Global Miami March/April 2023

Stunning Views From the Height of Italian Luxury

Personally curated by globally renowned architect Piero Lissoni in collaboration with B&B Italia—creators of some of the most innovative and iconic Italian designs in the world—to bring the exquisite experience of Italian luxury to life.

Artist’s Conceptual Rendering Developer’s Prospectus for the Condominium. No statement should be relied upon if not made in the Developer’s Prospectus. The illustrations and images are conceptual and may vary from concept to actual construction. All artist’s renderings are for representational purposes only and subject to variances. Finishes depicted in artist’s rendering are not necessarily indicative of what is specified in the offering materials and not all items depicted in artist’s rendering are included in a unit purchase. All renderings of views and exposure to light are for representational purposes only and subject to variances. Furnishings, design features, fixtures, and décor illustrated are conceptual and are not included with purchase of a Unit. Consult the Developer’s Prospectus for information on what is offered with the Unit and the calculation of the Unit square footage and dimensions. The Developer, PRH 1400 BISCAYNE 1, LLC, is a licensee of: The Related Group; B&B Italia: and Piero Lissoni, but none of these licensors is the Developer. © 2022 with

RISK IS THE REWARD

The first watch brand to embrace the world of sailing, the Corum Admiral collection celebrates its nautical origins. With its unique 12-sided case and nautical pennants as hour markers, it is instantly recognized the world over.

ADMIRAL 45 CHRONOGRAPH • ADMIRAL 38

Exquisite Bayfront Views

Situated along the beautiful coastline of South Brickell, with exquisite bayfront views, an on-property private marina, and an exclusive fine-dining restaurant by Michelin-starred chef Fabio Trabocchi, The St. Regis Residences, Miami offer a lifetime of legendary moments — a place where the history and heritage of a timeless brand enables a signature way of life, propelled by impeccable service, world-class design and unparalleled connoisseurship.

ISSUE

58

The saga of Nitin Motwani and the Miami Worldcenter. Beginning 17 years ago, Motwani and his partners began to assemble the parcels that would ultimately be united into a futuristic complex of high-rise homes, offices, hotels, and retail outlets.

66

LURING THE FOREIGN BUYER

The revamped employment-based visa program called EB-5 is attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in Miami real estate investment.

72

A WORLD OF HIS OWN THE RISE OF REAL ESTATE

Despite doubts about the U.S. economy, Miami real estate still attracts billions of foreign dollars. Last year, foreign spending on residential properties crested $6.8 billion, rising sharply from the previous year.

78

SMUGGLER’S BLUES

Miami remains a hotspot for contraband. However, most of what gets stopped is far less glamorous than what clickbait headlines would have you believe.

THE MOST TRUSTED LOGISTICS PAYMENT PLATFORM

With the largest multi-modal logistics network in the industry, PayCargo allows for faster release of cargo and improved daily cash flow for all types of freight payments and invoices.

The American Dream Miami Style

There’s a line from the film “Six Days, Seven Nights” that seems appropriate in regard to living the American Dream in Miami. In that film, two characters played by Harrison Ford and Anne Heche crash-land on a tropical isle in French Polynesia. They survive the crash (so does the plane, to a degree) and set out on their journey back to civilization, facing all sorts of challenges. You know, just like real life. But the relevant line is this: Anne Heche looks at Harrison Ford and hopes he can find a way to rebuild the plane and save them. “Aren’t you one of those guys?” she asks. “What guys?” replies Harrison Ford. “You know, those guys with skills. You send them into the wilderness with a pocketknife and a Q-Tip and they build you a mall.”

The point is, Miami has many of “those guys” and sufficient pocketknives and Q-Tips to help them face life’s challenges while building their American Dream. Our cover story on the saga of Nitin Motwani and the Miami Worldcenter reads like a movie script filled with protagonists and antagonists, the long journey of an immigrant family coming to America for a better life only to face the twists and turns of success and potential failure while building a family legacy. It is the fabric from which all American dreams are woven and why so many people risk it all to come to Miami – to dare to imagine, to build, to create, and to invest. You know, the stuff that dreams are made of.

Now there’s a new immigrant: the corporation. We are witnessing the shift of Fortune 500s relocating to Miami. Goldman Sachs. Citadel. Microsoft. Google. Softbank. They’re here for similar reasons: a business-friendly government, low crime, low taxes, great weather, great healthcare, great education, and proximity to Latin America. But there’s more.

We are a global city. That means a strong economy based on international engagement, with a growing research and development sector, strong cultural institutions, a diverse multi-lingual population, incredible livability, and terrific accessibility to the rest of the planet. We are the best city in the U.S. for multinational businesses, according to Financial Times and Nikkei, and the top U.S. city for foreign nationals to live in, according to a recent InterNations study. What’s more, Miami has learned how to turn globalization into opportunity – to grow new businesses, create new jobs, revitalize neighborhoods, and develop alliances for international markets. We perfected it. It’s why the Motwani family moved here, and why numerous multinational companies – both large and small – have as well. Their vision. Their money. Our city.

PUBLISHER

Richard Roffman

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

J.P. Faber

SENIOR VP INTERNATIONAL

Manny Mencia

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Monica Del Carpio-Raucci

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Gail Feldman

DIRECTOR, SALES AND PARTNERSHIPS

Sherry Adams

Amy Donner

Gail Scott

MANAGING EDITOR

Kylie Wang

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Yousra Benkirane

WRITERS

Doreen Hemlock

Joe Mann

Katelin Stecz

Amy Poliakoff

Mike Clary

ART DIRECTOR

Jon Braeley

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Rodolfo Benitez

Tiege Dolly

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

Toni Kirkland

CIRCULATION & DISTRIBUTION

CircIntel

BOARD OF ADVISORS

Ivan Barrios, World Trade Center Miami

Ralph Cutié, Miami International Airport

Gary Goldfarb, Interport

Bill Johnson, Strategic Economic Forum

David Schwartz, FIBA

Bill Talbot, Beacon Council

EDITORIAL BOARD

Alice Ancona, World Trade Center Miami

Greg Chin, Miami International Airport

Paul Griebel, World Strategic Forum

Jerry Haar, Florida International University

James Kohnstamm, Beacon Council

John Price, Americas Market Intelligence

TJ Villamil, Enterprise Florida

COVER PHOTO by Rodolfo Benitez

RICHARD ROFFMAN PUBLISHER GLOBAL MIAMI MAGAZINE

Global Miami Magazine is published monthly by Global Cities Media, LLC. 1200 Anastasia Ave., Suite 217, Coral Gables, FL 33134. Telephone: (305) 452-0501. Copyright 2023 by Global Cities Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part of any text, photograph, or illustration without o\prior written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. Send address changes to subscriptions@ globalmiamimagazine.com. General mailbox email and letters to editor@globalmiamimagazine.com

FDI Resurgent in Miami

BY JAMES KOHNSTAMM

Leading the nation in employment recovery, vaccination rates, travel recovery, and leasing rate activity, Miami topped the global real estate brokerage firm JLL’s Most Recovered Market Scale in 2021. This was a welcome indication of the transformation underway. But this initial recovery phase lacked one conspicuous component of Miami-Dade’s historic economic growth matrix: foreign direct investment (FDI). Vaccines were just rolling out globally and travel remained challenging, driving speculation of an imminent global recession.

After two years of virtual engagement, however, business leaders and entrepreneurs were eager to discuss opportunities to expand, and in-person. In March 2022, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava led the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s Americas Linkage mission to Israel, the first since the pandemic. In May, the Miami-Dade Beacon Council led a mission to Spain with County Commissioner Raquel Regalado, followed by a delegation to London for finance industry outreach –and the Farnborough Airshow. Miami-Dade was intent on telling the world about the opportunities in this market.

The Beacon Council’s FDI activity ramped back up to pre-pandemic levels, leading to a historically high watermark of active project opportunities by the end of the summer. The international prospects represented a broad range of industries, from finance, tech, and professional services to food manufacturing/distribution and creative industries.

Validation of our competitive positioning for international investment came as Miami was ranked the best city in the U.S. for foreign multinationals to do business in the inaugural “Investing in America” ranking compiled by the Financial Times and Nikkei (Japan’s largest financial media outlet), and as the best market in North America for FDI by World Business Magazine. Seemingly all at once, international delegations returned to Miami, curious to learn about our exponential growth and investment potential. Delegations from India, Bolivia, Brazil, Berlin, Galicia, and others organized

multi-day programs with our international business and trade community.

In October 2022, Beacon partnered with Enterprise Florida to welcome dozens of Japanese business leaders to Miami for a “re-introduction” to the market in preparation for the Southeast U.S. Japan Association’s annual summit (hosted in Florida every 14 years). Immersive tours of some of Miami’s unique business assets followed, including visits to Hitachi Rail in Medley (a joint venture that built the county’s new Metrorail cars), and a visit to the University of Miami’s Converge labs. Delegates found Japanese FDI in South Florida to be strong, including the ownership of leading life sciences firms Noven and Innfocus by Hisamitsu and Santen, respectively. Efforts to secure direct air service from Tokyo to Miami have also resumed, with Quantas also announcing plans for direct service from Sydney.

In November, Miami hosted the Association of British Health Tech Industries (ABHI), comprised of senior leaders of the Nation Health Service and two dozen health tech startups. Eager to tap into Miami’s vast healthcare ecosystem, high level programs and tours were organized with our healthcare and life sciences leaders. MOUs, direct business relocation plans, and discussions of a reciprocal visit to London are already in the works.

Miami’s competitive positioning for foreign direct investment has long fueled growth in our region, and we have never been in a better position to capitalize on our global brand. From MIA’s record number of passengers this past year (No. 1 in the U.S. for international passengers and freight), to PortMiami’s dominance as the No. 1 passenger port in the world (with a growing TEU and perishables market share), connectivity is at an all-time high. Our international banking community, esteemed Consular Corps, and deep bench of professional services and trade officials have set the foundation for a business community with a global perspective.

Miami-Dade County’s FDI partner community – including the Beacon Council International Advisory Committee, The Miami-Dade County International Trade Consortium, Enterprise Florida, World Trade Center Miami, and our many Chambers and municipal teams – will continue to create foreign investment opportunities that drive wider prosperity for our community. l

James Kohnstamm is the EVP of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council

FLORIDA ROOTS. GLOBAL REACH.

