hypower Inc.

125 Healthcare: 126 Recovery Period: The region’s healthcare system is operating on all cylinders in the aftermath of the pandemic 127 Interview: Jeffrey Freimark, President & CEO, Miami Jewish Health 128 Interview: Manny Llano, CEO, Fort Lauderdale Behavioral Health Center 129 Interview: Jeffrey Welch, CEO, Florida Medical Center 131 Market voices: Senior living Sue Butler, Executive Director, Aston Gardens Courtney Evans, Regional Director of Operations, Pacifica Senior Living Ricki Kaneti, Founder, Colonial Assisted Living 132 Interview: Leah Carpenter, CEO, Memorial Hospital West 135 Interview: Gerald Stryker, President & CEO, John Knox Village 137 Interview: Heather Havericak, CEO, Broward Health Medical Center/Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital

139 Education: 140 Roadmap forward: Some of the changes resulting from the pandemic are likely here to stay

ISBN 978-0-9988966-1-8 President: Abby Melone Chief Financial Officer: Albert Lindenberg Regional Director: Jack Miller Senior Editor: Mario Di Simine Regional Editor: Max Crampton-Thomas Art Director: Nuno Caldeira Senior Writer: Felipe Rivas Executive Directors: Laura Hernandez, Joshua Greenberg Writers: Sara Warden, Cameron Saunders, Esteban Pages, Kevin Donovan Office Assistant: Michelle Orellana

Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale is published once a year by Capital Analytics Associates, LLC. For all editorial and advertising questions, please e-mail: contact@capitalaa.com To order a copy of Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021, please e-mail: contact@capitalaa.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, without the express written consent of the publisher, Capital Analytics Associates, LLC. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this book, the authors and publisher accept no responsibility for any errors it may contain, or for any loss, financial or otherwise, sustained by any person using this publication.

Capital Analytics Associates, LLC accepts no responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts and/or photographs, and assumes no liability for products and services advertised herein. Capital Analytics Associates, LLC reserves the right to edit, rewrite, or refuse material.

141 Interview: George Hanbury, President & CEO, Nova Southeastern University 143 Perspective: Filling the gap 144 Interview: Gregory Adam Haile, President, Broward College

Photo Credits: Economy: Pg. 7 – City of Sunrise; City of Fort Lauderdale Pg. 10, 18 – City of Fort Lauderdale Pg. 14 – Grant Thornton Pg. 23 – Hollywood Community Redevelopment Agency Pg. 24 – Pompano Beach Downtown Development Authority Pg. 31, 36 – Visit Lauderdale

Pg. 68 – ANF Group

Transportation, Infrastructure & Logistics:

Pg. 74 – Cymbal Development

Pg. 111, 114 – Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport

Pg. 82 – Akam

Pg. 112, 119 – Port Everglades Authority

Pg. 85 – Felix Mizioznikov

Pg. 120 – Billy Black

Construction:

Healthcare:

Pg. 87 – Hypower Inc

Pg. 125 – Broward Health Imperial Point; Broward Health

City of Fort Lauderdale: Pg. 39, 40, 45, 46, 49 – City of Fort Lauderdale

Pg. 88 –Maddox Group

Pg. 126 – Broward Health Imperial Point

Pg. 90 – City of Hollywood

Pg. 128 – Memorial Hospital Pembroke

Pg. 96 – VCM Builders

Pg. 132 – Ft. Lauderdale Behavioral Health

Pg. 98, 100 – Walter Duke + Partners

Pg. 136 – Nova Southeastern University

Banking & Finance:

Education:

Pg. 101, 102, 104 – BrightStar Credit Union

Pg. 139 – Nova Southeastern University; Broward College

Pg. 108 – Stiles Corp

Pg. 140, 142 – Broward College

Professional Services: Pg. 51 – Akam; First Service Residential Pg. 52– Hypower Inc Real Estate: Pg. 65 – Casablanca Cafe; Cymbal Development

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|5

Aorlda Again Top State for Foreign Buyers

22% of Foreign Transactions, Up from 20% in 2019

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Miami Remains #1 Market in the U.S. for International Buyers

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Economy: Multilingual, diverse and growing, the Greater Fort Lauderdale region is ready to rise from the pandemic-fueled downturn and solidify its claim as a destination for business and travel, backed by a high quality of life and its reputation as a gateway to the global economy.

www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

|7

Economy in numbers: Unemployment Rate: Unemployment Rate in Broward County, FL

Unemployment Rate

Unemployment Rate in Florida

17.5

15.0

12.5

10.0

7.5

5.0

2.5 Jul 2019

Sep 2019

Nov 2019

Jan 2020

Mar 2020

May 2020

Jul 2020

Sep 2020

Nov 2020

Jan 2021

Mar 2021

May 2021

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Broward County Quick Facts:

Area: Total Land Area:

Commission Districts:

square miles

9

1,224.7

Municipalities:

31

Urban Area:

427.8

square miles Conservation Area:

796.9

Largest Cities:

Pembroke Pines:

Number of Businesses (Firms):

Hollywood:

61,995

Ft. Lauderdale:

189,321

168,949

square miles

151,818

Median Family Income:

Per Capita Income:

$71,206

$32,909

Unincorporated Area:

11.4

square miles (includes Tribal Land within Urban Area)

Number of Jobs in the County:

718,985

Housing Units:

Seasonal Units:

823,499

75,478

Total County and Municipal Population:

1,932,212 Median Household Income:

$59,547 Median Sales Price of a Single Family Home:

$415,000

Source: Broward.org, Planning and Development Management Division, Demographics

8

| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | ECONOMY

Businesses and Employment by Industry: Total Firms by Industry Sector Professional Scientific. & Tech Services Retail Trade Healthcare & Social Assistance Other Services Construction Wholesale Trade Accommodation & Food Services Real Estate & Rental &Leasing Administrative & Waste Mgt. Services Finance & Insurance Transportation & Warehousing Manufacturing Information Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Educational Services Managemrent of Companies & Enterprses Other Sectors 0

2.000

4.000

6.000

8.000

10.000

12.000

0

20.000

40.000

60.000

80.000

100.000

120.000

Total Jobs by Industry Sector Retail Trade Healthcare & Social Assistance Accommodation & Food Services Administrative & Waste Mgt. Services Professional, Scientific & Tech Services Construction Wholesale Trade Other Services Finance & Insurance Transportation & Warehousing Information Manufacturing Educational Services Real Estate & Rental & Leasing Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Management of Companies & Enterprises Other Sectors

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Force Data by County, Not Seasonally Adjusted, September 2019 - October 2020

Education Attainment of Residents: No Diploma

11.0%

Advanced Degree

12.2%

Bachelor’s Degree High School Graduate (Includes equivalency)

20.2%

27.3%

Some College/ Associate’s Degree

29.2% Source: 2015-2019 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table DP02

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Leading destination: Whether for business or pleasure, Broward County is making the case for growth Broward County, also known as the Greater Fort Lauderdale region, is ready for the next phase. After the challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the area is poised for a strong rebound on the back of its world-renowned high quality of life, diversifying industries and welcoming tourism market.

The county, a leading destination for domestic and international businesses as a gateway location to global marketplaces, is among the most economically productive regions in Florida, contributing over 12% of the state’s GDP. Thanks to its world-class cruise port, Fort Lauderdale itself is a major international tourist destination and the geographic center of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach MSA. With easy access to three international airports, three deep-water seaports, two foreign trade zones and seven general aviation airports, it’s not surprising that the region is home to the headquarters of almost 200 companies and is at the heart of the Tech Gateway, which hosts businesses such as Microsoft, Citrix and Magic Leap.

Furthermore, the area has the pool of talent to feed the rapidly growing industries in the area. With a pre-COVID unemployment rate of 3.3% for Broward County and 3.4% for Fort Lauderdale, the metropolitan area has one 10

| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | ECONOMY

of the largest and most diverse multilingual labor forces in Florida. There are 43 institutions offering associate degrees or higher within 30 miles, and these institutions have total enrollment of about 350,000 students per year. Of course, one of the biggest attractions of doing business anywhere in Florida is its status as a low-tax, business-friendly state.

Landscape With all these factors considered, it is little wonder that the Greater Fort Lauderdale region has won several accolades recognizing its status as an international business destination with a high quality of life. The city of Fort Lauderdale itself was named in Bloomberg’s 2019 Bucket List of must-visit worldwide destinations, WalletHub named it the Most Diverse City in Florida and Livability.com said it was one of the Top 10 Best Downtowns in the United States. Forbes called it one of the Best Places for Business and Careers, Global Trade magazine named it on its shortlist of Best Places for Global Trade and The Kauffman Index called it the Hottest Start-up Hub in America.

Over 40% of Fort Lauderdale’s businesses have international exposure, in a variety of sectors ( )

ECONOMY INTERVIEW

Taking action Broward County’s capital improvement projects continue unabated

Monica Cepero Deputy County Administrator – Broward County In terms of infrastructure, what initiatives will improve mobility and economic development?

During the pandemic, Broward County continued our large capital improvement projects. In addition to projects funded by the transportation surtax, the county is advancing a $1.6 billion infrastructure investment at Port Everglades with Phase 1 projects expected to be completed in the next five years. There is an International Logistics Center, which is a public-private partnership, and new Super Post-Panamax gantry cranes for larger cargo. There is also a new parking garage for Terminals 2 and 4, which will help with increasing demand as we bring everything back online. We are pouring about $100 million in construction into our cities in the near future.

Broward County’s Public Transportation System (BCT), as a result of the new transportation surtax, has begun extensive upgrades and modernization to the transportation network. BCT recently placed into service 147 new transit buses. Another 35 buses are on order, which will allow us to further increase our service to the public. Broward County is also working closely with Miami-Dade County and a private railroad owner to introduce commuter passenger train service between the two counties along the eastern borders. Eventual plans call for the system to expand into Palm Beach County to our north.

How is the county ensuring that affordable housing remains attainable for lower-income demographics?

The two things that keep me awake at night are the availability of affordable housing and the presence of a solid and robust transportation system. The Broward County Commission has been a champion on establishing policy that prioritizes affordable housing.

Half of employees in Broward County are in the services industries and are earning substantially less than the Area Median Income. At the same time, housing prices

and rental rates are at an all-time high. The County Commission is one of the few local governments in the State that is allocating General Fund dollars for gap financing for new affordable rental housing. Our Housing Finance Authority is also issuing tax exempt and tax credit bonds that provide a significant source of financing. In addition, this year the County Commission approved countywide land-use plan changes that allow market rate housing in all commercial land use, which includes the older commercial corridors and outdated shopping centers. In exchange for this development opportunity, developers are required to provide specific amounts of affordable housing as a component of new development. We will continue to look for new funding resources and incentives to increase production and availability of affordable housing. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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ECONOMY OVERVIEW

More people in Greater Fort Lauderdale earn over $200,000 than across the rest of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach MSA ( ) including technology, aviation and aerospace, marine industries, life sciences, manufacturing, logistics and tourism. The Greater Fort Lauderdale area sees $28 billion in international trade each year and it is possible to reach four continents in one day from the city. The tri-county Miami-Dade/Broward/West Palm

Beach MSA also presented a collaborative proposal that was selected for Amazon’s second national headquarters (HQ2) Top 20 short list.

“Many businesses are moving out of New York and the rest of the Northeast to South Florida,” Marie Suarez, CEO and executive director of the Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, told Invest:. “We want to cultivate this ecosystem and diversify our economy because we are heavily leaning on tourism and real estate. The latter suffered greatly from the 2008 crash as well. Diversification of industry is critical so that we can count on several industry fronts to sustain those that suffer in times like these, so we push for that, too.”

The average income of a Fort Lauderdale resident is $36,405 per year, significantly higher than the U.S. average of $28,555 per year. A higher percentage of people earn over $200,000 per year in Fort Lauderdale than across the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach MSA or statewide. Future job growth is also predicted to outpace that of the United States, with 37.9% growth projected for Fort Lauderdale compared to 33.5% nationally. Large employers in Fort Lauderdale include Allied Marine/ Ferretti Group, AutoNation, Baxter International, Bayview Asset Management, BFC Financial, Broward ( )

ECONOMY INTERVIEW

Invisible threat The pandemic heightened the need for diversity in the local economy

Bob Swindell President & CEO – Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance How did the Alliance’s priorities shift during 2020?

2020 wasn’t a bad year, all things considered. We had almost 2,000 new and retained jobs, which, in light of the pandemic, was better than I expected. In particular, we really shifted to how we could help our businesses weather this unprecedented change. One day we were conducting business as usual and then, in early March, we were shutting down what were considered “nonessential” businesses. I grew up thinking every business is essential because they employ people, so that was a new twist on the phrase, but we understood that this was an invisible threat. We focused on how it was impacting people’s health, and then on how to make sure that we balanced people’s health with our economy. A big focus of the Alliance has always been on diversifying our economy. We’re a service economy-centric community, and travel is a huge part of what we do, with restaurants and hotels. When travel dries up so quickly, you really begin to understand the need to diversify your economy into things like aviation maintenance and repair, technology and headquarter operations.

How are you taking advantage of the increased migration from the Northeast states?

That’s one of the strengths of the South Florida region.

We’ve been using the tagline “Work in the cloud, live in the sun” for several years now in our regional TechGateway technology branding initiative, but it really transcends technology. Every community in South Florida has a great quality of life. People choose to live in their communities for those reasons, but I think that the current environment has folks looking at what other amenities communities have to offer. When you compare South Florida to the Northeast, or even the Midwest with its dense urban areas, people have figured out that work is not dependent on a place; it’s what you do as an individual, and you can do it at home or you can do it at a coworking lab or office.

How is the Alliance looking to reshape the image of Fort Lauderdale over the next few years?

When you think about how this community has matured and transitioned over the last few years, we didn’t have Downtown residential multifamily housing when I was growing up here, and now we have thousands of units that are coming online.

As a community matures and adds assets like the performing arts center and people can walk to work, it’s the real deal, it’s not a pipe dream.

I think that Fort Lauderdale and Broward County have always had the good fortune of geography. It’s great to be between Miami-Dade and Palm Beach. Miami-Dade has a well-recognized brand, Palm Beach also, and we’ve been working hard to build the Greater Fort Lauderdale business brand. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Kareen Boutros Executive Director Broward Workshop

14

What factors will help Broward rebound from the downturn faster than other regions in Florida?

In previous recessions, the tourism, hospitality and live entertainment industries really helped the Greater Fort Lauderdale region recover faster than other regions of the country, but this time, gatherings were not allowed due to COVID-19. This time around, these are the industries that have been hit the hardest. Conversely the real estate, home improvement, automotive, technology and financial service industries have performed amazingly well. Our year-round great weather, outdoor activities and quality of life along with no state income tax and low corporate taxes attract people and businesses from the Northeast and California as well as other countries.

I can tell you that the business atmosphere in Broward County is very collaborative in nature. Business leaders, government, civic and nonprofits work together to achieve common goals. Everybody enjoys working together and it has been like this for over a decade.

Broward is located in the sweet spot between Miami and Palm Beach, so we offer the best of all worlds.

Broward’s economy is recovering quickly due to a collective effort by businesses, organizations and individuals alike.

What is your outlook for the major initiatives playing out over the next year?

I believe things are gradually improving. However, we need to remain careful. Of course, there is a segment of the population that will continue to struggle, and we must pay attention to those people who were really set back financially this past year. As we move toward the new normal, we have many issues and initiatives to deal with. Hopefully, Congress will approve a long-awaited infrastructure bill that is desperately needed by all states.

The business community along with all our community stakeholders are working very hard in every sector and I’m impressed with their commitment, resilience and dedication, not only in their jobs but to the community in general. I’ve seen the best of people during this tough year working to make our community the best possible place to live, work, raise a family in, and I am proud to be a part of that.

( ) County School Board, Broward Health Medical Center, CHG Healthcare Services and Citrix.

Like everywhere else in the world, COVID-19 disrupted the economy and employment market in the region.

When the pandemic forced the complete shutdown of non-essential international travel, unemployment in Broward County skyrocketed. In May, the county’s unemployment rate peaked at 15.2% compared with just 2.9% in February. However, as the country slowly began to return to some semblance of normality, the unemployment rate in Broward County was back down to 5.3% by March 2021. Although still a long way from pre-COVID levels, the county was able to remain remarkably strong considering the proportion of its GDP that comes from leisure-related activities as a tourism hub. By June 2020, more than three quarters of Broward County’s businesses were operating again, and the majority had not laid off or furloughed workers despite

| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | ECONOMY

ECONOMY OVERVIEW

The typical value of a home in Fort Lauderdale is $367,761, according to Zillow

90% reporting revenue declines. Businesses within the accommodation and food services, life sciences and arts and culture industries reported steeper revenue declines than others.

As of December 2020, the largest employment sector in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach statistical area remained transport, trade and utilities, which continues to see growth after a small contraction in the second quarter of 2020. Around 610,000 people were employed in the sector in December, not far off the 636,000 people employed a year earlier. Professional and business services also saw a dip in employment numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic but at 434,000 jobs as of December, the sector had lost just 17,000 jobs on a net basis during the year. Leisure and hospitality, however, saw a sharper decline and is taking longer to recover. In December, 274,000 people were employed in the sector compared with 338,000 in December 2019.

One of the issues that the sudden unemployment shock brought to the forefront was the affordability of housing. Certain measures were put in place to prevent evictions or foreclosures during the height of the pandemic, such as moratoriums and a halt to court proceedings. But many questioned whether the measures would serve to simply kick the can down the road. In Florida, although the moratorium was lifted on Sept. 30, tenants who could prove in court that they were materially harmed by COVID were allowed to remain until March 31, 2021. Nonetheless, uncertainty is in the air. Global investment bank Stout says that more than 14 million U.S. households are at risk of eviction with around $25 billion in rental debt.

The rental landscape will only add to South Florida’s affordable housing woes. According to Zillow, the typical value of homes in Fort Lauderdale is $367,761, as of January 2021, with prices having increased 8.2% in the previous year. Although house prices have risen more steeply statewide at 8.6%, the average price in Florida is $270,560. One reason behind the house price increase is the decline in inventory. Single-family home availability decreased almost 50% on the year in January 2021. An estimated 2,800 chronic homeless live on the streets of Broward County and hundreds more live in publicly and privately run homeless shelters in Pompano Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood.

This provides a conundrum for authorities looking to provide affordable housing to residents. Broward Housing Solutions was founded in 1993 to provide affordable housing opportunities for lower-income communities with disabilities or mental health issues.

The Fort Lauderdale Housing Authority and the Broward County Housing Authority both provide housing assistance to low-income residents. But the public sector does not always have the resources to provide ( ) www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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®

oundtable:

Community leaders Leaders from across the region look back at the pandemic and discuss the takeaways, lessons learned and the impact on priorities and development.

Jane Bolin

Mayor City of Oakland Park

What were Oakland Park’s primary takeaways from the pandemic?

There is a real opportunity to strengthen partnerships throughout all levels of government. The reality is that cities are taking the lead from the federal government, the state government and the county and that coordination is critical. We need to be flexible and nimble so we can respond when and how our communities need us.

We also need to work with our neighboring cities and counties to share our collective resources and knowledge. Those tools will enable us to look ahead to anticipate future emergencies so we can plan for them as they arise. One of the challenges we faced throughout the pandemic was the need to protect public safety while supporting our local economy. Different approaches at various levels of government caused frustration and confusion over quarantine, curfews, and business restrictions. That uncertainty continued as we turned our focus to determine how we would reopen and when it would be safe to do so. Over the past year, it has been crucial to maintain ongoing dialogues with local governments as well as our community so we could address our challenges together.

What are your near-term expectations?

One of the things I hope we can address are eviction and foreclosure rates. In my experience as a real estate attorney, I see the challenges that can arise from lifting moratoriums and trying to balance the needs of our landlords and property owners. We will have to work together to find the best solution for our community.

16

| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | ECONOMY

Donald Decker City Manager City of Weston

How did the pandemic affect your priorities in your first few months as city manager?

I’ve been with the city of Weston for 20 years. When I became city manager in October 2019, I had a “to do” list that got overlooked. As the year wore on and we shifted toward our response to the pandemic, we realized we were well prepared to handle it. Our previous city manager was so concerned about our ability to operate after a natural disaster that we already had the ability to do teleconferencing and telecommuting and to continue with all of our business operations, whether we had an office or not. Everyone has adapted very well and that’s because our services have been able to continue virtually.

What are some of the challenges the city is facing now?

What was on my radar when I began as city manager and is beginning to come back as we emerge from the pandemic is development. We’re celebrating our 25th anniversary, and in the first 20 years Weston was all about rapid development. The city experienced nonstop construction. Now, we are entering a redevelopment phase. Some of our infrastructure and our commercial sectors are beginning to age. The Bonaventure golf course, for example, closed one of its two famed courses to make way for a high-end residential neighborhood.

There is a stressor between people who are conscious of the need for redevelopment and residents who want to make sure the city doesn’t become something they didn’t sign up for. Some residents do not want to see higher density that may bring more impact to our schools or our roadways. We need to redevelop but we need to do so in a way that’s sensitive to the city’s past as it looks to its future.

ECONOMY ROUNDTABLE

Rex Hardin

Mayor City of Pompano Beach

How has Pompano Beach delivered on development during the pandemic?

The development community continues to invest in our city. We’ve been moving forward as if nothing has changed. We have $180 million worth of General Obligation (GO) Bond projects that we’re working on in the city of Pompano Beach, which will support numerous improvements across the city. Everything from streetscapes, new community centers, recreational fields and public infrastructure improvements will result.

There are numerous studies showing that for every dollar invested from the public side there are five dollars that get invested from the private side.

What makes Pompano Beach a desirable location?

After a $15 million redevelopment effort, we now have the best beach in South Florida, including an iconic parking garage with sails and a new state-of-the-art fishing pier anchoring a Fishing Village with retail and restaurants.

This is a boon to both residents, businesses and tourists.

We also have a tremendous public art program and a lot of good cultural amenities. It’s about attracting people, and we’re positioning ourselves to continue our growth and attraction while maintaining our charming character.

Migration to Pompano Beach could have slowed due to the pandemic but it has continued. Despite what’s been going on, we’ve kept our eye on the ball and have been successful in making sure that Pompano Beach moves forward and remains a desirable location to live and invest in. We have a great reputation in the South Florida region and that has shone through with the level of public and private investment we still have going on.

Sandy-Michael McDonald Director Broward County Office of Economic and Small Business Development

What were the major takeaways from providing financial relief to small businesses?

Before we started sending small businesses to a portal to complete an application to go through the PPP and EIDL processes, we knew we needed to provide technical assistance up front. We knew they needed to be comfortable before they ever went through a portal.

We also knew there was a part within phase two of the PPPs and EIDLs for which we needed to find lenders and nonprofit organizations offering technical assistance because many of those small businesses still needing funds in the second round of stimulus did not have their paperwork in order. Groups such as the National Development Corporation and our Broward County Urban League, among other local business organizations, decided they would provide the required technical assistance. In parallel, some of the smaller banks and credit unions stepped up not only on the lending side but on the technical assistance front as well, accepting applications from small businesses that were not bank partners.

What are your near-term goals and priorities?

It will still boil down to stabilization. Broward is a destination location. Tourism is a critical part of our local businesses. Revenue collections from taxes this previous year are down considerably. We’re looking to alleviate some of that impact with the pipeline of projects that have secure funding. Our concept of stabilization revolves around re-introducing businesses to their respective markets, creating opportunities for new consumers and welcoming back previous ones. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Michelle Gomez Mayor City of Tamarac

How is the city maximizing funds in the new postCOVID landscape?

The city is very strategic in managing finances and we’ve been very prudent with our budget and the funds we’ve received through the CARES ACT. Our approved budget went into effect on Oct. 1, 2020. We were able to cut about $13 million and come to a budget that is about 7% less compared to our 2019 budget, totaling $184 million.

Due to the pandemic, we are keeping our operation on a lighter scale for the next fiscal year, maintaining funding for critical initiatives, including the capital projects that are necessary and those that already are in the works.

Fortunately, our city is in good shape. We have always invested resources into our infrastructure. Our planned maintenance, particularly for our water and wastewater systems, remains unchanged.

How is the city working to maintain affordable housing?

Affordable housing is a real concern in South Florida.

While we are considered one of the premier cities in Broward County for our affordable housing stock, we’re looking to adopt policies that incentivize the provision of affordable housing because of its critical need. For example, we recently conducted an affordable housing fee study. When it is adopted, the city will provide incentives to developers for even more affordable housing opportunities via the payment of linkage fees and inclusionary housing options. I’m on the Executive Board and a member of the Broward County Planning Council and the Chair of the County’s Affordable Housing Committee, where we discuss some of the county-level initiatives. While the city uses developer’s contributions to fund the first- time homebuyer program, the key issue we need assistance with is unlocking our state Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Unfortunately, most of the funds from the Trust have been traditionally utilized for other things rather than what we need it for – to inject resources to expand rehab projects for homes and for the expansion of the first-time homebuyer program.

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Broward County’s Department of Fire Rescue and Emergency Services has over 700 personnel ready to assist residents when needed.

( ) these services and that is where the private sector is stepping in. Housing developer Greystone announced in November that it would provide a $20 million HUD-insured loan to refinance a 244-unit affordable housing unit in Pembroke Park. The development has 17 two-story garden-style apartments and 244 incomerestricted one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

Recovery and growth Although Broward County’s population growth has slowed in recent years, there has been a steady inflow of new residents. As of 2021, the population stands at just under 2 million people, a 0.34% increase on the previous year. There is a large labor force of over 1 million people across the county and after COVID-19 plunged many jobs into uncertainty, authorities took action to mitigate impacts to the community as GDP shrank by more than 35% across the county. Broward County’s GDP fell by 38%, or $11 billion in the second quarter of 2020.

Ensuring a pipeline of talent will then be a key element in the recovery as jobs continue to come back.

Partnerships with the academic ecosystem is vital.

CONSTRUCTION ECONOMY OVERVIEW

Michael Stamm Director of Planning & Economic Development City of Pembroke Pines

“We have a partnership with Nova Southeastern, FIU and Broward College to integrate the future pipeline of talent into what we do,” said Charinus Johnson-Davis, CEO of the Davie-Cooper City Chamber of Commerce - Broward. “For many people, this can be the time to refocus career priorities or retrain in a different field.

Having the universities be so active in our organization gives us the opportunity to help these members with their application processes or writing resumes. Our goal is to ultimately make strategic connections across the business community.”

To ensure its footing, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance helped the county recruit and retain almost 2,000 jobs from some of the nation’s largest companies, which made $353 million in new capital investments in the first nine months of 2020. Spirit Airlines, one of the largest job creators in the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance’s network, will add 225 new jobs, retain 853 existing jobs and make a $250 million capital investment in Dania Beach. Financial services firm Bankers Healthcare Group invested $42 million and Amazon invested $32 million in a new Pompano Beach ( )

How is the city working to support its small businesses and retailers?

The city of Pembroke Pines has about 9 million square feet of retail and commercial real estate. Some of that retail space has converted into facilities with more medical uses, which do not fit in the traditional retail mold. Access to healthcare is a big component. We are also seeing expansion within the healthcare sector, including the development of a new cancer center at Memorial West Hospital. We are seeing that shift in the retail market. In parallel, we are tearing down some retail, rebuilding it and looking at it in different ways.

Of the total retail space available, 1 million square feet is the Pembroke Lakes Regional Mall, owned by Brookfield Properties. They are going to have some challenges with big box retailers potentially closing their doors but we are trying to inject flexibility into our code and our code rewrite so we can handle some of these changes as they come in over time. Leasing has been a bit on the slow end due to COVID-19, although we maintain less than 4% vacancy.

What innovations or opportunities have emerged from the pandemic?

The city was not fully ready for a phenomenon of this nature. We are in the process of implementing ERP (enterprise resource planning) software, which, in short, is a brand-new brain for the city and how it operates financially. We are in the first phases of its implementation. Had we done it in 2016, prior to COVID-19, we may have been in a different situation regarding the digital space: online payments, added flexibility for our residents and our businesses. That is among our challenges moving forward – getting the ERP implemented – along with the programs that come with it, such as the Digital Plan Submission and Review.

We are also on the last legs of implementing a whole new land development code, which is going to be a huge benefit to not only our business community but also our residents. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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ECONOMY INTERVIEW

Job focus The landscape for recruitment has shifted, with new paradigms and programs

Carol Hylton President & CEO – CareerSource Broward Businesses are anxious to bring back their employees and to fill their vacancies. They want to return to the vibrant economy that we had prior to the pandemic.

Now that employers have seen that some of their jobs can be performed remotely, they are expanding their recruitment areas outside of their immediate geographical location and are finding creative ways to recruit, such as offering incentives and perks.

What role did CareerSource Broward play during the course of the pandemic?

CareerSource Broward and its Council of Elected Officials and its private sector board kept its doors open throughout the pandemic providing both on-site and virtual assistance to both employers and job seekers.

Through Prosperity Broward, we also reached out to individuals in our critical zip codes offering rapid credentialing and training along with the tools to be able to participate virtually to upgrade their skills during a time when many businesses were closed. We also received funds from the state and engaged temporary workers affected by the pandemic to assist business and governmental agencies so they could remain open.

How have you seen companies’ needs shift in terms of what they are looking for in prospective employees?

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How important is the Summer Youth Employment Program in preparing the next-generation workforce?

CareerSource Broward’s Summer Youth Employment Program is a chance for the local business community to mentor youth who are eager to work during the summer. For many years CareerSource Broward received federal funds to operate a summer youth program that put money in the pockets of youth and their households. It stemmed learning loss and provided valuable employability skills. When the federal government or the Congress decided to no longer fund the program, Children’s Services Council stepped in.

It has been funding us for over 15 years to be able to continue serving our youth. We continue to hear from employers throughout Broward County that having access to reliable talent is important. This program gives participating youth the opportunity to learn key soft skills, such as communication and teamwork, as well as workplace etiquette – all things that are needed in today’s job market.

What are your top priorities for CareerSource Broward?

CareerSource Broward is focused on helping employers fill their vacancies as our economy rebounds. We’re going to be working with our educational partners, business organizations, and employers to ensure we have the skilled and trained workforce to place individuals into the jobs that will be available.

ECONOMY OVERVIEW

Peggy Nordeen CEO – Starmark International

We are excited about the potential rush of new businesses headquartering here. We are looking forward to more and bigger companies setting up shop in Fort Lauderdale. When Starmark relocated here in 1998, it was an interesting time because technology was just starting up in the area but it was not a world of headquartered companies here. The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance has done a wonderful job of turning the city into a headquarter destination well before this coming gold rush that we are going to see from the Northeast and from Chicago. Those places are going to have to rethink their tax situation because that is one of the main reasons, added to the weather, that companies are relocating here.

( ) facility. And in January, the Community Foundation of Broward announced a $1 million BE BOLD prize aimed to get residents back to work, particularly those in communities of color.

The active residential real estate market has also helped the county weather the pandemic storm.

Broward County’s total home sales jumped over 26% year-on-year in December to a total of 3,413. Singlefamily homes and existing condos sustained the increase, posting year-on-year gains of 24.5% and 28.5%, respectively. Supply of single-family homes reached just 2.1 months in the county and single-family homes stayed on the market just 65 days compared with 86 days in 2019, also helping to push up prices.

Across the county, luxury single-family home sales of $1 million and up rose 66% in December while existing luxury condos increased over 85% on the year. The average commitment rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reached just 2.68% in December, down from the 2020 average of 3.11%.

In terms of commercial real estate, the fourth quarter saw more than 500,000 square feet of office space delivered in the single-largest quarter for deliveries since 2001. According to CBRE, tenants are starting to return to office buildings and activity is expected to continue to increase into the second half of 2021. In the industrial segment, deliveries exceeded 400,000 square feet, with the most notable inaugurations including the Davie Business Center’s Building F and the Rock Lake Business Center’s Buildings D and B. Land scarcity in the county is yet another factor pushing prices up, says CBRE, with the average price paid now around $33.35

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance helped the county recruit and retain 2,000 jobs during COVID per square foot. Amazon also provided a boost to South Florida’s industrial real estate sector, leasing about 3 million square feet over the course of the year.

Demographic shifts Broward is the second-largest county in Florida after Miami-Dade and its growing population is poised to be one of the strongest growth drivers to 2030. In 2015, Broward’s population was estimated at around 1.8 million, and according to the Florida Chamber of Commerce, it was expected to increase to 1.93 million by 2030. However, estimates now show that this number has been exceeded 11 years early, with a population as of 2019 of 1.95 million. According to Freddie Mac research, the population grew faster in the South and the West than in the Northeast and Midwest. One of the biggest changes brought about by COVID was the exodus from ( ) www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Market voices: Developing the region

Jorge Camejo

Executive Director Hollywood CRA

The A1A project took significantly longer than anticipated. It was spearheaded by the Department of Transportation and we ran into quality control issues that caused delays. But we have now completed the first part of the contract and we will soon be moving to the next phase of the project, which will include underground work and sidestreet development to continue redeveloping Hollywood Beach Broadwalk. We are also looking at a design concept to incorporate a bike path south of Hollywood Boulevard up to Hollywood Beach and improve the aesthetic with additional trees, lights and other installations.

We have a Community Redevelopment Agency through which we are investing millions of dollars in our local community. For July-August 2020, the agency’s board approved a $20 million loan for infrastructure — LED streetlights, new sidewalks, 3,000 new canopy trees, to name a few of the improvements toward sustainability. We are also injecting $40 million worth of utility revenue bonds that we are going to use to fix our pipes. On the economic development side, we have planned to spend millions of dollars on business investment over the next few years.

Jean McIntyre

President & CEO Greater Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce

Interim City Manager City of Hallandale Beach

Pompano is aware of its unique small-town charm. If it does not move forward, it will become stagnant. There will always be redevelopment in Florida given its geographic location, and as long as that change is thoughtful and it takes into account local residents there should be no problem driving positive economic growth. The area has lost 65,000 jobs compared to last year, so we need to figure out how to get those people back into work. We have big challenges ahead. The recent increase that was approved for the minimum wage could have a positive impact in this regard.

Considering tourism is big in South Florida and cities are looking to maintain their destination status, Pompano Beach is well-positioned to be the city to look at for investment. Pompano is “popping” because we have the most land available for development in Broward County. As real estate values continue to rise, Pompano Beach’s land values remain competitive if not below market. Development will happen so we will continue to implement smart growth strategies to counteract the negative impacts that come with new development.

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| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | ECONOMY

Nguyen Tran

Director Pompano Beach CRA

ECONOMY OVERVIEW

( ) the colder Northern states to the sunnier climates in the South and mid-Atlantic.

According to US Census data from 2019, about 34% of Broward County’s population is white alone, while approximately 30% is Black or African American alone and 31% identifies as Hispanic or Latino. But demographics have been slowly changing across South Florida. In Coral Springs, the majority of the population is no longer white, with Hispanic, Black and others accounting for 58% of the population. The Latino population has increased exponentially since 1990, when it totaled only 7% of Corals Springs’ population, and this mirrors a statewide trend. The largest cross-section of the population in Fort Lauderdale is 50 to 59, and the median age of the city is 42. There are over 123,000 households with an average of 2.5 people per household.

Global factors Greater Fort Lauderdale’s population growth positions the county to attract new companies to the region but to take advantage of the opportunity, Broward needs to promote highly skilled, highly paid jobs, particularly in STEM careers. In 2011, the Broward County business, civic and academic community signed up to the Six Pillars methodology, which promotes critical factors that will foster job creation. The pillars are talent supply and education, innovation and economic development, infrastructure and growth leadership, business climate and competitiveness, civic and governance systems and quality of life. In 2019, Version 2.0 was launched, mapping out a county plan for the next five years.

This version focuses on 10 main issues, including affordable housing, development of a community brand, entrepreneurship, prosperity, target industry

The City of Fort Lauderdale is working to build a better connected, more secure and convenient cycling infrastructure.

ECONOMY OVERVIEW

After substantial population growth in 2020, Broward plans to extend its transportation infrastructure with the construction of new projects throughout the county.

clusters, homelessness, talent, social justice, resilience and transportation.

The goal of the six pillars is to strengthen the positioning of Fort Lauderdale but the city is already an international hub with one of the world’s major global shipping ports. In 2020, a Project Partnership Agreement was approved by the Broward Board of Commissioners to move ahead with the Port Everglades Navigation Improvements Project, which involved the U.S. Army Corps widening the navigation channel from 42 feet to up to 50 feet. This widening will allow the next generation of ever-growing cruise and cargo ships to dock at the port, including 12,500 Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU)capacity Neo-Panamax vessels. Although Port Everglades already handles some of the vessels, they must be lightly loaded to navigate the canal. When completed in 2029, the project is estimated to create 1,500 permanent jobs due to its additional cargo capacity.

Port Everglades is also positioned as the thirdlargest cruise ship port worldwide but this has been impacted in the last year as a result of the pandemic.

Research from the Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic Research said that international tourists are not projected to come to Florida in the first half of 2021 as the effects of the pandemic linger. Tourism grew 24

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in the third quarter of 2020 but numbers were still far off from 2019 statistics and domestic tourists tend not to spend as much as international tourists. This is one reason why some counties in South Florida that depend on tourism urged hospitality professionals be added to the vaccine priority list at the outset of the campaign.

Broward County also has a strong foundation in exports.

Port Everglades is the top container port in the state and 11th busiest container cargo port in the world. From 2014 to 2018, the county’s exports increased 22.5% in value to over $7.7 billion in 2018. An estimated $153 billion of goods passed through Florida’s airports and seaports in 2019, according to Enterprise Florida. The international trade war started by then-President Donald Trump on entering office impacted both imports and exports. The American Action Forum estimates that as of September, U.S. and retaliatory tariffs had impacted over $460 billion of products and cost consumers $57 billion annually.

International business International business is a key driver of the economy of Greater Fort Lauderdale. More than 1,450 multinational companies from 59 countries have offices in South Florida, which serves as the bridge to Latin America for many. Some major international companies with ( )

®

oundtable:

Managing the cities of Broward Local city managers discuss the investments and developments that are ongoing in their respective cities.

Ana Garcia

City Manager City of Dania Beach

What are some of the top budget priorities for the city of Dania Beach?

For FY20, we ended up reducing the budget by almost $1.9 million. We didn’t want to raise taxes, we wanted to build our reserves and as a newly appointed city manager, I wanted to fully assess our operations and our needs. Fast forward to today and our adopted fiscal year 2021 budget has the greatest investment in infrastructure in the history of Dania Beach, and this was achieved without raising taxes or reducing our city team and ensuring we have an incredibly sound reserve. In this challenging time do to COVID-19, we are actually one of those cities that are augmenting our services and investing in both personnel and in our community.

What are some of the key investments for the city?

Our investment in infrastructure is unprecedented. This year, the budget has a multitude of projects that we are investing in. Last year’s lighting assessment will be this year’s lighting investment, with over $2 million to be implemented. The priority of safety is aligned with our investment in citywide lighting. A massive investment in storm drainage to include a storm drainage master plan and a multitude of projects citywide was a priority for us.

Additionally, we will bring forward several additional storm drainage projects seeking support from the commission.

We will implement automated meter reading and put in place the infrastructure for citywide Wi-Fi as the pandemic has increased the need for better connectivity and communication due to more people working from home. We want to ensure all our residents have access to the internet.

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Desorae Giles-Smith

City Manager City of Lauderhill

How have pre-COVID plans to revitalize the city changed as a result of the pandemic?

Prior to the pandemic, we had allocated money for capital projects to help revitalize our city. Those dollars must, and have, remained in place. So, our plans have continued to move forward. The NW 38th Avenue Arts District Business Attraction Plan, near our Warehouse District, is under construction and should be finished within a year. Our light industrial community in the area will undergo a total revitalization. We’ve had a great start with the opening of the city’s first microbrewery. Other businesses have also come into that area, and several are looking into it. The Arts District abuts the Central Broward Regional Park, which holds a multipurpose stadium that is the only International Cricket Stadium in the United States.

What new improvements has the city been working on?

Our residents voted in favor of a $45 million bond in 2016, which we’ve been using for major improvements on our parks. For example, we have upgraded facilities in Westwind Park, Veterans Park, St. George Park and have started on West Ken Lark.

How accessible is housing in Lauderhill?

Our housing stock is broad, and price isn’t as big an issue as in other parts of Broward County. Like other cities in South Florida, we have seen spikes in our housing values but on the whole, housing here is attainable. We have a number of condominiums and apartment complexes for those who are not interested in buying or renting a single-family home. We have workforce housing and we have market-rate housing to meet the needs for a wide range of incomes.

ECONOMY ROUNDTABLE

Leigh Ann Henderson City Manager City of Wilton Manors

How is Wilton Manors positioned for development and growth?

We are a city that was built out in the 1950s and ‘60s and we measure only two square miles. We are built out with no major vacant parcels of land available but the good thing is that those buildings that went up at the beginning of the city’s life are now poised to be redeveloped. This is a critical time because it only comes around once in a generation. We have been envisioning what we want the city to look like through consultations with the community. Everything down to the zoning requirements have changed drastically over those 70 years. We are looking at mixed-use development to optimize our space, routes that would allow non-vehicular transit, pedestrian plazas, bicycle amenities and we are lucky enough to have the Florida East Coast corridor running through our city, which provides an opportunity for future passenger rail transit. We are positioning development around that rail line to maximize the benefits.

How are you balancing residential and commercial interests in your planning?

We were approaching that issue in a very data-driven way, working with the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council to analyze our existing property uses and make recommendations. Our existing retail, on a per capita basis compared with other cities, is three times higher than the national average. For us to attract business, we need to have more residential to support this, and this is what the data says. We undertook this whole process with the community, which helped build a consensus about the city’s needs.

Mark Lubelski City Manager City of Sunrise

What is the purpose of the East Sunrise Improvements Master Plan?

The East Sunrise Improvements Master Plan has been a top priority for us over the last several years. The goal is to develop an improvement plan for the East Sunrise area to stimulate investment and redevelopment of nonresidential areas and to revitalize existing neighborhoods.

The city has already invested approximately $30 million into infrastructure in East Sunrise over the past couple of years and more is planned. We are actively looking to purchase and repurpose underperforming and vacant properties, as well as attract new businesses and partner with existing ones to enhance the area. As part of our vision for the community, we are looking to partner with developers to bring new housing to the area. We‘ve made significant investments in the area with the expectation that it will attract public and private investments exponentially.

How have apartment and office development projects been affected by the pandemic?

Every project that was approved in 2019 or early 2020 has been moving forward. Apartment development projects are still hot. We thought the office market would see a slowdown but we still see a significant amount of activity concerning corporate relocations. We have been pleasantly surprised and are very optimistic with the economic recovery in the area. Pre-pandemic, we had about 4% vacancy rates in the local office market. Obviously, this rate increased during the pandemic but we’re expecting a strong and fast recovery. The area’s first class-A office building in over a decade is on track for completion as well as a variety of large residential developments. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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ECONOMY OVERVIEW

more steps to ensure the region remains competitive, including setting up free trade zones. Port Everglades has 23 foreign trade zone sites across Broward County.

There are also a variety of international trade programs orchestrated by the county, including export readiness seminars, protocol assistance and notification of local and international business opportunities.

Incentives also include the qualified target industry refund (QTI), the high-impact performance grant (HIPI) and capital investment tax credits (CITC). The QTI, which was allowed to sunset last year but is now being promoted for renewal, provides companies with tax refunds of up to $5,000 for each new Florida, full-time equivalent job created subject to certain conditions.

The HIPI is a negotiable amount awarded to high-impact sectors that create a minimum number of jobs and make at least a $50 million investment in a three-year period. CITC provides a tax credit to companies creating 100 new jobs and making a cumulative capital investment of at least $25 million.

Public sector initiatives Cindy Brief Coral Springs Chamber of Commerce Workforce training programs Fort Lauderdale is targeting key are also offered by the county to business sectors that authorities want to attract to the area and for this purpose, foster a better-prepared workforce. The state welcomes the region must remain competitive. Aviation and public-private partnerships and has set up an economic aerospace, financial services, logistics, life sciences, development transportation fund that provides up to $3 manufacturing, marine industries and technology can million to local governments to alleviate transportation all provide high-paying, high-quality jobs for locals and issues arising from new projects. There are lower wage attract a hub of auxiliary services. Authorities are taking thresholds for those operating in the urban centers and ( ) offices in Greater Fort Lauderdale include Germany’s MAN Diesel and Turbo, Italy’s Costa Cruise Lines, Switzerland’s Nyrstar and the UK’s Balfour Beatty. The region serves a wide variety of industries and helps them obtain a foothold across the Americas.

South Florida also has extensive consular offices, with 75 foreign consulates, foreign trade offices and binational chambers of commerce in operation across the region.

According to panelists at the Florida International Trade and Cultural Expo in October 2019, South Florida is the ideal place to settle for those who want to grow their business. In fact, the three South Florida counties make up the world’s 38th largest economy.

For many entrepreneurs, a big advantage of doing business in Florida is its business-friendly tax climate. Broward boasts a sales tax rate of 6%, which is lower than the U.S. average of 7.3%, while the income tax rate is zero, compared to a 4.6% average income tax rate across the United States.

The businesses that were able to pull through either had a continuity plan in place or had the ability to flexible.

Phillip Holste Assistant Town Administrator & CRA Director – Town of Davie

Davie has always had a rural feel to it. Our main redevelopment areas have been identified specifically as the Regional Activity Center and Transit-Oriented Corridor that promote synergy with the South Florida Education Center. The remainder of Davie is primarily focused on residential development, typically singlefamily homes on an acre. Recently, townhome developments have provided the most opportunities for new homeownership. That is where the affordability really lies today. One aspect of affordability in Davie is rooted in its mobile homes. We have the most mobile homes in all of Broward County. We recognize that as the basis for affordable living in Davie.

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ECONOMY OVERVIEW

Florida Power and Light offers discounts on its electricity for large-scale users. On top of this, a variety of loans and bonds are available at preferential rates.

Looking ahead As the vaccine program continues across the county, residents are returning to normalcy, but the pandemic is sure to stretch out at least for the next few months.

South Florida’s way of doing business has changed a great deal during the pandemic, some of which has been positive. As supermarket chains struggled to keep shelves stocked, local producers promoted their wares, gaining prominence amid the public and encouraging them to shop local again. There is now a preference to shop local and many supply chains are being onshored again. Businesses related to construction, home improvement and crafts flourished across the county.

In June, faced with the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Broward County government kicked off a marketing campaign to promote the benefits of local consumption. The Supporters of Broward, or SOB, campaign launched a virtual event that featured business leaders who were able to promote their services amid a significant revenue decline.

With a limited ability to travel, Broward residents can take the next few months to look inward and reevaluate priorities to boost the local economy. This could be in the shape of visiting up-and-coming neighborhoods such as Coral Springs, Oakland Park, Sunrise and Hollywood, or scrutinizing racial inequity within the county — the South Florida Black Prosperity Alliance launched on Feb. 11 to bring together various groups to focus on community, culture, jobs, wealth, education, health and justice issues.

One thing is clear. As the county gradually emerges from the pandemic, the businesses that have been able to adapt have navigated the storm and are set to come out the other end even stronger. “The businesses that were able to pull through either had a continuity plan in place or had the ability to be flexible and realize they had to pivot. Those who could not become innovative could not get through this. Some restaurants even completely changed their venues to outdoor venues or takeaway venues. Even the chamber did not have a plan for the pandemic, but we were able to accommodate ourselves and make it work,” Cindy Brief, president of the Coral Springs Chamber of Commerce, told Invest:.

Reeling: Tourism took a definitive hit in 2020, but a comeback is expected to start by the end of 2021 Given Port Everglades’ status as the third-largest cruise port in the world, tourism has always been integral to the Fort Lauderdale economy. In fact, the industry is the city’s second largest, attracting a record 126.1 million out-of-state visitors in 2018. Although hotel occupancy plateaued slightly at 76% in 2019, major events such as the International Boat Show (FLIBS) continued to draw in millions of dollars in tourism revenues. But in 2020, Broward County was barely able to squeeze in one strong quarter before COVID-19 hit, forcing international travel to close down and sending shock waves across related tourism, leisure and hospitality businesses. In December 2020, despite an uptick in activity, revenue from tourism and hospitality-related industries was down 25% on the year.

According to Visit Florida, there was a 34% drop in visitors in 2020 compared to 2019, with 86.714 million people choosing Florida as a destination. And although businesses in Florida began to reopen in summer 2020, PPP loan payments were made and vaccines became available across the state, many are still struggling. In early-May, an analysis of social media sentiment found that travel discussion surrounding Florida was more negative than U.S. travel as a whole. But an upswing

quickly came into view. By June, Florida’s beaches were back open to tourists, by October, Broward County’s businesses reported more optimism and by December, income from tax revenues exceeded pre-COVID projections.

Events Despite lingering pandemic-related economic concerns, Broward County is a glowing example of how to execute public events in the current landscape. In October 2020, despite almost every other major boat show having canceled their 2020 event, FLIBS went ahead with its show – although at a reduced capacity. Organizers managed to create a plan that would allow guests to attend the show with confidence, with a greater number of entrances and exits, no paper tickets and more bus and water taxis with reduced occupancy. Ultimately, show organizers say the show ran smoothly, with a large number of serious buyers making appointments to tour the new Magellano 25 Metri yacht. In September, the city also successfully hosted the 10th Annual Brazilian Festival. The 2021 Super Bowl held in Tampa also saw an overspill of tourism into Fort Lauderdale.

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention Center ( ) www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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TOURISM, ARTS & CULTURE INTERVIEW

Expansion Convention Center work has continued unabated, with some elements slated for completion by October

Stacy Ritter President & CEO – Visit Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades.

What are your 2020 takeaways for Visit Lauderdale?

One of the highlights is that the expansion project at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center continues. The newly expanded exhibit hall is slated for completion by the end of October 2021 with other aspects of the project continuing. The project was planned long before the pandemic and has not stopped despite what has been going on for the past year. We actually closed the center about a year ago for construction. Not only that, we did not lose any convention center business during the pandemic. The county recognizes this project is incredibly important to the economy of the region and that viewpoint carried throughout the pandemic. Tourism has always been the No. 1 industry here in Broward County alongside its two other primary economic engines: Fort Lauderdale32

| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | TOURISM, ARTS & CULTURE

What is your take on how the market is going to react to the upcoming pipeline of 17 new hotels in the region?

Private equity investors are unwavering in their appreciation that this is a great place to invest. Capital costs are unprecedentedly cheap these days. Our data suggests that by this time next year, our visitor numbers and our bed tax revenue generation will be what they were in 2019 when we were at historically high collection rates. We anticipate we’ll be back to business as usual, if not business better than usual. These investors, these hotel projects recognize that when they come online, people will be traveling again. This is not an industry where you can build a hotel tomorrow. These projects have been in the pipeline for years. Projects that are going to be online in the next six to 12 months will be coming online at the exact right time if they are leisurefocused. If they focus on group sales — conferences, conventions, associations, incentives, exhibitions — those businesses book from five to six years in advance.

We’re booking now for 2025 up to 2027.

What is your near-term outlook for the Fort Lauderdale area in terms of tourism and the hospitality industry?

Everything we look at suggests that March 2022 will be at March 2019 numbers. The fact that it will only take us a year to fully recover is a highly positive forecast. We anticipate our recovery is going to be a lot quicker than some other destinations. That will go a long way into putting people back to work throughout the community.

Our No. 1 mission here is to make sure we get businesses and visitors back.

While the next three to four months may be as difficult as the past year, we fully expect that the second half of 2021 and going into 2022 will be amazing. Tourism is going to recover very, very quickly here.

CONSTRUCTION ECONOMY OVERVIEW

FLL’s passenger numbers dropped 50% in 2020 compared to 2019, totaling just under 16.5 million ( ) also got involved to support the local community.

Through its 2020 Supplemental Tourism Place of Interest Sponsorship Program, the center began offering $20,000 grants to Broward County businesses that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. But toward the end of the year, a funding shortfall jeopardized the expansion ambitions of the convention center and its $900 million renovation was put on hold. The project, which broke ground in May 2019, includes construction of 350,000 square feet of exhibition space, 132,000 square feet of ballroom space and an 800-room headquarters hotel.

Airport and airlines For airports and airlines, 2020 was a mixed bag as greater cargo shipments partially made up for the passenger shortfall. But for industry overall, it was a dark year.

The Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport handled over 36.7 million passengers in 2019 but this dropped over 50% to just under 16.5 million in 2020.

International passenger numbers were down almost 65% to 3.1 million, while domestic passengers totaled 13.3 million, a 52% dip. In April 2020, it was announced that the national airport and airline industry would receive a $25 billion bailout but as the COVID-19 crisis wore on and passenger numbers slowed to a trickle, the industry realized it needed more. Toward the end of the year, the Trump administration floated the idea of a payroll tax cut and other major stimulus moves for the industry in a second bailout package. By January, an additional $2 billion was awarded to airports and $15 billion to airlines to curb losses and help restore employment of up to 32,000 furloughed workers. In September, U.S. airports received an additional $1.2 billion in safety and infrastructure grants from the FAA. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood was given $7.28 million for improvements and upgrades, while Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport was awarded just over $800,000.

Tim Petrillo CEO & Founder The Restaurant People

How has The Restaurant People handled the challenges posed by COVID-19?

Before the pandemic, the market was extremely active, with a lot of hospitality businesses opening in the area.

It was getting a bit overheated. However, we did not have the density of residents to support that growth.

With the pandemic, a lot of those new businesses have been forced to close and it will be interesting to see what happens to the market going forward.

What opportunities will the pandemic offer to investors seeking to enter the industry?

There are a lot of distressed assets available in the market.

Private equity capital has come into the market, helping to bolster growth across the country but many funds have been unwilling to provide the necessary monetary support during the crisis. These businesses are now being controlled by the banks, which are trying to unload them at potentially discounted prices. So there is a lot of opportunity there, particularly regarding restaurant chains, and we have looked at several of those.

What is your take on the minimum wage increase?

The minimum wage does not take into account tip credit for bartenders and servers. Business owners now have to pay their staff more on top of the tips they are already receiving, and that is why there has been some opposition to the decision. Restaurants have been hit with supply chain issues this past year, which have driven costs up significantly, as well as the additional costs related to COVID safety, like PPE equipment and now we have to deal with significantly higher labor costs.

What plans do you have to continue expanding The Restaurant People?

We are constructing two new rooftop areas, one in Fort Lauderdale and another in Downtown Miami. We don’t expect normal levels of volume until the final quarter of 2021 at the earliest, and that is the driving factor with respect to our planning for the coming years. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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TOURISM, ARTS & CULTURE ANALYSIS

The arrival of the 3,405-passenger Celebrity Apex cruise ship is a positive sign for the industry’s eventual recovery As air travel began to resume, it looked very different in South Florida. The use of face masks was mandatory, and an extensive awareness campaign was launched by Broward County Aviation. Rolling into July, passenger traffic began to pick up as confidence increased, prompting Spirit Airlines to announce the return of 47 FLL flights to various destinations. In July, the airline said it planned to add FLL flights to 13 additional international cities, including Jamaica and Haiti. By

December, Fort Lauderdale Airport was able to begin offering COVID antigen and PCR tests at a small cost to passengers who could provide proof of upcoming travel.

In January, as confidence began to pick up, American Airlines also announced it would add a new flight from FLL to Port-au-Prince, Haiti starting April.

Cruise industry Within tourism, the cruise industry was one of the hardest hit globally by the pandemic. Not only is there no safe way to socially distance on a cruise ship, but the industry also faces the uphill battle of overcoming the image it obtained at the beginning of the crisis as a breeding ground for COVID-19.

There were more than 3.9 million cruise ship passengers passing through Port Everglades in 2019, with 10 cruise lines, one ferry service and 40 cruise ships.

Although activity has been on hold for 2020, 2021 is looking brighter. In October, Fort Lauderdale welcomed the new 3,405-passenger Celebrity Apex ship owned

by Celebrity Cruises and in February the ferry service between the port and Grand Bahama resumed. Port Everglades took some of the downtime to implement some improvements, including building ( )

TOURISM, ARTS & CULTURE INTERVIEW

Slow recovery The hotel industry is seeing the recovery favor those with beach and outdoor access over city hotels

Heiko Dobrikow Executive Vice President & General Manager – The Las Olas Company & Riverside Hotel

As the economy reopens in South Florida, how has the hospitality business shared in the recovery?

The recovery for our hotels has been super slow, and when you take a look at our county, you have the beach, the city and then the west. The beach properties have recovered a little bit better than the city hotels, and even better than out west. The reason is that everybody wants to have that al fresco experience. When you stay at resorts or our hotel, you have outdoor experiences like the beach and Las Olas Boulevard where you can walk outside from wherever you are staying. That has made the recovery for the beach resorts and hotels in an entertainment district more prevalent. However, all of us have posted poor results since the pandemic started.

How did you pivot your business focus during the pandemic?

We have truly been the poster child in our community for how to do things right when it comes to putting protocols in place. We are not selling the hotel, we are not selling Las Olas, we are not selling Ft. Lauderdale.

We are selling safety, and a clean and safe environment.

That’s what our customers are telling us because right now what’s most important to travelers is not the hot breakfast, not the comfortable bed or the food and beverage outlets that you have, it is how you are keeping everybody safe.

We put a very strict protocol in place in our hotel.

Everybody was temperature checked, be it a group attendee or a transient customer. We followed all the CDC protocols for social distancing markers, for glass barriers and sanitation stations throughout the hotel.

What opportunities are arising for your business from the pandemic?

The analog version is that we had to become much smarter in how we deal with all our expenses. Expenses were a pivotal aspect of surviving this game. We had to tighten our belt, and many of us had to double up on our duties to find the balance to handle the limited occupancy we had and not drain our savings as rapidly.

The digital version relates to all the new technology that might come out. For the most part, the young folks in our hotel are the innovators of our future, whether it is new marketing apps, new technology for how we are processing, how we handle production in the culinary area – whatever it is, more robotics will come from this.

Looking at the touch points, you might not have to stop at the front desk, for example. You check in with a credit card on file and your phone, which can be used to check into your room without seeing a front desk person. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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TOURISM, ARTS & CULTURE ANALYSIS

( ) a new 1,818-space parking garage. And there is pent-up demand. Research shows that 11% of Americans surveyed would sail again right away and 23% said they would sail as soon as possible.

Hotel performance In 2019, data show that, despite a plateauing occupancy rate of 76% in Broward County, revenue grew to $1.31 billion, 1.1% higher than the previous year. The average daily rate was $146.83, while revenue per room was $111.56 in 2019. Also that year, 18 properties consisting of 1,849 rooms traded for a total of $295.5 million, compared to 19 trades for a total of $576.8 million the previous year. The $44 million trade of the 106-room Residence Inn by Marriott and the $63.2 million trade of the 236-room Renaissance Fort Lauderdale were the two biggest deals in the market in 2019.

Then came 2020 and the pandemic. Last year, understandably, saw very few deals in South Florida despite some distress in hotel finances. A failure to agree on valuations by buyers and sellers meant sales were withdrawn from the market, with just two notable hotel sales during the year – and both pre-pandemic. The first was the oceanfront Shelborne South Beach for $120 million that sold to King Street Real Estate GP, Westdale Properties and Cedar Capital Partners in January and the second was the $120 million sale of the Seagull Hotel Miami Beach to BHI Miami Limited. Then, at the very end of the year, the 96-room Gale Fort Lauderdale Hotel sold for $23 million.

Socially distanced beaches became a strategy for the local tourism industry to attract customers safely during the peak of the pandemic.

Tamas Vago General Manager – Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort

While we can’t predict long-term outcomes from this crisis, we are confident that our world and our industry will recover.

We are primarily focused on consumer confidence through strict health and safety protocols. We are also listening to our customers and offering solutions to their needs. Flexibility is important and we are here to pivot and adjust as needed to provide a clean, safe and comfortable environment for all who enter our hotel. We need to continue to listen to our guests, remain nimble and flexible to be able to cater to their needs. We are resilient, and we fully expect that our customers will be eager to travel, experience the world and connect with each other as soon as it is safe to do so. When that recovery comes, we will continue to spread the light and warmth of Hilton hospitality to a world that will need it more than ever.

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| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | TOURISM, ARTS & CULTURE

TOURISM, ARTS & CULTURE ANALYSIS

Reopening generated more business for South Florida hotels, but the absence of international tourism has hit the industry hard. While the shadow of COVID-19 looms, capacity will be constrained for the industry.

According to a Destinations Florida survey, recovery for Florida’s hospitality industry will only be seen at the end of 2021 in a best-case scenario. The study involved 244 tourism-related businesses interviewed between the end of October and early November 2020 – prior to a holiday-related uptick in COVID cases and deaths in Florida. The survey also said bookings being made 30 days in advance were 59% below the 2019 mark as of June 9.

Looking ahead Looking to 2021, tourism is beginning to recover in South Florida thanks to decisive action taken by authorities to support local industry. In December, in fact, Florida’s overall revenue hit $2.999 billion, $154.4 million higher than pre-pandemic projections.

However, tourism was lagging and will continue to do

so until consumer confidence returns. That is being taken care of by Florida’s vaccine program, which had vaccinated 2.79 million residents, or about 12% of the population, as of Feb. 24.

Several challenges still remain for Florida’s tourism industry. House leaders have been pushing to end Visit Florida, the state’s tourism agency, which received $50 million in state funding during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is now more need than ever to attract domestic tourists while international travel is on hold indefinitely and Broward competes with other locations in Florida and the mid-Atlantic.

Also, the visits usually made by Canadian snowbirds all but ceased over the winter, costing Florida’s economy around $6.5 billion, meaning the state will have to decipher how to convince them it is safe to travel in 2021.

And in another complication for Broward’s hospitality sector, Florida will take its first step toward a $15 minimum wage this year, which could impact small businesses already reeling from COVID. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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City of Fort Lauderdale: The City of Fort Lauderdale is on the move with a 21st century vision and international presence. The city has attracted the attention of major players like Elon Musk, David Beckham, the Kushner Companies and the Tavistock Group. Public and private sector efforts are solidifying the city as a prominent economic force in the South Florida region.

www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Heart of the region: The City of Fort Lauderdale is fast developing beyond its reputation as a premier beach destination Fort Lauderdale is more than the sum of its well-known parts. Beaches, art, culture and events provide the public face of its popular international tourism segment, but the city is also the heart of a thriving, high-growth region.

In addition to a sought-after lifestyle, Fort Lauderdale is developing quickly on the back of its educated workforce and easy access to national and international markets.

A number of factors are behind the city’s emergence as a business destination in addition to its tourism backbone. It is a strategically located gem at the center of the South Florida region. Sitting in close proximity to two major ports, the cruise and cargo industries strengthen its position as an international hub and help make Fort Lauderdale the bridge between the Americas.

Catching the eye of Elon Musk’s Boring Company, the city is looking to build a tunnel from the heart of Downtown to the beach. This tunnel project may lead to other futuristic projects, making the city a truly innovative community. An immense office space portfolio also makes the city a cheaper alternative to Miami for businesses, while its residential offering is also more affordable than many of its neighbors. Like most cities in South Florida, it has a business-friendly climate and low tax rate but also brings to the table a 40

| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE

young population, thriving entertainment scene with community events, parks, urban centers and recreation spaces perfect for families.

With renovations complete, AutoNation and Inter Miami CF, co-owned by David Beckham, announced the renaming of Lockhart to DRV PINK Stadium. The stadium seats 18,000 and has been used as a vaccination location. Inter Miami hosted its first full-capacity game in late May 2021.

Landscape The City of Fort Lauderdale was originally a frontier stockade and trading post. After its incorporation in 1911, the city began to grow rapidly, climbing from fewer than 100 residents in 1900 to more than 2,000 by 1920. A ferry was opened to cross the New River and a railroad route was constructed, providing the catalyst for the city’s growth. The population grew particularly during World War II due to the presence of its Naval Air Station, which was used for training. After the war, serving veterans moved back to Fort Lauderdale, explaining the significant population growth in the 1950s and 1960s.

Growth was continuous through to the 1980s and, after a brief decline, regained momentum by 2000. ( )

CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE INTERVIEW

Looking forward Fort Lauderdale is in a strong position after forging ahead during the pandemic, but it’s not resting on its laurels

Dean Trantalis Mayor – City of Fort Lauderdale How is Fort Lauderdale positioned for a rebound?

When COVID-19 came into our community, we did not stop the other things we were doing. Infrastructure projects that had been launched continued to move ahead, we did not miss a step. It was even helpful because with few people on the streets and fewer cars, we were able to allow our contractors to carry out drilling and installations when a busier time would have impeded such fast-paced progress. Our infrastructure projects are ahead of schedule and under budget.

We are looking for ways to work with the business sector to gauge how we can improve our norms and standards because we do not think that COVID-19 will be the last pandemic we experience in our lifetimes. Shame on us if we should be so unprepared. Our area has had hurricanes for several years now. We know how to anticipate and prepare for them. Today, South Florida has the strongest building codes in the country and the greatest weather forecast capacity nationwide. The same work needs to be done on the pandemic front.

Infrastructure is important. What is the role of impact fees in development?

Funding our infrastructure needs requires different sources, we cannot just rely on borrowing money through bond issues. We raised the impact fees after 15 years of remaining at the same level because we came to realize the city had significant needs and that developers are able to absorb the impact of these fees and still ensure profits.

Profit margins here in South Florida are much larger compared to pre-COVID New York City. The development community is extremely happy with what we are doing in terms of putting up pump stations and replacing old, worn-out pipes, creating a framework for growth. It becomes an imperative for a municipality that looks to continue to encourage growth to maintain a sound and strong infrastructure system. These needs go well beyond

sewers and freshwater pipes to include sidewalks, street lighting and traffic infrastructure in close coordination with the county and adjacent municipalities to figure out solutions for managing traffic.

How do you balance economic growth and development with a safe environment for visitors and inhabitants?

We realized throughout this pandemic that there needs to be a balance between saving people’s lives and protecting livelihoods. That balance proved to be an experiment because no one has really had experience with dealing with such a pandemic, especially in a community such as ours that has extremely transient factors, with millions of visitors coming here every year, meaning diseases can spread much easier as a result. Fort Lauderdale took a leading role in dealing with the pandemic. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE OVERVIEW

Jenni Morejon President & CEO – Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority Downtown Fort Lauderdale is still a comparably young city that has emerged in just the past couple decades. It’s a place to not only work, but to live too. Virtually no residential units existed in Downtown until the late 1990s, and over the past 20 years, about 20,000 residential units have been built or approved, complimenting a strong base of commercial office space and cultural amenities. This growth in residential units has made it possible for Downtown Fort Lauderdale to become an attractive destination with a population of over 17,000 residents. Our approach has always been to encourage more residential development to create competition that would produce market-based affordable rents.

The city’s FY2021 operating budget is $847.5 million, which is a $15.2 million increase on FY2020 despite a reduction in revenues caused by the pandemic. However, property remains strong, bolstering the city’s coffers. The median value of owner-occupied housing units from 2015 to 2019 was $334,000 and this number strengthened in 2020. The Broward County Property Appraiser’s 2020 estimate of the city’s table property value increased by 6.32% to $41.2 billion from $38.8 billion, which is expected to yield approximately $8.2 million in additional property tax revenue in FY2021. The millage rate remained low at 4.1193 for the 14th consecutive year. The Economy biggest priority areas in 2021 Like many Florida cities, Fort are homelessness and housing, Lauderdale’s economy is boosted infrastructure, the Downtown by the tourism industry, which Master Plan, waterway quality, was impacted by the COVID-19 transportation and traffic and pandemic. But the city is also wellresiliency. diversified, which helped it remain Positive credit ratings over the resilient throughout the crisis. past year also suggest that Fort Strong marine, manufacturing, Lauderdale’s strong and diverse healthcare, educational and economic standing will help its professional services sectors are Chris Lagerbloom growth prospects as the COVID among the key segments of the City of Fort Lauderdale vaccine rollout gains momentum local economy. Manufacturing and the pandemic subsides. Ratings agency Standard provides 10.4% of jobs in the city, while construction contributes 6.2%. Healthcare and social assistance & Poor’s (S&P) assigned its AAA rating to both the employs 12.8% and professional services accounts for city’s special obligation refunding bonds and General 6.7% of jobs. Total employment in the city is climbing Obligation bonds. S&P attributed the city’s ratings to a again after the pandemic. In January 2021, 808,500 very strong economy, budgetary flexibility, management, people in the Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield and liquidity. Moody’s Investors Service rated the 2020 Beach Metropolitan Division were employed compared special obligation refunding bonds Aa2 with a positive outlook. ( ) to a low of 737,600 in April 2020. ( ) With an estimated 2020 population of 189,321, Fort Lauderdale is the 10th-largest city in Florida and the biggest in Broward County. The city’s diversity is one of its greatest assets. More than 21% of the population is foreign born, primarily from Latin America. The city also has one of the largest percentages of Haitian residents in the country. As of the most recent American Community Survey (ACS), the city’s racial composition was 46.6% white, 32% Black or African American and 17.8% Hispanic. The city has a median household income of $52,315.

Our fiscal discipline and vigilance have been instrumental in building a strong financial foundation.

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| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE

CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE INTERVIEW

Strong recovery Decisions made early in the pandemic have positioned the city to emerge stronger

Chris Lagerbloom City Manager – City of Fort Lauderdale What are your expectations for Fort Lauderdale’s economic turnaround toward 2022?