Holland & Knight, one of Florida’s oldest and largest law firms, helps set the pace in Miami. Our attorneys have extensive experience across key industries that drive the South Florida marketplace, including technology, financial services, healthcare, real estate and transportation.

While our focus is local, our reach is global, with approximately 1,700 lawyers and other professionals in 32 offices worldwide working to help our clients meet their goals.

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Recent Miami Transactions Affecting Global Trade and Investment

Miami. The new downtown HQ will employ 30 people and allow the tech firm to better communicate with employees and customers across time zones in North America and Europe.

ENFINITY GLOBAL ACQUIRES SOLAR PROJECTS

Renewable energy investor Enfinity Global, based in Miami, announced the purchase of a 400 MW utility-scale solar portfolio from Capital Dynamics, consisting of 28 operational solar plants in California, North Carolina, and Idaho. Enfinity has a global portfolio of over 7 GW of power plants in operation or under construction in Europe, India, Japan, and the Americas.

SUBWAY OPENS NEW HQ IN MIAMI

The global fast-food chain recently opened its second headquarters in Miami’s Waterford Business District, near Subway’s Independent Purchasing Cooperative, which oversees the brand’s supply chain. The new HQ will host 150 employees, including the company’s Latin America regional office staff.

GLOBE AIR CARGO PARTNERS WITH BRAZIL’S AZUL

Azul, one of Brazil’s largest airlines, is partnering with Miami-based Globe Air Cargo to handle all of their U.S. cargo sales and administrative services.

KASEYA EXPANDS IN MIAMI

After winning $4.56 million in economic incentives, international tech firm Kaseya is adding 3,400 jobs and expanding its corporate headquarters in Downtown Miami. Kaseya provides management software for IT teams and recently expanded its global partner program.

LOGISTICS PLUS OPENS NEW MIAMI WAREHOUSE

Logistics Plus, which has a presence in 35 countries, is expanding its presence in Miami with a 181,051-square-foot warehouse to be completed in November in Hialeah. The move will expand on the current 8,000-square-foot warehouse Logistics Plus owns in Doral.

BIRD CANADA MERGES WITH BIRD GLOBAL

Bird Global, the electric scooter rentals company, merged with its Canadian counterpart to provide funding for the struggling Miami-based operations. Bird Canada will supply $32 million in funding to Bird Global and take control of its international platform.

FITCH RATINGS UPGRADES MIA TO A+

Fitch Ratings upgraded Miami-Dade County’s $4.9 billion in aviation revenue and revenue refunding bonds from A to A+ following a year in which Miami International Airport became Florida’s busiest airport. Fitch is the fourth rating agency to upgrade MIA’s bonds within the last year.

CARGO FLIGHTS FROM MIAMI TO HAVANA

Miami-based Global Crossing Airlines, which does business as Global X Cargo, is now flying cargo-only flights twice a week from Miami to Havana using the Airbus A320.

LEVERX

MOVES

GLOBAL HQ TO MIAMI

LeverX joins the wave of tech firms expanding in South Florida, moving its global corporate headquarters from Silicon Valley to

BNP PARIBAS BANK TO OPEN MIAMI OFFICE

Paris-based BNP Paribas Securities Corp, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas Bank, is planning to open an office in Miami in Q4 of this year. The new location will be home to 50 employees.

MIAMI REALTORS ANNOUNCES NEW GLOBAL AGREEMENTS

The MIAMI Association of Realtors has announced 12 new international agreements with real estate associations, bringing its total number of global partners to 242. New partners include Bolivia, Brazil, France, Korea, the Netherlands, Nigeria, and Thailand,

among others. These new agreements provide resources, exposure, and relationships for the association and its international partners.

payments service that allows businesses in the U.S. to quickly accept online, mobile, and in-store payments.

WTC MIAMI ELECTS MENCIA AS CHAIR

World Trade Center Miami has elected Manuel Mencia as Chair of its Board of Directors, amid its announcement of the final 2023 Board. Mencia is an experienced senior international trade leader who served for 25 years as Senior Vice President for International Trade and Development at Enterprise Florida, Florida’s public-private commerce department.

MIA ANNOUNCES RECORD-BREAKING PASSENGERS

At a press conference in February, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced that Miami International Airport had a record-breaking 50.6 million passengers in 2022, marking a 10 percent increase from the airport’s previous record-breaking year in 2019.

ROTHSCHILD & CO TO OPEN NEW MIAMI OFFICE

The Paris-based investment bank is planning to move staff into the new 830 Brickell building under the leadership of Eric Hirschfield, who also heads up the firm’s Chicago office. Rothschild & Co is one of the world›s largest independent financial advisory groups, employing 3,600 people in 40 countries across the world.

Denmark-based PowerCon is installing five shore power systems to provide electricity for cruise ships docking at PortMiami. The new addition will upgrade the port to have the largest shore power system in the world.

CONSELLO GROUP OPENS MIAMI OFFICE

The New York-based financial services advisory and strategic investing platform, which launched in 2022, has now opened offices in London and Miami after launching last year.

NOWPORTS EXPANDS TO MIAMI

Mexico-based digital and AI-powered freight forwarder Nowports has opened an office in Miami, looking to enhance and consolidate its presence in seven Latin American countries.

FLIGHT CHANGES BY AA AND DELTA

American Airlines has discontinued their flights between Tel Aviv (TLV) and Miami International Airport (MIA). Delta Airlines will resume flights between Havana’s José Martí International Airport and Miami on April 10.

ACI WORLDWIDE EXPANDS; ADDS NEW SERVICE

After expanding to three new countries in the Middle East, Miami-based software company ACI Worldwide now supports 25 domestic and pan-regional real-time networks on six continents. ACI also announced the launch of “Instant Pay,” a new real-time

HEAD

Rodrick Miller has been appointed President and CEO of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, succeeding the late Michael Finney. The Beacon Council is a public-private partnership that facilitates the growth of companies relocating to or expanding in Greater Miami. Miller is an experienced economic developer who was most recently the CEO of Invest Puerto Rico. l

PORTMIAMI POWERS UP FOR CRUISE SHIPS

RODRICK MILLER NAMED

OF BEACON COUNCIL

Up Close: Brazil

BILATERAL TRADE BETWEEN BRAZIL AND THE MIAMI CUSTOMS DISTRICT SLIPPED JUST SLIGHTLY IN 2022, BUT REMAINS THE LEADING SOURCE OF TRADE SURPLUSES

BY YOUSRA BENKIRANE

Brazil has been the top trading partner with the Miami Customs District for more than a decade, with bilateral trade reaching a peak of $16.72 billion in 2021. Last year, that slipped slightly to $16.52 billion, thanks to a decline in exports of telephones (-88.7%) and integrated circuits (-4.87%), and despite a surge in exports of aircraft parts (6.45%) and computer products (14.3%). Even so, Miami’s 2022 exports to Brazil of $13.5 billion, while down 4.26% from 2021, still surpassed its 2019 pre-pandemic level of $11.7 billion.

Meanwhile, imports from Brazil rose 15.1% in 2022 to $3.02 billion, driven by purchases of aircraft parts (from $0 in 2021 to $66.8 million in 2022) and handguns (from $54.1 million in 2021 to $131 million in 2022, a jump of 142%). Most of the imported guns come from Brazilian manufacturer Taurus, which exports 98% of its handguns through Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), making it one of the most valuable imports at FLL. The uptick in imports overall was driven in part by a favorable exchange rate of Brazilian reals to U.S. dollars.

In terms of ports of entry, Brazil remains Miami International Airport’s (MIA) number one trading partner despite a small decrease in annual trade (-5.46%) in 2022 (to $12.97B). Exports fell 7.58% to $11.17 billion but imports rose 10.14% to $1.81 billion. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 trade with Brazil at MIA was almost twice the level as No. 2 Colombia ($6.57B), followed by Chile ($5.53B), the UK ($4.24B), and Argentina ($3.21B). By tonnage, the top five trade partners were Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. Brazil also represented the top trade surplus for MIA (exports exceeding imports) at $9.36 billion, followed by Argentina ($2.17B) and Paraguay ($1.62B).

At PortMiami, bilateral trade with Brazil declined significantly in 2022, with exports to Brazil down by 21.9% to $27.4 million, led by reduced shipments of integrated circuits (-45.6%), recovered paper (-95.2%), and thermostats (-88.9%). Imports from Brazil at PortMiami fell even more sharply, dropping 64.2% to $26.7 million in 2022. The decrease was led by fewer shipments of dental products (-33.3%), pig meat (-90%), spices (-87.8%), building stone (-57.8%), and sawn wood (-98.8%).

Interestingly, however, bilateral trade between Port Everglades and Brazil, its third top trading partner, rose 21.39% to $2.22 billion in 2022. Exports led the way, up by 22.28% to $1.45 billion, followed by imports rising 19.73% to $768 million. Key commodities for export were aircraft parts ($76.4M), industrial printers ($83.3M), and medical instruments ($42.2M), with leading imports of stone ($81.1M), plywood ($51.2M), and uncoated paper ($50.1M). Even at No. 3, trade with Brazil was the top surplus for Port Everglades at $680.31 million, followed by Venezuela ($641.76M) and Chile ($588.03M). l

YEARLY TRADE BETWEEN MIAMI CUSTOMS DISTRICT AND BRAZIL

TOP 2022 IMPORTS FROM BRAZIL

TOP 2022 EXPORTS TO BRAZIL

Sources: PortMiami, The Observatory of Economic Complexity, U.S. Census Bureau, Miami International Airport, Port Everglades

THE NEW CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

The Exclusive Real Estate Business Development of IRG

International Realty Group is an organization comprised of expert real estate professionals working in major cities around the world, providing personalized expert advice and services, becoming ambassadors of the Miami real estate scene, who through the Miami Connection Forum, bring a showcase of the Miami real estate business to the world.

Due to the excellent results obtained during the 2022 MCF world tour, the 2023 edition of IRG´s Miami Connection Forum, started in “The International Property Show” in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and will continue during the year to cities such as Caracas, Venezuela, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and other major cities around the world, yet to be confirmed.