We will have a strong recovery because of decisions we made early on. Our organization has maintained a AAA bond rating through the balance of the pandemic. That has been huge in our demonstration to others that we have a sound and balanced budget and we have been ultra-conservative in making assumptions in a year that we were just toward having 25% of our dollars in reserve in the general fund, should we need it. We were at 24.8% going into the fiscal year. Even amid the crisis, we were still able to get there. Our property values have stayed strong. Some of that is because of the lack of volume, while another critical factor is the desire to be in South Florida.

There is a nice pipeline of people out of the Northeast who are finding their way to Florida. Fort Lauderdale is looking attractive. Our emergence will be strong.

How has the city transformed its thinking in terms of its top priorities?

We’ve had to reflect on the decline in tax revenues and how we deliver services, what is important versus what is not. As a city, we run an $850 million all-funds budget. People are most familiar with the general fund, because that is where their taxes go. About $340 million of our total budget comes from the general fund. We are forecasting that we will have to reduce spending by $20 million. The general fund portion not attributed to personnel costs amounts to $26 million. The reality is that you do not get that $20 million cut without deciding which positions are important and which are not in the short term. We froze about 150 general fund positions.

We will look at them on an as-needed basis and we will have to make a case for restaffing them. It is a whole lot easier to hold vacant spots vacant than it is to decide that we need to go through massive layoffs, so we took that approach. We’re preparing for several years of flat

to declining budget performance. We will have to be creative with our budget for some time.

How did the city help residents keep their spirits up in the past year?

One of the things that we committed to in 2020 was a set of fundamental values that we were not going to let go of whether we had a pandemic or not. Our Fourth of July celebration last year, for example, was not something we were just going to let go; it’s known for having one of the largest fireworks displays in South Florida. While we did not have it at the beach and we did not have a big crowd, we still found a spot in each of the commission districts to launch fireworks on the Fourth of July. We encouraged people to view them from the comfort of their own home. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Market voices: Commissioner’s corner

Heather Moraitis

Vice Mayor City of Fort Lauderdale

We have a tri-rail mobility hub coming to the district at Cypress Creek. The MPO will provide about $3 million of funding to connect that station to the area and local businesses. Construction should begin in 2022. Our executive airport is one of our economic drivers in the area and is located in an Enterprise Zone. This offers a great transportation option and serves as a hub for our businesses in the area. The executive airport and all the surrounding tenants pay around $4 million in taxes each year, making it the city’s second-largest taxpayer. It just implemented a master plan with the goal to invest $55 million in the next 25 years.

One of our major concerns is sea level rise. We’re addressing the issue head-on through essential projects to tackle our vulnerability throughout the city. We are also continuously concerned about affordable housing. To have positive growth and ensure businesses can find employees, we need to make sure that people can also afford to live here, especially now with the crunch that we see and the skyrocketing of the median values of homes. That is going to be a major consideration.

Steven Glassman

Commissioner City of Fort Lauderdale

Robert McKinzie

Commissioner City of Fort Lauderdale

We have championed numerous high-profile projects including the development of a new $15 million L.A. Lee YMCA/Mizell Center, Brics ‘N Stics – co-working space, Smitty’s Wings Restaurant, and construction of new single-family homes within the northwest corridor of the city. Further fostering community engagement, the city has hosted family-friendly special events and entertainment including a series of free concerts at Carter, Provident, and Riverland Parks.

In the middle of the urban core of Fort Lauderdale sits Stranahan House, which was the trading post for Fort Lauderdale at its inception. It’s now surrounded by Downtown growth and development. That is the juxtaposition we think of when thinking about growth. They can exist together and they can add to one another. That is the spirit behind the revitalization of other areas of the city such as Sistrunk. We can bring and celebrate the history and the importance of that community and build upon that by saying that is the foundation from which we will continue to move forward, emphasizing the racial equality that we are striving for, as well as fair policing and equal opportunity. Part of that is not just coming in and replacing, but lifting it all up. Broward College is providing awesome remote-learning opportunities in that area and lifting folks up.

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| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE

Ben Sorensen

Commissioner City of Fort Lauderdale

CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE OVERVIEW

DRV PNK Stadium is an 18,000-seat stadium and serves as the home pitch of Inter Miami CF.

( ) In a statement accompanying the city’s budget presentation, City Manager Chris Lagerbloom said, “The ratings and opinions of Wall Street’s leading credit rating institutions signaled strong confidence in the financial management of the City of Fort Lauderdale. Our fiscal discipline and vigilance have been instrumental in building a strong financial foundation and positioning Fort Lauderdale for a bright future. This success does not happen by chance – it is the direct result of innovation, long term planning, hard work, and continuous process improvement.”

The COVID-19 impact The city has a total of $1.4 billion in community investment projected over the next five years. The city recently decided to reconsider the future of the parking garages next to the main library, which are underutilized and occupy prime real estate in the Downtown area. The city is also engaged in a new initiative with Miami, Broward County and Boca Raton to promote the Downtown area for the relocation of tech business as another step to the goal of further diversifying the economy.

To help the community financially, the city also launched various initiatives, including the COVID-19 rental assistance program and utility disconnections due to non-payment were suspended from March 13, 2020 across the city. Free business assistance was also rolled out across local companies with the South Florida Emergency Response Program, the SBA Economic Injury

Loan program, and the Florida Short Time Compensation Program. A reemployment assistance program was also set up throughout the state to help those impacted by the pandemic.

In addressing the virus itself, the City of Fort Lauderdale rolled out multiple testing and vaccination sites, including providing free drive-through testing. The city first converted the COVID-19 testing site at Holiday Park to handle vaccinations and then moved it to Snyder Park so even more people could be accommodated. The city’s new DRV PNK Stadium at Lockhart Park also became a vaccine administration site.

By April 2021, the vaccine rollout was ramping up and many hotels, beaches and businesses had reopened for visitors, although safety measures, such as mask requirements and distancing, remained in place. These latest developments are providing optimism that the recovery from the pandemic could come sooner than expected.

“I’m incredibly proud of the way our city responded to COVID-19,” Mayor Trantalis said. “We took quick action early to stop the spread as we learned more about the best ways to slow transmission – often leading the region and nation in our decision-making. We then did our utmost to dampen the economic impact by developing the safest protocols possible for people to go about many of their daily activities. With our comprehensive vaccination effort, we hope to lead the way out of COVID as well.” www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Rufus James Airport Manager Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport

How are you working with the public or private sector to promote Fort Lauderdale?

Our mission is to attract business to the area, help those businesses prosper and be a benefit to the community.

We’re one of only a few general aviation airports in South Florida that offers U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) services for aircraft as well as the local boater program for boat operators. In 2015, a state-of-the-art facility was constructed, which significantly enhanced airport operations, optimized speed and efficiency, and dramatically improved service delivery, all of which greatly benefit the corporate and recreational travelers who arrive from around the globe. The CBP facility is equipped with global entry kiosks and passport control kiosks for passenger processing similar to what is found at the international airports. We were also able to extend CBP operating hours until midnight to accommodate business aircraft and air ambulance flights operating from foreign countries, including Latin America.

What were some of your highlights and takeaways from the past year?

We were going into the first quarter having exceeded the previous year monthly operations. One of the things an airport looks at to determine its performance is the number of airplane landings and takeoffs. By the middle of March, we thought we would not even beat 2019’s number, but thankfully we managed and experienced an 8% increase for March 2020 operations. In April, we experienced a 38% decrease in operations during the pandemic, but despite an increase in operations for May 2020, that increase was still 19% less than the previous year. In June, traffic certainly returned, and we experienced an increase of 26% more operations than June of 2019. Overall, the calendar year operations (2019 versus 2020) ended practically even with a very minimal deficit of .02 fewer operations (44 less takeoffs and landings), which is remarkable from a global perspective. International travel was the missing piece from our operations count.

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The New River Bridge is 55 feet above the South Fork of the New River in Fort Lauderdale.

Capital projects The city of Fort Lauderdale has a total of $1.4 billion in community investment projected over the next five years. The city recently decided to reconsider the future of the parking garages next to the main library, which are underutilized and occupy prime real estate in the Downtown area.

“Our downtown is really transforming into a cosmopolitan area that will be a gem of the world,” Mayor Trantalis said. “People can truly live, work and play in one spot. You can step out of your residence and walk to a grocery, one of an amazing array of restaurants or an incredible slate of entertainment offerings. It’s only going to get better in the coming years.”

Among the key challenges for the city are transportation and pedestrian traffic. Specifically, the city’s beaches and infrastructure along the Downtown and Las Olas corridor are choke points for pedestrian traffic. The Penny Transportation surtax created an opportunity for transportation improvements in the city. Through neighborhood advocacy and collaboration with the Public Works Department, the Broward County Commission approved funding for the first cycle of municipal-request projects totaling $10.6 million.

The Brightline station is another initiative in the spotlight. The station should be the hub of a service within Broward, connecting it to the international airport and communities to the north and south and beyond to Palm Beach and Miami. But a choke point exists with the commuter rail at the crossing at the New River and increased rail traffic over this bridge would negatively impact the maritime industry. For various reasons, the bridge connection would not be

CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE OVERVIEW

Michael Weymouth President – The Las Olas Company

We have a very limited portfolio, with 140,000 square feet of retail and around 140,000 square feet of office space. We don’t venture outside of our sandbox but we are doing some redevelopment work internally. We demolished a building in November that was one of the more tired ones in our portfolio of properties. We will replace it with something that is more in keeping with the current retail demands. All of our assets have been upgraded so as to ensure that they have impact glass, warranted roof and newer air conditioners.

We do not like to have any dark spaces, so we collaborated with a group of artists called Zero Empty Spaces to create installations across Las Olas where they can show off their creativity.

ideal, thus shifting the conversation to a future tunnel connection.

In order to be more of a micro mobility-friendly city, plans are in the works to develop a framework for micro mobility devices, such as electric scooters and bicycles, to operate within the city while ensuring public safety. The city began construction on the first Fort Lauderdale Mobility Hub that will improve mobility and connect people to various transportation choices such as Brightline, regional express and local bus service by Broward County, shuttle service to TriRail, and the Community Shuttle. Recent infrastructure improvements include wide sidewalks, shade trees, pedestrian lighting, dedicated bicycle facilities and crosswalks, which support mixed-use development.

The city has also initiated the planning process for the iconic LauderTrail project, a continuous and comprehensive network with seven miles of connected urban trail facilities for practical and recreational use that will promote a multimodal connectivity and a healthy lifestyle. The trail is expected to connect 17 neighborhoods, 26 parks, 11 K-12 schools, seven entertainment districts, 14 government services, three higher education centers, over 30 cultural centers, 30% of city jobs, and 30% of city residents.

To preserve and expand green space, a $200 million park bond initiative was overwhelmingly approved by voters in March 2019. The bond will bring significant upgrades and improvements to numerous parks such as the construction of a signature community center at Carter Park and Bass Park, new outdoor fitness equipment at Dottie Mancini Park, sports lighting upgrades at Florence C. Hardy Park, walking

Of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s 77 mandated milestones, 55 are complete trail improvements at Hortt Park, the installation of playground equipment and a pavilion at Lauderdale Manors Entrance, an improved restroom/concession area and upgraded athletic fields at Mills Pond Park, and new playground equipment at Palm Aire Village Park.

Finally, the city began design on the Breakers Avenue streetscape project that will create an iconic corridor that not only provides mobility but is also a safe, accessible, attractive, climate-resilient public space serving neighbors and visitors in Fort Lauderdale Beach. Some proposed improvements include streetscape elements such as pedestrian lighting, trees, landscape, shared-use street design and underground water and sewer utility upgrades.

Public works After the shock of multiple sewer main breaks between December 2019 and February 2020, the city took the www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE OVERVIEW

The acquatic center will be home to major swimming and diving competitions opportunity to evaluate, repair and upgrade its entire infrastructure system to include water, wastewater, stormwater, waterways, and transportation. The city has been aggressive in completing the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s mandated projects. Out of the required 77 milestones, 55 are complete with 32 ahead of schedule. The list includes a record-setting $65 million project of 7.5 miles of new redundant force main, which will be the lifeline of the city’s wastewater system. Upon completion of the redundant line, the city plans to rehabilitate the existing 54-inch sewer main, which will create full redundancy, enhance reliability, and improve service to neighbors.

Fort Lauderdale has also started replacing its aging distribution network, further stressed by the saline-high groundwater. As an integral part of this replacement and upgrade, the city is creating a hydraulic model of its water distribution system, which will help analyze operational conditions, including flow, pressure, pipe size, valve locations and system capacity. During the last five years, the city has completed 35 stormwater projects of various sizes and complexities.

Implementation of its $200 million major initiative, covering seven neighborhoods that experience the worst flooding, is being finalized. Edgewood and River Oaks communities will be the first to see the improvements with construction beginning in May 2021.

Economic development Attracting and retaining businesses remains a major focus for the city of Fort Lauderdale and steps, such as hiring a new economic development manager, have been taken to ensure its place as a destination for both domestic and international businesses.

“Fort Lauderdale has a lot to offer business looking to relocate – far beyond just our beautiful weather,” Mayor Trantalis said. “We have a talented, multicultural workforce backed by a great university system for skillbuilding. We have a favorable tax climate for business and a dynamic downtown that’s attractive to companies and their employees. We also have the structural underpinnings to support everything from high-tech start-ups to financial services giants.”

The economic arm of the city is planning to be more aggressive when it comes to applying for grants that will be used to retain businesses and engage venture capital firms to help the community reinvest in itself. These funds will also be used to stimulate and assist smaller businesses, which are the staples of communities that are at risk due to the pandemic. In addition to more aggressive business attraction efforts, the economic development arm is also looking to promote existing businesses and entice new ones to come to the city within the hospitality, arts, entertainment, and nightlife segments.

In the interest of attracting international incubators to Fort Lauderdale, the city is partnering with Broward County to bring the World Trade Center (WTC) franchise to Downtown. This initiative is aimed at allowing the

Bill Rubin Founder & Chairman – Rubin, Turnbull & Associates I am optimistic that the Biden administration will have a good impact on the economics of Broward County. Several of the members of Broward’s Congressional delegation have an excellent working relationship with President Biden, and many members of his administration. These relationships should benefit Broward County as it navigates through the federal bureaucracy. Finally, the strength of the Republican Party in Florida will help bring a focus from both sides of the aisle for Florida.

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CITY OF FORT CONSTRUCTION LAUDERDALE OVERVIEW

Dan Lindblade President & CEO Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce

The City of Fort Lauderdale is known as the ‘Yachting Capital of the World’.

international community to interact and retain local talent, grow small businesses, provide seed funding for startups, and make the city the hub for startup, innovation, and technology.

The city’s arrangement with the Florida Panthers hockey team is moving forward, with plans to renovate War Memorial Auditorium. The Panthers are making a $65 million-dollar investment to add rinks for ice skating and hockey and to restore the existing interior for concerts and family-friendly programming. As part of the deal, the Panthers will also run the auditorium, saving the city on operational expenses that had become a serious drain on its budget. Work on updating the aquatic center also continues. From rebuilding the pools to improved locker rooms, the aquatic center will be a place for the community to enjoy recreational aquatics and home to major swimming and diving competitions.

Key sectors Aviation Fort Lauderdale’s aviation is a multibillion-dollar sector with companies across the supply chain including airlines, general aviation, airports, airframe and engine manufacturers, component parts suppliers, maintenance and MRO businesses. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE) are the two major drivers of the aviation industry. FLL has a total economic impact of $37.5 billion, while FXE’s impact is $2.1 billion.

Global logistics Due to its privileged location within 1,000 miles of

How do you see the local business community emerging from the current landscape?

Coming out of the 2009-10 recession, hospitality was the first one back in the market and driving the recovery. This time around, it will likely be the last one.

This time, construction and real estate are the industries that are driving us through this storm. Residential and commercial real estate has been hot. Healthcare has also been a critical driver, boosted by the federal resources injected into it. Despite elective surgeries and medical tourism being on pause, the healthcare industry has kept a significant number of people employed, dramatically helping the economy during this pandemic. As 2021 progresses, we should be on the right track, but it will prove a slow walk.

What strategies are you implementing to attract more business to Fort Lauderdale?

Our strategy for attracting new business remains unchanged. It is rooted in our employees and talent pool, which is the primary currency that businesses look at. We must continue raising awareness over the latest developments in that specific area. Florida Atlantic University, the innovative hub we are developing together with Max Planck and everything going on in Palm Beach and Martin counties are integral parts of those efforts.

What are the chamber’s near-term priorities?

Our Racial Equity Agenda is going to be a big issue for us.

We need to move that forward and are already in motion on that topic. We need to have the tough conversations because they work as eye-openers within the business community. Uncomfortable conversations will help address the attitudes, behaviors and poor awareness people have on racism as well as social service programs and their inherent stigmas. Engaging in education is another high priority that remains top of mind, ensuring we have everyone back learning in a safe environment, with implemented protocols. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE OVERVIEW

Tam English CEO – Housing Authority of Fort Lauderdale

The majority of our funding comes from low-income housing tax credits that are specifically designed to fund our work. The remaining third of our funding comes from commercial mortgages. The interest rates have been low recently and we’re refinancing a couple of our mortgages at less than half the original interest rate that was set 10 years ago. We have never had big issues with financing and we’ve always been able to find ways to structure our projects.

Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and many other Caribbean basin nations, Fort Lauderdale is a logistics hub between the Americas. More than 5,300 people are employed in the transportation and warehousing sector and international business supports one in every six jobs in the state of Florida.

Marine Known as the Yachting Capital of the World, the city is a major yachting center and tourist destination with more than 12.8 million tourists annually pre-COVID. The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show attracts over 100,000 visitors and has an economic impact of $1.3 billion. The city is also home to Port Everglades, the thirdbusiest cruise homeport in the world with 3.8 million passengers per year and one of the largest container ports in the United States, moving over 750,000 TEUs annually.

The port generates $30.4 billion for the local economy and pays $1.1 billion in state and local taxes.

Life sciences Fort Lauderdale boasts more than 1,400 health technologists and technicians, as well as a further 400 people employed in life, social and physical sciences. Fed by a large talent pool from prestigious local universities, healthcare companies are lining up to set up base in the city. Notable players include global pharmaceutical Allergan, medical technology company Stryker and generics pharmaceutical company Teva.

Education The Broward County Public School District is the sixthlargest fully accredited school district in the country, serving 271,517 students in pre-K through grade 12. Fort Lauderdale offers outstanding opportunities for higher 50

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education, with access to great schools like Florida Atlantic University (FAU Fort Lauderdale), Keiser University and Broward College.

Looking ahead Moving beyond the pandemic, city officials are promoting a safe, healthy, and economically stable reopening of businesses and return to normalcy.

Addressing affordable housing, several new projects are in various stages of work to expand housing to low- and moderate-income individuals. As economic development grows, so does the city’s need to protect its growing community. The city plans on breaking ground this summer on a new police station that will be completed by 2023 and the city manager is on track to select a new police chief.

Looking to the future, Fort Lauderdale has all the hallmarks of a growing city. The authorities are moving toward the goal of diversifying the economy and continuing to provide the community with a great place to live. Helping with these initiatives are the Broward College Entrepreneurship Experience, which offers mentorships to fledgling businesses, and the Alan B. Levan | NSU Broward Center of Innovation.

Together, these efforts are solidifying the city as a prominent economic force in the South Florida region, making it a place to live, work, play and invest.

Capital Analytics would like to thank the City of Fort Lauderdale for its contributions in compiling this chapter. To learn more, visit their website at: www.fortlauderdale.gov

Professional Services: COVID-19 changed the landscape for many companies and threw up its own unique challenges to the status quo but for professional services firms, the outlook has largely been changed for the better.

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Mixed year: Professional services firms have been in strong demand but the insurance sector faces challenges It has been a mixed year for professional services companies, which encompass accounting, financial advising, insurance, legal, consulting and staffing firms. On the one hand, demand for financial advising and legal services soared as the world became a little more uncertain after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. On the other hand, the insurance industry faced unique challenges related to pandemic pay-outs while staffing firms, which saw demand for services drop in March 2020, have been overwhelmed by new demand for employees since the economy began to reopen.

While many people within professional services were able to transition easily to home office, there were still some job losses caused largely by the uncertainty.

But unemployment in the financial and professional services sectors were minimal in comparison to other sectors and, as of March 2021, most firms had regained their employment footing. In fact, according to think tank ResearchAndMarkets.com, the market has a great deal of growth ahead of it. From 2021, the global professional services market is expected to grow at around 7% CAGR to reach $6.52 trillion by 2023.

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Landscape In the Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach metro, April 2020 saw 9.8% of professional services jobs lost month-on-month, with much of the downsizing on the heels of pandemic-related uncertainty and sudden shutdowns. In April, South Florida law firm Greenspoon Marder, for example, announced it would lay off 40 staff members and five attorneys, with Holland & Knight following in May with salary reductions and staff furloughs. Akerman also “resized” its workforce by implementing salary cuts and limiting draws for partners.

Ultimately, financial services were deemed essential, and soon the pandemic created an uptick in demand.

Wealth management firms and law firms with this practice area soon saw clients eager to plan for the future in the face of so much uncertainty. Firms reported sudden gains in demand for services related to wealth management and succession planning. Law firms, tax advisers and financial services firms also saw a significant number of queries and consultations related to the Payment Protection Program (PPP), which was hastily rolled out

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES INTERVIEW

Caring is critical Caring about people in addition to their business creates a deeper connection

Kerensa Butler Office Leader, Fort Lauderdale – RSM US LLP What are your firm’s major takeaways from 2020?

As an audit, tax and consulting firm we were highly concerned that our clients would have a difficult time navigating the dramatic changes caused by the global pandemic.

This past year we learned a lot but, most importantly, we learned that the value-based culture of our firm is strong. It takes a long time to build a culture that is not only diverse and inclusive but one that attracts people and supports them. Pivoting from in-person engagement to virtual connectivity put our culture at risk. It is just not as much fun to have a happy hour online as it is in person, and the personal interactions are less impactful.

We are proud that at RSM, we entered the pandemic with a strong culture and have maintained it every step through these unprecedented days. We also found that caring is a critical component of our business.

As first-choice advisers, we apply a focused approach to how we operate, which includes what we call our 5Cs – caring, curiosity, critical thinking, courage and collaboration. During 2020, we found that caring, not just about our client’s business but about them as people and the struggles they were facing created a deeper connection with them and between our team members. And, finally, agility is key. Like so many others, we affirmed that being agile is the key to maintaining a successful business.

Which among your services have grown in demand in Broward County?

We saw a significant increase in cybersecurity-related services. As everybody switched to work from home, control over a company’s cyber environment increased in importance. We also saw a lot of consulting services increase, whether it was for technology, business analytics or cash flow analysis purposes. There was also a significant uptick in moving toward automation.

What regulations are you keeping a close eye on?

We expect the Biden administration will be changing tax regulations. We think that will have a big effect on us, as well as our clientele. A couple of years ago, we had tax reform under the Trump administration, so we expect to have to deal with all that again over the next four years.

We expect further expansion of data privacy laws. We have had a sizable move on a global scale regarding the requirements in that area, particularly in the European Union. That has affected all of our affiliates across the world. We expect the United States to catch up to all of that, especially with ongoing discussions about social media in Congress. We anticipate our cybersecurity and artificial intelligence divisions to see expediential growth due to these pending changes. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Andy Cagnetta CEO Transworld Business Advisors

Which of your services have seen the most demand in the past year?

We had expectations that there would be huge numbers of businesses begging to be sold amid these difficult times. I think that for the most part, it’s a testament to the will of entrepreneurs that nationwide, we have not seen a glut of sellers coming to the market. For the last 25 or so years, it has been a buyer’s market and we have not seen those numbers slow down. There was so much investment money on the sidelines before this all started that these investors are still seeing an opportunity and they still want to deploy that capital.

What are Transworld’s strategies for helping clients get the most value from their business?

For us, the idea is to find the right buyer. To those that are hurting, we would urge them to hang in there. This is not the best time to sell a business if the profits are down. But if earnings and profits are up, it still is a great time to sell. The goal has been to educate people on this because we see ourselves as trusted advisers helping people get to a point where they eventually want to sell. Clients come to us with a life situation and we help them navigate this in terms of their business assets. In the early days of the crisis, we were providing a lot of advice and connecting them to banks that offered PPP funding if their own financial institution did not.

Outside of COVID-19, what challenges are your clients facing and how you are helping them?

As the leader of Transworld in Florida and the leader of our franchises, I give tools to our people to succeed. We have been working on technological advancements for years and the pandemic gave us time to focus on this. On our website, we have a buyer match system, where customers can enter their criteria and receive alerts when a property becomes available. We have a DocuSign technology built into our CRM. We are aware of how complicated it is to sell a franchise or a business so we have been working for many years to make it as easy as possible for customers 54

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to distribute much-needed liquidity to the economy.

But in some instances, the guidelines were issued as little as 48 hours in advance of the opening of ( ) ( ) the application process, meaning businesses had to turn to professionals to help understand eligibility criteria before an application was possible.

Firms soon found they could become increasingly innovative and streamlined. Many South Florida firms reported added efficiency generated by the ability to work from home. South Florida law firm Bilzin Sumberg allowed staff to work around their environment, getting rid of set office hours on the condition that client services were maintained. The firm has seen increased productivity, in addition to more efficiency derived from Zoom mediations and hearings, negating the need to commute, and allowing this dead time to be used in a productive way. Now that attorneys and judges alike have seen that Zoom hearings are possible in some instances, they may just be here to stay. “Our firm is technologically adept, and we value being ahead of the curve. We have a full-time litigation support team that works closely with our IT team to make sure we can all operate and conduct meetings, trials and arbitrations digitally. Using secure digital devices, we confidentially present exhibits to judges and arbitrators quickly and seamlessly all while our team retains complete control of the content,” Wes Holston, managing principal of the Fort Lauderdale office of Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C., told Invest:.

“Personally, I think there will be more and more digital hearings, mediations, and prep work. I can do trials and arbitrations in New York from right here in Fort Lauderdale. We also prep witnesses remotely, rather than incurring time and travel costs.”

McKinsey expects 2021 to be a year of transition as people begin to shape the future and get a grasp on what this looks like. The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) says that more than 20% of the global workforce, mainly in high-skilled jobs in sectors such as finance, insurance, and IT, could work the majority of its time away from the office and be just as effective, although it concedes that not all who can do so will. And while business travel is expected to slowly rebound, spending in 2021 will reach just half of 2019 levels, further lining the coffers of professional services firms.

The professional services sector also found support from the government through PPP funding. Fort Lauderdale law firms took advantage of the PPP program to avoid laying off employees. According to a PPP loan disclosure released on July 6, 2020, Hollywood-based firm Conroy Simberg received $6.2 million in PPP funding, allowing it to retain 408 employees. Becker & Poliakoff’s

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES OVERVIEW

James Berger President – Berger Singerman

Technology has become a much more prevalent tool in how we go about our business. We had always assumed that technology would significantly change our business. COVID-19 accelerated that process, contracting what we assumed would be three to five years of technological innovation into less than a year. We have invested tremendously in tools that allow our lawyers to work remotely, to be more efficient and to be able to be fully functional without the kinds of support that were readily available when we were physically in our offices. Due to the efficiency of virtual courtroom proceedings, we believe that courts will continue their use and, as such, we need to make sure our colleagues have state-of-the-art capabilities to serve our clients in the virtual setting.

Fort Lauderdale office retained 284 employees with $5.2 million in PPP funding. Davie firm Kelley Kronenberg retained 359 employees with $4.5 million in funds.

And the impact on employment was also temporary as job numbers began to climb as early as June, reaching 141,500 from 136,200 in April. As of March 2021, 143,900 people were employed in the professional services sector, marking a total net loss of 5% of jobs year over year. Although financial services also saw a dip in employment from March to April 2020, this was relatively minor at only 4.9%. As of March, net losses had dropped to 3%. Akerman, the same firm that implemented a resizing of its workforce early on, reported record revenue of $467.4 million for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2020.

Fort Lauderdale - A Financial Center Fort Lauderdale is fast becoming a financial and tech hub with the arrival of a number of startups, private equity firms and financial services firms. The city is home to private equity firms Seven Isles Capital, Las Olas Venture Capital and Neff Capital Management.

Plantation is the regional headquarters for financial services giant American Express and is also home to Meg Green & Associates Wealth Management, a firm with $832 million in assets under management. In May, 2021, investment management firm Ceros Financial Services announced its intention to invest $100 million in medical technology companies in South Florida.

And the city was one location in the crosshairs of Goldman Sachs as it mulled the relocation of two of its asset management businesses to South Florida.

The city of Fort Lauderdale is one of the fastestgrowing in Florida, registering growth at a rate of 6.6% since 2000. Both the state and the city are tax friendly, with no corporate tax and just a 1% county sales tax in Broward. The city has a large pool of workers, world-class infrastructure and a strong international presence. Not only this, but Fort Lauderdale – indeed, much of Broward County – has all the buzz of an up-and-coming area, with restaurants, culture and entertainment options at a fraction of the price of comparable cities in the Northeast and residents can enjoy an outdoor lifestyle year-round. Despite an influx into the region since the onset of the pandemic, real estate prices are still accessible. According to Realtor. com, the median list price of Fort Lauderdale homes in April 2021 was $496,000, a 14% year-over-year increase and setting it at $327 per square foot. This is a drop in the ocean compared to Manhattan’s median list price of $1.3 million in the same month, a staggering $1,400 per square foot. “Florida as a whole has a tremendous benefit in the absence of income taxes, coupled with a fairly low amount of taxes,” said Dennis Smith, vice chairman and former president of Tripp Scott, in an interview with Invest:. “A lot of people have moved here because of the tax system the state provides. We are seeing an increasing number of businesses setting up shop here. The business and employment climate is good and will continue to be so. Another encouraging sign is the significant number of people coming back to Florida to work and settle.”

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance has also been focused on incentivizing businesses to make the ( ) www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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®

oundtable:

Changes in the legal sector Law firms were forced to adopt technology at an unexpected pace in the past year. Here, legal experts discuss the tech trends that have impacted their practices.

Suzanne Bogdan

Regional Managing Partner, Fort Lauderdale Fisher Phillips

What trends in the legal sector have you identified?

Outside of COVID-19, the Supreme Court Bostock v.

Clayton County case that was decided in 2020 finally settled the question, nationwide as to whether or not gender identity and sexual orientation were protected areas of discrimination under federal law. The court said those were protected and when that came out, it changed the landscape across the country. Several companies were not prepared to accommodate gender identity and sexual orientation. We helped educate them and move them forward.

At the same time, the Supreme Court decided another case, which was important for religious institutions and religious schools. That case, Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, expanded the ministerial exception for religious institutions. The court made clear that whether someone is a functional minister depends on their duties, not some formalistic test. This provides churches and schools with more flexibility in making employment decisions.

How did your firm tackle COVID-related tech challenges?

In 2018, we knew we had to upgrade all of our technology to accommodate our fast-paced growth. We wanted to make sure all of our software programs nationwide were working together and communicating seamlessly with each other. Our CIO completely revamped our technology team and our technology department. By the time COVID-19 hit, we already had software, hardware, processes and training in place and we did not miss a step. Data breaches necessarily create concern among a company’s clients but we have not had to face that circumstance due to our upgrades.

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Philip Rosen

Shareholder & Chair, Real Estate Practice Group Becker

Which practice areas have beem most in demand?

We have been very busy because when COVID first hit, every homeowner and condominium association needed to know what to do to keep their residents safe and limit their liability.

We spend a lot of time these days working in conjunction with our litigation department on loan workouts for either lenders dealing with bad loans or clients who are borrowers and need us to negotiate with lenders. The courts have figured out a way to start moving dockets along so we expect to see some foreclosure velocity beginning soon.

What technology trends has Becker adopted?

Physically doing a closing has been very challenging so we have been on top of a digital notary and signing technology. I have a client in Costa Rica who was closing on a property in Florida. We managed to get the documents notarized virtually. That is not as much a competitive advantage as the lack of it is a disadvantage.

What is your outlook for real estate litigation?

Real estate is still one of the only investments that holds its value well over the long term, which makes it one of the strongest assets anyone could ever own. In the short term, I think there will be some distress. For veterans of the 2008 market meltdown, we know it took about two years for the vast majority of the properties that were lost to foreclosure to filter through and be resold on the market.

But that crash was due to a meltdown in the market, with no liquidity to be seen. This situation is very different and although banks have ratcheted down, they are still lending.

The government also came to the rescue much more quickly and effectively this time.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES ROUNDTABLE

William Scherer

Founder & Managing Partner Conrad & Scherer

How have the needs of your clients changed in the past year?

Civil disputes are not being resolved much in my area because defendants always want to hold onto their money, they don’t want to settle until trial and mediations are imminent, and because we were not trying jury trials during the pandemic, there was no pressure to resolve cases.

One of the ways we handle big cases is mock trying them over and over again to understand their nature, and we’ve been doing that remotely through virtual technology, which is pretty amazing because you can do it from all over, putting people together from California and New York. For non-jury cases, it’s pretty much the same. In Broward, I tried probably the first non-jury trial via Zoom, which was an interesting experience because I’m a courtroom lawyer, so I’m used to looking witnesses in the eye when I cross examine them, and then seeing how the judge and jury react. All that has really changed.

However, I think we are more efficient.

What other major changes have resulted from technology in your practice?

We’ve been dragged, kicking and screaming as a legal profession, into using modern techniques and technology.

Part of the issue is the traditional hourly billing paradigm, which rewards inefficiency. Because a high percentage of our cases are contingent fee, we are motivated to be as efficient as possible, using technology, because the cost of the legal work is on our nickel. We treat our hourly clients and our contingent fee clients the same, using technology equally. Everybody benefits.

Roberta Stanley Managing Partner Brinkley Morgan

What are the emerging technology trends that Brinkley Morgan is keeping an eye on?

Through innovation, we have learned that there are better ways to do things, which will make the legal profession more efficient. There is still a need for in-person hearings, especially for significant, evidentiary trials. But the legal profession is changing, and remote working is here to stay. I am not sure anyone will go back to the office five days a week. Family law, real estate and estate planning have been the areas that have seen the most significant demand during this time.

How has Brinkley Morgan been a diversity and inclusion leader for the legal profession in the region?

We are an incredibly inclusive firm in terms of gender.

We implemented flexible working before COVID to cater to working mothers and their schedules. It starts with our leaders, ensuring the staff feels comfortable in a firm where flexibility exists in maintaining the work-life balance. The firm provides concessions for individuals with infants at home. We understand that parents have great talent and want to offer them the opportunities to succeed in the workplace.

What is your outlook for Brinkley Morgan and the legal sector in South Florida?

The pandemic will end, and we will continue to plan for the future. We are looking for opportunities to grow. I think next year, there will be a tremendous amount of litigation, so we need to poise ourselves to take advantage of that opportunity. I don’t think there is any hope the economy will be fully open before the end of the year. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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PROFESSIONAL SERVICES OVERVIEW

Perspectives: COVID-19 impact Shaun Davis Founder & Managing Partner – S. Davis & Associates The pandemic is something that we’ve never experienced.

With the shutdown of the economy, as a business owner you have to figure out what to do. I have different lines of business. Some deal with airports, some deal with professional services, but on the whole, there are a lot of different interests, and we had to adjust. As a CPA firm, we were also an essential business so we never shut down.

George Platt Managing Partner – LSN Partners When you are in the public affairs business, you are in the communications business. Communication always requires a back and forth, a sender and a receiver, and it’s always more difficult when you can’t have in-person meetings. But I’m sort of astounded by the way in which we have all adapted under COVID-19. The pandemic has advanced technology by about five years.

Michael Sluka Regional Leader – B2B CFO There was a blip during 2Q20 where a lot of business owners went into reaction mode, looking at ways to cut their expenses. It was reactive. Professional services did lose project business volume from existing clientele trying to cut down their level of expenditure. By 3Q20, those clients realized it was not a sustainable business model.

They began to evolve into a more strategic outlook that tended to bring back the on-call expertise.

( ) move to Broward County, with a particular focus on key industries that can provide high-quality, high paying jobs. These include aviation and aerospace to global logistics, headquarters, life sciences, manufacturing, marine industries and technology.

The region offers a qualified target industry refund that provides tax rebates of between $3,000 and $5,000 for every new full-time job paying 115% of the average wage in the county. The capital investment tax credit is another incentive offered to companies that create at least 100 jobs and make a cumulative capital investment of $25 million in the state. In addition, the county offers workforce training programs, business loans at preferential rates, utility incentives and infrastructure improvement grants.

Accounting and finance Broward County is ranked second of 67 counties in terms of accountants per capita, with one accountant per 1,272 people. In total, there are around 1,486 accountants in the county. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the growth rate in accounting jobs is 4%, and almost 62,000 new jobs are expected to be added by 2029. Hollywood-based Burton & Co. is the third highest-ranked accounting firm in the state of Florida, according to Clutch. According to the U.S. BLS, the 2020 median pay for accountants and auditors was $73,560. In the last year, firms have reported an uptick in demand. As people looked to organize their finances and re-evaluatde their living situations, their accountants played a key role. ( )

Giselle Cheminand President & CEO – GCI Worldwide Corporation

Having the opportunity to change, to transition some of our programs to an online platform has enabled us to amplify our target market. We have been serving clients online for their executive coaching sessions for a while, but for the leadership conferences and other live events, it has changed. Prior to COVID-19, particular events required significant amounts of time for preparation and to anticipate, produce, create. The time frame got much shorter as a result of the pandemic; we do not need to spend time scouting locations, for example, as all is virtual. These shortened timelines are a golden opportunity to dedicate toward other strategic goals.

The expanded, borderless market we can serve is an opportunity we are tapping into.

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PROFESSIONAL SERVICES INTERVIEW

Cybersecurity Internet-related concerns are on the rise in the wake of the pandemic that forced more people online

Eve Cann Managing Shareholder – Baker Donelson

Which areas and services are driving demand in Broward County?

The real estate, restaurant and hospitality spaces. We have also seen an uptick in cybersecurity and data privacy concerns. That has always been and continues to be a hot-button issue but now, with so much more business being conducted online and in a virtual environment, the concern for the security and safety of those transactions is at the highest point it has ever been.

How has your firm’s COVID-19 task force evolved since its inception?

Our coronavirus task force has been meeting regularly from the outset. Being down here in South Florida, they have relied a lot on me as the managing shareholder of the office and my colleagues in our Orlando and Tallahassee offices to share localized updates. While initially the idea was to try and move the firm as a whole group toward the different reopening phases, the firm’s task force has been really receptive to making pivots and shifting gears to make sure that each office in each area of our footprint is treated individually, based on how the situation has unfolded in those areas. Fort Lauderdale, for instance, never even reached any sort of phased reopening until late September 2020 whereas other areas had moved to a phased reopening at 30% or so capacity.

What industry trends or regulations are you watching?

A significant portion of the work that we do out of the Fort Lauderdale office is in the financial services sector.

We’re keeping close track of everything that has been going on relating to moratoriums on foreclosures and evictions. We know that our bank and lender clients are also closely tracking CDC guidelines and federal regulations as well as state regulations on all that. I definitely think we will see a boom in financial services

litigation, whether it be from foreclosures and evictions or other industry-related issues.

What are your top near-term priorities?

For the Fort Lauderdale market, part of our strategic growth plan is to focus on recruiting to grow out aspects not only of litigation to build out expertise in our market, but also to build out other practice areas of our firm. We are looking to expand our breadth in Fort Lauderdale, specifically in the South Florida market, with an eye on the coming increase in financial services work. Along with that, we are looking at bankruptcy-related work and a continued climb in real estate activity, both on the transactional and the litigation side. We are also committed to pushing forward with our firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Compact, and ensuring that the makeup of our office is truly reflective of the South Florida community. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Market voices: Accounting services

Michael Balter

Regional Managing Partner, Fort Lauderdale Marcum LLP

We closed an acquisition on Aug. 1. It was interesting as the professionals who merged in had to figure out working from home while we integrated processes and cultures. I never imagined going through a merger without everyone being together in person. We reopened our offices officially on Oct. 1 and with that, our growth culture did not slow down even with the pandemic raging on. It is amazing how much new business and how many new opportunities have emerged. There is a lot of money on the sidelines. A quick look at the financial markets and how well they have been doing during this time highlights the number of people looking to invest in privately held, closely held businesses. A significant volume of capital lies in private equity and is available for businesses that want to pursue it. We do not see that slowing down.

If you look at our firm and where we had the most growth during the pandemic, it’s equally split between audit, consulting and tax but financial services and manufacturing were in the top tier. Healthcare and the public sector were in the second tier. Our consulting and tax practices experienced double-digit growth in Florida. Much of our growth is attributable to the private equity groups and acquisitions. We are actively engaged in the life cycle of the investment, from the due diligence, deal structuring, integration planning, ongoing audit and tax compliance needs, planning and the exit strategy. So many companies are coming to Florida, which I think started in 2017 with the tax reform and the elimination of the deduction for state taxes. Companies, such as Starwood began relocating and opening new offices, and now we’re seeing more and more hedge funds, private equity, and companies moving to low-tax jurisdictions like Florida.

Seth Siegel

Managing Partner, South Florida Grant Thornton

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Cindy Kushner Managing Partner Crowe LLP

We are incredibly bullish on the South Florida market. Why? Look at GDP growth and population shifts – and look at the competitive landscape and the pro-business environment here. It’s fertile terrain for growth-minded companies. Of course, we do have to keep our eyes on a few things. There are some potential technology-driven disruptors coming down the pike, including nanotechnology, fintech and cryptocurrencies powered by blockchain. And remote working is here to stay. We could see remote work evolve into a hybrid at-home/in-office model once the pandemic subsides. So we are going to have to embrace a new way of delivering services. Moreover, professional-services firms will need to use technology and data to offer more cost-effective and forward-looking solutions to their clients. And firms will need to provide their clients with relationships that drive maximum value.

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PROFESSIONAL CONSTRUCTION SERVICES OVERVIEW

( ) Small businesses also had to navigate the new PPP loan system and align the benefits with current tax incentives. The Biden administration recently extended the deadline for PPP loan funding so that more small businesses can take advantage of the incentives. This allows providers to process applications one month after the deadline. The deadline was called for by industry professionals after a number of transactions were flagged in automated checks, meaning there was the potential for some businesses to miss out on funding. In the last year, accounting and financial services firms have not only acted as advisers to clients, but also advocates. Accounting firms say that clients are not only focusing on projections for the coming year, but also reflecting on 2020 to evaluate potential write-offs and losses.

Broward County is a diverse business community.

The county is home to headquarters of major global corporations, especially for Latin American companies. Microsoft’s Latin American headquarters is located in Florida, while those of DHL Express are in Plantation. The largest 19 Latin American headquarters register global sales of $460 billion and employ over 1.6 million people. The complexities that come from international business and international trade require world-class accounting firms. Not only this, but Broward County is home to many high-networth individuals, especially given the pandemicdriven population influx from the Northeast over the last year. Wealth and asset managers have experienced growing demand for their services, with COVIDrelated asset evaluation the main driver.

One of Florida’s major selling points is also a selling point for accountants in the state. The state provides one of the country’s lowest tax rates and generous business incentives, but to take advantage of the full advantages available to them, businesses need to enlist a savvy accountant. In the Broward County area, at least three different incentives are available related to tax credits and capital gains for targeted industries. On top of this, infrastructure development funds, urban incentives and utility incentives are also available. The Small Business Admistration (SBA) offers loan programs to help small businesses, below market-rate loans are accessible and industrial revenue bonds are all on the table. The South Florida Regional Planning Council also offers a revolving loan fund. This is in addition to corporate and excise tax-related benefits.

COVID has undoubtedly driven new accounting and wealth management trends but some were already evolving pre-pandemic. For several years,

Brian Riemer CEO Riemer Insurance Group, Inc.

What were some of the factors behind the price hardening in the commercial insurance industry?

One thing is reinsurance consolidation. Reinsurance companies have consolidated to fewer players on a global scale. If a catastrophe takes place in Australia, it can impact rates across the world because that carrier has a global risk matrix as a result of that consolidation. There has also been decreased capacity in the marketplace.

Second, the natural disasters that have taken place over the last year: all the fires in California, the mudslides in Colorado, the winter storm that took place in Texas and across the Southeast, Hurricane Dorian, to name a few.

These natural disasters have resulted in rate increases.

Third, social inflation. That’s more specific to South Florida’s market, where there are an increasing number of lawsuits being brought against insurance companies that are forced to defend against that. They’re incurring increased costs, legal and administrative fees, processing and handling claims and defending them. It’s a much more litigious market than the Midwest, for example.

How has the cyber insurance market evolved in the wake of remote work?

We see at least one cyber insurance claim per month from our customers. Sometimes more than that. The most common risk is a claim called social engineering. It’s essentially related to wire transfer fraud. When someone pretends to be someone else and they convince you as a CFO or CEO to send money from your bank account to another bank account. These hackers are extremely sophisticated to the point where they can read and sound like someone at your office telling you to do that. We have had clients who have decided to self-insure for that as they have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars because of it. The education process and the technology has now caught up to the point where in the event of a major hack, they could shift gears quickly. For instance, if someone were to hack into our systems, everything is in the cloud and even if we were down for a few hours, we could pivot directly to what is in the cloud and not miss a beat. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Sheri Fiske Managing Partner Fiske & Company

Which practice areas have seen the most demand this past year?

Everyone is aware of the huge demand that arose from the PPP. The business owners needed to understand how to apply to get the most they could out of the loan and ensure they used the proceeds properly.

State and local taxes are also a significant issue today, and is making people move from places like New York. There are implications for those who still work for a New Yorkbased office but live elsewhere. Therefore, our tax practice and advisory services are bustling. Another area that has increased in demand is business valuation. Because of the elections and uncertainty, people are concerned that the unified exemption will be reduced. If someone passes away with an estate under $11.58 million, it is not taxable but there is the possibility this may be reduced to $5.8 million. This prompted many entrepreneurs to give their businesses to relatives to remove it from their estate before the Dec. 31, 2020, deadline.

Forensic litigation never stops, whether amid a pandemic or not. Now, the only change is that we are engaged in increased cases throughout the country because we are no longer limited by locale.

How did 2020 shape up for Fiske & Company?

Our workload increased substantially in 2020 and diversified in terms of geography throughout the country, so we brought more staff members to accommodate these clients.

We decided to downsize our office space, decreasing our overhead and allowing more people to work from home. Instead, we provide the appropriate technology for people to work seamlessly from home. The transition to increased remote working has allowed us to be much more efficient with our time. We can fit in more meetings and hearings into our schedule with the use of virtual technology that would be impossible to physically get to within the same time frame. At the same time, we are able to reduce clients’ billable hours because we cut out this excess time from billings.

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the increasing focus on AI and fintech development means that many functions of accounting have been automated. Although accounting automation may prove a threat to some jobs, it can also be seen as an opportunity. According to a Xero Canada study, firms that outpace the competition in early adoption of technology are pulling ahead in terms of performance.

According to Forbes, clients will increasingly expect accounting and tax advisers to provide holistic advice, meaning full-service firms are best positioned for the future.

Legal Almost every national law firm has a presence in Broward County. One of the most prestigious law firms in Fort Lauderdale is Akerman LLP, which has 35 national rankings and 170 regional rankings, according to US News. It was voted Law Firm of the Year in real estate litigation. Greenberg Traurig is one of the biggest firms in the United States and has 56 national rankings and 369 regional rankings in Fort Lauderdale. It was voted Law Firm of the Year in franchise law. Baker Donelson, the 74th-largest firm in the United States, also has offices in Fort Lauderdale and has 31 national rankings and 317 regional rankings.

There are also those that have been founded in Fort Lauderdale or made the city its headquarters. Browardbased Gunster, Yoakley and Stewart has 11 national rankings and 87 regional rankings. Fort Lauderdalebased Greenspoon Marder has three national rankings and 28 regional rankings.

Legal services firms have faced more than their share of upheaval in the last year. First the shift to home office was a new concept for an industry that is traditionally characterized by large corporate office spaces, in-person meetings and paper documentation.

But as the last year has progressed, law firms are now hurtling full speed toward a digital revolution, adopting a string of new concepts and technologies.

During the pandemic, virtual hearings and filings became the norm and, although not always ideal, many believe the new normal is here to stay in certain cases. “Law firms have been brilliant in enabling remote work in a snap so South Florida law continues to be booming. A lot of things have changed in a positive way for law firms from this pandemic and from the working from home experience,” said Felice Solomon, founder and CEO of Solomon Search Group.

Virtual conferencing has lightened the load for many attorneys who faced long commutes to court houses for five minute hearings pre-pandemic. With the elimination of travel to hearings and to client

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES OVERVIEW

meetings, many attorneys have reported an uptick in productivity and the ability to do more for clients.

And clients prefer this option too -– according to a recent survey by Information Age, almost 70% of consumers prefer using an automated online system for their legal affairs because of speed, cost, and ease of use. Richard Susskind, a renowned legal tech author, argues that evidence will be submitted online and eventually technology will help solve disputes based on predictive analysis. And it’s not just during hearings that technology can significantly speed up the legal process. Legal practices can be managed and in-depth research can be carried out by technology. In fact, AI can be applied to almost every aspect of the law, from contract analysis and document drafting to use of bots that can answer simple legal queries.

Some believe that the pandemic could create the kind of long-awaited change to the legal industry that was expected after the Great Recession but never materialized. Already, approaches to billing and technology are changing, giving rise to ideas about more widespread changes such as those related to business structures. For example, the first law firms with nonlawyer ownership have now been opened. And bolstered by COVID-19-related needs, certain practice areas were able to grow during the pandemic, including real estate, litigation and labor.

Looking ahead COVID-19 changed the landscape for many companies and threw up its own unique challenges to the status quo, but for many professional services firms, the outlook has largely been changed for the better.

A survey conducted by Deltek outline some of the major challenges facing the global consultancy industry: changing client behavior, profitability, new competition, project complexity and cybersecurity.

Other challenges may be more nuanced. For insurance firms for example, the last year has thrown up all sorts of questions about the coverage they should provide and what business interruption insurance really means.

But professional services firms in Broward County are undoubtedly well-positioned for the future. Law firms in the region have typically been early adopters of new technology and few have lost out during the pandemic. Litigation, real estate and labor cases are sure to fill up lawyers’ agendas for years to come.

In times of uncertainty, people look to their trusted advisers, which is when asset management, wealth management, advisory and consulting services will be most needed.

Perspectives: Professional services Wes Holston Managing Principal of the Fort Lauderdale Office – Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C. Insurance defense work is seeing a major uptick in South Florida as well as our other offices since the pandemic began. We’ve defended some insurance companies that have been sued by restaurants and other businesses claiming they were harmed by the pandemic. Those businesses seek interruption insurance coverage and cite to their insurance contracts, which may or may not have pandemic or virus clauses. Led by Hope Zelinger and Krista Elsasser, the insurance defense group has added 10 associates in South Florida since May as we’ve continued to generate business on first-party property, large commercial claims, appellate matters, coverage issues and bad faith claims. Regarding securities cases, we haven’t seen many related to the pandemic, at least not yet.

Dennis Smith Vice Chairman & Former President – Tripp Scott Our transactional work has kept us busy, with six closings at the end of August alone. Those are either sales of businesses to larger groups or loan closings. On average since the pandemic broke out, we are closing between 15 to 20 deals per month. Loan transactions for companies that are actively growing and still busy despite the virus have been at least as good as they were last year. The construction companies we represent are doing well across the board. Other than jury trials, our litigators have hardly missed a beat because all of the judges are highly enthusiastic about Zoom hearings and depositions – so much so that they are looking to continue using this tool after court houses open.

Felice Solomon Founder & CEO – Solomon Search Group Many attorneys are skeptical about making a move.

Parallel to that, several firms are booming. If anyone is hesitant, now would be a great time to take advantage of the current landscape. When firms are receiving more cases and in growth mode, it reflects future growth, job security and that firm’s work has not been affected

by COVID. Lots of firms are hiring and the law firms not hiring have said the only reason they have not hired is because they are monitoring the situation to see how the uncertainty plays out. A lot of those firms have now decided they have waited long enough and are hiring. It is a great time to be in South Florida legal and it shows all around.

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Real Estate: Fort Lauderdale’s real estate market pulled out all the stops to make sure the ripple effects of the pandemic were contained, morphing challenges into opportunities to the benefit of the long-term resilience of the market. Land scarcity, affordability and the recovery of retail will remain top of mind going forward.

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Real Estate in numbers: Closed Sales

The number of sales transactions that closed during the month Economists’ note: Closed Sales are one of the simplest – yet most important—indicators for the residential real estate market. When comparing Closed Sales across markets of different sizes, we recommend comparing the percent changes in sales rather than the number of sales. Closed Sales (and many other market metrics) are affected by seasonal cycles, so actual trends are more accurately represented by year-overyear changes (i.e. comparing a month’s sales to the amount of sales in the same month in the previous year), rather than changes from one month to the next.

Year

Closed Sales

Percent Change Year-over-Year

Year-to Date

4,267

28.4%

March 2021

1,870

39.3%

February 2021

1,243

23.8%

January 2021

1,154

18.2%

December 2020

1,645

24.5%

November 2020

1,447

23.3%

October 2020

1,656

23.2%

September 2020

1,535

24.9%

August 2020

1,672

16.4%

July 2020

1,646

0.7%

June 2020

1,313

-10.3%

May 2020

814

-51.0%

April 2020

985

-36.1%

March 2020

1,342

-1.0%

Closed Sales: 2,000

2017

2018

2019

2020

1,500

1,000

500

0 J F M A M J J A S O N D

J F M A M J J A S O N D

J F M A M J J A S O N D

J F M A M J

J A S O N D

J

F M

Source: Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors®

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Median Sale Price

The median sale price reported for the month (i.e. 50% of sales were above and 50% of sales were below) Economists’ note: Median Sale Price is our preferred summary statistic for price activity because, unlike Average Sale Price, Median Sale Price is not sensitive to high sale prices for small numbers of homes that may not be characteristic of the market area. Keep in mind that median price trends over time are not always solely caused by changes in the general value of local real estate.

Median sale price only reflects the values of the homes that sold each month, and the mix of the types of homes that sell can change over time.

Year

Median Sale Price

Percent Change Year-over-Year

Year-to Date

$435,000

14.5%

March 2021

$445,000

14.1%

February2021

$433,000

12.5%

January 2021

$420,000

12.2%

December 2020

$430,000

13.2%

November 2020

$425,000

13.3%

October 2020

$415,000

14.6%

September 2020

$425,000

15.6%

August 2020

$416,000

12.5%

July 2020

$400,000

5.3%

June 2020

$390,000

5.4%

May 2020

$372,500

0.7%

April 2020

$382,000

6.1%

March 2020

$390,000

6.8%

Median Sale Price: $400K

2017

2018

2019

2020

$300K

$200K

$100K

$0K J F M A M J J A S O N D

J F M A M J J A S O N D

J F M A M J J A S O N D

J F M A M J

J A S O N D

J

F M

Source: Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors®

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People power: Residential real estate was a surprise winner during COVID, thanks in part to a growing population Despite the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fort Lauderdale’s real estate market was extraordinarily resilient, with the well-known exception of the retail and office segments. Residential drove Broward County’s real estate growth with a surprisingly balanced market, meaning supply and demand were in equilibrium throughout the pandemic. A big part of the demand was spurred by in-migration from other parts of the country.

The winning combo of a soaring e-commerce industry and the resulting exponential increase in the need for last-mile logistics helped Broward county’s industrial market claim the crown as the most valuable asset class of 2020 and early 2021.

But retail remained in the doldrums through the first quarter of 2021 as illustrated by the performance of shopping malls, which suffered a negative net absorption rate and a 7.1 percent vacancy rate.

In the office space, analysts are still crunching the numbers and projections remain in flux in a segment that appeared doomed at the start of the pandmeic but whose fortunes may have turned with the vaccine rollout. Employees are poised to return to a hybrid inoffice/remote work model that could either require less 68

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office footprint or an extended space to accommodate the same headcount while remaining mindful of social distancing.

“Office space is going to have a rough go of it for a while,” Steve Hudson, chairman and CEO of Hudson Capital Group, told Invest:, although he doesn’t believe the trend is long term. “While most people have been working from home, I do not believe that is going to continue once life returns to normal in a year or two.

I don’t believe that you will see 50% of the workforce working from home. Nothing can replace a face-toface meeting for collaboration and getting work done efficiently; so, eventually the offices will fill up again.”

Landscape According to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), the Sunshine State counted a total population of 21.5 million residents in 2020. Broward County took the demographic silver medal with 1.94 million (9% of the total Florida population), second only to MiamiDade, which counted 2.8 million (13%). By 2045, FDOT estimates Florida will be home to 27.2 million inhabitants, a 5.7 million increase to which Broward will contribute 343,900 additional people, totaling ( )

REAL ESTATE INTERVIEW

Robust business Sales, price increases set to continue amid inventory shortgage, high demand and low interest rates

Patrick Simm Broward President – Miami Association of Realtors How has real estate performed in Broward County?

Business has been robust. All three counties — MiamiDade, Broward and Palm Beach — experienced increased growth but we’re the county in between. We’re close to both seaports and both airports. The market in South Florida has been short of inventory but we have a lot of buyers. I believe post-COVID, things will even out.

When COVID first hit last March, we had a two-month low but after that, demand picked up as if nothing had ever happened. Demand became even more fierce at the end of the year.

Single-family home prices increased in Broward County by 13.2% year-over-year in December 2020, along with a significant increase in sales. We expect this trend to continue and to increase further because of the inventory shortage and high demand coupled with low interest.

What is contributing to Broward’s real estate growth?

The trend, due to the pandemic, of people looking for more space and more breathing room is coming into play. Everything is becoming virtual and many are working from a home office. Broward County has an affordability factor versus Miami and Palm Beach.

Certain areas of Broward County are still affordable.

COVID-19 accelerated migration trends that had ultrahigh-net-worth individuals from high-tax areas moving to South Florida. Buyers from high-density areas took advantage of remote work and learned to purchase larger properties for less while enjoying South Florida’s warm weather and enviable lifestyle. Low interest rates will also continue to fuel the market. It allows buyers who would otherwise not be able to afford a home to do so. Buyers can get larger homes with lower mortgage payments.

How does the association work to keep housing affordable?

For years, our public policy team has been advocating for changes to assist with housing affordability.

Our market is fortunate to have a healthy supply of condominiums that our workforce can afford; the issue is the down payment. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have geographic-specific condo considerations for Florida.

They will only lend 75% of the loan-to-value (LTV) for condos with limitations, such as no (or low) budget reserves, leaving first-time homebuyers scrambling to find the remaining 25% for a down payment. That same buyer purchasing a condo in any of the other 49 states or U.S. territories would be able to receive 90% LTV, thus only having to save 10% for a down payment.

On a $200,000 purchase, we’re talking about a $30,000 difference. This is one of the biggest barriers to entry for affordable homeownership. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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David Hammond CEO CSI International

What were the most complex COVID-19 challenges you had to navigate?

We had to renegotiate every single contract with every client because every client’s needs changed. We managed to make the adjustments that fit their needs.

Now that people are reopening, those needs are still changing. There is more attention being paid to Day services because of the touch points, ensuring all those touch points are getting cleaned much more frequently.

We do a lot of electrostatic spraying/disinfection and use the Clorox 360 system. We’re now working toward getting our GBAC (Global Biorisk Advisory Council) certification as a GBAC service provider and will be one of the first companies to be a Certified Service Provider. Several buildings and airlines have opted for the International Sanitary Supply Association’s GBAC building or corporate certification to ensure they are sanitizing the right way. We have to have at least 5% of our workforce trained in proper sanitation procedures.

We anticipate this certification requirement will become permanent down the road, considering sanitizing regulation is in the works after the observation that several companies out there are not doing it the right way. We’re positioning ourselves at the forefront of the sanitization game.

What are your near-term goals?

Our growth goal for 2021 is 12%. We remain on target to continue to meet or exceed that goal. Bids were put on hold over the last year and we’re now starting to see things start to move. Whether they had good or bad suppliers, companies are well aware of the critical necessity of effective janitorial services to restore consumer confidence. Every month is a different renegotiation of every client contract. We will continue to provide the flexibility and nimbleness required to meet our clients’ needs and help them through these trying times. We are completing the GBAC Certification and also will be finalizing our ISO9001 Certification as we also service many cleanroom environments.

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( ) 2.2 million. By 2070, Broward County will count 2.7 million people, a 25% increase compared to 2020 figures.

That suggests that Broward County will maintain its place on Florida’s demographic leaderboard for the next 50 years, ensuring a continuous driver for real estate demand across its residential, commercial and industrial segments for the next five decades.

Added to that, Broward County benefited from the COVID-19-triggered in-migration from densely populated areas such as the Northeast toward sunnier, less-crowded areas. Not even COVID-19 was able to stop home value appreciation in the region, with the average value of middle-tier homes in Broward County standing at $312,818 in April 2021, a 9.1% increase over the previous-year period, according to Zillow Homes. In the city of Fort Lauderdale, the average price was $381,677, a 9.0% jump. Home values have been appreciating nonstop since 2012, after the market recuperated from the housing bubble of 2008-9. Houses in the region have appreciated 44.9% in the last three years, nearly doubling the national average of 25.8%.

The gains witnessed since 2017 have played a major role in making the post-recession price weakness a distant memory in Fort Lauderdale. The real estatefocused website realtor.com reported that as of April 2021, Broward County’s sale-to-list price ratio was 97.92%, meaning homes sold for just 2.08 percent below asking price, on average. Fort Lauderdale has stood to benefit the most from the positive spillover effect of Miami’s ongoing construction boom.

Located just 30 miles south of Miami, Fort Lauderdale has benefited from excess real estate investor dollars developing commercial real estate or snatching up land for new residential development. The Venice of America’s attractiveness stems from its strong economic and demographic fundamentals. Pre-pandemic, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance’s Economic Sourcebook and Market Profile 2019 laid out the details of the region’s strengths. Looking at the city of Coral Springs as a benchmark, it had a median household income of $73,559; a total population of 132,483 people with a median age of 36, five accessible airports, three accessible highways, one accessible seaport, a 3.3% unemployment rate, a labor force of 74,491 people, 48.6% of which have a college degree and a AAA bond rating by S&P. Residential The Miami Association of Realtors and the Multiple Listings Service (MLS) reported in February 2021 that total home sales in Broward County had increased ( )

Market voices: Real estate insight

Ann Deibert

CEO Broward County Housing Authority

There has been an increase in the need for affordable housing units. As we see this migration into South Florida, the number of available rental units tends to decrease and creates more competition for vacant units, which has the potential to drive up rental rates. For our Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, that becomes an issue because the program utilizes the existing housing inventory to house families. One of the things we did during the pandemic was to encourage landlords to extend current leases to keep the family in the unit until after COVID-19.

The vast majority of local landlords have been cooperative in that sense.

The financial health of the associations we manage has been maintained, unlike back in 2008 when we saw delinquencies rise and financial distress.

One of the things we did early with our financial services team was put a financial tool in place for associations to monitor and track delinquencies.

We also noticed there were significant levels of anxiety in the market. We implemented a financial forecasting tool that enabled our associations to forecast the balance of the year. That provided them some comfort over their financial health.

Timothy Hernandez Principal New Urban Communities

David Diestel

Regional President, South FirstService Residential

Our specialty during our 20-year history has been urban infill and redevelopment. Initially, we focused more on for sale residential projects.

We did some mixed-use projects as well, particularly in Delray Beach and Jupiter. But in recent years, we’ve broadened our focus a bit and we are doing some urban infill multifamily developments and our big commercial project, Pompano Beach Fishing Village at the Pompano Pier and a new ‘build to rent’ development in Stuart. We view ourselves as developers who look at what the best opportunity for any given piece of property is, as opposed to focusing on a single asset class, such as homebuilding or shopping centers.

Industrial follows rooftops and people. They’re pretty closely aligned. Every person needs so many square feet of industrial space. And now probably more because we’re taking it and using it as a distribution center to get to your house.

Our population is growing rapidly. If you see the number of apartments and housing communities that have been announced in the last five or six months, it’s staggering. I think that’s going to continue. More people, more industrial. In South Florida we’ve really gotten a big boost out of it.

Edward Mitchell

President & Managing Principal Mitchell Property Realty Inc

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REAL ESTATE OVERVIEW

( ) by double digits year-over-year for five consecutive months: 2,416 homes were sold in January 2021 alone, versus 2,031 homes in January 2020, an 18.9% increase.

Single-family home sales surged 18.2% in the same period, from 976 to 1,154 units, while condo transactions increased 19.6 percent, from 1,055 to 1,262.

The association considers COVID-19 acted as an accelerator of existing trends in the residential segment of South Florida’s real estate market. Economists warn, however, that the growth cycle the Fort LauderdaleMiami-Dade-Palm Beach area has been on since 2012 is on the cusp of plateauing, as home-price tags in the region are considerably above their long-term pricing trend as outlined by four decades of data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Based on home pricing trends since 1975, Broward County’s Housing

Pricing Index’s (HPI) scores should be at 282.14 but it actually stands at 328.45. This means the average home in Broward County is overpriced by 16.41% compared to its long-term pricing trend. Amid a lack of single-family housing and townhouses to cater to demand, multiple offers are common, especially for prices below $750,000.

The city’s renter-to-owner ratio has remained remarkably stable. As of January 2021, 51% of the city’s occupied housing units were rented and the remaining 48% are owner-occupied. Moreover, 57% of apartment rents were $2,000 or less while the remaining 43% cost above $2,000. Rent averages also remained relatively stable between 2017 and 2020 with an average yearly increase of 2.8% percent, amounting to $1,853 and $2,010, respectively. Both were, however, well above the national average of $1,309 and $1,392, respectively.

Fort Lauderdale

Miami

Tampa

Orlando

Palm Beach

Median Sale Price

US$425,000

US$369,000

US$285,000

US$290,000

US$962,000

Variation (%)

+25.9% year-onyear

+12.7% year-on-year

+9.8% year-on-year

+9.6% year-on-year

-28.7% year-onyear

Sale $/sq. ft.

US$283

US$257

NA

NA

NA

Variation (%)

+18.7% since 2019

+15.8% since 2019

NA

NA

NA

Under List Price

4.2%

4%

1.5%

2.2%

5.2%

Days on Market

71

63

20

24

119

Down Payment

44.1%

1.3%

NA

NA

NA

Total Homes Sold

490

1,147

1,057

1,109

78 Source: Redfin

REAL ESTATE OVERVIEW

The historically low interest rates have gone a long way into injecting added competitiveness to Greater Fort Lauderdale’s real estate market. According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate for a 30year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage decreased to 2.94% in August 2020, down from 3.02% in July 2020, while the average commitment rate across all of 2019 was 3.94%.

Low interest rates, especially historically low rates, create a highly competitive purchasing environment where sellers have multiple buyers placing bids on their homes. Case in point, the Miami Association of Realtors reported South Florida’s residential sales reached $44.1 billion in 2020 with the aggregate sales of its three counties. As long as rates remain at this historic low, which the Fed has signaled is likely until at least 2023, the expectation is Fort Lauderdale and Broward County in general to remain primarily a seller’s market.

Despite this performance, COVID-19 did push up mortgage defaults and delinquencies in the residential market, although not as badly as had been expected at the outset of the pandemic. As of October 2020, CoreLogic reported 8.4% of South Florida mortgages were either seriously delinquent — at least 90 days past due — or in some stage of foreclosure. In comparison, the figure was at 7.1% in June 2020 and just 2% in July 2019.

Affordability challenges As is the case with any booming region, the housing performance in Broward County has not been without its challenges. The rapid appreciation of home values raises serious questions over the viability of maintaining housing affordable, parallel to costs of living. Moreover, new construction is also facing rising materials and construction costs, which ultimately are passed onto consumers. In December 2020, Fort Lauderdale’s Laudertrac, the Commission Priorities Tracker for 2020, reported a pipeline of affordable housing totaling 331 units from four projects.

“This has to be a top priority,” said Kim Briesemeister, principal at Redevelopment Management Associates, when asked by Invest: about the role of affordable and workforce housing in the firm’s approach to community redevelopment. “Sometimes, unfortunately, some cities have a disproportionately high amount of low income tax credit housing, and when those projects are clustered, there can be a negative effect. It’s important to ensure these housing types are well-distributed. Our CRA client in Pompano Beach just approved a residential property on the east side of the federal highway that will include 53 workforce units. That is fantastic because people who

Perspectives: Industry trends & changes

Jeff Burns Founder & CEO – Affiliated Development Just 4% of workforce-level renters live in product that was built after 2010. This means 96% of our workforce population in South Florida is living in older, substandard housing. Our goal is not just to offer better rent levels, but also a first-class luxury experience.

Tom Godart Managing Director – Godart Real Estate Investments Senior housing is a difficult place to play these days, for all the obvious reasons. Occupancy is falling in existing senior housing facilities, although there’s still a built-in demand to build luxury senior housing in urban cores.

Financing is going to be difficult in those sectors, I believe, because of what’s going on with COVID. The largest number of COVID cases came out of the senior housing world.

Lyle Stern President– Koniver Stern Group Pre-COVID, we were seeing stores adopt technology platforms where you could go into the store, pull up inventory online and order online. We anticipate seeing more of that, added to stores carrying less merchandise.

There has been a big lesson learned in terms of inventory, how you do it and how much you need, as well as what happens when you get stuck with too much of it.

Tom Stravecky President, Broker & Owner – ERA Infinity Properties Somebody who might have been perfectly satisfied with a two-bedroom house now absolutely wants three.

They need a place to set up home offices or a den.

Similarly, we are seeing an increased demand for homes with guest houses or mother-in-law suites. Those spaces are now being used as work spaces, especially in a household where both adults may be working.

Jaime Sturgis Founder & CEO – Native Realty We will continue to grow the residential and property management divisions. They are complementary to our clients and they help us be more vertically integrated.