In the Miami Connection Forum, a panel of real estate industry experts share their in-depth knowledge, focusing on three important areas of interest for potential investors, who have the opportunity to: learn about the best real estate investment options in Miami, learn about the ideal and safe legal structure for their investment, as well as learn interesting facts about tax management in the United States. All this, while discovering that the best time to buy is now.

International Realty Group is founded on the organizational values of integrity, professionalism and excellence. Values that have led us to an important position in the world real estate market.

Our experience, customer satisfaction and business ethics are a guarantee of our outstanding services.

Stay tuned for the Miami Connection 2023 schedule

Follow us on our YouTube channel @International Realty Group to watch our most recent Miami Connection 2022 videos and discover more of what Miami has to offer.

2022: Trade Shifts, Where We Stand, and the “Next Normal”

IN A YEAR THAT SHOWED SUBSTANTIAL TRADE GROWTH, AIRPORTS DOMINATED

BY ALICE E. ANCONA

The year 2022 was certainly the beginning of the “next normal” in many ways. Trade and supply chains were in disarray, economies were still recovering from the pandemic, and everything was further complicated by the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. With all of that, trade had its own ups and downs in South Florida. Let’s begin with trade shifts.

Towards the end of 2022, supply chains began to stabilize and transportation costs decreased – both contributing factors for inflation. Demand tapered off but the dollar remained strong. And something interesting happened at the end of the year: East Coast and Gulf Coast ports won the trade war.

Since the opening of the expanded Panama Canal in 2016, East Coast and Gulf Coast ports have been chipping away at the

long-standing dominance of West Coast ports over cargo. Many factors, including West Coast supply chain disruptions, have worked in their favor, and by the end of 2022 their victory was achieved. While some importers may return to the West Coast, it’s estimated that approximately 10 percent of that cargo will not.

These changes in trade flows have created opportunities for Florida’s ports. However, here in Miami, we do trade a little differently. Over 80 percent of global trade moves by ocean, but in Miami and South Florida it mostly goes through airports. In fact, Florida’s No. 1 port for imports and exports by value is Miami International Airport (MIA), responsible for approximately 44 percent of Florida’s trade by value and approximately 50 percent of the state’s origin exports (products made in Florida).

Source: The McCown Report

SO

WHERE DO WE STAND?

Let’s start with the data first. The state of Florida is divided into two U.S. Customs Districts: Customs District 52 (Miami) and Customs District 18 (Tampa). Miami’s district comprises the following ports: Miami International Airport, Port of Key West, PortMiami, Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, West Palm Beach International Airport, and Port of Palm Beach. The most significant movers of trade/cargo are MIA, PortMiami, and Port Everglades.

Customs trade data collection is not perfect – it often undercounts our trade with important partners like Mexico and Canada since trade with these countries generally moves by truck or train and not through the air. It also measures merchandise trade, which is important to keep in mind as it is tied to how we trade.

In 2022, despite the strong dollar and high transportation

TOP 10 MERCHANDISE EXPORTS

1. INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY, INCLUDING COMPUTERS

2. ELECTRIC MACHINERY

3. AIRCRAFT, SPACECRAFT, AND PARTS

4. PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS

5. MEDICAL OR SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS

6. VEHICLES, EXCEPT RAILWAY OR TRAMWAY, AND PARTS

7. PLASTICS AND ARTICLES THEREOF

8. PRECIOUS STONES AND COINS

9. ESSENTIAL OILS, PERFUMES, ETC.

10. ORGANIC CHEMICALS

Source: US Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division

TOP RE-EXPORTS 2022

1. ELECTRIC MACHINERY (33%)

2. INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY, INCLUDING COMPUTERS (26.6%)

3. PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS (8%)

4. AIRCRAFT, SPACECRAFT, AND PARTS (7.5%)

5. MEDICAL OR SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS (6.6%)

6. PRECIOUS STONES AND COINS

7. VEHICLES, EXCEPT RAILWAY OR TRAMWAY, AND PARTS

8. SHIPS, BOATS, AND FLOATING STRUCTURES

9. WORKS OF ART, COLLECTORS’ PIECES, AND ANTIQUES

10. ESSENTIAL OILS, PERFUMES, ETC.

Source: US Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division

costs, the district reported an increase in merchandise exports of 14 percent year-over-year for a total of $74 billion. For imports, the increase was 12.7 percent year-over-year for a total of $62 billion. Most importantly, Latin American and Caribbean trade remained strong and growing (for the most part).

Perhaps even more interesting is the movement of re-exports – unaltered, previously imported goods that are then exported from the U.S. In 2022, 29 percent of the Miami Customs District’s imports were re-exported, totaling $18.3 billion – a year-over-year growth of 14 percent. This represents approximately 24 percent of our exports.

Below are the top markets where our re-exports are going to. No surprise – they’re primarily located in Latin America and the Caribbean.

TOP 10 MERCHANDISE IMPORTS

1. ELECTRIC MACHINERY

2. APPAREL AND ACCESSORIES, KNIT OR CROCHET

3. SPECIAL CLASSIFICATION PROVISIONS, NESOI

4. INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY, INCLUDING COMPUTERS

5. FISH, CRUSTACEANS, AND AQUATIC INVERTEBRATES

6. PRECIOUS STONES AND COINS

7. MEDICAL OR SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS

8. PLANTS, INCLUDING LIVE TREES AND CUT FLOWERS

9. BEVERAGES, INCLUDING SPIRITS AND VINEGAR

10. FURNITURE

Source: US Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division

TOP MARKETS FOR RE-EXPORTS 2022

1. BRAZIL (21.3%)

2. COLOMBIA (8.2 %)

3. CHILE (7.8%)

4. ARGENTINA (7.7%)

5. PERU (4.3%)

6. COSTA RICA

7. PARAGUAY

8. CHINA

9. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

10. PANAMA

Source: US Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division

WHAT’S NEXT?

While it’s encouraging to see that trade grew in 2022, a slowdown is still expected in 2023. Trade and the supply chain underwent great stress during the peak of the pandemic, first slowing down and then surging with demand post-pandemic. There was much concern over what trade would look like in the “next normal.” For us in Miami/ South Florida, the “next normal” is tied to our dominance in sourcing and supplying (re-exporting) to the Latin American region and to the new opportunities that the cargo shift from West Coast ports to East Coast and Gulf Coast ports represents.

Deeper in the trade data for Miami and South Florida is India, currently ranked No. 21 for exports and No. 34 for imports. Year

after year, our trade with India has increased slowly but steadily. As supply chains continue to shift out of China and into other parts of the region, India has become a big winner with companies like Apple, which is looking to boost iPhone production in the country by 25 percent by 2025.

Our “next normal” could see new and exciting expansions in trade with other parts of the world as we capitalize on the shift between ports and our growing re-export market. l

Alice E. Ancona is the senior vice president and COO of World Trade Center Miami

Data Driven

HOW A BUSINESSMAN-TURNED-PRESIDENT IS BRINGING CONFIDENCE – AND GROWTH – TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

BY DOREEN HEMLOCK

Record tourism. Record foreign investment. Strong economic growth. And a shift toward online government to slash time for permits and tame corruption. The Dominican Republic is modernizing under the two-year-old administration of businessman-turned-President Luis Abinader, and his push for data-driven, accountable government is boosting confidence in the Caribbean nation of nearly 11 million people, even improving its credit ratings. The optimism shone when Abinader visited Miami in late January to meet with

Dominicans, talk with tourism leaders, and enjoy the wedding of singer Marc Anthony. Abinader earned standing ovations when addressing 400-plus Dominicans at Miami-Dade College, including howls of approval for his efforts to develop a government staff comprised of “public servants.”

“It’s not easy, because in our Latin American countries, there’s been a culture of bureaucracy,” where government employees too often think that the longer they make people wait, the more they show “who’s boss,” Abinader told the audience. “We have to change that mentality.” Digitizing government processes and tracking paperwork online helps cut opportunities for delays –and for graft, he says.

An outsider not from either of his country’s two main parties, Abinader never held political office before becoming president in 2020. Yet he has ample management experience, helping grow his family’s portfolio of hotels and other businesses and amassing a net worth estimated at $70 million. An economist by training, he studied at top schools in the Dominican Republic and the U.S., even taking courses at Harvard. He was elected on a platform of bringing transparency to

government and expanding the economy. Taking office only months into the COVID-19 pandemic, in a country where tourism makes up 15 percent of the economy, he maneuvered masterfully. His administration quickly distributed vaccines to travel industry workers and welcomed back visitors – no vaccine required – pledging to host tourists on government expense should they come down with COVID. By January 2022, The New York Times headlined a lengthy article: “Why is Everyone Going to the Dominican Republic?”

At the end of 2022, Abinader’s land of beaches, baseball, and bachata music had surpassed its 2019 pre-COVID visitor numbers by 1 million to reach a record tally of 7.2 million by air and 1.3 million by sea, including cruise passengers in Puerto Plata. The World Tourism Organization calls it the best recovery of any nation, cementing the Dominican Republic’s position as the No. 1 travel destination in the Caribbean.

That tourism helped stoke the economy. After shrinking by 7 percent in 2020 from COVID’s early impact, economic growth jumped by 12 percent in 2021 then stabilized last year at 5 percent, the same rate

It’s not easy, because in our Latin American countries, there’s been a culture of bureaucracy,” where government employees too often think that the longer they make people wait, the more they show “who’s boss...”

PRESIDENT LUIS ABINADER, AT LEFT, ADDRESSING A LARGELY DOMINICAN AUDIENCE AT MIAMI-DADE COLLEGE

THE BRIGHT LIGHTS OF SANTO DOMINGO

the country averaged from 2000 to 2019 when it ranked among Latin America’s best performers.

This year, even amid worries of global recession, economists forecast a 4.5 percent gain, bolstered by hefty foreign investment in hotels, agribusiness, and other projects. In 2022, the country welcomed a record $4 billion in foreign direct investment, not counting purchases of second homes, says Abinader.

Helping encourage investors is the administration’s “Zero Bureaucracy” program. Abinader, in an unusual show of collaboration for a Latin American leader, gave most of his time at Miami-Dade College to his chief of competitiveness, Peter Prazmowski, to explain that initiative in detail.