We will continue to grow the commercial division, with a focus on quality over quantity. We are starting to see activity pick back up and it seems like we have rounded a corner. We are cautiously optimistic that things will continue to get better.

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Al Fernandez President ANF Group

What will be some of the long-term impacts and changes to multifamily development?

The pandemic has led to a nationwide housing shortage as families flee city living for more space and the ability to work remotely. South Florida has further attracted an influx of new residents and businesses. As home prices continue to climb, and inventory remains low, demand for multifamily housing remains high.

What are some of the ways you’re accommodating or working around supply challenges?

When it comes to shortage of materials, our company is always ready to weather the situation by working closely as a team with our trade partners to make sure projects are estimated correctly, maintaining a strict schedule, procuring the materials we will need on the jobsite ahead of schedule to avoid escalation cost overruns.

We go a step further and speak to the manufacturers and material suppliers and negotiate prices over several projects thus allowing our developers to benefit from our buying power.

How did the pandemic impact your multifamily pipeline?

Interestingly enough, the pandemic has had a significant positive impact on ANF’s multifamily pipeline for 2021 and beyond. Although the pandemic of 2020 delayed approximately 1,000 units from commencing construction, much of that pipeline has moved into 2021 and has created a record year for ANF. What is the outlook for multifamily housing?

Home prices continue to climb, and inventory remains low, which makes the demand for multifamily housing remain high. Many of the projects ANF Group is building are located in the suburban core of Dade and Broward Counties. We see it as a facet of the younger workforce now looking to leave the core markets to raise families in larger units but still maintaining the amenities that they have grown accustomed to.

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Design preferences for residential properties have changed as a result of the pandemic as people desire both working and living spaces in their homes.

work in the retail and hospitality industry on the pier can live nearby. We are not talking about the type and location of a diverse housing stock enough.”

COVID impact After COVID, housing design may also look different based on new and shifting consumer preferences.

Home office spaces could become a must within the residential space. For smaller housing units, there is a push toward multipurpose spaces within the home to maximize space and have an area dedicated to productivity. Moreover, demand for antimicrobial home appliances is on the rise, and technologies will continue to be of interest going forward, parallel to touchless technologies.

As people spent a greater amount of time in their kitchens last year, there is an expectation that home developers will also rethink the kitchen space, making it large enough to both cook and socialize in, with the added perk of full appliances and efficient consumption.

Last but not least, the Living in Place institute anticipates a nascent and marked preference for in-home care for senior citizens compared to nursing homes or assisted living facilities.

CONSTRUCTION REAL ESTATE OVERVIEW

On the commercial side of things, COVID-19 will also heavily influence the future office space, with an equal injection of touchless technology, sanitizing measures, spaced out areas, improved HVAC systems and whenever possible, open air spaces.

Multifamily Beginning in July 2020, the smoke from COVID had started to clear and the multifamily space proved more resilient than initially thought. A Cushman & Wakefield report found CARES Act financial aid went a long way in avoiding rent defaults, keeping delinquencies at bay in South Florida.

Moreover, the value of multifamily assets also proved COVID-19-resistant as price adjustments only range within the 0-4% bracket. Therefore, those properties showcasing continuous collections and filled occupancies can expect their value to increase.

Historically low interest rates, according to Cushman & Wakefield, rank multifamily developments in South Florida as the favorite residential asset investment-wise, although figures suffered through the first pandemicwracked half of 2020: 91 multifamily assets totalling $1 billion sold in in South Florida during the period, representing a 50% decrease in sale volume compared to 2019. Broward County itself underperformed in the 1H20 compared to Miami-Dade and Palm Beach.

On the rent side of the business, the report posits that rent performance will be directly tied to how quickly the job market recovers and rebounds. On the vacancies front, South Florida showed mildly higher vacancies in the first half of 2020. The overall South Florida vacancy rate stood at 5.5%, a 0.6% increase compared to 2019’s 4.9%. Cushman & Wakefield attributed the higher vacancy to 7,545 new units delivered to the market in the first half of 2020 in South Florida while the net absorption rate stood at 3,178 units.

Three projects in the Broward County Commission pipeline deserve honorable mentions. First, a 147-townhouse project extending over 16.3 acres by 13th Floor Homes.

Second, a 0.61-acre commercial development including 30,000 square feet of commercial space by 401 Fourth LLC. Last but not least, 41 garden-style apartments in a 1.1-acre site by HUS Group LLC. Industrial The now popularized “Amazon Effect” has breathed new life into industrial real estate, and Greater Fort Lauderdale is no exception. To meet demand, especially for warehousing and distribution, new inventory is being added to the market. About 2.1 million square feet was added in the 12 months to the end of March 2021, ( )

Patricia Will Founder & CEO Belmont Village Senior Living

How do you maintain affordability for those depending on a fixed income?

Affordability is an issue that we cannot solve by ourselves. Our cost structure is defined by the cost of the real estate, as well as by the cost of the operation.

Sixty percent of our expenses is taken up by payroll.

Interestingly, for seniors, what they earn is less important than their net worth. The increase in home values over the years has significantly benefited this demographic.

How has telehealth impacted activities in the Belmont Village Senior Living facility?

We took the technology we already had in the communities and put that in the hands of our residents and caregivers. At the beginning of COVID-19, we became extremely concerned about the availability in ERs and the number of seniors who typically need to go to the ER. We engaged a telehealth platform where expert geriatric doctors could triage patients in real time with our nurses, often allowing us to keep residents out of the hospital. Telehealth is one of the silver linings of COVID-19 that will stay with us.

What is your vision for the project in Coral Gables?

Baptist Health recognized the importance of seniors’ health and well-being and the compatibility between senior housing and senior healthcare. To help implement this vision, the hospital system sought out a capable long-term partner. Belmont Village has the development and operational experience and the commitment to be in this partnership for the long term. In Coral Gables there is a parcel of land owned by Baptist Health that is perfect for senior accommodation. There are attractive retail spaces within walking distance and a high school across the street. We are already working with the school on some collaborative projects. We are also working together on Healthy Living by Baptist, a ground floor center dedicated to health and wellness; the center will be a terrific complement for our residents and seniors throughout Coral Gables. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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®

oundtable:

Changing dynamics Segment leaders discuss their performance over the past year and the progress of key projects.

Lloyd Berger

President Berger Commercial Realty

How has Commercial Realty performed in the past year?

Prior to COVID-19, from a real estate standpoint, everything was peaking. We had run out of quality space in most of our food groups. As the pandemic hit, we experienced three dry months but ever since we got past that hurdle, business has been booming. We are collecting well over 90% of our rents from our managed portfolio, which totals about 8.5 million square feet. We are increasing that average every month compared to the prior month.

Which asset class is spearheading demand?

Industrial is taking the cake in terms of asset demand, but our class-B office has done surprisingly well. Due to the pandemic’s prevalent uncertainty, people are waiting to the last minute to make decisions. Class-B and smaller class-A are more affordable and allow people to spend less time on elevators, which is key given the pandemic.

All these factors have made this kind of asset more desirable to the few office tenants that are in the market.

How is your firm setting itself apart?

We have always positioned ourselves as the alternative to the national firm, providing local market knowledge.

Real estate is a local business at its core and we are much better positioned to cater to our clients’ needs and what they need from us as opposed to larger firms.

That is how we have grown. We have 64 professionals in Berger Commercial Realty and our multifamily company, Andrews Avenue Residential, counts about 25 people. We are at a size that can provide good quality products to our clients but not so large that we cannot provide what they want on a more personal, case-by-case basis.

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Daniel Chaberman

Co-Founder Grupo Eco (Atlantic Village)

What progress has been made on the development of Atlantic Village?

We’ve finished phase two. Atlantic Village is a threephase lifestyle, mixed-use project with an emphasis on restaurants and food and beverage (F&B) on the ground floor, service retail tenants and entertainment tenants on the second floor, plus two office buildings. Our boutique office building was completed earlier this year as part of phase two. A corporate center will be constructed in phase three. For phase three, besides the restaurants on the ground floor, the idea is to introduce beauty concepts, to create a sort of wellness center, not with one operator but with multiple operators.

On top of that, we’ll have the corporate center, which is a class-A, 65,000-square-foot office space. In the back of it, we have a parking garage with three levels of parking.

What are the competitive advantages of Atlantic Village in the area?

This is a very competitive market. But that being said, we are south of Fort Lauderdale and North of Aventura.

We are in Hallandale, which is a centrally located city, a small city surrounded by wealthy cities with high income and demographics, such as Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach and Hollywood. We are five minutes from Aventura and Hollywood and 15 minutes away from Sunny Isles Beach.

We are also very close to Fort Lauderdale, between a 20- and 25-minute drive. We are meticulous about the type of tenants that we want to bring onboard. We make sure that the tenants that we bring make sense not only for the development but also for the market itself.

REAL ESTATE ROUNDTABLE

PJ Charlton

Senior Vice President, Investments CenterPoint Properties

Greg Matus

Senior Vice President, Investment Sales Franklin Street

What were some highlights for CenterPoint Properties in the South Florida region last year?

We had a very active year, probably one of our more active years on the investment and development side of the company’s history. We’ve invested roughly a billion and a half dollars into acquisition and development across the top industrial markets in the United States. South Florida, including Broward County, is a very important market for us since it’s a Top 5 market in the country. It’s hard to buy even one or two buildings in a given year, so we were fortunate to get the opportunity to acquire 1.5 million square feet of new product in South Florida in 2020 by working to be in the right place at the right time.

It was a busy year for us despite the pandemic and not being able to travel as easily as we used to. Our company has continued to operate efficiently and our tenants remain very active. The outlook for industrial is favorable and CenterPoint is looking to grow the company across all of our markets.

What were some key highlights for Franklin Street in 2020?

Despite the challenges of 2020, Franklin Street finished the year strong, surpassing $1 billion in transaction value for the second year in a row. Our firm benefits from being a full-service commercial real estate company with diversified business lines. So, although certain property sectors, such as retail, were impacted by COVID shutdowns, we were able to make up for it in other areas, such as industrial services and commercial insurance, where business is thriving.

Overall, interest in real estate remains quite strong.

Lending has really driven our business to a point where prices have not gone down. The one telling sign for us in South Florida is the housing market. We were completely wrong in thinking the housing market was going to go by the wayside. Instead, people are putting their properties back in the market at higher prices. The commercial business, which is our bread and butter, trails that.

Will the boom in industrial real estate continue?

I think it does feel like the demand side for industrial will continue to be robust for the next two, three or five years with e-commerce. It’s no secret that the pandemic accelerated e-commerce adoption. It was already growing very quickly, but the pandemic ramped that up even further. The projections that we see suggest that e-commerce will continue to grow about 12-13% a year and eventually reach 30% of retail sales in the next seven to 10 years. I think the demand side will stay robust here in the near to medium term, and that’s very exciting for industrial.

How do you expect the commercial real estate market to reshape, given the rise of e-commerce?

We believe we’re going to see restaurants move to smaller footprints. There are lots of vacant 5,000-square-foot restaurants because you can’t fill a dining room anymore.

A great example is Sweet Tomatoes. Rather than trying to reorganize, they just filed for bankruptcy and closed.

A lot of companies filed for bankruptcy throughout this process. Efficiencies and delivery of all items are going to get faster and better. If you’re going to stay in competition with the Amazons of the world, you’re going to have to be able to do that. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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REAL ESTATE INTERVIEW

Key role Local realtors are pivotal to the economic viability of communities

Karen Johnson President – Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors® with the new virtual way of doing business, opening up opportunities for purchasers to acquire real estate outside of their local areas.

2020 was an incredibly strong year for the real estate market. Although inventory is lower by over 58% in 2021 year-on-year, volume has increased by 75%. This is always a good indicator that prices are going to rise and indeed they have. Median prices have increased over 15.5% and the average price rose over 33% from the same time last year.

How would you characterize your group’s impact on the region last year?

In 2020, our local realtors played a key role in maintaining economic viability in our communities. The average home sale infused $90,300 into our local Florida economies. In 2020, the real estate industry accounted for 23% of the gross state product in Florida. This was a key factor in our local communities continuing to have resources to provide much needed assistance and services to those who otherwise would not have been able to sustain their families and businesses during these difficult times.

In 1Q21, we saw record sales in Broward communities.

Buyers from all over the world became more focused on purchasing real estate in South Florida, and Broward County was one of the centers of that focus. The world at large quickly became increasingly comfortable 78

| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | REAL ESTATE

What issues is your association advocating for?

Advocacy is one of our main objectives. We are among the largest associations in the country and our voices are huge when shaping legislation. One of the reasons we were deemed essential is because of our political action and our preponderant role in the economy. One of the top issues we are focusing on is Senate Bill 2512, the Housing Trust Fund, relating to the documentary stamp tax distribution. What we have been advocating for is a reallocation of that resource from the general funds toward vital infrastructure needs — water, affordable housing, to name a few. A recent win includes the signing of a business rent tax by Gov. DeSantis. Florida is the only state in the country that has a tax on business rents, directed at businesses that rent a commercial space. It was reduced from 5.5% to 2%. That means companies relocating to Florida will not have this additional tax as soon as they set up shop. Small businesses can concentrate on expanding and employ more people instead of paying this tax. Lacking a state tax, we know money has to come from somewhere. This is why we are going to have a sales tax bill to ensure online retailers collect the required sales tax on purchases made by Floridians. This will result in an estimated $1 billion a year in revenue for the state.

REAL ESTATE OVERVIEW

David Cohen Executive Vice President – AKAM

Residential real estate activity has picked up significantly. While economic and financial uncertainty still looms, market conditions have improved and these all point to a return to a sense of normalcy.

The continuously increasing demand for housing here in South Florida specifically is due to various factors, including financial and overall lifestyle benefits. We are seeing a huge influx of second-home buyers and an even larger number of buyers migrating from key crossover markets like New York, looking to make South Florida their primary residence. We are also seeing a significant pool of millennials relocating from the Northeast to escape the colder climates. Major companies have relocated to South Florida within the last few months as well, which increases the demand and appeal.

projects underway. Even though Port Everglades’ cruise ( ) according to Cushman & Wakefield, with 1.8 million activity came to a screeching halt from the outset of under construction. The new inventory helped push vacancy rates up to 6.9% in 1Q21 while the year-to-date the pandemic, the port is busier than ever moving more than 1 million TEUs per year, a sign of the times net absorption totaled 1.1 million square feet. in e-commerce and a harbinger of things to come in Underpinning all this is the explosion in e-commerce as home-bound residents went online in droves during the industrial. Moreover, a Blackstone affiliate bought $46 million-worth of industrial properties from Elion pandemic. It’s a trend most industry observers like Alex Rich, founder and president of Rich Commercial Group, Partners in Broward County: three warehouses totaling believe is here to stay. “We’ve been in the pandemic 66,000 square feet, an industrial building offering 43,000 square feet and another long enough that people’s habits building with more than 41,000 have changed” Rich told Invest:. square feet. Yet, Broward County “Consumers spent $900 billion is falling victim to its own success more in 2020 on e-commerce than and attraction. It now needs to be they did in the previous two years. strategic over which industrial Once a trend like that starts and projects it prioritizes considering becomes a habit, it’s here to stay. developable land is running Another factor with industrial is scarce. There were only close to the municipalities. There’s a very 400 acres left as of December finite amount of land where you 2020. Of course, if builders can’t can get industrial developments Steve Hudson build out, they’ll build up. “The approved. No one wants a Hudson Capital Group zoning in Fort Lauderdale and the warehouse next to their home so master plan calls for the density there’s a supply constraint. Of all the asset classes within commercial real estate, we’re to be built in the Downtown Core, creating a vertical city. Moving away from the core the density changes, most bullish on industrial for the long term.”

Despite demand, average rent prices have remained as it should. I think there’s plenty of opportunity in relatively stable in the past year, standing at $9.98 per Downtown and the perimeters with some exciting square foot at the end of 1Q21, up 2.2% year-over-year, developments happening south of the New River.

It depends on what your goals are and what projects according to Cushman & Wakefield.

According to CommercialEdge data, Fort Lauderdale you want to do. We have a lot of different investments ranks third in the Sunshine State in terms of square feet in retail, industrial and office space, with most of our investments in South Florida,” said Steve Hudson, of industrial development under construction and 11

I think there’s plenty of opportunity in Downtown and the perimeters.

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Ralph Godwin President & CFO YMP Real Estate Management, LLC

What was the biggest surprise during the pandemic?

Multifamily was the enigma we did not expect. Adults stayed home to take care of children, were furloughed, or were working remotely. When the pandemic started, we were at an average occupancy of about 95% and suddenly our 95% occupancy was 100% occupied 24 hours a day, which meant our utility bills went up dramatically, especially water and electricity. Our maintenance people worked hard to keep up with work orders and maintenance given the high level of use that was going on in the buildings. The changes in our maintenance products and protocols increased costs by about 6%. We upgraded a lot of our cleaning supplies, housekeeping practices and added cleaning touch points throughout the day. It also took additional time to do what we needed to do in terms of disinfecting and upgrading the virus-proofing of our buildings.

What changes have you made to your investing activities?

Over the last five years, we’ve pretty much been priced out of multifamily acquisitions. Generally, the quantity of equity dollars chasing multifamily on a national basis, and specifically on a value-add basis, has been incredibly competitive and prices have been driven up to the point where owner-managers such as our company can’t figure out how to make money given the pricing that we’re seeing in the markets, and we are not willing to bet on rent increases that are two or three years away.

We make investment decisions a little differently than some of our colleagues in that I can spend money today to create value in an asset where I might not see cash flow for 18 to 24 months, yet I have an immediate value that I can refinance. That’s literally what we’ve done with interest rates where they’ve been over the last two years; we’ve refinanced every asset we own. As interest rates start to increase, which it appears they will, and accelerate in that increase, I think CAP rates and overall pricing for multifamily will become more favorable and reasonable.

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Broward County’s office vacancy rate climbed to 16.1% in 1Q21, according to Cushman & Wakefield chairman and CEO of Hudson Capital Group, in an interview with Invest:.

Office With COVID-19 sparking stay-at-home orders and companies shifting to remote working for employees, Colliers International reported a negative net absorption of -2.3 million square feet in Broward County office space for 2020 overall. The report also highlighted that subleased space became an attractive alternative to traditional office space during the uncertain times. The result is evident. The office vacancy rate climbed to 16.1% in 1Q21, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report. That compared to 14.7% in 4Q20. New leasing activity in 1Q21 totaled 272,082 square feet, above the 175,000 square feet in 4Q20.

The Cypress Creek/Commercial Corridor submarket recorded the highest total for leasing activity in 1Q21 at 68,580 square feet. Broward County also saw a 9.0% Y/Y rise in overall asking rents to $36.30 per square foot.

That is the highest rent level since 2017. CBRE said the steady increase in average asking rent rates since 2016 for both class-A and class-B office space is due to new deliveries and the quality of the space available rather than landlords asking for rate increases.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding remote work and demand for office space for 2021, Broward County saw the highest delivery of new office space since 2001, with a total of 502,500 square feet. Moreover, the pipeline of office space under construction stands at 484,200 square feet. Three primary factors will determine how much of this pipeline ends up absorbed: how quickly the vaccine rollout can lead to herd immunity, the pace at which COVID-caused unemployment diminishes and tenant re-evaluation of their office space in both the short and long term.

There is also the question of the lease terms themselves in the aftermath of the pandemic and

REAL ESTATE OVERVIEW

whether tenants will demand greater coverage for unknown circumstances and on the flip side, whether landlords will agree. Charlie Ladd, president of Barron Real Estate, told Invest: the give and take will continue to be contentious before normality resumes. “The realistic question is: Are we going to have one of these again? Are we going to go through a lot of tribulations based on something that hasn’t happened before, and we don’t know if it’ll happen again? My guess is that there will be a period of a couple of years in which it will be like with the hurricanes here in South Florida.

After a big hurricane, everybody is really concerned but then, later, they realize that actually getting hit dead on happens rarely and normal life goes on.”

Upcoming projects within the office space include The Main Las Olas, a 1.4-million-square-foot mixed use, 25-story building that will offer 369,809 square feet of class-A office, a 27-story, 341-residential units apartment tower, and a ground-level plaza. Cypress Creek’s first major mixed-use project under the new Uptown Urban Village zoning code is up for consideration: a 4.31-acre site that proposes an eight-story building with 295 apartments, 2,323 square feet of retail space and 6,850 square feet of restaurants, added to 15,847 of office space.

The City of Fort Lauderdale has invested $1.5 billion in a massive effort to revitalize some areas of the city, including the emblematic Las Olas Corridor.

Retail Broward County’s retail real estate segment got dealt the worst end of the pandemic, as net absorption reached -181,160 square feet in 4Q20, as reported by

David Duckworth Principal – Avison Young Avison Young is one of the fastest-growing commercial real estate companies in the world. I lead our statewide capital markets group along with my partners Michael T. Fay and John Crotty. We cover the entire state of Florida focusing on investment sales of office, industrial, and retail buildings. Recently, we’ve had some very interesting and diverse deals; including a $50 million suburban office portfolio in Plantation; a $16 million Publix shopping center in Boca Raton; and the largest industrial property in Florida: the 2-million-square-foot Sears distribution center in Ocala for $70 million. We also sell many of the largest development sites on the market. We sold the 15-acre Archbishop Curley site for $60 million, a 1.6-acre Wynwood site to PMG for $46 million and we recently put a redevelopment deal under contract in Downtown Miami for over $150 Million.

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REAL ESTATE OVERVIEW

Net absorbion in Broward’s retail segment was minus-181,160 square feet in 4Q20

Perspectives: Outlook 2021 Asi Cymbal Owner – Cymbal Development A lot of innovations are going to be centered around working from home. We are gearing up our communities to be friendly for those who work remotely. We are creating Zoom lounges and individual private office space in many of our developments.

Oasis Pointe will feature several such spaces, which we think is important.

Jill Koch General Manager, LCAM – Vesta Property Services

Colliers International. The vacancy rate increased 50 basis points to stand at 5.6% while the market welcomed 235,179 square feet of new construction and counted 627,922 square feet of retail space under construction.

Despite the dire scenario, Broward County in general and Fort Lauderdale in particular can leverage a secret weapon for retail’s 2021 performance: its growing demographics. Incoming population growth, which is likely to be sustained for the next five decades, will bring retailers with it. Colliers International anticipates that as the vaccine rollout successfully expands, the retail market will start showing signs of recovery. Early signaling in that direction was showcased in early March 2021 by Cobblestone USA’s purchase of 12 acres, 24,800-square-foot Cobblestone Commons shopping plaza for $38 million after the mall filed for bankruptcy in February 2020. Moreover, retail spaces are either being redeveloped or repurposed into entertainment venues or e-commerce assets, primarily distribution centers. For instance, in January 2021, part of a Margate shopping center was sold for $11.9 million to an affiliate of Broward Meat and Fish Co., a specialty grocer that already operates in Pembrok Pines, North Lauderdale and Lauderdale Lakes.

With social distancing and COVID still a real threat, there remains a great deal of uncertainty as to how developments in retail will progress. But change is in the air. “On the retail side, we were seeing that developments needed to be an experience. Town centers and public spaces with gathering places. Now, it’s unclear whether this will continue to be the case. It’s very easy to click on Amazon and get whatever you want delivered. There needs to be something extra that motivates people to get in their car and pull into that retail center. Tenant mix is more important than ever now,” Cary Goldberg, president of Diversified Realty Development Co., told Invest:. ( )

I think you’re going to see a lot of improvements in houses and you’re going to see a seller’s market. Tenants want everything better, they want improvements and the housing associations need to keep up with that — fresh paint job every seven years, new roofs and roads every 25. It’s our job in the property management world to make sure that they’re keeping up with it.

Debra Mink Managing Broker & President – Mink & Mink Inc We have not yet seen the fallout from delinquencies and delayed payments, and I don’t know who will suffer from that. There is now more of a wealth disparity after unemployment surged, disproportionately impacting middle America. At the end of 2021, I think there will be another reset of the situation.

Miguel Pilgram Owner & CEO – Pilgram Group We continue to invest in our communities, albeit with a different business model. We have added more residential because retail in this climate is not going to be the go-to income generator that it has been for the next couple of years. We have increased our residential developments from 18 to close to 45 units as we anticipate the city will deeply appreciate this new format.

Oliver Seidler Founder & CEO – PropertyForce I hope for the best, but I would not be surprised if there is some kind of correction, but nobody including me has a crystal ball. I think we’re due for a market correction, but I’ve also thought that for the past couple of years.

At some point, they’re going to have to stop printing money. I think when that happens people will start to feel what’s actually happening as opposed to what’s perceived to be happening.

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Market voices: Facing the challenges

Scott Helms

Principal Helms Development

The last three large sites over 50 acres that I’ve developed were a filled lake, a trailer park and a women’s prison. You don’t find large industrial sites sitting out in the market. It doesn’t happen. It has to be a site with a different zoning and with the ability to entitle. There are several large projects in the entitlement process, a Sunrise vacant site for 1 million square feet for Amazon and a Pompano site that was formerly part of a harness track with an unnamed tenant. Anything of substantial size has to be repurposed. Due to the scarcity of the industrial sites, land prices continue to increase.

The challenges for retail are national and international. The ability to invest in that space is driven by the individual market. South Florida is really unique in the fact that even in the worst of times, South Florida continues to grow, it just slows the pace as opposed to moving in the opposite direction. Part of the challenge for that is that land prices make it a very expensive place to do business. As you look at some of the regional mall properties that are being repositioned, the owners of those properties are institutional or have gone back into receivership. You have to go in and analyze each one of those.

Nicole Shiman

Senior Vice President of Investment EDENS

President & Principal Salzman Real Estate Advisors

COVID has been transformational, particularly within the commercial retail sector. EDENS, in Florida specifically, fared quite well despite the type of challenges that COVID presented. I think it’s because of the kind of product we own, our execution team and the kind of places we have in the market. We are predominantly neighborhood-grocery anchored. Further, we own trophy, transformative real estate, and in Florida we have a strong footprint. There’s no doubt that there have been significant headwinds, but we have tackled these challenges and, overall, we have done relatively well.

One of the big changes we’re seeing is retailers and cities looking to accommodate electric vehicles and charging stations at shopping centers.

We already have anchor tenants requiring charging stations at the properties.

I think that’ll be a lot more prevalent in the future, giving people who are coming to shop the opportunity to charge their car at the same time. I also think we’re also going to see a big push for solar energy. As property owners, we obviously have large parking fields, but we also have expansive roofs that lend themselves to the placement of solar panels.

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| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | REAL ESTATE

Andrew Zidar Vice President of Development & Acquisitions RK Centers

REAL ESTATE OVERVIEW

Dev Motwani President & CEO – Merrimac Ventures

I’ve always been a big fan of the south side of the New River, which has now been branded as Solo or South of Las Olas. It’s taken a little longer for that side to develop but we had a project there called 629 Residences, which we sold to OKO Group. We had a large investor come and buy all the land around us so it made more sense to sell to them and let them develop the area properly. I think it’s better for the city if they control it all. We sold that and bought another property in Flagler Village, which has obviously been a great success story and we think has a lot more potential especially when Brightline starts running again. You’re also starting to see more development in the corridor west on 6th Street/Sistrunk Blvd. There’s a great project, 613, that just opened and it’s doing really well.

( ) Looking ahead Overall, Greater Fort Lauderdale’s real estate market withstood one of its most difficult tests in recent memory. In the end, the solid market fundamentals that were present pre-pandemic remain, while the innovations and creative re-engineering of core businesses, together with the injection of flexibility, adaptability and resilience into the market’s operations have secured its long-term prosperity.

This is not to say that it has cleared the way to becoming challenge-free. Developable land is becoming scarce, meaning officials together with private developers will need to work in tandem to ensure real estate assets are developed in such a way that it secures the best longterm outcomes for the region and its residents and businesses. The landscape going forward will likely support development goals.

“We are in an extremely low interest rate environment and low interest rates do cover a lot of sins. Projects can still be feasible at 4-6% interest,” said Walter Duke, president of Walter Duke + Partners, in an interview with Invest:. He believes that opportunity lies ahead.

“2021 will be a transitional recovery year with weaker assets getting flushed out and stronger assets and uses thriving. There will be tremendous opportunities for savvy investors. By 2022, we expect to begin seeing local governments begin to suffer from a decrease in tax revenue. Despite the coming difficulties, Broward County in general and Fort Lauderdale in particular are well-positioned to survive the negative impacts of the pandemic and make a recovery.”

The City of Fort Lauderdale has invested $1.5 billion in a massive effort to revitalize some areas of the city, including the emblematic Las Olas Corridor.

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Construction: Between supply chain disruptions and rising material costs coupled with overall COVID-19 challenges, the Greater Fort Lauderdale construction sector certainly faced hurdles in 2020. Strong residential and industrial demand, however, carried the industry during this uncertain cycle.

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Building growth: Being labeled ‘essential’ was a clear win in a year plagued by supply chain disruptions, price increases Coming into 2020, construction activity buzzed, beeped, and hammered throughout Broward County with anticipation of another strong year for the sector.

Cranes dotted the sky and large equipment took over the streets as residential, commercial, industrial and infrastructure projects moved forward, riding the incoming tide of new companies and residents alike.

The pace of growth had its downside, though, as a tight job market, buoyed by record low unemployment, challenged firms, with talent availability constrained by the strong local economy.

Then, in March 2020, the threat of the then-largely unknown and distant worry, the coronavirus, became a reality as the virus made its way stateside, ravaging the nation’s health and socioeconomic fiber.

Nationwide shutdowns and calls for quarantine immediately placed a cold blanket on Greater Fort Lauderdale’s piping hot construction sector.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic initially smothered construction activity toward the end of Q1 and the start of 2Q20, swift action by the state of Florida in deeming the sector as an essential business was a key victory for the industry in a year marred by unprecedented challenges.

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employee well-being rose to the top of the priority list among a plethora of other industry challenges. From managing projects with social distancing guidelines in mind, to massive supply chain disruptions and a sharp rise in materials and construction costs, to job losses, the construction industry has had to contend with diverse challenges in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the strong foundation that carried the industry in the decade prior to the onset of the coronavirus, namely Florida’s no state income tax, growing population, high quality of life, lower cost of living and diversification of the state economy, is slated to carry the recovery process and long-term success of the construction industry well after the pandemic is contained.

In Greater Fort Lauderdale, as the local economy recovers, the construction industry remains the base that supports real estate development plans and investment activity across the market. Despite the ongoing pandemic challenges, for general contractors, real estate developers, institutional investors and residents, the Greater Fort Lauderdale market is ripe with opportunities in multiple sectors such as residential and multifamily, industrial, institutional ( )

CONSTRUCTION INTERVIEW

Different look The pandemic had a dramatic impact on businesses and more than a year later, the landscape is very different

Brian Sudduth President – Miller Construction Company How did Miller Construction cope with 2020’s specific set of circumstances?

COVID affected every business in drastic ways.

Unfortunately, many businesses have been affected extremely negatively. Our business also suffered, in the sense that we got really redirected. There were several jobs we were working on where the owner canceled construction. We were in the beginning stages, it wasn’t really clear what was going on, what was happening with capital.

We were starting a four-story office building, for example, and there’s no sign of starting that again.

Now, what’s going to happen with the office industry is changing. It may be changing from multitenant buildings to single-tenant buildings. But I think the developers’ community is a little bit hesitant to make too much of a commitment until we have COVID behind us. Our backlog today looks extremely different than in January 2020.

How is technology impacting the design of industrial space and development?

The main gateway for technology into the industrial market is e-commerce. We are building facilities right now that have miles of conveyors that run hundreds of feet per minute. We see distribution companies not relying on manned forklifts but unmanned forklifts and robots. I really believe the biggest development we’ve seen in the community is how they’re moving, how they’re sorting and handling their products internally when the goals are next-day or same-day delivery. The last-mile distribution for that is also driving an increase in technology because user interfaces have changed how people shop.

What kind of pickup have you experienced in the industrial marine segment?

We’ve been fortunate enough to take on a contract to

construct a 250-slip dry stack boat storage facility in Fort Lauderdale, and, definitely, the marine industry is a big part of our community. Looking around, you see marina expansions all over.

Which areas do you see as potential hotbeds for activity?

I don’t necessarily know that there’s “that neighborhood” in Fort Lauderdale because we are pretty much landlocked here. One of the things that we are looking at, because of the markets we chase, is redevelopment. To have a last-mile distribution for next-day deliveries, you need to redevelop industrial areas in very dense, populated zones on the east side of Broward County, taking some of the older product that really doesn’t meet the need of the current distribution focus, demo and redevelop to meet demand. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Kerri Smith Vice President Southeast Region Baker Concrete Construction

What were the major successes for Baker Concrete Construction in 2020?

Any company that made it through 2020 should consider that a major success. As a small part of the construction industry, we feel very fortunate to be able to continue operating. The pandemic has presented us with many challenges but these challenges also created opportunities. As a leadership team we had two options, we could shy away from the spotlight that was thrust upon us or we could use that spotlight to really look at who we are and the value that we bring to our coworkers and clients. We had to make a decision quickly and chose to do so through the lens of our core values of People, Honor, and Grit. It was inspiring to see us all roll up our sleeves, come together and live in those values.

Facing these challenges wasn’t about financial business decisions, it was about protecting the essential men and women on our front lines, the carpenters, laborers, and project teams. Our greatest success in 2020 was navigating the crisis, staying true to our core values and becoming better as one.

What is your outlook for Baker Concrete Construction?

The 2021 outlook is very positive. Both internally and externally, we are seeing a shift toward growth. Numerous economic trends are pointing to the overall growth of the economy. The construction market is typically at the tail end of economic growth but recent movement in the market and pent-up demand will push us into new opportunities beginning midyear. Our portfolio mix has shifted, which we view as a good thing as long as we remain agile enough to take advantage of it.

One positive that has emerged from the crisis, is that we have been forced to slow down, rest, pivot and adapt to doing business in a new way. This reflective period has allowed us to double down on our core ideology and strategies. We want to continue to focus on being the concrete experts that are here to support our clients and communities through People, Honor, and Grit.

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Despite supply chain and cost challenges, the construction industry remains a solid source of job growth in the county.

( ) and transportation, even solar and alternative energies, industry insiders told Invest:.

Landscape More than 5,900 companies make up Broward County’s construction industry cluster, accounting for approximately 60,000 jobs, according to CareerSource Broward. From laborers, plumbers, carpenters and electricians to heating and air conditioning professionals and solar installers, the local construction workforce is as dynamic as the projects going up in Broward County. Recent 2021 job reports show promise of a robust rebound for construction jobs in the state as well as Broward County. As of April, the construction industry had created more than 29,400 jobs, posting 5.5% growth, throughout the state of Florida, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

In the same month, more than 2,800 construction jobs were created in Broward County, the most in the South Florida area, CareerSource Broward reported. In comparison, Palm Beach County posted approximately 2,200 jobs while Miami-Dade and Monroe counties collectively saw approximately 800 jobs created.