In a nutshell, “Zero Bureaucracy” aims to digitize applications for government permits in order to spur the economy. The program began with an inventory of processes and is now bringing the most important and commonly used ones online. Already completed: a 24/7 electronic system for the Dominican Customs agency to speed up the handling of goods at seaports and airports.

That’s important for South Florida, because the Dominican Republic is the No. 1 trade partner of Broward County’s seaport Port Everglades, No. 3 in trade for Miami International Airport, and No. 4 for PortMiami, says Jacobo Fernandez, Dominican consul in Miami. Set for completion this year is a centralized, online system for construction permits, linking varied agencies and tracking all documents. Once in place, applicants will no longer need to travel from office to office, spending time and money, and top managers will be able to check document flow to unclog bottlenecks, says Praznowski. The government is also setting up phone hotlines and special kiosks in all major cities nationwide, and in consulates abroad, to help people navigate the new systems.

The payoff promises to be big. Just the excess time it takes to get through Dominican bureaucracy, compared to the time in more developed nations, costs the country some $4 billion every year, Praznowski says. That’s nearly half the annual cash that Dominicans overseas send back to loved ones in their homeland, money that’s often “bread out of their own mouths,” the president says.

Abinader offered personal examples to illustrate the costs. He recalled how his family was developing a new hotel, slated to employ 600 people directly and 2,000 indirectly. Obtaining permits took four years. The digital system should shrink the process to 10 months, creating jobs faster, he says.

“And it’s not only about time and money,” says Praznowski. “We’re talking about a cultural and institutional change without precedent in the country.”

For Delfin Espinal, 56, a dual Dominican-U.S. citizen who lives in Miami and owns an auto business, the president’s

approach is “excellent.” Espinal says he’d never voted in Dominican elections before but turned out for Abinader because of his push to fight corruption and modernize the country. “Abinader has a conviction for hard work and transparency,” says Espinal. “That generates real confidence.” l

INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 2010 TO 2022 (IN MILLIONS)

AIR TRAVELERS CRUISE PASSENGERS

(Source: Statista 2023)

POPULAR TOURIST SPOTS. TOP LEFT: PLAYA CARIBE. BOTTOM LEFT: STATUE OF COLOMBUS. RIGHT: CALLE ARZOBISPO MERIÑO IN SANTO DOMINGO

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The New Colombian Presence

Last October, the new president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, appointed William René Salamanca Ramirez the Central Consul General in Miami. Prior to his appointment, Salamanca had a long police career, where he earned distinction by implementing a Children and Adolescents Police, strengthening the nation’s Environmental Police, and, as Inspector General, creating the Human Rights Observatory

and fighting for transparency in the National Police. His security assignments included the protection of candidates for the presidency, Congress, governorships, and mayors. He advised the campaign of President Petro on issues of security and citizen coexistence, and protection of the environment and natural resources. His first diplomatic post was Police Attaché at the Colombian Embassy in D.C.

With a background in security, human rights, environmental protection, and the protection of children and adolescents, why did you want to become involved as a consular officer?

It was an exclusive decision of Gustavo Petro that I be chosen as the Consul General in Miami, with various purposes. The first, to unite the Colombian community. The second, to accompany the Colombians here and strengthen his [advocacy] for their activities in academia, culture, sports, and gastronomy.... And third, to strengthen the cooperative bonds between the state and federal authorities, and [ensure] that the Colombian Consulate be a consulate with an open-door policy to all Colombian citizens.

How large is the Colombian population in Miami?

In Florida, we are talking about 1,200,000 Colombians, and here within this district, in South Florida, we are talking about 800,000 Colombians. These are not official numbers, but an estimate by academicians and commercial bankers. [In terms of foreign-born residents living in Miami], first it’s Cubans, then Colombians, and then Venezuelans.

Is part of your role here to improve trade and business relations between Miami and Colombia?

Yes, through support of the institutions of the Colombian government. There is an organization here called ProColombia, which is in charge of strengthening the commercial relationships between Florida and Colombia in three ways. First, through [direct] investment in Colombia; second, through the export of products to Florida; and third, through the promotion of tourism for American citizens to Colombia. So, we are allies of ProColombia in support-

ing these large pillars of our relationship with the United States. So, the new president favors increased trade with the U.S.?

Absolutely. In fact, the United States is our primary commercial partner and our primary investment partner. Exports from Colombia to the United States represent 26 percent [of all exports] and exports from the U.S. to Colombia represent 23 percent of the total [imports]. And there is an agenda to propel industrial production between both countries.

Currently, the top exports from Colombia to the U.S. are gold and flowers. Will that change?

There is also a commitment by the new government to export new products to the United States. These new products have to do with metallurgical, chemistry, life sciences, and agri-food. We have initiated 108 new products that already have permits to enter the United States, including Hass avocados, red peppers, grapes, blueberries, mandarins, oranges, and pineapples… We are also actively involved in the process of exporting software, auto parts, and armored vests.

What are other areas of cooperation and growth?

In the area of security institutions, we aim to strengthen the relationships of cooperation and understanding to face national threats by organized crime, and to strengthen [security] institutions in all their capacities. We are also conscious that the goals of President Petro [include] protection of the environment, protection of water, and protection of life, and how the government of the United States adds to these initiatives. l

PHOTOS BY RODOLFO BENITEZ

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Funding the Flow

WITH POST-PANDEMIC TRADE ON THE RISE, INTERCREDIT BANK AIMS TO HELP FUND THE EXPANSION

BY J.P. FABER

Before joining Intercredit Bank more than a decade ago, President/ CEO Simon Cruz had developed a reputation for financing some of the sexiest commercial projects on South Beach – hotels like the Delano and Raleigh, along with the Van Dyke mid-rise on Lincoln Road and other Art Deco properties. Since then, however, he has honed his skills for global clients, including loans for non-resident aliens and funding for international trade finance.

While banks that provide trade finance are not as prolific as they once were (thanks to the tightening of federal regulations), Intercredit has staked a claim to that all-important – and expanding – function.

“Right now, the bank’s activities are increasingly focused on the trade finance side,” says Cruz, with a concentration on Latin America. “With interest rates rising, trade finance is perfect because it’s a 180-day loan, so we can keep up with fluctuations up or down. It is becoming increasingly important in our portfolio.”

The way it works is straightforward and has changed little over the years. “A typical deal will be where you have a company in LatAm that wants to buy grain,” says Cruz. “You can approach it in one of two ways” – either through the buyer or the seller. Regardless of which side inaugurates the sale, representatives of the bank meet with both seller and buyer – the grain company here and the purchaser in Latin America – to assess the risk. “We meet with them physically; you have to know who the buyer is. We go down country to see their operations,” he says.

Assuming the risks are tolerable, the bank issues a 180-day loan. In the case of Intercredit, they lend up to $8 million per transaction; they also insure the loan through a third party, such as the French firm Coface, which maintains their North American office in Greater Miami. Those fees are tacked onto the loan, along with interest based on the U.S. prime rate, which the buyer repays after receiving and selling the financed goods.

Right now, Intercredit focuses on commodities such as grains, steel, and plastics, with assorted international sidelines. One of those sideline clients is CSI, a Missouri-based firm that leases $300 million worth of computer equipment and machinery annually; their Miami office leases mostly to Latin America. “Even though they are a very small bank [assets of $550 million] they are the No. 3 bank that helps us fund our transactions – out of a list of 39 lenders,” says Carlos Milian, head of the CSI office in Miami. “They share our same entrepreneurial spirit.”

Intercredit also finances residential real estate loans for Latin Americans. “We define ourselves as a community bank with a twist because we do a lot of trade finance in Latin America [but] we also specialize in non-resident aliens who are coming here – the Latin American buyer who wants a home here in the U.S.,” says Cruz,

who previously worked for Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, Brazil, Barbados, and South Florida, as well as for Millennium Capital and Plus International Bank.

While Intercredit is a relatively small institution, they expect to increase their asset base to between $1 billion and $2 billion. “In terms of banking, there are a limited number of banks involved in trade finance,” says Cruz, a function usually left to large financial firms such as Hemcorp and Expo Tech. But, “My sense is that trade has been rising, and there is a ton of business out there. This is a function of the bank that is right now about 20 percent of our business – and growing.” l

PHOTO BY RODOLFO BENITEZ

We define ourselves as a community bank with a twist because we do a lot of trade finance in Latin America [but] we also specialize in non-resident aliens who are coming here...

SIMON CRUZ, PRESIDENT/CEO OF INTERCREDIT BANK

The Multi-Family Game

HOW A REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER FROM LEBANON FOUND NEW SUCCESS IN MIAMI

BY J.P. FABER

For Polaris Realty Capital CEO Ziyad Mneimneh, his firm’s investment strategy is both simple and profound: There will always be demand for decent, non-nonsense housing for America’s workforce, regardless of other economic factors.

People will always need somewhere to live and the demand for multifamily housing will not disappear,” says Mneimneh, whose firm has structured investments valued at just short of $2 billion since it started the Polaris investment platform in Miami in 2012. In that time Polaris has acquired, and now mostly sold, some 12,000 units, using capital from investors in the Middle East and Europe, and in partnership with established regional & national US apartment operators.

The formula for Polaris is to acquire and refurbish professionallymanaged rental communities with at least 250 units, largely in the Southeast U.S. and Texas – places like Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Gainesville, Houston, Jacksonville, Orlando, San Antonio, Tampa, and Washington, DC. “In a nutshell, we’re a private equity real estate platform that connects international capital to U.S. multifamily real estate investments, which means whole apartment communities.” Investors enjoy both an annual return and a final bump when properties are sold. “Over the past decade we’ve been generating an average 8 percent [annual] cash yield, and an IRR in the upper teens [upon sale of the property].”

Mneimneh says that Polaris looks at a few hundred deals annually, moving forward with only one in twenty. Last year, however, the firm was busier selling than buying due to skyrocketing housing prices. “We were happily selling, but made only two acquisitions in the first half of 2022, which is low for us,” he says. “because asking prices had not adjusted to the new context of elevated interest rates, assets were too overpriced.”

Fortunately, the post-Covid nationwide jump in real estate demand, which drove prices up, is now trending otherwise, thanks to rising interest rates. “Since late last year, valuations have been going down because cost of debt is going up… the cost of debt consumes most of the projected cash flow.” For that reason, Polaris is now structuring its deals with more equity and less debt – from their previous models of 30 percent equity to about 50 percent equity.

Their loans still come largely from Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac, the federal home mortgage corporations whose mission is to make homeownership affordable, by maintaining liquidity of the residential mortgage market. “Their agenda is that middle-class multi-family housing remains liquid and affordable,” says Mneimneh. For example, “if your tenants have a lower average income, Fannie & Freddie give you more favorable debt terms.”

For Mneimneh personally, relocating to Miami was not part of the plan. His “long and tortuous story,” as he calls it, started with his parents completing their medical education in Boston before moving

back to their native Lebanon, where he was born. In the 1970s, when the Lebanese civil war broke out, they settled in Miami at the encouragement of close friends. Mneimneh came with them, attending the University of Miami, then graduate school at Columbia University in New York. He was an architect with a multinational design group that posted him in various European cities, before moving to Saudi Arabia and eventually becoming a developer of single-family residential communities.

Mneimneh might have remained there, but when his second son was diagnosed with autism, he felt the U.S. was the best place to come for treatment. Because his parents were already here, he moved to Miami. After a fitful start (thank you 2008 housing collapse) he put Polaris squarely on route to its success in workforce housing, using capital from trusted sources in Saudi Arabia and Europe. Now Mneimneh says he is looking for more investors from the Americas. l

People will always need somewhere to live and the demand for multi-family housing will not disappear...

ZIYAD MNEIMNEH, CEO OF POLARIS REALTY

Garnished with a Twist

CALL IT COUNTER-INTUITIVE BRANDING, BUT FILTHY FOODS IS ANYTHING BUT

BY KATELIN STECZ

Like most people, British native Daniel Singer appreciates a good cocktail. But unlike most people, Singer won’t settle for the sad salad bar olives and deflated maraschino cherries that often accompany your favorite drinks. In 2006, sick of seeing dirty martinis and Old Fashioneds ruined by subpar orange twists and woefully stuffed olives, Singer set out on a journey to create a line of premium drink garnishes.

“In the beginning, I was going to bars and restaurants, and I could see this incredible renaissance happening,” Singer says. “People were moving toward fresh ingredients behind the bar –fresh herbs, fresh juices – but the olives and cherries bartenders were using for garnishes were just terrible. So, I had this vision to make the drinks that people love even better.”

Singer started his quest by spending two years traveling across the Mediterranean in search of the perfect olive. After trying more than 230 varieties of olives and rediscovering lost cultivation techniques, he returned to Miami with four barrels of naturally cured

olives from Greece. From there, Singer spent the next few years operating his company, Filthy Foods, out of the back of his wife’s minivan and selling his unique olives from bar to bar.

From its modest beginnings of two employees – Singer and his brother Marc – and its à la Bill Gates at-home start, Filthy Foods has grown to over 50 employees and now has its own production facility in Miami while sourcing its products from overseas. The company brought in more than $20 million in revenue last year and plans to expand further. This all circles back to Singer’s ultimate philosophy, that you have to go all in and get your hands “filthy” if you want to enjoy life; an echo back to his childhood when he and his brother would return to their family’s London home from playing in the rain, covered in mud and grinning from ear to ear.

Currently, Filthy Foods has partnerships with international companies like Delta Airlines, Carnival Cruises, Marriott International, and Virgin Voyages, as well as some premiere Miami bars like Cafe La Trova and Sweet Liberty. Despite its growth and in-

I had this vision to make the drinks that people love even better.

DANIEL SINGER, FOUNDER OF FILTHY FOODS, WHICH HAS GROWN TO OVER 50 EMPLOYEES AND BOASTS PARTNERSHIPS WITH DELTA AIRLINES AND MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL

creasing popularity, Filthy Foods remains true to its roots, focusing on quality products that elevate the cocktail enjoyment.

“Miami is a huge positive character in the story of Filthy,” Singer says. “Luckily, it’s a hospitality driven city with wonderful chefs and great bartenders that want to provide an experience. Filthy Foods really fits that because we create garnishes and mixes for people that find love in the details.”

What makes the company’s garnishes different are both the quality of the ingredients and how they are processed. Olives, for example, are usually cured in a four-day process using chemicals that strip the fruit of its natural flavors. To amplify the olive taste, oil and salt are then added back to the cured olives. The Greek olives that Filthy Foods uses are, by contrast, cured for four months only in salt and water, retaining much of their original essence. The company also follows a similar approach with its Amarena cherries, which are handpicked and slow cooked in copper pots in Italy to maximize their flavor.

“I love the black cherries,” says Naren Young, creative director at the acclaimed Miami bar Sweet Liberty. “Those in a Manhattan are a total game changer. They add a bit of luxury to the drink, that little piece de resistance. And that really makes the drink something beautiful.”

Charles Steadman, director of food and beverage experience and strategic partnerships at Virgin Voyages, echoes Young’s remarks. “I think we’ve all had that kind of nasty looking lime or cherry in our drinks, and it’s like, ‘Ugh.’ But with Filthy Foods, each garnish, whether it’s the olives or the cherries, is picture perfect.” l

They add a bit of luxury to the drink, that little piece de resistance. And that really makes the drink something beautiful...

NAREN YOUNG, CREATIVE DIRECTOR AT THE ACCLAIMED MIAMI BAR SWEET LIBERTY, ON THE BLACK CHERRIES FROM FILTHY FOODS

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Living the Long Life

A SWISS FOUNDATION TO EXTEND LIFESPAN SETS UP ITS INTERNATIONAL HQ IN MIAMI

BY KATELIN STECZ

Legend claims that 500 years ago, Ponce de Leon led an expedition from Puerto Rico seeking the Fountain of Youth. He never found the magical spring, but he did find Florida which, through a long chain of historical events, led to the founding of Miami. It seems appropriate then that the city was a first choice for an international organization continuing Ponce de Leon’s quest for eternal youth.

Longevity Science Foundation (LSF) is a nonprofit that hopes to pursue a “longer and healthier human lifespan” by funding cutting-edge research and development, and bringing those medical technologies into the mainstream. It was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 2021 and has recently launched its U.S. operations in Miami with CEO Lisa Ireland at the helm, setting up offices in the Blue Lagoon area where the Miami World Trade Center is located. Ireland has over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector and hopes to increase public knowledge and access to longevity innovations with her expertise.

“The longevity field is rapidly scaling, with the potential for life-changing technologies to enter into human practice within the coming years,” Ireland says. “I’m excited to bring longevity into the mainstream and encourage more individuals to learn about this growing field and the unique work the LSF does to support its progress.”

Ireland also sees Miami as the perfect location for the foundation’s global headquarters. “Miami is growing immensely and has huge developing sectors in biotech, longevity, and business. It’s a world in itself,” she says. “And LSF is going to put Miami on the international marketplace as a hub of longevity.”

The organization prides itself on open-access and global participation. Its stated goal is “public access to proprietary biotech through decentralized participation,” something reflected in board members that include researchers and biotech executives from the U.S., Singapore, Dubai, China, Ukraine, the Netherlands, and the UK, where it has formed an alliance with King’s College in London.

The LSF plans to only fund projects that will produce actionable results ready for commercialization in three to five years. “Longevity has a little bit of a stigma,” Ireland says, explaining that it’s not “a magic pill you can take tomorrow that’s only available for the wealthy. We’re the exact opposite of that. We want to make sure our research is available to everyone and that it will have an effect.”

The nonprofit uses a blockchain-based voting platform to determine which projects get funded. Donors can help decide where their money will go using a points-based system on the Ethereum blockchain. The amount they give corresponds to a certain number of “points” which can be used to vote on projects.

LSF recently received nonprofit 501(c)(3) status in 2022’s Q1, so it doesn’t have any monetary data for the previous year. However, Ireland believes the foundation will attract large donations. The

nonprofit recently opened funding calls for two prospective projects, one for application-based “aging clocks,” which purportedly predict longevity by checking organ degradation, and another regarding the impact of psychedelics on longevity. The latter is becoming something of an international topic, with a session on the use of therapeutic psychedelics at the recent Concordia Americas Summit in Miami.

“Our goal for LSF is to be able to award over $1 billion in grants over the next [10] years, and I have no doubt we’ll get there,” Ireland says. “We’re aggressively fundraising right now.” More information can be found at longevity.foundation. l

Miami is growing immensely and has huge developing sectors in biotech, longevity, and business. It’s a world in itself, and LSF is going to put Miami on the international marketplace as a hub of longevity.

LISA IRELAND, CEO OF THE MIAMI-BASED U.S. OPERATIONS OF LONGEVITY SCIENCE FOUNDATION

World Trade Center Miami is Here for You!

World Trade Center Miami is Here for You!

World Trade Center Miami, the largest and oldest trade association in Miami, is part of the World Trade Center Association global business network of 315 World Trade Centers in 92 countries with over two million members.

World Trade Center Miami, the largest and oldest trade association in Miami, is part of the World Trade Center Association global business network of 315 World Trade Centers in 92 countries with over two million members.

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Whether your business is looking to find your next customer, expand to international markets or make global connections we have the resources, services and decades of expertise to successfully grow your bottom line.

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WE PRODUCE WORLD CLASS TRADE SHOWS

WE PRODUCE WORLD CLASS TRADE SHOWS

• The annual Americas Food and Beverage Show now in its 27th year – the ideal meeting place for decision makers and buyers from all sectors of the global food and beverage industry.

• The annual Americas Food and Beverage Show now in its 27th year – the ideal meeting place for decision makers and buyers from all sectors of the global food and beverage industry.

• The Air Cargo Americas Show, now in its 17th year, held bi-annually, brings together top executives from all sectors of the aviation and logistics industry.

• The Air Cargo Americas Show, now in its 17th year, held bi-annually, brings together top executives from all sectors of the aviation and logistics industry.

• The Supply Chain Americas Conference is held annually and in conjunction with the Air Cargo Americas Show is one of the leading events focused on innovation and resiliency in the global supply chain.