As the industry recovers, the performance of the construction sector runs parallel to that of real estate

CONSTRUCTION OVERVIEW

in relation to residential, commercial and industrial trends. A hot housing market and increased demand for industrial properties given the rise of e-commerce have carried the development and construction sector in Greater Fort Lauderdale throughout the pandemic.

These market forces are expected to drive the bulk of construction demand in the near future.

Broward County saw total home sales surge to 103.9% year over year in April 2021. Single-family home sale transactions were up 80.9 % in April while condos transactions increased 126.9% year-over-year, according to the MIAMI Association of Realtors®, creating opportunities for homebuilders and developers seeking to meet consumer demand. Conversely, there are over 1.8 million square feet of industrial construction happening across the county as of 1Q21, Cushman & Wakefield reported, with 64.2% of the space slated for delivery by the second half of the year. According to the brokerage, all of these industrial projects underway are speculative, pointing to Broward County’s ability to attract these types of tenants.

Residential A key consensus across industry leaders is the acceleration of trends already present in the South Florida market

prior to March of 2020, namely the increased migration of new residents from high-tax and high-density states settling in the South Florida region. Double-digit increases in home prices have been the new normal throughout the South Florida market since the start of the pandemic, driven by record-low inventory figures and equally low interest rates. Constrained monthly supply of single-family inventory has been commonplace in the local market since July of 2019, according to the MIAMI Association of Realtors®. As of the start of 2021, available inventory of single-family homes throughout South Florida had dwindled to two months, indicating a seller’s market, the association reported.

The lack of inventory, coupled with attractive interest rates, creates a perfect storm for bidding wars and price surges. As of April, the median list price of homes in Broward County was approximately $350,000, trending 16.6% higher year-over-year, according to REALTOR. com. Cash transactions have been widely popular with buyers seeking to differentiate themselves from competitors and Broward County is attracting its fair share of buyers comfortable with buying residential properties via cash transactions, topping national figures. Cash sales represented 38.9% of Broward County closed sales in April 2021, compared to 27.8% in April ( ) www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Market voices: Design and engineering

Sherif Ayad

President & CEO ID & Design International

It is a highly competitive business. Five years ago, we were all designing multifamily projects for millennials. We find ourselves today designing the same multifamily projects, but for mixed, diversified age groups and ethnic backgrounds. We can develop projects today that cater to both millennials and empty nesters within the same communities. Being as competitive as it is, the multifamily niche has really become an amenity war, more than anything.

It’s about all the bells and whistles you could imagine, from bowling alleys to full-fledged gyms, boxing rings and everything else. With the impact of COVID specifically, the biggest change we’ve seen is how developers have taken coworking environments very seriously. It’s no longer putting a Mac and a PC in a corner facing the wall. Our two biggest competitive amenities right now in any multifamily job are fitness centers and our coworking environments.

We have several, in-house teams using drones for aerial surveys on our projects. That’s becoming increasingly commonplace in the engineering industry, because it’s an efficient way to collect data ahead of executing a project. We are also starting to incorporate augmented and virtual reality into our design process. That helps to visualize what the project is going to look like, and it is great for public stakeholders to visualize future projects within their communities. From a design perspective, you get to see things in 3D, which helps with clash detection and to eliminate human error. We can also use these tools to do 4D, to visualize construction sequencing to see what different parts of the project will be accomplished and when. We can also use this tool in a fifth dimension for cost estimating.

Vince Yarina

Principal & Vice President Langan Engineering & Environmental Services, Inc.

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Daniel Suarez Office Principal HDR

Broward’s talent pool is limited and hiring is definitely a challenge. For example, we have an entry-level opening in our Fort Lauderdale office and the bulk of the resumes we receive are from out of the area and lack the specific skills we require for the job.

For senior level positions, there are not a lot of these folks in the market so the pool is limited and we need to be cautious of having key talent stolen by our competitors. Professionals with a diverse range of skills are most prized in the current market, including skilled engineers, geologists and scientists with good interpersonal skills. Dealing with clients and having the ability to manage time, projects and budgets are the primary skills most in demand and the hardest to find.

| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | CONSTRUCTION

CONSTRUCTION OVERVIEW

( ) 2020, according to the MIAMI Association of Realtors®.

Increased housing starts and more sellers listing properties in 2021 should help alleviate the lack of supply.

A healthy Q1 in terms of new construction starts points to builders doing their part in helping alleviate pressure in the housing market. As of March, residential starts were north of 40% across the tri-county area, accounting for $461 million, The Real Deal reported sourcing data from construction data analytics firm, Dodge Data & Analytics. Buyers are increasingly turning to new construction to avoid the extremely competitive housing market. Throughout South Florida, there are nearly 29,000 homes in various stages of construction, the Sun Sentinel reported sourcing data from Zonda Home, a housing market research and real estate analytics firm.

Broward County accounts for more than 5,300 of the new housing inventory currently being constructed in South Florida, according to the newspaper.

Challenging the homebuilders are ongoing supply chain disruptions and the sharp rise in construction costs, mainly seen in lumber and steel commodities, costs which in turn are passed onto buyers. “The limiting factor for builders has been the roller-coaster

Broward County accounts for more than 5,300 of the new housing inventory being constructed in South Florida ride for lumber prices,” National Association of Home Builders Chief Economist Robert Dietz said during the Florida Realtors® 2021 Florida Real Estate Trends Summit. “In talking to builders, rising lumber costs for a newly built home could be pushing prices up $15,000 or more. And, about 24% of the cost of a new home comes from the cost of regulatory requirements, during both the development and construction. We need to see what can be done in regulatory costs to keep down

CONSTRUCTION OVERVIEW

Orlando Sharpe Founder & Principal – Sharpe Project Developments

We’re very excited about the numerous projects we have in the works for our clients in secondary and higher education.

For example, we’re developing a new four-story building for Christopher Columbus High School, containing structured parking, athletic facilities, and classrooms on the third and fourth floors. We’re also assisting the University of Miami in their multi-year plan to modernize campus housing. Right now, we’re working on the Centennial Village project, which, when complete, will house over 2,100 live-in faculty and staff. Nova Southeastern University has also been a fantastic organization with which to work. We’re in the final stages of their innovation center, The Alan B. Levan | NSU Broward Center of Innovation.

weren’t expecting that. It basically doubled lumber prices in about a month. So, there were challenges with how we recover those costs with the owner,” he said.

The sharp rise in prices is mostly connected to shortages of factory workers in conjunction with supply chain disruptions from national and international shutdowns and unexpected events such as the twoChallenges From supply chain disruptions and sharp cost increases week blockage of the Suez Canal in March and the to a heightened focus on health and wellness to Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack that left a great swath of Southeastern states investor indecision, the pandemic scrambling for gas for a few days forced industry leaders to stay in May. However, the industry nimble and contend with the expectation is that material challenges head on. Demand and prices will level out during the supply chain issues have directly second half of 2021, yet closely impacted the cost of materials, monitoring the supply chain will most notably lumber, copper and be crucial as the industry recovers. steel. Over the last 12 months, “As we hit midyear, we do expect the cost of lumber has increased a normalization of material price more than 56%, according to increases and those that have Cumming’s Domestic Material plateaued at the beginning of the Price Trends analysis. In similar year will close the gap over the fashion, copper and brass mill Michael Taylor next three to six months. Moving shapes prices have increased Current Builders forward, the key will be the supply more than 30% and steel pipe and tube prices are up more than 10%, the consulting chains and in particular their capacity and ability to deliver materials across state and international lines, firm reported. “The challenges are ever-changing.

You think you know what to expect but COVID comes as even now with a slowdown in construction we are and attacks you in the most obscure places,” Current seeing pressure with both costs and delivery schedules Builders CEO Michael Taylor told Invest:. “You don’t starting to increase. As the construction sectors start to always know, day to day, how COVID is going to affect regain traction that pressure will increase,” Cumming you. It hit the lumber market, midyear, really hard. We wrote in its material price trends analysis. ( ) what we call ‘death by a thousand cuts’ in the newhome market,” he said. Despite these challenges, Dietz pointed out that Florida saw strong growth in the new construction market in 2020, with building permits up 30% year-over-year.

You think you know what to expect but COVID comes and attacks you in the most obscure places.

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CONSTRUCTION INTERVIEW

Solar surge Broward County offers a growing opportunity for solar energy development

Bob Moss Chairman & Founder – Moss & Associates What project type attracted the lion’s share of demand in 2020?

While Fort Lauderdale continues to have diverse opportunities in the construction industry, including multifamily as well as institutional and transportation projects, Moss saw a surge of demand in the solar energy sector in 2020. We got into the solar farm building business, which showcases significant demand. We believe that demand will continue not only for Broward but on a national scale. A large portion of it is in the state of Florida and we are building solar farms for multiple utilities based in the state. It has proven challenging because this type of project requires a lot of on-site workers. We tackle the engineering, procurement and construction portions of the project.

What would you credit as the bedrock of your company’s resilience during economic downturns?

During the 2008-10 crisis, we had a $1 billion pipeline of work that went away as the money to finance them went away. The smartest thing we did was not laying off any of our A-players, those who make a difference for our company and our work. All of them are still here.

We weathered that storm throughout a not-so profitable time frame. We were prepared to invest in brain power and that’s what we did. We knew the economy would come back eventually. By 2011, things turned around drastically and every year since then has been a record year for our company, up until 2020. Nothing is more important than having significant diversity, regardless of your line of business. There are cycles in almost everything that we build and as long as you have smart people who can move from one type of project to the next and execute them well, then you do well.

How has the pandemic impacted the construction industry’s tight labor pool challenge?

The labor pool was tight before COVID, so I don’t think the pandemic has exacerbated it. If anything, over the past year, people became more aware of how essential construction is to the economy. The real impact stems from the fact that a considerable portion of construction industry professionals are exiting and construction companies are having a hard time attracting young people to this industry. It’s a hard-working, dangerous industry, no doubt. To some high schoolers, it’s not very attractive.

Those willing to work hard, study and improve their skills can make a substantial living as a high-quality craftsman and craft supervisor. The opportunities are really good.

It’s also becoming an increasingly visible subject as more schools are encouraging it. We do interface with several organizations that bring out students and introduce them to the various traits of the industry. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Ken Stiles CEO & Board Director Stiles Corporation

How did the company adapt as it moved through the pandemic?

It was quite the challenge in the beginning but I am extremely proud that we were able to get through that. We had been working on 12 to 15 projects prior to COVID throughout South Florida, the Carolinas and Tennessee. We’ve had the ability to stay on track when equity really dried up for about three months and cities were shutting down and inspections and city permitting officers were not available. Fighting through all of those challenges on the construction and development sides, coming out of it and still having a great pipeline moving forward is something to be proud of. That’s something that’s going to keep us moving forward for the next several years.

Have you seen a shift in where foreign investment coming to South Florida is landing?

We are still seeing some foreign investment. Prior to COVID you were seeing a shift from Miami toward here.

But I think that was about pricing. When you look at Fort Lauderdale Beach and compare it with condos in Miami Beach and Aventura that were selling for $2,000 a foot, and you look at some of the stuff we are finishing around here, it was probably $1,000 cheaper than you could get in Miami. On the actual ownership side, we are not seeing quite as much. The amount of South American investment in the past two years has definitely dwindled but you are seeing that uptick from the Northeast, New York and New Jersey. So, you are still seeing investment but there’s a larger shift to domestic investment coming from the Northeast.

How have changing habits by the younger generations affected real estate trends?

On the technology side, what we’ve been doing for the millennials in our buildings is more of a lifestyle element.

We haven’t done a lot of industrial in a few years, but there has been a shift in retail lately that points to the possibility for additional last point-of-sale operational hubs.

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Housing developers in Fort Lauderdale are looking at ways to develop more weather-resistant housing options

( ) While operating in such an atypical and fastchanging environment, communication, crisis management, re-strategizing both supply chain management and procurement practices have been key factors in maintaining delivery schedules and best containing price hikes. “It makes you schedule items a lot earlier than you might have scheduled before.

You must do additional planning and have more communication with trade partners,” Taylor told Invest:.

“We are staying closely connected with our resources, so we are continuously aware of their inventory and any potential supply interruptions. Frequently, we’re procuring products earlier than required and putting these products in storage to have it ready for the job. We also require additional cooperation from the owners and financial institutions, as they must finance this process of early procurement. It takes continual communication and planning to keep the projects on schedule.” he said.

CONSTRUCTION OVERVIEW

Tight labor force availability was an industry challenge prior to the onset of the pandemic and will likely be a stumbling block for the industry in a recovering market. However, the essential nature of the industry, as validated by the Florida state legislature, could entice the workforce to explore the vast possibilities within the sector. “The labor pool was tight before COVID, so I don’t think the pandemic has exacerbated it. If anything, over the past year, people became more aware of how essential construction is to the economy.

The real impact stems from the fact that a considerable portion of construction industry professionals are exiting and construction companies are having a hard time attracting young people to this industry,” Moss & Associates Chairman and CEO Bob Moss told Invest:.

The construction industry sits at No.9 on the state of Florida’s fastest-growing industries list over the next eight years. The state projects the industry to grow by 10% by 2028, with heavy and civil engineering construction and specialty trade contractors positions driving a considerable portion of the statewide project growth, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

Despite the traditional tight labor challenges, sentiment prevails that more and more young people will leverage the inherent career and job opportunities in the construction industry. “Those willing to work hard, study and improve their skills can make a substantial living as a high-quality craftsman and craft supervisor. The opportunities are really good. It’s also becoming an increasingly visible subject as more schools are encouraging it,” Moss said. “We interface with several organizations that bring out students and

Alex Hernandez President – Hernandez Construction

We have been very fortunate to have been a key player in the industrial market. Even prior to COVID, this sector had been very active with the growth of e-commerce and the changes in demand regarding how we receive products. COVID has done nothing but accelerate that. Older generations have learned about e-commerce overnight. Another result is that traditional brick and mortar businesses have had to convert to e-commerce sales. Our industrial products are very adaptable and aesthetically pleasing and can incorporate elements of class-A office space, showrooms, and other applications in addition to traditional warehousing, manufacturing and distribution.

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introduce them to the various traits of the industry.

We make a point of being proactive in that effort and recruit them. We are also highly active within Florida International University’s School of Engineering with the Moss Department of Construction, Infrastructure and Sustainability. Several students work their way through that program, many of whom work for us.

We sponsor quite a few of them to help them get their degrees,” he said.

Fort Lauderdale is one of the primary hubs for the Brightline commuter train that will eventually run from Miami to Orlando.

Commercial As of 1Q21, there are more than 2.3 million square feet of combined commercial and industrial projects under construction in Broward County, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Industrial space construction is driving the majority of new construction in Broward County with more than 1.8 million square feet compared to 530,000 square feet of office space currently going up in the county.

Shutdowns and shelter-in-place measures exponentially accelerated demand for e-commerce solutions, which has greatly driven demand for this asset class since the onset of the pandemic. Three million square feet of industrial space was delivered in the past year, JLL reported in its Q1 2021 Broward Industrial Market report. Demand for warehouses over 100,000 square feet has seen the biggest jump, a demand that is expected to continue to grow throughout 2021, JLL noted.

Broward County is also sponsoring several construction projects slated to help serve the needs of residents and businesses. Among these projects are a joint government center campus, several new courthouse buildings and an expansion of the Broward County Convention Center

Ryan Romanchuk Business Unit Leader – DPR Construction

COVID has added another reason why the construction industry needs to and will continue to evolve toward prefabrication.

It allows fewer workers to be on-site, less congestion, an efficient manufacturing process and more predictability in our supply chain. Prefabrication doesn’t come without its challenges, which is why the industry is slower to adopt. Every project is unique, teams and partners typically change project to project so it’s difficult to scale excellence. We believe it’s a mindset shift. Those that can adapt, stay cost-competitive and become even more efficient will be in a much better position as the industry evolves and moves ever forward.

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More than 2.3 million square feet of combined commercial and industrial projects were underway in Broward in 1Q21 featuring a new headquarters hotel. With an estimated cost of $1 billion, the Convention Center overhaul is slated to feature more than 1.2 million square feet of meeting and ballroom space to go along with the 800room headquarters hotel. Though construction work for this project remains ongoing, the project is expected to bolster the local economy by more than $200 million a year and add more than 1,000 full- and part-time jobs.

Public-private partnerships Constrained county and municipal budgets coupled with timely development needs and infrastructure improvements are paving the way for the further popularity of public-private partnerships in Broward County. Becker Law Firm, which has helped arrange public-private partnerships locally and nationally, reported that these types of partnerships are “mutually advantageous arrangements allowing public needs to be met with private financing,” which at the same time allows for shared risk of projects with the private sector.

The Broward County Convention Center is among the major public-private partnership projects underway in the county, according to Becker Law. Developers are taking notice as these partnerships could be a viable way to revamp corridors in need of investment while creating much needed products such as affordable and workforce housing.

The Lansing Melbourne Group is among those developers looking to leverage the opportunities inherent in the public-private partnership model. “We have found that we thrive primarily through recessions and market slowdowns because that is when the best opportunities arise. We are relatively aggressive in our approach to the market and conservative in how we structure finance. We do that mainly through publicprivate partnerships. We have noticed public-private partnerships have become a way to implement the

James Fox President Maddox Group

What are your major takeaways from operating throughout 2020?

Something we are proud of is the fact that we did not have any COVID-19 cases on our job sites in 2020, which is extraordinary as we were 150 subcontractors deep for the 133,000-square-foot Canon project in its midstream phase. We had to switch on a dime and figure out how to keep this job going smoothly and on schedule during a pandemic, as there are many implications when you do not finish on time. We handled that adversity well and we were able to turn around quickly and put into place sanitizing stations, temperature checks, mask mandates and the like on all our projects.

What is your take on the future of office space in terms of layout and design?

In my world, we rely on brokers, so we have a lot of commercial brokers that we use as resources and we speak to all of them often. These are big companies, the CBREs, the Cushman & Wakefields and the JLLs of the world. They have their research teams doing their due diligence because this is their life. What we are hearing is the percentage of people who want to work from home after this pandemic is behind us is not as high as people may think. Most people want their teams back in the office. They want that team camaraderie back.

On the flip side, there will certainly be some downsizing of space because maybe not everybody needs to be in an office. It all depends on the nature of each business.

However, I’m sure we will see some tenants giving space back to the buildings in 2021.

What are the main priorities for Maddox Group in the near term?

From a company standpoint, we always want to accomplish more than we did the year before. All things considered, we had a good year in 2020. The large-scale picture is to build off that. Opportunity is afoot if you have been standing strong throughout, just as we have been. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Recent and upcoming developments within Fort Lauderdale will look to continue adding to the city’s already impressive skyline.

development that cities want,” Managing Member Peter Flotz told Invest:. “The government of Pompano Beach has contributed land and parking lots to developers for this purpose,” he pointed to as an example. “We are working with them on a new hotel, which involves a $30 million to $40 million investment from them. We have a $100 million workforce housing project in the Sistrunk Corridor, a predominantly African American neighborhood, and the city has agreed to invest $12 million. After 20 years of a booming economy in Fort Lauderdale, this neighborhood was being substantially left behind. We put together a three-block parcel and we are in the financing stage right now.”

Looking ahead Overall, construction activity slowed in the face of the pandemic, but it did not stop. Being labeled as essential was a huge win for the sector in a year plagued by supply chain disruptions and volatile price increases while also solidifying employee safety and wellness. Residential and industrial construction activity are expected to carry the industry throughout the recovery period. The stabilization of material costs, expected to highlight the second half of 2021, could infuse a new gust of optimism. State and local construction job growth is further fueling the recovery of the construction sector. However, talent development and recruitment will be key in ensuring the overall health of the industry in a post-COVID world. Additionally, as municipalities explore possibilities for feasible, riskadjusted projects, the public-private partnerships model could be a key tool available to leverage the expertise of public resources and private execution.

Industry leaders will have to proactively monitor their supply chains and stay in constant communication with vendors and suppliers to anticipate complications in such a vital part of project operations. This cycle proved that anything is possible and that Murphy’s law spares no industry. Equally as important, the Greater Fort Lauderdale construction industry proved resilient in the face of unprecedented adversity and that it is a key component in fostering economic growth. With its great quality of life, diverse economy and rising appeal to residents and businesses moving to South Florida, Greater Fort Lauderdale offers a strong foundation for a dynamic market well after the pandemic is contained.

As such, the construction industry will be instrumental in building the spaces needed to live, work and play in such a dynamic market.

Banking & Finance: Greater Fort Lauderdale is consolidating its reputation as a banking and finance hub. The PPP loans along with branch and tech investments are among the storylines contributing to the next chapter of the sector’s growth in the region.

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Checking all boxes: Broward County is right in the mix amid financial sector growth in the Southeast With a growing population, a Triple-A bond rating, 200plus corporate, regional and international headquarters, 10 airports and the top exports seaport in the Sunshine State, as well as 35 colleges and universities, South Florida is an obvious choice for inbound investment flows.

The region checks all the boxes of a soaring Southeast financial center. A solid real estate market, a proportionately young population and a businessfriendly tax system are but a few of the characteristics that are attracting international banks and institutional investors.

What is more, Fort Lauderdale is spearheading the nascent efforts to consolidate South Florida’s “internet coast,” a region hosting more than 6,000 hightechnology firms. If that was not reason enough to turn attention toward the region, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance was able to recruit and retain close to 2,000 jobs in the middle of the pandemic, working together with some of the country’s largest companies — Spirit Airlines, Bankers Healthcare Group, Amazon, and KeySource Pharma — to attract a total $353 million in new capital during FY20 alone, underscoring the area’s strength and attraction. The alliance also reported that 102

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out of the region’s 844,500 total nonagricultural jobs, financial activities account for nearly 7% with 58,100 professionals.

Landscape As of June 2020, South Florida deposits totaled $239 billion from the region’s Top 10 banks, which hold an 83% South Florida market share. That is a nearly 19% increase from June 2019’s $201 billion despite COVID-19.

Moreover, although experiencing a 14.62% contraction between 2019 and 2020, Small Business Administration (SBA) loans in South Florida totaled $103 million for 460 loans, with an average loan value of $363,515 from the region’s Top 10 SBA lenders, according to SBA data.

The figures are a testament to the region’s financial strength, which spills over into Fort Lauderdale.

SmartAsset ranked the South Florida area fourth among 198 metro areas in terms of places residents are investing more, including taxable interest, ordinary dividends and capital gains. Investment flows, according to the reports, are poised to increase as low-fee trading apps gain increasing popularity with young investors going forward.

A key area for investment is real estate and ( )

BANKING & FINANCE INTERVIEW

The solution Banks were in the spotlight for all the right reasons during the pandemic

David Druey Florida Regional President – Centennial Bank

How did Centennial Bank perform in Florida in the past year?

We were very busy. One of the best things about the financial sector is that we were able to be involved in the PPP loans that Congress passed. We were able to help small businesses in a time of need. I think the process was cumbersome but it did what it was supposed to do, which was to help small businesses for a period of time. I’d like to have seen it be a little bit more robust, allowing a little bit longer for small businesses to have more staying power. I think COVID has lasted much longer than many of us anticipated in spring 2020.

Being a part of that allowed us to be a part of the solution. A lot of bankers across the United States felt like they were part of something that was bigger than themselves, and that was a good thing to happen. One highlight was to listen to the people who we were able to help, because the first tranche of PPP went away very quickly as the large businesses and corporations took the lion’s share of the money and the smaller businesses didn’t get it.

The second tranche is when you saw the mom and pop’s businesses benefit, enabling you to call them and say “your loan has been approved,” and listening to the outpouring of emotion and gratitude.

Do you anticipate a surge in commercial real estate loan defaults?

We have hotels all across the United States. What we are seeing is a rebound in destination-hotel locations, the ones near the water or around open spaces. I don’t see the default rate on those getting high at all. Conversely, the hotels that are travel-related or landlocked, dependent on business travel, are going to suffer for another 12 to 24 months.

I used to travel two weeks out of a month, and I haven’t been anywhere since April. And within our organization we have around 100 people who are professional travelers.

Which sectors have been performing well during this time?

The medical sector could be seen as doing extremely well. Companies producing toilet paper and virusspecific products are going to continue to do well. In Florida, specifically, the trend of people being tired of being in the Northeast will continue because of the weather and other things, and they’ve realized that the genie is out of the bottle with working from home. You’re going to continue to see a huge boom in the state of Florida for tax reasons and quality of life. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Ginger Martin President & CEO American National Bank

What are some of the advantages of being able to work with a smaller, family bank?

Firstly, let me say that there is plenty of banking business in South Florida for all of us. When you’re a larger institution, you do have to have more structure and bureaucracy just due to sheer size. As a community bank, we can customize our services to a greater extent.

Sure, we have our structures and guidelines dictating how we run but we have the flexibility to change and customize them. We’re a single-unit bank — we only have one location — so all the decisions are made right here. Sometimes, at bigger banks, there’s not that kind of local decision-making. Here, you’re dealing with the decision-makers and not forced to go through other channels. That does allow us to be quicker. At the same time, we have a limit on the size of the loan we can do because lending limits are based on our capital. There’s a place for all different sizes of banks, it just depends on what’s important to you and what your needs are.

How did the bank handle the onslaught of PPP loans over the past year?

We were named by the South Business Journal as the No. 1 PPP lender in South Florida. To be able to support these small businesses and help them survive was so rewarding. We did $68 million in loans in the first round, over 500 loans in total. We took care of our customers first, then we opened it up to noncustomers. While the big banks were trying to get the technology and software in place, we did these things manually, so our customers didn’t have to wait on these much-needed funds. We had, across the bank, everyone working in PPP in some form or fashion. We were working seven days a week, 10-12 hours a day.

Some people who were not our customers got very frustrated with their banks, talked to our customers and heard about how they got their PPP loan in two days. Many of them became customers because we were able to help them. I think that’s part of the reason we had the 35% growth.

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The financial and professional services sector represents about 9% of Florida’s employment.

( ) pre-construction development lending in Fort Lauderdale barely lost steam as 2020 witnessed several projects secure financing. Commercial real estate finance company Berkadia reported 19 projects were under construction in the multifamily space alone during 1Q20 in Fort Lauderdale, totaling 6,355 units.

Amid projects worth highlighting, FATVillage’s old warehouse redevelopment into a 35-unit, seven-story luxury apartment building secured a $9.1 million construction financing in May 2020. Fast forward to October 2020, Walker & Dunlop announced the arrangement of an $82 million bridge-financing instrument for The Rise Flagler Village, a 30-story, 348unit apartment project.

One area of concern is historically low interest rates.

To support the country’s economic recovery, the Federal Reserve has signaled it will maintain low interest rates

BANKING & FINANCE OVERVIEW

as far as 2023. While this may be good news for people looking to invest in a new or secondary home, for financial institutions, the low rates force them to operate under squeezed margins, hurting profits. Still, lending is on the upswing. The Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) took a deep dive throughout 2020, falling about 60% since the start of the pandemic, indicating tighter lending. But by October 2020, the indicator had started a turn upward. During the January to October period, the MCAI went from close to 185 in March to below 120 in September before popping back up to 121. As a reference, it reached nearly 100 during the 2008 crisis. A higher score signals loosening credit.

Top banks COVID-19 posed a series of significant operational challenges for banks, including historic low interest rates, an accelerated and streamlined remote transition and solving the balance between brick-and-mortar, inperson services and a bolstered digital platform.

Demonstrating the differing approaches banks are taking to their physical branches, Regions Bank announced the go-ahead for a branch expansion in November 2020. The bank’s established footprint in suburban Houston, Orlando-Kissimmee and Miami-Fort Lauderdale serve the purpose of providing modernized branches in areas that offer a broad range of customers.

The new branches in Magnolia, Texas; Kissimmee and Pembroke Pines, Florida; and Marietta, Georgia, are more focused on premium-based customized, personal services. Chase Bank, with three operating branches in Fort Lauderdale, announced its plan to consolidate its Central Florida footprint in December 2020 by adding three new branches: two in Orlando and one ( )

Robert Ramirez President & CEO – We Florida Financial

The idea that you can open an account or apply for a loan from your couch has reduced the need for physical branches. I see us downsizing the size of our physical branches because the need for them won’t be as great as it was before. We will place a larger focus on digital. Millennials want to know that a branch is near where they live and work, but they rarely go to a branch. It’s more of a security blanket for them. An increasing percentage of our member business will be done electronically going forward; however, it is our goal to continue to provide both physical and digital delivery channels.

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Credit advantage Credit unions are seizing the opportunity to grow their customer base with low fees and rates

Mike Tomko President & CEO – BrightStar Credit Union financial literacy. People are sometimes naïve and don’t do the level of due diligence that they should. We partner with a company called Balance Financial and if one of our members is having a hard time with money, we provide the 800 number to help them receive the advice they need. We pay for this service on behalf of our members so it is completely free for them to utilize. We also find that financial literacy in schools is critical. We spend time and effort educating people at all levels on how to be financially savvy.

What are the advantages to joining a credit union instead of a bank?

We pride ourselves in trying to be the lowest in fees and rates. Credit scores under 650 are usually rejected at a bank but in a credit union, almost everyone is ranked under 650. I’ve come to realize that the difference is that we typically lend money to people who may not have stellar credit records. They don’t make a ton of money, but they need cars, credit cards and personal loans. We make all of these products and services affordable to them. That’s a fundamental distinction between banks and credit unions. Banks tend to chase their members out and inadvertently send them directly to us.

How critical is financial literacy?

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What role will credit unions play in Greater Fort Lauderdale during the COVID-19 recovery?

There is a need for us; we’re a major balancing force. If bank fees go up, everyone will jump up. The only ones who will not, will be the credit unions. Years ago, Bank of America decided to charge users to have a debit card.

People were upset, so our memberships grew to an all-time high because we were the only alternative. We’re the outlet that makes banking fair and reasonable, providing all the technology, services and products that banks provide.

We’re a major competitor and we keep banks in check.

What are your priorities for the near term?

Not everyone was fortunate enough to maintain a good credit score during this pandemic. People will come back, and they will need different services. If their credit score was hurt, banks will not want to talk to them, and that is what we are here for. We take more risk because we believe in the inherent goodness of people.

We are again one of the Best Places to Work, for the second year in a row, and that is an important focus of ours because we realize we’re only as great as our employees.

Training is essential, that’s why our training department is going above and beyond standard practices. We’ve completely redesigned our program and present it in a fun, engaging and most importantly, effective way.

BANKING & FINANCE OVERVIEW

( ) in Kissimmee. In contrast, HSBC Bank USA announced as early as March 2020 that it would close eight South Florida branches, including its Fort Lauderdale 1600 S.E. 17th St., which had $82 million in deposits.

A key role for banks throughout the past year has been in facilitating the Payment Protection Program (PPP). Bank of America significantly outperformed other banking institutions as it approved more than $1.4 billion in loans for about 202,000 businesses in MiamiDade, Broward and Palm Beach counties combined.

The silver medal went to City National Bank with $1.2 billion in approved PPP loans. Hundreds of banks relied on their strength in numbers to collectively achieve the rollout of $12.4 billion for local businesses via PPP loans. Among the biggest winners were community and regional banks that demonstrated greater flexibility than their national counterparts and were rewarded with growth in their number of new client accounts.

PPP Loans The PPP was a part of the Coronavirus Aid, Response and Economic Security (CARES) Act designed by the federal government. It was rolled out as aid for the businesses most impacted by the pandemic and employing 500 people or less. The idea behind it was to provide a lifeline to businesses with depleted cash flows to avoid mass layoffs or furloughing of employees during the COVID-19 storm.

Under the auspices of the SBA, the first round of PPP loans by Feb. 16, 2020, totaled 1.66 million loans valued at $342 billion. The second PPP round amounted to 5.2 million loans for $525 billion and the third PPP round counted 7 million loans by February 2021 for $662 billion.

Perspectives: Snowbirds Louis Rheaume President – Desjardins Bank I think this will be a good year as soon as the border opens and people travel. For 18 months people have been in confinement and this will be a crazy year, with an influx of money. Now that the Canadian dollar is better against the US dollar, it will be a good time for Canadians to come and invest. The shortage of nice properties may be a problem because the industry is booming and people from the North are migrating South and exerting pressure on the market. However, people will be eager to come and spend time here.

Despite the incontrovertible need for financial aid,

by May 2021, “PPP fatigue” was becoming apparent between the three iterations of PPP rounds, constant changes in the requirements and the forgiveness process. As a result, fewer lenders were expected to participate in the next iteration of the program by endof-year 2020.

Moreover, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the American Bankers Association have highlighted chinks in the PPP in the shape of systemic issues, and significant operational and communication challenges — faulty validation checks, the use of 40 different error codes that foster confusion, the loan cap at $35,000 per employee for new applications, to name a few.

PPP loan data revealed in December 2020 that small community banks in South Florida were among the most active PPP lenders throughout last year. Comparing

BANKING & FINANCE OVERVIEW

Richard Helber President & CEO – Tropical Financial Credit Union

Over the last several years, we’ve put a focus on building our digital capabilities and have seen lighter branch traffic, allowing us to reduce the branch network as a result. One of our strategic pillars is mobile first. While there has been strong adoption of online and mobile tools, we saw a spike in the usage of technology by people who would not typically manage their money in that way.

We thought when we reopened the branch network there would be a stampede of people coming in, but this hasn’t been the case.

There will always be those people who feel more comfortable looking after their finances at the branch but there has certainly been an uptick in digital platform usage.

their Miami-Dade deposit footprint with their total amount of PPP loans approved, American National Bank reached the top of the list with $1 of PPP loans for every $5.77 in deposits. To aid in the process, the SBA also started contacting small businesses directly in February 2021 to inform them they qualify for cash grants from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Advance program launched in March 2020, which stipulated $10,000 cash grants. For 2021, these grants have morphed into the Targeted EIDL Advance program.

The Fort Lauderdale Village District also made available for local businesses the Emergency Business Investment Program, which offers forgivable loans of $10,000 for small businesses ranging from sole proprietors and partnerships to corporations, and limited liability companies. In parallel, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, in partnership with Axis South Florida, has deployed the South Florida Emergency Response Program. Its purpose is for businesses and nonprofits in Broward and Miami-Dade counties to sign up for free assistance and programs to weather the COVID storm.

About 1,000 people move to Florida each day, a trend that has been accelerated by the pandemic.

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Mortgages To support residents in these difficult times, the city of Fort Lauderdale launched the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), aiming at providing assistance with rent, mortgage and utility payments within Fort Lauderdale city limits. First in line are those who did not receive assistance under the COVID-19 State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program. Households may receive up to $7,000 in rent and utility assistance and $10,000 in mortgage and utility assistance.