• The Supply Chain Americas Conference is held annually and in conjunction with the Air Cargo Americas Show is one of the leading events focused on innovation and resiliency in the global supply chain.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

• International Women’s Day Luncheon: March 8, 2023

• International Women’s Day Luncheon: March 8, 2023

• Miami World Trade Month: May 2023

• Miami World Trade Month: May 2023

• Americas Food & Beverage Show: September 18-20, 2023 Miami Beach Convention Center

• Americas Food & Beverage Show: September 18-20, 2023 Miami Beach Convention Center

• Air Cargo Americas/Supply Chain Americas Show & Conference: October 31-November 2, 2023

• Air Cargo Americas/Supply Chain Americas Show & Conference: October 31-November 2, 2023

• State of the Ports: November 2023

• State of the Ports: November 2023

The World Trade Center Miami is the largest and oldest trade association in Miami, part of the World Trade Center Association, a global business network of 314 World Trade Centers in 91 countries with over 2 million members.

The World Trade Center Miami is the largest and oldest trade association in Miami, part of the World Trade Center Association, a global business network of 314 World Trade Centers in 91 countries with over 2 million members.

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Closing the Digital Divide

HOW INTERNET ADVERTISING DIFFERS ACROSS THE AMERICAS

BY DOREEN HEMLOCK

As CEO of Numatec, a Miami-based digital marketing group active in 25 nations, Giuliano Stiglitz keeps up with trends in online advertising and how they differ across borders. He sees growth in Latin America this year in “retail media,” where a retailer like Marriott hosts ads on its website or app for other companies targeting the same customer – say, ads for car rentals for someone booking a hotel room.

Born in Rome and educated across Europe, Stiglitz has two decades of experience in digital marketing. He worked at Orange, a telecomm corporation in France, and, with colleagues, bought out its digital ad unit for the Americas. His team built up that venture and sold it to Spain’s Prisa. In 2013, he and his partners formed Numatec, named for New Marketing Technology. Today, their holding company owns some two dozen ventures, employing 300 people mainly across the Americas. Its Miami headquarters employs 15.

Numatec specializes in buying and optimizing ad space on digital platforms, including search engines like Google, social media apps like Instagram, and e-commerce sites like Amazon. It also sells software created by others, so that Numatec’s clients – mainly big ad agencies – can similarly check the effectiveness of ads by tracking such variables as clicks and sales. Its revenues were roughly $50 million in 2022, Stiglitz says.

Here’s an edited version of our chat with Stiglitz, 46, who has lived in Miami for 14 years and who speaks fluent Italian, Spanish, and English, plus some French and German.

How does digital marketing in Latin America differ from the US?

The market in Latin America hasn’t reached the level of sophistication and maturity it has in the US. There’s still a fair amount of education required. In the U.S., there are fewer questions about why you should do certain things on the internet and conversation starts around how well you can perform.

But Latin America is moving fast toward the U.S. in terms of digital marketing by brands. It’s probably somewhere between today and five years ago, depending on the segment. Some clients and agencies are on par with the U.S., yet ads in some media lag. E-commerce is quite far behind, partly because of logistical infrastructure. Latin America has a lot of small markets, with different currencies and large parts of the population unbanked, so those conditions are not favorable for e-commerce.

Mobile devices differ. Android is by far the largest operating system in Latin America, while iPhone is big in the U.S. Android is more advertiser-friendly and flexible – partly because it’s owned by a digital marketing company, which is Google. With Android, you can deliver more personalized, geo-targeted ads. Apple is stricter about what you can track and deliver on its iOS system.

There’s a big difference in TV, too. In the U.S., most TVs are connected to the internet, so digital ads have become the largest

share of U.S. ad spending. In Latin America, penetration of smart TVs is very small, and traditional TV still gets the biggest share of ad spending regionwide.

How does digital marketing differ among countries in Latin America?

The two largest markets, Mexico and Brazil, typically attract bestin-class companies that want to move into Latin America from the U.S. I see the greatest opportunity for Numatec in smaller markets, where we can bring in state-of the-art technology.

Each country is really disconnected from the others in terms of currency, laws, administration, bank accounts… so that forces marketing companies to have a presence in each nation. And local people in-market prefer to do business with local people. The lack of sophistication in small markets also means you need to provide education, good service, and be close to your clients in that country.

There are cultural nuances, too. Mexico, for example, is more formal and has a bit more hierarchy. Direct communication may be interpreted as rude there. Argentina is less formal and more direct.

What trends do you see in digital advertising in Latin America in 2023?

We’ll see more “retail media,” which has been a big trend in the US since 2021. Retailers like Walmart and Uber have a lot of traffic on their websites and apps, and they’re offering space for ads to others. So, you’re on the Uber app, and you see an ad for a hotel or tour. Retail media is an environment rich in data and a real opportunity for e-marketers, especially now that Google is phasing out cookies.

Anything related to apps will also grow, whether its financial institutions creating new products, e-commerce sites, or delivery services. For 2023, I’ve seen forecasts for spending on internet ads in Latin America rise nearly 14 percent, a bit faster than in 2022, to reach more than $18 billion in total. l

GIULIANO STIGLITZ, CEO OF NUMATEC

PHOTO BY RODOLFO BENITEZ

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Fired Up at FURIA

THE BRAZILIAN LIVE-STREAMING GAMING COMPANY PLANTS ITS FLAG IN MIAMI

BY KYLIE WANG

Even in Wynwood, a Miami neighborhood that screams with brightly painted murals and sexy cocktail hotspots, it’s virtually impossible to miss the FURIA building. The Brazilian gaming company has decorated its first public venue in the U.S. with a hodgepodge of neon graffiti splashed across the front and a TV screen perched atop the entrance, showcasing the latest live video streams from the company’s professional athletes. These aren’t football or baseball players, however. FURIA’s athletes are video gamers who compete in online games like League of Legends and VALORANT. This is esports, and it’s an exploding industry.

Hidden by a mini Jumbotron inside FURIA’s Wynwood location is a booth with all the fixings for the professionals to come and compete, the live streams of their gameplay seamlessly displayed on the big screen. Racks of clothing line the walls of the main room, showing off exclusive merchandise as flamboyantly-colored as the walls outside. There’s also a room for casual gamers to get together with friends and compete in LAN (local area network) party tournaments. This is FURIA in a nutshell, a Latin American esports company that has taken gaming to a new level with its unique branding and all-encompassing gaming culture.

It’s difficult to pigeonhole FURIA, a company that combines a lifestyle brand with esports teams that have their own pro players

and training academies. Its branded clothing is so popular in Brazil that the company now stages exclusive releases similar to how youthful brands like U.S.-based Supreme or Kith market new products. And its players are known worldwide for their skills on the screen. “FURIA is more than just an esports organization,” says CEO and co-founder Jaime Pádua. “It is a socio-cultural movement.”

The Wynwood beachhead is the latest endeavor in FURIA’s expansion into North America. It’s the company’s first public space, where anyone can come in to use the equipment. Other locations (three in Brazil and one in Boca Raton, Florida) are used exclusively by FURIA athletes for training. In Miami, gamers can pay by the hour to use the LAN connections and play with friends on FURIA’s personal computers; the company also hosts gaming events and tournaments. The pros can stop by to play “show matches” for the fans, and the space doubles as a venue for corporate and other events – including, once, a press conference for a boxing match. This gives the company another income stream while promoting its main esports enterprise.

“We have in Wynwood the perfect opportunity to establish a business model that we want to expand worldwide,” says Pádua. “The neighborhood has precisely the atmosphere we want FURIA to engage with – street art, street culture, fashion trends, and a window for us to show our lifestyle and the cultural force we are becoming.”

Compared to more established markets like those in Asia and North America, Latin America is probably not the place you’d think of to start an esports company. But Spanish is the fastest-growing language on Twitch, the most popular service in the world for live video game streams. From 2019 to 2022, the audience for Span-

FURIA is more than just an esports organization. It is a sociocultural movement...

JAIME PÁDUA, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, ON THE CONVERGENCE OF COMPETITIVE GAMING,

BRAND CLOTHING, AND STREET CULTURE.

Cruise Partners

Cruise Capital of the World Global Gateway of the Americas

Cargo Partners

ish-speaking livestreams on Twitch increased sixfold, according to Bloomberg. And in 2020, the number of people who played a video game in Latin America actually outpaced the number in North America, 266 million to 210 million, according to FinancesOnline.

Still, Pádua says one of FURIA’s biggest challenges has been coming from a Latin American country. “We needed to be way more efficient than other organizations and other countries to achieve the same results,” he says.

While the Brazilian company would not release their annual gross revenue, Pádua said the startup has grown 183 percent over the last three years and in 2021 raised $4.5 million in funding; it now has over 200 employees, from players to coaches to staff. Its expansion into the U.S. has been marked by several successes, including a live competition-style event in New York last year and the acquisition of several big-time American players, including arguably their most famous, Jacob McMillin.

Known as “HisWattson” online, McMillin signed to one of FURIA’s teams in 2022, bringing an immediate boost of recognition to the company. McMillin is one of the most-watched streamers in the world for Apex Legends, a shooter-style game played mainly on consoles like Xbox and PlayStation; he won MVP of the 2022 world championship with FURIA. These international competitions are excellent marketing tools for esports companies and their athletes, often paying out substantial prize money to players (McMillin picked up $300,000 for his win) and broadcasting in multiple languages worldwide (the Apex championship was

streamed in English, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Mandarin, and Arabic). Social influencers are also huge in esports, with popular streamers raking in thousands or even millions from sponsorships.

With more than three billion people projected to play a video game worldwide in 2023, and some streamers broadcasting to millions of followers each day, the esports industry is growing quickly, with “brands and businesses that are not endemic to the gaming industry that want to connect with the esports audience,” says Pádua. Many companies want to reach the demographics that esports serves (mainly young people), though even people over 60 spent an average of 4.7 hours weekly playing video games in 2020, according to industry sources.

Next for FURIA is potential expansion to Los Angeles and New York. The key to this growth, however, will lie in the success of a graffiti covered building in Miami. l

We have in Wynwood the perfect opportunity to establish a business model that we want to expand worldwide. The neighborhood has precisely the atmosphere we want FURIA to engage with...

PÁDUA TALKING ABOUT THE STREET ART, STREET CULTURE, AND FASHION TRENDS OF WYNWOOD IN MIAMI

Dancing Around the World

MIAMI-BASED ARTHUR MURRAY INTERNATIONAL CONTINUES TO EXPAND ITS GLOBAL FRANCHISE

BY YOUSRA BENKIRANE

The first evidence of dancing comes from 9,000-year-old cave paintings in India. Arthur Murray International isn’t quite that old. But for the last century, the company has played a significant role in revolutionizing the dance industry around the world.

Back in 1925, Arthur Murray never expected that his two New York studios would turn into a multimillion-dollar global franchise. But by the end of the 1960s, some 20 years after he incorporated in 1946, there were 72 franchised studios grossing nearly $20 million a year. The following decade, Murray’s company began expanding internationally, prompted by a group of franchisees who had taken over ownership and management. Today, Arthur Murray has 260 locations in 25 countries and total revenues reached $190 million last year.

Much of the credit for the dance company’s recent expansion

PHOTO BY RODOLFO BENITEZ

TOP: ARTHUR MURRAY INTERNATIONAL DANCE STUDIO IN CORAL GABLES, ONE OF THE LAST OPENED BY ARTHUR MURRAY BEFORE HE PASSED AWAY IN 1991. MURRAY IS SHOWN ABOVE.

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– and for putting the U.S. on the global dance map – goes to John Kimmins, president of Arthur Murray International since 2007. “[Kimmins] gave a lot of people the opportunity to come to the U.S. to train, and because of those people, America is now a leading country in dance,” says Rudy Homm, franchisee of the Miami studio (based in the suburb of Coral Gables), one of the last opened by Murray himself before he passed away in 1991.

Indeed, the dance company has always pushed to transcend borders, even back in the 1950s when Murray regularly taught and broadcasted in Cuba. And while the U.S. has made its own contributions to modern dance, introducing such styles as swing, tap, and the square dance, at Arthur Murray it’s always been important to grant opportunities to dancers from around the world. Often, individual studios will sponsor experienced dance instructors to come to the U.S., providing accommodations for the first six months after their arrival.

Another reason for the global conglomerate’s lasting success is the tradition of entrepreneurial endeavors in advertising and franchising passed down from Arthur Murray. “That man was a great innovator,” says Kimmins, beginning with Murray’s 1920s mail-order business headlined, “Learn to Dance at Home,” which used a toy moving-picture device to teach customers. He then came up with the idea of the “footprints” style of teaching dance, now an Arthur Murray trademark, using footprint diagrams to show students exactly where and how to place their feet. And in 1923, Murray placed an ad entitled “How I Became Popular Overnight” in a national magazine and received 37,000 replies.

That same spirit of inventiveness also applies to the dancing itself, which is routinely updated with new styles to stay current. “We’ve always had a tradition of innovation,” says Kimmins, who is a world-renowned dancer himself. “If we see something new happening dance-wise, we jump on it and get it out to our studios.” The Miami headquarters provides the new content for the studios, which then learn it and train their instructors, creating a consistent global product.

Each studio is owned and operated by a franchisee, who must have extensive experience as a dancer and knowledge of the business to be granted their own location. Safwat Gerges, for example, is an Egypt-born New Yorker who has opened five studios in New York, one in Cairo, and another in Dubai. Coral Gables studio co-owner Katia Kanefskaya and Homm, her dance-slash-business partner, are among the top dancers in the world. One resilient Ukrainian dancer has been able to keep her studio open in Kyiv despite the ongoing war, alongside her studio in Warsaw, Poland. Kimmins keeps tabs on all the studios through a weekly performance report that details the studios’ progress – what he calls his personal Bible.

Students sign up for lessons for different reasons. Couples come in to learn ballroom dancing for their wedding, or because they are looking for an alternative method of exercising. One patron was determined to learn the cha cha for a competition on his upcoming singles cruise. All of them were able to learn at Arthur Murray.

“Miami is a cultural crossroads for everybody, and they all find a common interest in dancing,” Kimmins says, describing one reason the company decided to relocate its headquarters from New York to Miami decades ago. Now, with the gateway to Latin America as its HQ, Arthur Murray International is hoping to expand even more in South America, specifically to Brazil and Argentina. “I would like to see our studios grow from having three in South America to 20 in the next two years,” Kimmins says. Plans are also afoot (no pun intended) for expansion into China, and for opening six studios in Russia, post-war. “That might just be me being overly optimistic though,” Kimmins admitted. l

PHOTO BY RODOLFO BENITEZ

Miami is a cultural crossroads for everybody, and they all find a common interest in dancing. I would like to see our studios grow from having three in South America to 20 in the next two years...

JOHN KIMMINS, PRESIDENT OF ARTHUR MURRAY INTERNATIONAL SINCE 2007

RUDY HOMM AND KATIA KANEFSKAYA, FRANCHISEES OF THE MIAMI STUDIO AND DANCE PARTNERS

A Chilean Take on Co-Working

CO-WORK LATAM IS THE LATEST ENTRY TO THE SHARED SPACE CONCEPT IN MIAMI

BY AMY POLIAKOFF

With 25 locations in Chile and offices in Bolivia, Colombia, Uruguay, and Mexico, Co-Work LatAm is the largest co-working real estate investor in Latin America. Now, they have begun expansion into the U.S. market, starting with Miami. And all it took was an earthquake and a complete mission overhaul for co-founder Horacio Justiniano.

Founded in 2011, Co-Work LatAm was born out of Justiniano’s original startup, a toy distribution company in Santiago, Chile. When the devastating 2010 earthquake hit, it forced Justiniano into a realization: collaboration with teammates is the key to success.

Traditional co-working companies like WeWork created a new kind of culture in the shared office landscape. Miami is now honeycombed by co-working companies, with more than a dozen operating downtown and in the Brickell financial district, such as Quest, Regus, Pipeline, and MiamiShared, all offering flexible use of office space with shared meeting and service facilities. The concept allows for everything from low-cost start-up space for entrepreneurs to flexible floor plans for larger companies. It also encourages the interaction of small, innovative companies with each other.

But Co-Work LatAm has a new kind of vision. On the one hand, the Chilean company has taken space for the kind of shared working environment common to the industry, affording the kind of collaboration that Justiniano envisioned in his post-quake epiphany. But unlike other co-working firms that sublet to a variety of companies in an already-established co-working space, Co-Work LatAm also creates self-contained personalized workspaces for their clients.

The idea works like this: Once they take on the customer –typically a larger firm, such as Uber or Sony – they source a space specifically for what that client needs and negotiate the lease. Co-Work LatAm then curates a customized environment for their tenants, designing the interior and fitting it with furnishings. They also provide a suite of services, including hiring and interviewing staff. In effect, Co-Work LatAm provides turn-key office space that does not mix a client’s culture with other companies.

“Our main business is a new kind of service in the real estate industry,” Justiniano says. “We learned after the pandemic that culture is a main issue in terms of people getting back to the office. If you want to create culture in your business, you must have your own space. But it’s not easy to have culture in a co-working space, so we build these special offices for companies of all sizes.”

With just over 60 employees, Co-Work LatAm now provides space for about 5,000 workers worldwide. Their first American offices opened in Miami in December 2021 with three locations in Brickell and one in the innovative Wynwood district. New offices will open in Doral, Coral Gables, and Dadeland next year. Only one of the Miami offices is a co-working space however; the other three are personalized work offices. And while these are not the standard

shared-office spaces typically provided by co-work landlords, they do offer one key ingredient in common: flexibility.

“We offer a unique service that no one else has in the office space,” Justiniano says. “When you rent a space, you’re tied to that space for the length of your contract. We [offer] a solution where you can reduce your space, bring in other companies, and get rid of that extra space you don’t need.”

With Co-Work LatAm entering the next phase of their global growth footprint, the company understands that flexibility for corporations is a necessity, not just a desire. Its added spin is to help larger clients manage construction, development, and design aspects of new offices, along with helping procure administrative and operational staff and resources. l

Our main business is a new kind of service in the real estate industry...

HORACIO JUSTINIANO, CO-FOUNDER OF CO-WORK LATAM, WHICH IS BEGINNING TO EXPAND IN THE MIAMI MARKET

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Yachting Prowess

THE RECENT MIAMI BOAT SHOW, WITH 100,000+ VISITORS, IS ANOTHER SIGN THAT

SOUTH FLORIDA HAS EVOLVED INTO A GLOBAL MARINE HQ

BY MIKE CLARY

When yacht broker Fernando Nicholson was looking for a place to settle and raise a family, he had a world of options. Born in Madrid, raised in France, and educated in Switzerland, the scion of a well-known European boating family had also sailed most of the globe’s seven seas. Like any good captain, he had a sense of what lay beyond the horizon. He chose South Florida.

“I was drawn to the freedom of the place,” says Nicholson, a senior sales broker who runs the Miami office of Camper & Nicholsons International, the 240-year-old company that bears his family name. “It is next to the sea, the beautiful Caribbean, close to Mexico – where we had been living – and had great connections to Europe.”

In the 28 years since making that choice, Nicholson has seen South Florida become what he calls “the center of the boating world.” The area now hosts three of the world’s largest boat shows – in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach – and serves as a hub for repairs on the world’s largest yachts, some as long as 180feet and unable to dock elsewhere.

“Any way you slice it, Miami can be fairly referred to as a global yachting center,” says Michael Moore, whose legal firm Moore & Co., PA specializes in serving clients who build, buy, and sell yachts, and deals with issues like personal injuries suffered onboard. “Yachts are positioned where the owners like to cruise, which was historically the Mediterranean in the Summer and the Caribbean in Winter. That dynamic has shifted as the world has flattened and new markets have opened. Think Singapore, Dubai, etc…. Miami is in the middle of these markets, and with that comes yachting and yacht ownership.”

Numbers show Greater Miami and South Florida’s prowess. A new study estimates the economic impact of the marine industry in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties at $18.5 billion just for the year ending in June 2022. That’s up $6.5 billion from four years earlier – what researchers call “historic growth.”

In all, South Florida’s recreational boating, manufacturing, and marine services paid out roughly $6.9 billion in wages and earnings, supported 141,860 direct and indirect jobs, and contributed $863 million in local and state taxes in 2022, according to a study by marine industry specialists Thomas J. Murray & Associates.

“Statistically, there is nowhere else like this in the world in terms of economic output,” says Phil Purcell, president and CEO of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, a Fort Lauderdale-based trade group which commissioned the study. “Industry growth from $12 billion to $18 billion – that’s a huge number.”