Although construed as a negative metric, mortgage

BANKING & FINANCE OVERVIEW

fraud in Fort Lauderdale is a testament to the significant ongoing mortgage activity in the market. CoreLogic reported that fraudulent mortgage applications dropped 26% across the country during 2Q20. One of every 164 mortgage applications contained indications of fraud at the end of the quarter, while the proportion was one in 123 in 2Q19. The record volume of mortgage refinances fostered by historic low interest rates is the primary factor behind this fall. Fort Lauderdale also showcased a drop mirroring the national trend, falling from top of the list to third place nationally.

Even the pandemic couldn’t discourage companies from betting on Fort Lauderdale’s effervescent mortgage market. In September 2020, Re/Max Holdings acquired Wemlo, a 20-month-old mortgage processing startup based near Fort Lauderdale.

Fort Lauderdale’s mortgage market has also eyes on the Biden administration as a harsher stance against predatory lending is likely to be adopted, particularly directed at installment lenders.

While South Florida’s real estate market continues to sizzle in the unprecedented low interest rate environment, calls for caution are multiplying. Ken H. Johnson, a real estate economist at Florida Atlantic University’s College of Business warns that home prices have been on the rise uninterrupted since 2012 but a halt is just around the corner. What is more, he estimates South Florida homes to be overvalued by as much as 20%. Even if mortgage rates are expected to remain low at least until 2023, consumers should be wary of rising rates or properties of sale, as they could very well flatten home prices. On the plus side, mortgage underwriting has improved dramatically compared to where it was during the 2008 crisis, while individual credit scores are virtually at an all-time high since 2012.

Competitive environment Given COVID-19, forecasts for the M&A market were on the downside in March 2020, but it didn’t pan out that way. In fact, dealmaking numbers climbed both globally and nationally, although the overall dollaramount in the United States was lower than in 2019.

During the second half of 2020, the world saw a flurry of deals that sent total M&A value to $3.6 trillion, according to Refinitiv data. While representing a 5 percent decrease for the same period in 2019, the segment demonstrated a definitive improvement and a strong sign of recovery compared to the first half of 2020. In the United States alone, the number of deals was up on 2019, although the overall value in 2020 dropped 21% to $1.4 trillion.

Leading deals included S&P Global’s $44 billion

Kevin Rogers South Florida Regional President Seaside Bank and Trust

What lessons were learned througout the PPP process?

As a smaller community bank, we did not have thousands of applications that a large regional bank would have.

Their clients were directed into a portal, falling in line. The biggest complaint was they did not have any communication with their bankers. The application went through the portal and they were left waiting to hear back from someone. Our clients came directly to the bankers, and therein lies the difference. We were talking with our clients, entering the portals for them and we were able to communicate. When we got the approval from the SBA, we were able to go back to them directly to announce their approved status. The biggest issue right now is the forgiveness phase. There is still all kinds of noise out there. Clients think the SBA is going to come up with a program that will waive everyone but you have to go through a process. The work we are doing now seems to be just as involved as in the first phase because we have to communicate with our clients to make sure they go through the forgiveness process.

What regulatory issues are you keeping an eye on?

Believe it or not, COVID-19 is not our biggest challenge or concern. We consider ourselves a wealth management private bank and as such, it is considered high risk by the Federal Reserve and the government. We are always concerned about anti-money laundering, tracking money and related issues. It’s difficult to onboard any client as we have to be strict and thorough with our due diligence and background checks to ensure we are dealing with people who do not have any negative news or issues in the past that can come back to haunt us. In parallel, we are always cautious about fraud, hacking and things going on in the banking industry. That would be our primary concern. We regularly have meetings with our employees about being careful when we are sending wires, for instance. We make sure we know who we’re talking to, that we know it’s our client we’re talking to. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Fort Lauderdale has a sturdy financial footing, with its bonds rated AAA

by S&P purchase of IHS Markit, AMD’s $35 billion deal for rival U.S. chipmaker Xilinx and AstraZeneca’s $39 billion acquisition of U.S. biotech group Alexion for $39 billion.

Another encouraging aspect of this activity is that it is spearheaded by tech and finance companies, two of the industries that have proven strongly COVID-resilient.

Bolstering its reputation as a highly touted financial hub, Fort Lauderdale’s financial rating was sturdy going into the pandemic, with its bonds awarded a AAA rating in January 2020 by S&P. It is likely that once the pandemic is under control, the rating will stand.

Financial companies also see good value in the region.

In 2021, New York investment banking firm PJ Solomon opened a branch office on Las Olas Boulevard.

Insurance Fort Lauderdale’s insurance space also witnessed significant consolidation in the past year. Insurance broker McGriff, for example, is expanding its operations further into Southern Florida to include a footprint in Coral Gables, Fort Lauderdale and Weston. Key drivers in

the decision included the region’s employment growth, new construction activity, and the region’s businessfriendly environment. McGriff closed 2019 with a $121 million in southeast Florida alone.

Yet, the industry is not challenge-free. Floridians across the board welcomed 2021 with significant property insurance rate hikes, ranging from 20 to 40%. Insurers are justifying the increase based on long-standing and prevalent property damage claims from past hurricanes and the emerging litigation resulting from COVID. While the Sunshine State’s Florida’s property insurance market raked in $56.6 billion in premiums during 2019, it sustained more than $1 billion in underwriting losses from 1Q20 to 3Q20, parallel to $500 million in negative net income, as reported by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

Looking ahead While the post-COVID recovery on the banking and finance side of things is poised to be a long, constant effort, several elements within Fort Lauderdale’s fundamentals are reassuring in the sense of establishing a foundation for recovery that will serve as the launching pad for future growth. The city had been a population and corporation relocation magnet prior to the pandemic, and now even more so, with industry heavyweights such as Goldman Sachs added to the list of household names looking to relocate, scouting locations in both Palm Beach County and Broward County, although Palm Beach appears to have the inside track.

Fort Lauderdale is well positioned to capitalize from in-migration and company expansions and relocations, bolstering the region’s potential for banking and finance sector growth.

Transportation, Infrastructure & Logistics: The shock of the pandemic had the potential to send the economy into a deep funk. Instead, businesses in transportation, logistics and infrastructure seized the opportunity to redouble their efforts at expansion. As a result, the region is uniquely poised to take advantage of what, by many accounts, will be a post-COVID boom.

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Nimble response: Region responds to adversity with aplomb and ingenuity Ask people what challenges Fort Lauderdale will face because of its explosive population growth, and the answer will invariably touch upon the topics of transportation, logistics and infrastructure. Broward County — the second-most populous county in Florida — has one of the fastest-growing economies in the country. It is a huge draw for tourists, an entrepot for trade and the development of the transportation and logistics sectors reflects the extraordinary traffic it sees in people and goods.

The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the strain placed on Broward County’s infrastructure. People have been moving to the region in droves, meaning more cars on the road and more people on the trains.

E-commerce has risen to become one of the defining economic forces of the age, requiring a major overhaul of the region’s (and nation’s) logistical infrastructure.

Finally, the tourism industry, one of the pillars of Broward County’s economy, was brought to a complete standstill during the lockdowns and the decline of national and international travel.

How did the region respond to this adversity? With great aplomb and ingenuity. In the transportation sector, the down time was put to good use in expediting improvement projects on highways, Port Everglades 112

and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL). Public-private partnerships in infrastructure continued to show strength in the region as innercity rail transportation continued to expand. All told, these sectors have proved nimble and adaptable in the face of unprecedented growth, which, it is becoming increasingly apparent, is not a bad problem to have.

Transportation and logistics Geographically, Fort Lauderdale is well placed as a major entry point into the United States for foreign trade: the Panama Canal is relatively easily accessible, and it is within 1,000 miles of Mexico, Central America, and the nations of the Caribbean. Serving this traffic are the region’s two behemoths of trade, Port Everglades and the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. Such is the importance of these sectors in Broward County, that there are more than 25,000 jobs in transportation and warehousing alone.

These sectors are in a state of flux at the moment as they grow to meet the challenge of increased traffic.

Port Everglades is being expanded, FLL Airport is being renovated. In mass transit, the Brightline inner city rail is being expanded so that it will extend from Miami Beach up the coast to Orlando. Turnpikes and ( )

| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & LOGISTICS

TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & LOGISTICS INTERVIEW

Smart service Technology is helping to make flying more user-friendly but a full-on tech experience is still in the future

Mark Gale CEO & Director of Aviation – Fort LauderdaleHollywood International Airport How has smart technology impacted the airport and what does that mean for the future?

One of the things that everyone wants to see is a contactless environment. When I last spoke to Invest, we had almost 37 million patrons come through our facility. We have a wide audience of individuals who we need to serve equally across the passenger spectrum. Sometimes, the speed of technology and innovation surpasses the speed of understanding or acceptance by individuals. It is important to not lose sight of that. One user friendly amenity we have installed is biometric boarding technology. As you leave for departure on an international flight, your picture will be taken. When you return, you’re going to be able to come up, take a photo of your face and automatically verify your identity. This is part of a “simplified arrival” process.

As we come out of the pandemic, it will be interesting to see what new practices or technology will remain in place, or will we revert to something more traditional as restrictions ease. I don’t think we’ll swing entirely to a contactless, tech-savvy world overnight.

How has your master plan shaped up given the impact of the pandemic?

It is a 20-year lookahead on how FLL needs to be developed to serve the needs of the region. We were identified as one of the fastest-growing large-hub U.S. airports for several years running. In 2019, we dropped down from around 12% annual growth to about 2-3%, not from lack of demand but because we reached terminal capacity. Prior to the pandemic, we had been working on the master plan for several years. I was with the CEOs of JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines when I gave the final presentation to our commissioners and sent the documents to the FAA. That’s when the

pandemic hit. The expenses incurred to survive may have initially lessened the appetite for major capital projects.

Still, as airlines are looking to return to pre-pandemic levels of travel we’re seeing significant signs of recovery and a desire to get back to a growth/expansion mode.

Terminal 2 is under construction with Delta Air Lines, and Terminal 3 is under construction with JetBlue.

We’re hoping to complete those programs by early 2022.

The high efficacy rates of the vaccines and associated impacts on air travel will also assist us in finalizing critical financial and infrastructural decisions. FLL is one of the largest and most significant economic engines for Broward County and a large part of South Florida. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Michael Britton CEO Sealand – A Maersk Company

How is the shipping industry handling new regulations focused on sustainability?

One of the largest variable costs we have as a shipping line is fuel, so global fuel prices are a long-term issue for us. On Jan. 1, 2020, all shipping lines around the world switched to using low-sulfur content fuel. That has allowed us, as an industry, to eliminate sulfur emissions from shipping by 80 to 85%, possibly more. That was a great step forward but it came at the cost of more expensive fuel. Today, it is still expensive but the differential compared to other types of fuel has come down. The logistics industry needs to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels to reduce its impact on the environment and to keep our costs lower for our customers. From now on, further regulation around the types of fuels that can be used, efforts on carbon trading or efforts for decarbonization are where we would expect to see the most significant regulations that affect the shipping industry. The industry is looking for measures that are broad-based and impact the industry as a whole.

What is your near-term outlook?

We’re expecting global trade volumes to increase versus 2020 but the impact of COVID-19 remains uncertain. Now, the logistics for the transportation of vaccines has come very much into focus. Sealand is a cold chain specialist. We have developed a product for supermarket chains in Canada that provides them transparency and control over the supply chain of perishables from farms in Latin America to stores in Canada. Every week pineapples and limes are trucked in our refrigerated containers from farms to ports, cleared through customs, loaded on our vessels, discharged in U.S. ports, and stored in specialized refrigerated warehouses where they are again cleared through customs and eventually trucked in refrigerated equipment direct to stores. At all times with visibility for the customer on the temperature at which the goods are maintained. We will leverage this experience with perishables and other pharmaceuticals to provide support for the regional distribution of vaccines.

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| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | TRANSPORTATION ...

Fort Lauderdale is one of the preeminent aviation hubs in South Florida.

( ) highways are being updated. Besides this, there are many more neighborhood specific improvements that are occurring around Fort Lauderdale, such as bridge improvements, new bypass roads and revitalization projects.

Logistics infrastructure is also in a state of flux. The pandemic caused massive disruptions in the global supply chains as travel restrictions caused a shortage of truck drivers, sea shipping was curtailed and warehouses could not be adequately staffed out of concern for social distancing. These shocks caused a backlog, and, while the worst is over, the effects will continue to be felt moving forward. Added to this is the rapid acceleration of e-commerce resulting from the pandemic. Changed shopping habits are not going away, which is apparent as e-commerce infrastructure continues to expand.

The pandemic also caused major disruptions to the use of public transportation. People were encouraged by the government to stay at home and many employers, where possible, made the transition to at-home work. In Broward County, measures to keep transit employees and passengers safe meant that bus fares were suspended for over a year, from March 24, 2020, to June 1, 2021. This measure, of course, followed efforts by the sanitation staff to disinfect the vehicles after every route and ensure that social distancing was being upheld. Even still, Broward County’s mass transit systems have always been woefully underused, and officials fear what lingering effects the pandemic will have on rider numbers.

TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & LOGISTICS OVERVIEW

Marine industry With up to 2,000 mega-yachts visiting its shores every year, Fort Lauderdale is known as “the Yachting Capital of the World” for good reason, and the amount of economic activity that the marine industry supports is truly staggering. Family cruising, yachts, fishing, and the services supporting these areas account for 121,000 jobs and $9.7 billion in economic output in Broward County and 149,000 jobs and $12.5 billion in output regionally. Altogether, the industry brings in about $4 billion in wages that are 16% higher than the state average.

The star of the industry is undoubtedly Port Everglades, the official port of Fort Lauderdale, a huge entrepôt for goods as well as the third-largest cruise port in the world, welcoming 3 million passengers a year to its 11 massive terminals. Pre-pandemic, Port Everglades would directly employ 13,000 people (supporting $500 million in salaries), bring $30.4 billion into the economy and generate over a billion dollars in tax revenue.

The pandemic’s effects were most felt in the cruise sector. The CDC issued a “No Sail Order” in March, effectively putting a stop to Port Everglades’ biggest revenue stream. In FY2019, cruise traffic had been ( )

Perspectives: Covid impact Jon Burkard President – Allied Marine March 2020 was an okay month because we were still doing business from before but in April, we only saw a few sales. In May, we closed a large number of boats, giving us great confidence that our plans and efforts were working. Thankfully, we’ve had really great months since. People really do want to go out on a boat. They think it’s a really great way to distance while still keeping the family involved and together.

Joseph Farrell CEO – Resolve Marine With greater access to vaccines and changes in travel restrictions, we are hopeful that logistical challenges will ease up, enabling us to provide greater assistance.

In addition, we have learned an immense amount about change and how to make our organization more agile.

2020 has been a great learning experience and the opportunities we have experienced will enable Resolve to continue to improve response operations.

TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & LOGISTICS INTERVIEW

Master plan A number of capital improvement projects are under way at Port Everglades

Jonathan Daniels Chief Executive Officer – Port Everglades Authority deepening and widening of the Port’s navigation channels.

As the first phase of this larger channel project, in February we received $29.1 million in funding under the Corps FY 2020 Work Plan, which will be used to build a new facility at U.S. Coast Guard Station Fort Lauderdale to allow the Intracoastal Waterway to be widened by 250 feet A new 1,818-space garage for cruise passengers in our Northport area is close to completion. The state-of-theart facility will feature an elevated, air-conditioned passenger bridge with moving walkways to deliver guests to their terminals.

What major projects are scheduled for development within the Port Everglades master plan?

Our 20-Year Master/Vision Plan, which maps out capital improvements and operational efficiencies over the next five-, 10- and 20-year horizons, includes several sizeable construction projects – totaling $1.6 billion –that are purposely moving forward at a rapid pace.

Currently underway is a $471 million berth expansion, the largest infrastructure project in the Port’s 92-year history. The Southport Turning Notch Extension project will add new cargo berths by lengthening the Port’s existing turn-around area from 900 feet to 2,400 feet. Part of this effort includes installing crane rail infrastructure for new super post-panamax container gantry cranes.

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How is this project pipeline impacting containerized cargo?

The current construction projects underway are having minor impacts on our containerized cargo operations.

Once the Southport Turning Notch Extension is completed, which will add up to five new berths and six new super post-panamax gantry cranes, the Port’s container throughput is expected to nearly double by 2038. Since the Port is land-constrained, expansion needs to be thought of in terms of not only extending out, but up. Our container terminal partners are looking to densify existing land by going vertical with the addition of RTGs – rubber-tire gantries – that will allow terminal operators to stack containers higher, thereby increasing capacity on the same footprint.

What is your outlook for Port Everglades?

It will take some time before we return to pre-pandemic levels. Resiliency and planning will be key. We are very confident in the port’s long-term prospects and will emerge stronger from this crisis with a keen eye fixed on our Master/Vision Plan. With collaboration and an organic path to growth, we will work with our existing customers to grow our market share in cruise, cargo, and energy.

| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & LOGISTICS

TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & LOGISTICS OVERVIEW

Kevin Merrigan Chairman – Northrop & Johnson

If you wanted to find a 21-foot Boston Whaler, you would be challenged to find one due to the overperformance of sales. The lack of inventory extends all the way to the 170-foot yachts. The good boats that are appropriately priced are either off the market or going to come off the market pretty quickly. We rarely see people overpay for yachts, but the market is robust at present and yachts are commanding good value. There are always bargains to be found, just like in any other business. Sales are definitely up for everybody; new boats and brokerage markets alike.

( ) responsible for 35% of its $170 million in revenue.

As a result of the shutdown, cruises moved to fourth place in revenue generation for the port, behind energy, cargo and real estate. The fiscal year 2020-2021 predicts $108 million in revenue with the stop in cruises largely responsible for the shortfall. It is a testament to the overall health of Port Everglades that it was able to sustain this loss without cutting any personnel or downsizing its operations.

Despite whatever slowdown in cruise traffic there has been, the port continues to make progress on its capital improvement projects that fall under the umbrella of a 20-year master/vision plan. In fact, the slowdown allowed much greater progress to be made in this area than would have happened otherwise.

Among the improvements at Port Everglades over the last year are a $471 million berth expansion that will be the largest infrastructure project in the port’s history; preconstruction done for the widening and deepening of the port’s channels (a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project); the completion of a 1,818-space garage for cruise passengers that will be connected to the cruise terminals by air-conditioned passageways and moving walkways; finally, a new International Logistics Center will be constructed containing a 300,000-squarefoot two-building facility that has both standard and refrigerated warehouse space.

Air travel The pandemic has been particularly devastating on air travel. Tourism was moribund (especially international) and business travel was at a standstill. According to the International Air Transport Association, air carriers are expected to lose about $48 billion in 2021. These numbers are startling when one considers the importance of FLL

airport, an international hub, to the Broward County economy: with 17.8 million enplanements in 2018 and 80,000 people passing through each day, the airport brings about $2.4 billion to the local economy and supports 37,000 jobs. The federal government was able to step in and help with stimulus money going to South Florida’s airports to the tune of $342 million.

Thankfully, as the vaccination drive continues apace, traffic is picking up at airports much faster than had previously been expected. Furthermore, FLL airport workers are quick to point out that cargo remained relatively unaffected by the pandemic, most likely a byproduct of the rise in e-commerce. Currently, the airport is at work to grow its cargo processing capabilities.

FLL airport did not sit idle, though, as traffic was drastically reduced. For one, the airport went into deepclean mode, to ensure that facilities would be ready for what is certain to be a glut of travelers in the second half of 2021. COVID-19 testing was also introduced onsite, a measure that improved the safety of air travel (especially after the state of Florida removed restrictions on anything COVID-related).

As well, airport administrators seized the opportunity to double down on their efforts to implement the airport’s master plan that will meet the airport’s operational requirements through to 2035. New terminals are under construction — Terminal 2 with Delta Airlines and Terminal 3 with JetBlue — with both slated to be completed by early 2022.

In addition to FLL, there is also Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, owned and managed by the city, which, at 172,000 passengers, is one of three largest general aviation airports in the world. The airport supports four fixed-base operators and a wealth of jobs: according to the Florida Department of Transportation’s 2019 Statewide www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & LOGISTICS OVERVIEW

Gregory Stuart Executive Director Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization

Port Everglades has been ranked as the third-busiest cruise homeport in the world.

Economic Impact Study, the airport supports 12,708 jobs with a payroll of around $5.7 million going toward local residents and the economy at large.

Brightline Another major success for Fort Lauderdale transportation infrastructure has been the growth of the Brightline, the inter-city rail network that connects Miami and West Palm Beach. While the pandemic put a temporary stop to service, the ridership numbers on the whole remain very promising: by 2024, it is estimated that 9.9 million passengers a year will be generating $792 million in annual revenue.

Privately owned by Florida East Coast Railways (which recently took full control after falling out with Virgin Trains USA), the project has developed rapidly. A new extension to Orlando International Airport is expected to be completed by the end of 2022, and the next phase of the project is looking to connect to Tampa Bay. Infrastructure President Biden’s bold ambitions regarding infrastructure have been laid bare since his early days in office when he announced his $2.25 trillion plan that would revitalize this long-neglected part of the American economy. Many say that this is a blueprint that is fated to be diluted as it navigates the trials and tribulations of actually getting passed. Biden’s biggest hurdle is straightforward politics: a recalcitrant Republican opposition that has written off the president’s proposals as wasteful spending. The national opposition happens to have one of its biggest champions in Florida Gov. ( )

What impact do you see the Coastal Link Commuter rail having in Fort Lauderdale?

We’ve been working on that project for close to 30 years. The Brightline has three stops, potentially five stops in Southeast Florida and now we are talking about Downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale International Airport, Hollywood, Dania Beach, Hallandale Beach, then Aventura, Wynnwood and all the way to Downtown Miami.

That whole expanse provides access not just to jobs, but to healthcare, education and attainable housing. The further up the coast you go, the less expensive housing gets until you get to Palm Beach.

That connectivity between all these east coast cities is an absolutely huge thing. Once we get over the New River, whether it’s via a tunnel or a bridge, the service goes up to Pompano, Deerfield Beach then on to Boca Raton. You are talking about so many different markets at that point. I love the Brightline, but because of the price of the ticket, it’s hard to do that every day. This is true for the vast majority of folks down here. What does new commuter service mean to I-95 and the impact on the driving public? Fewer cars on the highway. I think that’s another very huge thing. It’s a real game-changer for the region.

What other projects is the Broward MPO working on?

Last year, we spoke about the impact of the sales tax. And while the sales tax revenues are down, that’s a short-term blip in the overall economy. I see my partners at Broward County government and their transit department, and I am confident that they’re going to come up with several very large-scale, east-west projects that will end up tying into both Tri Rail, Coastal Link and Brightline. I think it may take those east-west projects five to seven years, but you are going to see a whole bunch of announcements coming out for different types of transportation services. So far this year, using the surtax, the Broward County transit department has increased the size of its fleet of buses, so the existing services are probably going to see significant upgrades in on-time arrivals and increased frequency. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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®

oundtable:

Broward’s marine industry For those selling boats, the pandemic year propelled major gains, but on the cruise side of the industry, it was another story.

Tim Davey

Bob Denison

Founder & Managing Director Global Marine Travel

What challenges have you faced in supporting crews during COVID? The most disappointing thing for me throughout COVID has been the lack of understanding of the contribution that seafarers make, not just to the South Florida economy but to the entire global economy. We needed to convince so many local leaders and governments of the value of seafarers and their importance in the whole supply chain.

We had to explain why we needed to get these crew relieved from their vessels, as well as the danger of fatigue for the seafarers.

The Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing, which we recently signed, really helps bring the importance of seafarers to the spotlight. There’s still a lot more work to be done. If we ever have a situation like this again, there should be no question of exempting seafarers.

What are your top priorities for the next 12 to 18 months?

We take the approach that we are going to be really busy. Much busier, in fact, than we were with pre-COVID levels. The approach we’re taking now is going back to the basics with colleagues and booking agents to make sure they have all the right tools to help our customers in the most accurate way.

We’re spending time educating our team to not rush on to the next booking but to take the time to get the correct information from the customer to make sure they get on their way as fast as possible.

There will be a rush of travel coming — that is imminent — so we want to make sure that we are rock solid when that happens.

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President & Founder Denison Yacht Sales

How would you characterize 2020 for Denison Yacht Sales?

It has been a tricky year. After March 11, we were really concerned we might never be able to sell another boat again. We saw the stock market dropping like crazy and we sell a product that people want rather than need. It is one of those ultimate luxury products with which you can experientially have a fantastic time with friends and family in a totally unique, exclusive type of experience. Unless you are a commercial fisherman, you do not need a boat.

Many people in our industry were highly nervous about the outlook for the rest of the year. It did get absolutely terrifying for about three or four weeks. By the fifth week, we were into the thick of people quarantining, and isolation and social distancing was going to be a reality for a while and there were no games, no cruise ships. But boating is one of the safe things you can do. It caused a major swell of interest in our industry right around early May and we’ve been riding that wave since.

What innovations have stemmed from the pandemic?

Even prior to the pandemic, we were a highly digitally minded company. We are younger in our space and we have an in-house team of what we consider to be the best marketing minds in our industry. We’ve been using technology to not only find and reach out to new customers and clients but to take better care of people, especially in 2020. There are a lot of great real estate firms that have done a great job of communicating with somebody selling their asset through a well-established, real-time dashboard. We developed a similar platform for people selling their yachts.

| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & LOGISTICS

TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & LOGISTICS ROUNDTABLE

Michelle Fee

Founder & CEO Cruise Planners

What were some of your highlights from the past year?

This year has been nothing short of excruciating for travel due to COVID. We just knew right at the start that we’d have to figure out how to get through this. By that I mean, not only the headquarters surviving but also our travel advisers across the country. The cruise and travel companies realized the same thing and they understood that they were going to need all of us to help rebuild the industry and almost a year later, we’re hopeful and optimistic that it is going to happen. Certainly, many travel partners supported travel advisers by paying commissions on certain travel and they continue to do that so we can keep going out there and selling different types of vacation packages and cruises, in spite of the fact that the dates keep moving as cancelations were extended.

But there’s a pent-up demand and people absolutely still want to travel.

What are some important steps in making a franchise business work?

Find out what works for you. One thing we do well — and can do because we’re a privately-held company — is reinvest back into the business. That concept is the root of our ethos: we built everything in-house laboriously over many years. It’s not necessarily what your bottom line is, it’s more important to do the right thing and to figure out what works for your company. My co-owner, Vicky Garcia, and I believe that the bottom line will happen. That explains somewhat how we started a franchise company with only five people that has expanded to 2,500-plus franchise owners running their own home-based travel agencies.

The fact is, we do what is right for our network.

Peter Hult CEO VIKAND

What were some company milestones in the past year?

We are a global healthcare company providing services to the cruise, yacht, and commercial shipping industry, so it was an interesting year. In February and March, the cruise industry shut down suddenly, stopping ships all over the world. According to maritime law, whenever there is a medical problem on a ship, you are allowed to seek higher care at your nearest port. But overnight, no ports in the world would accept any ships that wanted to access higher levels of care. So, there were many ships scattered all over the world, many with COVID cases onboard, and many of those became incredibly serious.

People got worse, and then people started dying, because nations were not engaging. What we take away from this past year, something that we think is incredibly valuable, is the fact of a focus on good public health and medical services. If you look at the word “healthcare,” health is the proactive aspect of reducing issues, care is where you take care of situations already occurring. Public health, for us, is creating a safe environment. As a result of this past year, there is now a tremendous focus on public health. As a result of that, we’re going to see a decrease of communicable diseases and improved health generally.

In the maritime industry, already before the pandemic, we had a very safe environment with a strong public health focus. Now, after the pandemic, that focus has increased.

Is the cruise industry at the vanguard of safety?

The cruise industry has done a really good job in creating excellent protocols and procedures. There is no environment out there today that understands healthcare and safety better than the cruise industry. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & LOGISTICS INTERVIEW

Powered up Electrical and utility contractor says continued momentum to put power lines, fiber optic cables underground is a growth opportunity

Bernard Paul-Hus President & CEO – Hypower Inc. to live in a home. I expect that will accelerate and we will see more of those projects.

In which industries have you seen a change in demand and what would you attribute that to?

The primary reduction in demand has been driven by the inability to get materials at a price that fits the budgets that were established before the start of the pandemic. The price of everything from plywood to copper wire, steel and aluminum has gone up drastically.

Transporting supplies has not been a big deal but getting the raw materials has been the challenge and this has not been exclusively due to COVID. The hurricanes have had a huge impact on anything like PVC, polyethylene pipe, insulation for wire and fiber cable on a supply basis. It is now getting to the point where it is impacting decisions on which jobs get shelved and which get built.

What are the areas of growth for Hypower?

From an energy basis, I am pleased to see there is continuing momentum to do away with overhead power lines as well as fiber optic cable and coax cable lines. Everything is going underground, and when the hurricanes come through, people do not lose power and communication as easily. What we are seeing is a combination of people just wanting their utilities underground and needing them underground so that they can get through these hurricanes much better. This costs between $40,000 to $60,000 per home in most cases. It’s a massive investment but at the same time, it’s also light given the damage that happens to homes during a hurricane, not to mention the inconvenience of not having power for three weeks, the lack of safety, the need to rent hotel rooms somewhere, and the inability 122

How has the pandemic affected your contribution to the community?

Supporting our community is a core value. As an important part of our company culture, our 400-plus employees have been involved in numerous events raising hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years.

In 2020, even during these uncertain times, Hypower decided to more than double down on its financial commitments to local nonprofit organizations. Clearly many were not able to sustain their charitable giving during the pandemic so we stepped up and doubled what we gave the previous year to help offset the impact caused by the pandemic. Afterall, we were allowed to continue working as an essential business. Hypower is a main sponsor of HANDY (Helping Abused Neglected and Disadvantaged Youth), 4KIDS of South Florida, as well as a significant contributor to Boys and Girls Club, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Construction Angels and many others.

| Invest: Greater Fort Lauderdale 2021 | TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & LOGISTICS

TRANSPORTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & LOGISTICS OVERVIEW

Brian Bates CEO – Holman Automotive

There is a significant push from our regulators and our government to eliminate internal combustion, gasoline and oil usage. The mandate is a 2035 target to no longer sell internal combustion engines and shift to an all hybrid, electric or hydrogenbased product. That is a major shift in this industry. Our responsibility is to support our customers so we are product agnostic. There are some significant hurdles, such as range anxiety. The available charging station infrastructure may not be able to support a fleet of electric vehicles at this point but we know that is coming.

We are looking to develop a capacity to manage that balance between government mandated regulation and customer need for transportation products.

( ) Ron DeSantis. Still, the possibility of a major infrastructure overhaul remains Biden’s top priority and the debate does not appear to be going away anytime soon. Biden’s infrastructure proposals that are relevant to Florida specifically include Everglades restoration and the repair of highway networks across the state.

DeSantis himself has shown that he is not averse to infrastructure revitalization. In May 2021, he announced the awarding of $150 million toward infrastructure improvements across the state. Broward County is expected to be the recipient of some of this largesse as new systems have been proposed that will address the problem of neighborhood flooding issues and safer water treatment operations. The flooding issue is an especially pressing one that will demand the attention of Broward County leaders for years to come as sea levels continue to rise and threaten the Florida coast.

Broward County has shown great initiative as it comes to terms with the reality of climate change.

Since 2009, the region has had a Climate Change Task Force that seeks to include considerations pertaining to the environment in all its planning. In fact, the county was the first local government in the nation to include a standalone climate change pillar in its long-term planning. That has led to 82 environmental policies that grapple with how the community will face the economic, social and environmental challenges inherent in climate change.

One useful measure the Environmental Protection and Growth Management Department of Broward County has implemented is an online Resilience Dashboard, available to both the public and private sectors, which

will determine the environmental viability of any development in the county. Such digital infrastructure will be key as the region fights climate change and will help reduce greenhouse gases as it fortifies the county against the adverse effects of development.

Water infrastructure in Broward County continues to have a stable outlook. While overall, the system receives 54% of revenue from wastewater and 36% from water on the whole, it proved resilient against the coronavirus outbreak. Revenue from water was not significantly impaired even as commercial use declined due to the lockdowns. This was all the more surprising when considering that, for over a year, the turning off of water services on account of past-due balances was suspended.

Looking ahead Fort Lauderdale and Broward County are growing fast indeed, but they have also shown that they are growing intelligently. The shock of the pandemic had the potential to send the economy into a deep funk. Instead, the leading sectors of transportation, logistics and infrastructure seized the opportunity to redouble their efforts at expansion. Thanks to a state leadership that opened up the economy long before it was the norm nationally, the region is uniquely poised to take advantage of what, by many accounts, will be a post-COVID boom.

Broward County is more connected than ever before and more prepared to meet the changing economic realities of the state. Flagship projects, such as the FLL International Airport revitalization, the Port Everglades improvements and the Brightline, demonstrate that the will for continued success remains a strong force in the region. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Healthcare: Broward County’s healthcare systems largely weathered the challenges from COVID-19 but the landscape has changed. Telehealth has become a fact of life, for instance. By the first half of 2021, the focus had turned to vaccinations and fully emerging from the pandemic.

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Recovery Period: The region’s healthcare system is operating on all cylinders in the aftermath of the pandemic As Florida continues its reopening after a year of COVID restrictions, healthcare systems in Greater Fort Lauderdale have largely handled the challenges due to large and diverse healthcare networks.

With a 1.9 million population, many being older retirees, Broward County already had the healthcare infrastructure in place – particularly nursing – to manage the pandemic, and its focus has turned to the vaccine distribution needed for recovery.

To date, Broward County has achieved vaccination rates topping 50% of the population, on par with the nation as a whole, and has been particularly effective in getting shots into the older population.

Among the areas of concern for the sector, however, is insurance. While the population as a whole is highly insured, the rising number of uninsured residents has only been exacerbated by job-loss-related factors.

Advocates pushing for healthcare expansion statewide also have been met by stiff resistance in the state legislature.

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the healthcare system accounts for over 70,000 jobs in the county, a number that is growing. Healthcare is the most common employment sector within the county, with over 127,000, or 13.1%, of the population listed as Healthcare & Social Assistance workers, topping the Retail and Food Service industries.

The three leading healthcare systems are Broward Health, Memorial Healthcare and private, but nonprofit, Baptist Health South Florida. Additionally, Tenet Healthcare, Kindred Hospitals, Nova Southeastern University and a Cleveland Clinic satellite operate within Broward County.

Broward Health has over 30 locations throughout the county, including a network of community healthcare centers. Memorial Healthcare – including the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital – plus a graduate medical education center, is one of the largest systems in the country. Baptist Health South Florida is the largest nonprofit healthcare organization in the South Florida region. Within Broward County, Baptist Health provides ambulatory and urgent care to the underserved community.

Out of the 1.9 million Broward residents, 85.4% have health coverage and 14.6% are uninsured. Of the ( )

HEALTHCARE INTERVIEW

Keeping PACE Pandemic shift allowed patients to continue receiving care in assisted living buildings, homes

Jeffrey Freimark President & CEO – Miami Jewish Health What were the company’s key milestones last year?

Our PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) organization, our home and community-based services arm, was forced to shift to providing care and services to our participants in their assisted living buildings and residential homes as the pandemic made it impossible to keep the centers open. It was great to see how the program pivoted to continue providing care to our participants.

Our entire team on the main campus, where we have a 412-bed nursing home and assisted and independent living residences, continues to perform admirably.

Despite early challenges in our attempts to control the virus, we were able to learn quickly about how to manage and overcome the issues. To help, we converted our 32bed hospital on campus into a COVID-positive unit with full acute care, nursing and medical support services. I couldn’t be more proud of how the entire team rallied to deal with the situation.

How important are the PACE centers?

Most of the participants in our PACE program are eligible to receive both Medicare and Medicaid. This model of care is far cheaper for the country on a monthly basis than the cost of nursing homes. The quality of life for a PACE participant is also better. They receive comprehensive medical care and social engagement while remaining independent and living in the community.

What does the future of senior living spaces look like in the wake of the pandemic?

Spacing is going to become increasingly essential, in terms of how to design and configure the rooms. The sixfoot separation will become mandatory. We also need to look at the rules surrounding in-person visitation, which was both essential and harmful during the pandemic. We need to figure out how to provide for physical contact in a safe and responsible way. Finally, staffing will continue

to be a crucial theme. Nursing staff are mentally and physically exhausted after the past 12 months, so we need to ensure that talented workers are still being attracted to senior living spaces like ours. The number of older people who need full-time care in the United States will only increase over the next few years, so this represents an important challenge.

What more can be done to address post-acute care?

The post-acute sector is much maligned and it does not get enough attention. It is important that government officials recognize that there is a population here that needs to be serviced and cared for. We need more support from policymakers. The governor of Florida signed the COVID Liability Protection Bill, for example. We need more developments like this. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Manny Llano CEO Fort Lauderdale Behavioral Health Center

What have been the biggest developments for Fort Lauderdale Behavioral Health in the last year?

Fort Lauderdale Hospital continues to expand its business lines. Earlier this year, we opened up a First Responder Unit, which allows us to treat professionals who need assistance with mental health or substance abuse issues. This has been very well-received in the community, so we are now expanding to Dade and Palm Beach to offer services to those first responders who need our assistance. We have been able to recruit some first responders as staff, meaning they can relate to the patients on another level, having experienced some of the same situations. We have also expanded our outpatient clinic to allow us to treat more patients.

At the same time, we have been increasing our inpatient volume. This year has been very successful for us.

What are some unique opportunities and challenges for the behavioral healthcare sector?

We have seen a lot more growth and opportunities for business. A lot of people, by staying at home, feel isolated. For us, we are able to attract those clients who were already experiencing issues but perhaps COVID exacerbated those. Children not being able to go to school, elderly dependents and job losses have all had massive impacts on the mental health and well-being of people who would otherwise not have experienced distress.

How does the Valor Program impact first responders and the local community as a whole?

This program started by us looking to help first responders. We wanted to create an exclusive unit that would provide them with the tools they need based on that specific specialty group and the experiences relevant to them. The infrastructure is not in place for VA patients so we can also attend to them. Funding is specifically provided by the government for these segments too, which allows us to create programs like the Valor Program.

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Florida has one of the highest uninsured populations in the country, posing a challenge for health services.

( ) insured, 40.5% have employer-provided plans, while 14.8% have healthcare provided through Medicaid and 12.1% through Medicare. Roughly 18% of Broward residents are covered by a combination of nongroup or military/VA plans. But the percentage of uninsured Broward County residents has grown since 2016, from 13.5% to the current 14.6%, according to DataUSA. On average, Broward primary care physicians see 1,376 patients per year and per capita, healthcare spending totals $8,076. Patients enrolled in a private health insurance plan average $4,606 annually; those in Medicaid average $5,175; and those enrolled in Medicare (those over age 65) averaged $12,229, DataUSA added.

The number of practicing physicians has also increased statewide over the past 10 years, by 34.2% as of November 2020, noted Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees in the 2020 Florida Physician Workforce Annual Report. Rivkees attributes this expansion to increased training slots and residency positions, “which should help increase care,” he added.

Indeed, education in the medical field is a leading segment countywide. Of the associate’s degrees

HEALTHCARE OVERVIEW

Jeffrey Welch CEO Florida Medical Center

What lessons have you learned from the pandemic?

Hospitals typically prepare for disasters. We’re required to. For example, we prepare for hurricanes. However, typically we don’t experience a year-long disaster. This pandemic has reminded us that we must plan and be prepared for long-term disasters, not just short-term ones.

This has taught us to view our resources differently as well. Typically, we’re able to shift teams around to make sure people aren’t becoming demoralized or overwhelmed but here is an event that has gone on seemingly forever. We’ve learned how to manage our staffing, supplies, equipment, PPE, tests and vaccines and their distribution. We are much better prepared for future disasters and to fight the current one. awarded in 2019, Registered Nursing and Medical Assistant were listed as second and third-most common and Registered Nursing the most common bachelor’s degree awarded in the county. Physician Assistant degrees were the second-most common master’s degrees awarded, and Osteopathic Medicine was the third-most common Ph.D. degree awarded.

In the Greater Fort Lauderdale region, two of the Top 3 concentrations are in healthcare: medical assistant and registered nursing.

This is significant for the future of the healthcare sector in Broward County and elsewhere as a shortage of health personnel, nurses in particular, is already an issue that is projected to worsen. Hospitals are working now to ensure replacements in the future.

“The retirement of nurses coming up may be a bigger problem than the influx of patients we’re going to get.

But we have seen a good influx of nurses. Memorial has created a nurse residency program, from which we have a steady inflow of new nurses,” Joe Stuczynski, CEO of Memorial Hospital Pembroke, told Invest: Policy While Florida’s relatively conservative political

What efforts have been made to support the mental health of your staff?

During the pandemic, I reached out to our corporate office and asked for a person to come here and provide mental health services to our workers. It provides an outlet for people. We did this quite a bit and we didn’t think about this nearly as much before the pandemic.

Our staff was very stressed and overworked, which can cause a lot of health issues. Even after COVID subsides, we should remember to bring in specialized services that can help our employees get through tough times.

How difficult is it finding talent in the current climate?

We have a very aggressive program for recruiting top talent. It’s easier to recruit people for Florida, even when they’re across the country, because of the great lifestyle Florida has to offer.

We only look for the best candidates. We have had no issues in recruiting young, good physicians, especially since Florida Medical Center is well-recognized and has so many great programs. Our cardiac, robotic, vascular and neurosurgical programs, to name a few, are all centers of excellence. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Matt Childers, Director of Research and Policy at the environment has perpetually stifled any efforts at expanding the state’s healthcare system, particularly Florida Health Justice Project recently theorized that Medicaid, many believe the collective experiences of Florida, and more specifically, Broward County would the past year’s COVID-19 pandemic may set the stage disproportionately benefit from such an expansion. for change on the legislative front. Additionally, some Childers pointed out that of the 805,000 uninsured low-income Floridians without believe given new initiatives access to affordable health at the federal level, Medicaid insurance, over 65,000 reside in expansion may even be the Broward. fiscally prudent path for easing Since the failed legislative statewide pandemic-related attempt, a group of healthcare budget shortfalls. advocates has pursued a state Historically, any healthcare constitutional amendment to expansion has hit roadblocks expand Medicaid through a in the Republican-leaning state ballot initiative. After failing to legislature. In 2015, the Florida gather the requisite signatures Senate passed a bipartisan bill to trigger a state Supreme Court expanding the program by a review, the coalition is aiming for 31-3 vote. Despite this nearly Joe Stuczynski the addition of the measure on unanimous support in the Senate, Memorial Hospital Pembroke the 2022 ballot, Childers reports the bill later died in the House after that body went through the legislative session in a news statement. “Expanding Medicaid now is without considering the bill and later voted it down 72- smart public health policy and smart economics,” said 41 after a Special Session called following local media Dr. Childers in the statement. “Now is the moment, considering the devastating impact of COVID-19 ( ) attention on the issue.

The retirement of nurses coming up maybe a bigger problem than the influx of patients we’re going to get.

Market voices: Senior living

Sue Butler

Executive Director Aston Gardens

When the pandemic started in March, we immediately shifted our focus to protecting our residents by limiting our activities within the community.

With the support of our corporate office we were able to develop some best practices such as complimentary -room delivery of all meals to our residents, as well as very strict screening practices for all staff and visitors. I think the industry will remain a little challenged due to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic. But I think last year there was a lack of new-build facilities as well as people putting off their decisions to make a move, so I believe there is a lot of pent-up demand. Many seniors who perhaps were putting off retirement are now realizing there is no reason to wait. For the remainder of the year, we will continue to focus on resident care, and ensuring our team members have everything they need and want in order to safely provide services. Our team members are such a valued asset to us and we will do all we can to make sure they know how much they are appreciated, especially after such a challenging year for them.

I am certain that the fear of contracting COVID is going to be with us for quite some time. Almost all of our residents have completed the two rounds of vaccines and as the communities have remained COVID free for the last several months we are trying to get back to normal daily routines as best we can. We are encouraging our residents to come out of their rooms daily to participate in dining and activities. We have been following all guidelines set for us by the state and local government. We are finding that they are opening up more and more opportunities to have more social interaction with the residents and their families.

Ricki Kaneti

Founder Colonial Assisted Living

Courtney Evans Regional Director of Operations Pacifica Senior Living

Depending on where you fit and how much you plan for retirement, assisted living is always going to be needed. It’s hard for families to take care of their loved ones depending on what their budgets are. Our model offers affordable assisted living with a family environment. Our facilities are all completely renovated to look like home. They are not institutional looking, they have beautiful floors, with hallways that look like actual patios. When you are walking through the building, you do not feel like you are living in an assisted living facility but in your own home, with the added perk of having on hand all the services you need that your loved one at home might not be able to provide. Our industry is growing and we are providing a need, even for retirement.

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Leah Carpenter CEO Memorial Hospital West

How is the hospital expanding its services to meet the needs of the community?

There are several expansion projects underway to support our cancer, cardiac, neuroscience and women and children’s service lines. The largest project that we are about to begin is our cancer center. We have outgrown the existing location and are investing $125 million to meet the growing needs of our community. The investment will nearly triple the size of what we have now.

There will be no business interruption with this project, as the location is located near but outside of the hospital campus.

It’s very exciting because we are a preeminent cancer center and we look forward to further expansion of our services. Each of the specialties are growing rapidly and we need the space to accommodate the number of patients who are coming to us for care.

What trends are emerging that you believe should be monitored closely?

Reimbursement for services provided is a concern for all healthcare organizations. In order to continue providing safe, quality care and service excellence, we must be reimbursed adequately for the services provided. This enables us to reinvest in our people, infrastructure, technology, equipment and a myriad of other things that are necessary to provide our communities with the care they deserve.

Staying alert, aware and involved in existing trends and those on the horizon is also necessary to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our community. Ever-changing regulatory expectations, readiness for value-based care, population health, the future of the Affordable Care Act, further reductions in reimbursement, development of consumer-oriented care models, the shift of care to ambulatory settings, shortages in healthcare providers and the sequela of the pandemic, which is unknown at this time, will impact the industry in ways no one has seen before. Laser-focused strategic planning and meticulous execution will be critical.

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( ) on the economy, state finances, and the precarious health of Floridians.”

Others, such as Anne Swerlick of the Florida Policy Institute, argue that under the Biden administration, Medicaid expansion would trigger a flood of federal matching and could go a long way to covering state budget gaps ravaged by pandemic-related revenue shortfalls.

One twist to Medicaid expansion in Florida came when, in the waning days of the Trump administration, the federal government extended funding through 2030, instead of the 2024 funding limit the state had requested.

While any longer-than-expected federal funding seems like positive news for Medicaid advocates, some

Medicaid enrollment in the state is expected to reach 4.6 million in the next year.

HEALTHCARE OVERVIEW

Joe Stuczynski CEO – Memorial Hospital Pembroke

I really think telehealth is going to stick even after the pandemic has passed. It’s helped us reach areas we normally wouldn’t be able to reach. We’ve also been able to talk to patients who are afraid to come into the office. Being able to remotely follow up with patients will be big going forward. Instead of waiting a month to revisit your doctor after an appointment, patients can do a quick five-minute teleconference. This provides more efficient care to clients and physicians become more productive.

think this may make lawmakers less inclined to expand the program more in line with ACA standards. There are also a pair of Medicaid bills in the state legislature: One mandating medical faculty plans and essential hospital providers to contract with all managed care plans or else lose funding, and another standardizing the state’s automatic assignment program for Medicaid beneficiaries that fail to choose a specific plan.

Vaccinations Broward County is up and running on its vaccination efforts, with 829,000 eligible residents, or 53%, receiving at least the first of two shots, as of May 3, 2021.

By the end of May, almost all municipalities in Broward County had vaccinated over half of all residents, with only a handful below 50%.

In addition to participating local hospitals and pharmacy chains, Broward has 10 Florida Department of Health public vaccination sites, which do not require an appointment, as well as at-home service provided by the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

The Broward County School District began vaccinating students 16-and over at all district high-school campuses without an appointment. Vaccination is also offered to all school faculty and accompanying parents.

Broward has outperformed all other counties statewide and has achieved an 81% vaccination rate for residents age 65 and older.

Florida has received $194 million of the $3 billion pool of funds provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for its vaccination efforts and COVID restrictions, which had been lax relative to most other highly populated states, have been removed statewide by Gov. Ron DeSantis. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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A 2020 TECconomy/ BIO profile notes roughly 6,700 employers and over 93,000 jobs in biosciences in Broward County Telehealth As COVID lockdowns persisted throughout 2020, onsite medical appointments became prioritized for those with pre-existing health conditions – much like workrelated online video calls became more ubiquitous over the past year – and now look to be an expanding aspect of medical treatment going forward.

Last year, Florida enacted a telehealth law, Section 456.47, which created a set of best standards and practices for providers, registration policies for outof-state providers, as well as an examination of fees charged by providers.

The county already had two established telehealth networks in place before the pandemic hit: BHealthy

Now, connecting the community with board-certified physicians, and Nurse Connect, a free service for those without primary care and providing access to healthcare services 24 hours a day.

Healthline reports that FOLX, a nationwide telehealth platform launched in December, plans to expand nationwide. Offered to anyone over age 18 and without insurance requirements, FOLX focuses on underserved communities.

Although telehealth is not a new trend, its use skyrocketed into the mainstream as a result of the pandemic, and many believe its use will continue to enhance healthcare services. “We’ve seen a 587% increase in the use of telehealth over the course of the pandemic,” said Jessica Lerner, president and CEO of Community Care Plan, in an interview with Invest:. “I think that we must continue to expand on telehealth and the pandemic has provided the opportunity to do that. We’ve actually piloted a telehealth program that provides parents with medical devices for kids, so they can check their ears, throat and so forth and they can give the information to the doctor via their cell phone. It’s been very well-received by the participating families and has reduced the need for them to visit urgent care or the emergency room.”

Bio and life sciences Biomedical research and life sciences, long a booming sector in the Greater Fort Lauderdale region, exhibits strong partnerships between the private sector and ( )

Randy Gross CEO – Broward Health Imperial Point

A huge part of our business is surgery and we have some amazing surgical facilities on campus, providing everything from oncological surgery, orthopedics to bariatrics. We had to evaluate how to continue this surgical work while also building upon it.

Added safety measures have been put in place to include preCOVID testing to ensure the wellbeing of all. While adopting these new measures, efficiencies remained to provide an optimal patient experience and a superior service to our physicians.

To further advance our cardiology services, we will soon be breaking ground on a new interventional Cath lab and noninvasive cardiology suite. Local EMS is a great partner as we care for STEMI patients in the community, and this investment will help ensure we are providing the latest technology.

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HEALTHCARE INTERVIEW

Filling the gap Business Incubation Lab is expected to be a bridge between four generations in the workforce

Gerald Stryker President & CEO – John Knox Village How is John Knox Village bridging the generational gap while helping its residents live a more purposeful life?

We are helping our residents who want to keep working determine what they want to do and how to create a strategic plan for those aspirations. Many of the residents at John Knox Village want to be able to live purposeful lives up until their last breath. With help from other collaborators, we are making this possible by identifying meaningful part-time or vocational opportunities. I do not think society has been willing to accept that retiring can be a secondary phase of someone’s career. Here at John Knox Village, we have four generations in the workforce, and we are helping to bridge the generational gap between all of them through our Business Incubation Lab. We planted the seed this year with Florida Atlantic University and while there are all sorts of incubation programs around the county, ours is the first one that is going to bridge older adults working with younger adults. The lab looks to improve services and products for older adults as well as creating new ones. These are the types of programs that are helping our residents have a purpose and that’s what is most important to us.

John Knox Village broke ground on its $135 million expansion plan last year. Where does the project stand?

We have been executing our Master Vision Plan, which has been developed over the last three years. Part of that plan, Our Welcome and Innovation Center, was completed in August of this year. The center serves as a place where future and current residents can explore John Knox Village’s lifestyle and amenities. It also boasts conference rooms and a 2,500-square-foot indoor/outdoor space for Village meetings, events, and gatherings for the community.

The other piece that is opening is the $7.6-million Aquatic Complex that will consist of a four-lane, 75-

foot long lap pool and a resort-style pool adjacent to the new Glades Grill restaurant and Stryker’s Poolside Sports Pub with an open-air entertainment space. The Aquatic Complex also includes Pickle and Bocce Ball courts, jacuzzi and fire pit.

How is your community encouraging sustainability and eco-friendly efforts among your residents?

One of the things we are doing in our master plan is our collaboration with Florida Power and Light. We are harnessing the sun with solar energy to increase our cost-effectiveness. We are building an energy plant in an environmentally-friendly way that will create power here on our property. We have many mature trees on our campus, so it is very important for us to repurpose and help keep our environment green. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Local universities are vital in training healthcare professionals to meet increasing demand from health providers in South Florida.

( ) academia. A 2020 TEConomy/BIO profile notes roughly 6,700 employers and over 93,000 jobs in biosciences in Broward County. The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance reports over 13,000 private-sector jobs in the life sciences sector, from manufacturers to suppliers and distributors.

On the academic front, Nova Southeastern University is expanding its presence in the life science and research fields, while the University of Miami and Florida International University are both expanding their Miller School of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering Department, respectively, the GFL Alliance reports.

Broward Health has active clinical trials underway for COVID research, numerous cancer research trials for both adults and children, and pediatric HIV. South Broward Research’s Clinical Research facility is operating clinical trials for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular disease and Type-2 diabetes.

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million in 2019. Venture capital investment from the years 2016-2019 totaled $1.27 billion and academic research and development in the bioscience field totaled $1.53 billion in 2018 alone, the TEConomy/BIO profile noted.

Jobs outlook Despite expectations to the contrary, Broward County largely has been able to avoid a contraction in the healthcare workforce throughout the past year.

Broward Health is an example. Gino Santorio, CEO from December 2018 to November 2020, had shored up the network’s finances pre-pandemic and the system is now able to withstand the post-COVID recovery without widespread layoffs. And some executives voluntarily donated up to 20% of their income to an Employee Relief Fund, as reported in the Sun Sentinel. The hospital’s actions have been recognized by credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s, which affirmed Broward Health’s outlook and BBB+ longterm rating on June 12, 2020. “The rating reflects our assessment of Broward Health’s manageable level of operating losses, especially given its solid liquidity and

HEALTHCARE OVERVIEW

Heather Havericak CEO Broward Health Medical Center/Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital

Florida biosciences snapshot:

93,534

bioscience employment.

6,700

bioscience establishments.

$705 million National Institute of Health funding, FY2019.

$1.27 billion

bioscience venture capital investments, 2016-19.

$1.53 billion academic bioscience R+D expenditures, FY2018.

Source: Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance

What have been some highlights for Broward Health Medical Center?

Broward Health Medical Center has stayed completely focused on our strategic planning and growth, despite the pandemic. We expanded our South Florida Transplant Center in which we’re now doing livers and kidneys.

We’ve done a lot of work around our minimally invasive surgery and the utilization of robots, which has allowed us to become a Robotics Center of Excellence. We also started our first class of surgical residents as part of our Graduate Medical Education (GME) program. As you start to look at the gaps in physician specialties over the next 10 to 20 years, general surgeons are going to be among those. We want to make sure that our GME programs always match what our residency programs look like. The other thing I’m particularly proud of is that we completed the final phase of our Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital with the completion of our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

How are you improving access to minority communities?

We have a robust community health services division that focuses on the health outcomes of some of our disparate populations. One example is in our high risk maternal fetal medicine program that allows for some of our community that may be in a disparate population to have access to all the essential services required. There are navigators who make sure that people aren’t falling through the cracks and are connected with care at the hospital. Our team works very closely with that group.

What are some of the challenges associated with the large migration of people to South Florida?

We’re already looking at the data, specifically different age categories, to understand what kind of services will be needed to align with community demand. It’s not just looking at services that we immediately need but what those services are going to look like in five, 10, and 15 years based on this influx of population. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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Jared Smith CEO – Broward Health Coral Springs

We had to respond to the pandemic and, fortunately, we took the right steps early on, which included activating our response plan, educating the community and our caregivers about the virus, and preparing the hospital with the appropriate resources and PPE. An incredible amount of effort went into building infrastructure, including tents outside the emergency room, to converting spaces into ICU rooms overnight. Our caregivers were truly heroic and stepped up to the crisis at hand.

Today, treatments, protocols and medications have changed.

Our physicians have worked very hard to make sure they’re up to date. It was quite a whirlwind of a year. Hopefully, now that we are vaccinating the public, we are heading in the right direction as a community, a healthcare system and a country.

Academic research and development in the bioscience field totaled $1.53 billion in 2018 financial flexibility and conservative all fixed-rate debt structure. We also believe Broward Health maintains an adequate enterprise portfolio, with a good business position in northern Broward,” S&P said in its statement accompanying the announcement.

Not all systems were able to withstand the pandemic impact, however. Holy Cross Health is eliminating an unspecified number of support staff starting with the first quarter of 2021, the Sun Sentinel reported. It attributed the cuts to COVID-19.

To bolster the sector, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance has worked with the private sector to retain and even add jobs in the region, including in the healthcare sector. KeySource Pharma is opening a new 8,000 square foot sales and logistics facility in Broward 138

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County and healthcare finance firm Bankers Healthcare Group invested $42 million in the area.

Looking ahead Broward County is poised to emerge from the postCOVID world in good shape, in large part because of its large, interconnected healthcare systems. A growing population will be met by expanding healthcare infrastructure and workforce. Legislative challenges remain statewide regarding expanding health services to underserved populations but some hope the changed federal landscape may somewhat mitigate some of the political resistance in the state.

The county’s vaccination rates, already in line with most of the country, and better within the most vulnerable communities, are expanding into younger age cohorts, which bodes well for the recovery.

A growing number of healthcare workers, meanwhile, are entering the industry, particularly in the nursing field, spurred by cooperation between local higher-education institutions and the healthcare networks. Population growth, however, is outpacing growth in the healthcare sector, which remains a concern. But even here, the county’s healthcare institutions are aware and taking steps to address the growth. “Broward County has a growing population. We plan to continue building our tertiary-care services and provide a higher level of care. We’ll continue expanding our cardiac program by adding to our physical capacity and adding additional capability,” Jared Smith, CEO of Broward Health Coral Springs, told Invest:.

Education: 2020 was an unprecedented year for education, one of the hardest hit areas of the economy and a segment that saw an almost complete overhaul of how learning is delivered. With the COVID-19 vaccine now widely available, optimism is returning that the future of the education sector is bright, even if it ends up looking different.

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Roadmap forward: Some of the changes resulting from the pandemic are likely here to stay While 2020 brought a world of problems to the education sector, it also provided the beginnings of a roadmap for what education will become. The damage to business models and revenue streams wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic is only beginning to be tabulated.

Educational institutions have had to cut costs across the board as well as find ways to become nimbler as they navigate a pandemic-induced adaptation.

The move to online learning — or at least a hybrid of online and in person — is expected to have far-reaching effects for the sector. Schools not only in Greater Fort Lauderdale but nationwide have spent the past year experimenting with the model and figuring out what works and what doesn’t. Ultimately, as both schools and students face financial challenges, it may come to pass that online pedagogy provides a sustainable way forward.

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schools in Greater Fort Lauderdale and countrywide: a decline in enrollment.

As the past year progressed, and a new landscape took shape, attention turned to sorting out unanswered questions, some of which remain today: Are schools, if open and doing in-person classes, taking the right precautions to ensure the safety of their students? If learning has moved online for many, then how does this affect the pricing assessment of an education? Testing — in which large numbers convene in a large room — is out of the question until widespread vaccination has been achieved, at least, so how does this affect admissions and grading? How will schools address the lost revenue of 2020 as they face a surplus of students in 2021?

Further added to this mix are the social justice movements that, while sparked in the streets, found some of their most ardent supporters on college campuses across America. The problems faced by society are also in abundance on campuses. Students of color have reported receiving less attention than their white peers, being treated more harshly by faculty and coaches, intimidation by campus police, and white pastoral care workers failing to understand the extent of the race problem. Addressing these issues in the past ( )

EDUCATION INTERVIEW

High aspirations ‘Audacious claims’ reflected in higher university ranks, fundraising targets

George Hanbury President & CEO – Nova Southeastern University What were some of the major factors behind your jump in the university rankings in 2020?

In 2010, when I became president, I began working with faculty and staff to develop a strategy leading up to 2020. We made some audacious claims about what we aspired to be. We established matrices that would secure national rankings, increase academic undergraduate standards, and leverage our professional programs to attract the best and brightest undergraduates.

We also aimed to raise $250 million in philanthropy and $300 million in external research grants that would make us a premier research institution that attracts businesses in biotechnology to South Florida.

We exceeded both these goals, having raised more than $311 million in philanthropy and $305 million in research grants. In 2020, we met or exceeded all of our goals, aside from attracting international students, which was complicated by COVID-19 and immigration policy.

We had our largest undergraduate class in history in the middle of a pandemic. We expanded our two medical schools in Tampa Bay and Fort Lauderdale, and we still had a record number of applications (more than 16,000) for our MD and DO programs combined.

We have seen nothing but huge increases across all our healthcare programs.

Having met the Vision 2020 goals, what is the next step in your strategic plan?

We have now extended Vision 2020 to Vision 2025 because we not only want to be recognized as a preeminent university of quality but also a preeminent university nationally ranked in the Top 100. We are already the youngest nationally ranked doctoral university in the Top 200. In addition to seeing success in higher education, that success has spread to the 2,000 students in pre-K

through 12th grade on our college preparatory campus.

What does the new innovation center mean for the university and the local community?

We hope to have that open this summer. The research we’re undertaking is substantial, and the innovation center will help us to attract researchers and students, as well as a knowledge-based industry. By the time we develop the academical village, we will have almost a $6 billion economic impact in the region. Auxiliary services, such as a hotel conference center, will come in and we will be the economic development engine for the Fort Lauderdale Economic Council. Our goal is to integrate the industry in such a way that venture capital companies and angel investors can come to the campus directly to hear pitches. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com

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EDUCATION OVERVIEW

The largest college by number of degrees awarded in Broward County is Broward College.

( ) has often been formulaic and ineffective, though that may be changing. In one case, a five-year, $10 million initiative — bringing together both faculty and students — was established to tackle inequities. Such measures are catching on.

2020 saw a revenue shortfall followed by budget cuts at higher education institutions across the country.

In the autumn 2020 semester, there was a student enrollment decline of 3.6% over the year before, for a total loss of 560,200 students. A financial analysis of 140 schools in the country found that half suffered net tuition revenue loss in the 2020 fiscal year. The resulting financial strain is a result of a combination of factors: a year-over-year 13% auxiliary decline in revenue tied to student services such as food, athletics, and other nonessential campus activities; a decline of international students; and an increase in pandemic-related safety spending. All of these factors have disproportionately affected community colleges and private institutions.

Enrollment rates, in particular, are on the decline and, in many cases, the pandemic has only accelerated pre-existing trends which had seen declining rates for the last decade. Community colleges, experiencing a 142

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6% year-over-year drop, are bearing the brunt of this trend, followed by four-year private institutions. Former drivers of enrollment rates, such as Latino and Hispanic students, are not enrolling like they were and can no longer be relied on to cushion the blow of declining rates nationally. Unfortunately, as enrollment rates have gone down, tuition has gone up, increasing by 62% in Florida public universities in the decade preceding 2015-16.

Still, the most pessimistic forecasts have not come to pass, and analysts are surprised to see how few institutions have shuttered completely. The schools seem to be hanging on. In Fort Lauderdale, Nova Southeastern University, which has its main campus in Fort Lauderdale-Davie, has been among those reporting an increase in enrollment, for example. Enrollment at the private university climbed 11% in 2020, surprisingly building on gains made in the previous two years, although at a slower rate of growth: enrollment rose 27% and 22% in fall 2018 and 2019, respectively.

The federal government has also been doing its part by injecting stimulus money into the beleaguered higher education sector. In spring 2020, at the height of the first wave, schools received $14 billion. In the new year, thanks to the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA), the Department of Education received another $22 billion to allocate (though, they are currently lobbying for $97 billion more).

The lasting impact of the coronavirus on education is yet to be tabulated. Schools have been dipping into their endowments on an unprecedented level, something which has highlighted the disparities between the few very wealthy schools and the rest. To save money, public universities are halting capital projects and ending partnerships with third-party vendors that, in some cases, go back decades. They are seeking new revenue streams — such as turning to adult education — even as they cut tuition and boarding costs.

Furthermore, and more obviously attributable to the pandemic due to the restrictions on travel, international students have not been the source of revenue that they traditionally are. Among South Florida institutions, efforts will be redoubled to attract these students as the vaccine is rolled out.

Higher education Despite these troubles, life goes on. Students are still learning at a robust system overall that is composed of 228 colleges and universities; and of these, 43 are public institutions, 77 are nonprofit private schools, and 108 are for-profit private institutions. In the Fort Lauderdale region, 37% of people have a bachelor’s degree or higher,

EDUCATION OVERVIEW

and another 26.4% have an associate degree. Greater Fort Lauderdale’s universities awarded 19,078 degrees in 2019, with 21,837 male students and 37,087 female students, according to DataUSA. The largest universities by number of degrees awarded are Broward College (13,281 and 69.6%), Keiser University-Ft Lauderdale (5,583 and 29.3%) and City College-Fort Lauderdale (120 and 0.629%). Median tuition costs in the region total $17,000 for private four-year colleges, and $1,968 and $1,968 respectively, for public four-year colleges (instate and out-of-state students, respectively).

Like elsewhere, the pandemic has pushed higher education online in an unprecedented fashion, and it is widely considered that aspects of this — blended learning, as it is called — is here to stay. The growth of companies such as Coursera, which specializes in providing online courses to universities, has been staggering: its list of university clients grew from 30 to 3,700 over the course of 2020, and now represents about 2.4 million students.

Even still, such methods of online, remote pedagogy are not without their limitations. Part of learning in a classroom setting involves class discussions, just as part of attending university is all of the networking that goes

Perspective: Filling the gap Jacqueline Christophe-Hayot Dean of Miramar Campus – DeVry University Since we serve a nontraditional learner, flexibility is so important because they are often shouldering a lot of responsibilities outside of getting their degree. At DeVry, a student can take one class at a time or two classes at a time, and it’s 100% online. Many of our professors are working professionals with expertise in their field, so they are able to understand how to bring real-world applications to the classroom.

along with it (especially true at the graduate level). Both of these aspects suffer as teaching goes online.

Many are betting that at least some of these changes will remain after the pandemic has gone away. Despite its limitations, online education opens up new avenues of instruction, as well as more highly concentrated curricula, than ever before. Additionally, as schools face rising operating costs and students face rising tuition costs, online learning is being seen by many as a more economical option than traditional, brick-and-mortar education.

Gregory Adam Haile President Broward College

What were some major highlights for Broward College in the last year?

We continued to focus on opportunities that increase affordability and equity. We were recognized as a Top 10 finalist for the 2021 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, which is the preeminent prize for more than 1,000 institutions in our category. We define excellence by how we serve our community. We’ve embraced recent challenges, including those related to racial inequities.

The lowest income zip codes have seen their problems exacerbated by the pandemic. Through funding from the state, we have provided rapid credentials to help some of the most affected in our community. We also partnered with organizations like Florida Power and Light, which provided us with over 400 free laptops to students in need who are registered in rapid credentials.

After nearly two years of development, we implemented a priority-based budget to ensure we prioritize investments in the things that impact our students most and have the courage to disinvest in the activities that do not. One of those initiatives included increasing our adviser ratio from a 700:1 student to adviser ratio to a 350:1 ratio.

What are some of the college’s most popular degree areas?

We’ve seen a tremendous increase in nursing applicants.

There was a 29% increase in the number of eligible applicants to our nursing program for the January 2021 cohort. Healthcare, supply chain management and technology courses are also receiving a great deal of attention. Still, overall enrollment is down, which is not unusual among community colleges since we serve those who have faced the greatest challenges this last year. One of the things we have continued aggressively is our work through Broward UP™. We were in over 15 locations in Broward County prior to the pandemic and we continue to provide classes and workshops virtually at no cost to the community, serving more than 450 residents so far this academic year.

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Workforce training There is a growing awareness that these schools must be preparing their students for the workforce in a meaningful way that lets students know they’re getting a return on investment. Business and financial education are becoming more heavily emphasized, a need made glaringly obvious when one considers that a full third of Americans lack financial literacy. This issue has become all the more pressing as college debt has ballooned nationally by 45% over the last decade. These costs are only increasing as a result of the pandemic. Therefore, there is a newfound emphasis on completion rates and job training. Toward this end, politicians on the state level are looking to limit the financial aid a student can receive, requiring the State Board of Education to approve a list of degree programs that would lead to employment.

The private sector is also being engaged in pivotal ways that can help develop the future of Florida’s educational system. An area in which this has been most evident has been in the development of a highly skilled STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workforce.

Both civic leaders and economic development agencies cite a dearth in such workers in the Florida market. As a result, Florida is missing out on the ability to further diversify and grow such industries as biotechnology and aerospace, areas that are growing nationally and typically attract highly paid workers. Even when there are such jobs available, the labor pool in Florida is not up to the task of filling them.

Experts are hoping to start STEM programs as early as kindergarten, teaching children as young as five coding. To that end, Broward County Public Schools has entered into a partnership with nonprofit code.org “to increase students’ interest in computer science as a possible career path,” according to the school district’s website, “... with the goal of educating today’s students for tomorrow’s world.”

Looking ahead As with the rest of the world, there are still many uncertainties facing the education sector. With the vaccine already widely rolled out, the bleeding of lost revenue is showing signs of stopping, and the sector is getting back on course. But what will the longerterm effects of the pandemic be? Will remote learning and online curriculums become part of a new normal?

Chances are, they are here to stay in some iteration.

Educators are hoping this new hybrid learning becomes more helpful as schools focus more on the sort of vocational training that will help grow the local economy.