FERNANDO NICHOLSON, WHO RUNS THE MIAMI OFFICE OF CAMPER & NICHOLSONS INTERNATIONAL,

I was drawn to the freedom of the place. It is next to the sea, the beautiful Caribbean, close to Mexico – where we had been living – and had great connections to Europe.

Key to that growth is the No. 1 rule in real estate: location. South Florida offers balmy weather in winter, sits astride the world’s third-largest barrier reef, is near the islands of the Bahamas and the Caribbean, and, globally speaking, is not too far from the Mediterranean, a popular yachting hub in summer. “If you have a boat over 70 or 80-feet, you’re going to move it south to South Florida in the winter,” says Purcell. “There are tons of places to have it serviced here, and the crew love it.”

BOAT SHOW CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

November through March is high season for the industry, featuring three major boat shows: the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (October), the Discover Boating Miami Boat Show (February), and the Palm Beach International Boat Show (March). Together, they attract more than 300,000 visitors and serve as showcases for vessels from small pleasure craft to superyachts equipped with hot tubs and helicopter pads.

The Miami show alone draws more than 100,000 people and creates an economic impact of $1.34 billion, says show producer Informa Markets, which bills the event as “the largest boat and yacht show in the world.” (Informa calls its Fort Lauderdale show “the largest in-water boat show in the world.”)

“Miami is the one show you have to go to,” says Bill Cordes, Vice President of Sales for Invincible Boat Co., a builder of high-end watercraft based in Miami-Dade County. He describes the event as an invitation to dream, to be one of those patrons who

THE MARINE INDUSTRY IN SOUTH FLORIDA*

ECONOMIC IMPACT: $18.5 BILLION

GROWTH SINCE 2018: $6.5 BILLION

WAGES & EARNINGS: $6.9 BILLION

JOBS, DIRECT & INDIRECT: 141,860

LOCAL & STATE TAXES PAID: $863 MILLION

*Year-to-Date as of June 2022

Source: Thomas J. Murray & Associates

voices aloud “the lottery comment,” the one that begins, “If I hit the lottery…”

The most recent five-day Miami Boat Show offered more than 1,000 watercraft, from paddleboards to the 377-foot superyacht Ahpo brokered by Fort Lauderdale’s Moran Yacht & Ship for $352 million. Displays at the Miami Beach Convention Center ranged from sunglasses and deck shoes to life rafts and bilge pumps. Folks who come just to look around sometimes are smitten and end up buying, producers say. “It happens all the time,” says Andrew Doole, President of the U.S. Boat Shows division of London-based Informa. “They’re looking at these beautiful boats [and] people fall under the spell.”

Vinny Pyle, a broker with Fort Lauderdale’s Peck Yachts (Motto: Dream with your eyes wide open) attends each of South Florida’s big boat shows, “because it gets clients and products in one place. That’s important, because we’re selling a want, not a need. And everybody wants exactly what they want, at a price they want.”

A HUB FOR LUXURY SUPERYACHTS

South Florida also serves as a haven for yachting refit and repair, increasingly for larger vessels – including superyachts typically 120feet or longer. Safe Harbor Lauderdale Marine Center bills itself as North America’s largest recreational superyacht repair facility, with more than 200 slips on 65 acres. The marina can accommodate yachts 180-feet-long, which may not fit in other yards.

“Business is trending up,” says Frank Gernert, the marina’s director and Broward County’s commissioner to the Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND). “More people are getting into boating.” Indeed, Florida remains the state with the most recreational boats and yachts registered – more than one million – with the COVID-19 shutdown boosting the desire of many to get out on the water.

Still, South Florida’s marine industry faces challenges. Much of the boat manufacturing in the area has moved out because of rising costs, some shifting to North Carolina because of lower expenses combined with incentives there. And like many local industries, there’s difficulty in finding workers and crew skilled in marine trades – though the Marine Industries group has now joined with the Florida Department of Education to create a two-year Yacht

Service Technician Apprenticeship Program.

Fernando Nicholson’s business has evolved with the times. Today, Camper & Nicholsons not only provides yacht and charter management services but also offers high-tech platforms for tracking charter revenue, crew costs, and other metrics key for brokers and owners. It now works with larger yachts too, brokering the 2021 purchase by a Mexican businessman of the 344-foot “Lady Moura” for $125 million.

Moore, too, says that the area’s boating industry is growing fast and needs firms that can serve it. “We are busier than ever, with buying, selling, and building activity at a brisk pace. I was recently in Dubai, where we are helping a very active and well-funded client create a new yacht building business,” he says. “The primary market – meaning for sale and distribution - for these new yachts will be South Florida.” l

MICHAEL MOORE, ABOVE, WITH LEGAL FIRM MOORE & CO., PA WHICH SPECIALIZES IN YACHTING AND MARITIME ACTIVITIES

We are busier than ever, with buying, selling, and building activity at a brisk pace...

A World of His Own

Assembling the property was probably one of our greatest challenges. It was something like 144 different parcels from 43 different sellers.

NITIN MOTWANI, MASTER DEVELOPER FOR THE MIAMI WORDCENTER COMPLEX

The Saga of Nitin Motwani and the Miami Worldcenter

BY JOSEPH A. MANN JR. AND JP FABER

The pool deck on the top floor of the new Paramount building in Downtown Miami is no place for anyone with a fear of heights. Here, from the 60th floor, the views are breathtaking – and harrowing for any acrophobic – with only a clear glass railing around the deck.

“I didn’t realize this was the highest elevation for a swimming pool in the City of Miami,” says Nitin Motwani, a master developer responsible for the huge Miami Worldcenter complex surrounding the Paramount. “We should use that as a marketing tag.” A good idea, perhaps, but no longer necessary. A luxury residential tower, the Paramount is the centerpiece of Miami Worldcen-

PHOTO BY

ter and is 100 percent sold out. The other buildings, some finished, others still rising, are also well on their way to full occupancy.

“People said I should concentrate on the Brickell area,” says Motwani, looking south to Miami’s financial district. “But you know its streets are flooded during a heavy rain or a king tide. Here, we are 12 to 16-feet above sea level, which is why Flagler brought his train here 100 years ago.” “Here” – a 27-acre swath of land just east of Bayfront Park in Downtown Miami – is where Motwani decided to create Miami Worldcenter, a $5 billion, world-class, mixed-use development to which he has devoted most of his adult life.

Beginning 17 years ago, Motwani and his partners began to assemble the parcels that would ultimately be united into a futuristic complex of high-rise homes, offices, hotels, and retail outlets. What had once been a patchwork of parking lots and warehouses adjacent to Miami-Dade College is now approaching completion, bringing as many as 10,000 new residents into a TOD –a transit-oriented development – where the city’s People Mover, the county’s Metrorail and bus system, the Tri-Rail trains, and the Brightline high-speed railroad all will converge. And with thousands of new jobs in the offing, these lifelines are critical for

delivering a workforce from other areas of Greater Miami.

“Assembling the property was probably one of our greatest challenges,” says Motwani. “It was something like 144 different parcels from 43 different sellers.” And, as with any complex assemblage of parcels for a large project, the purchases had to be made with dummy companies. “We had six different brokers working for us. My parking guy was a shill; we had my pool guy, my landscaper, anyone I could get to play the front man,” says Motwani. “And we were fortunate that we were able to get everyone

[to sell]…. There were some holdouts, but we were eventually able to make a deal so we didn’t have to build around anything.”

The result is the single largest planned development project in the city’s history, one so massive that it took $100 million just to build the necessary water, sewage, drainage, and power infrastructure. When completed in 2024, it will contain over 5,000 residential units, 600,000-squarefeet of office space, 300,000-square-feet of retail space, 600 hotel rooms, and 100,000-square-feet of public green space, including a massive central square. It is a

DURING THE DAY: THE PUBLIC PLAZA AND PARK

world of its own in Downtown Miami.

THE MAKING OF A MEGA DEVELOPER

When he was in his early 20s, Motwani didn’t want to work in real estate. He had just completed four years at Duke University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science.

Today, at 43, Motwani is a major figure in U.S. real estate, and not only because he is the managing principal of Miami Worldcenter Associates, which is developing the city within a city. He has also planned and

built – and continues to build – hotels, resorts, retail venues, and thousands of condos and rental apartments in Florida and other states. He works on a dizzying variety of real estate ventures with his family’s development firm, Merrimac Ventures, alongside his mother Ramola and his younger brother Dev, as well as outside partners. He also participates in U.S. and international real estate development organizations, serves on the advisory board of the University of Miami’s Master of Real Estate Development + Urbanism program, and is active in Broward College’s R. Motwani School of Hospitality.

Endowed by the Motwani family in 2019, the R stands both for the late Ramesh Motwani, Nitin and Dev’s father, and their mother Ramola. It was this dynamic couple, and especially his persevering mother, who tilted Nitin’s trajectory into real estate.

Ramesh (Bob) and Ramola Motwani moved to Fort Lauderdale from St. Charles, Missouri (a suburb of St. Louis) in 1986 with their two sons. “I was eight-years-old and we arrived in Fort Lauderdale just before Spring Break that year,” Motwani told Global Miami Magazine. His entrepreneurial parents, who owned and managed an import/export business in Missouri, had visited Fort Lauderdale earlier, enjoying the climate and beaches, and learning that many motels earned enough money during the Spring Break boom (and a few other weeks of winter traffic) to make a profit and remain open only part of each year.

Born and brought up in India, Ramesh and Ramola Motwani were an ambitious, educated couple – she with a law degree from Government Law College in Mumbai and he with an MBA degree earned in Illinois.

The Motwanis decided to buy a 36room motel – the Merrimac Beach Resort – move in, and take advantage of the Spring Break business. Unfortunately, at that time,

DURING THE NIGHT: THE “JEWEL BOX” RETAIL COMPLEX

“Fort Lauderdale decided to end Spring Break,” says Nitin. “It was good for the city but bad for my family.”

The anticipated wave of student clients never arrived and occupancy levels across the city’s lodgings collapsed. Their first Spring Break at the Merrimac – and subsequent ones – were flops as the city strictly enforced rules, banned public intoxication, arrested raucous students, and told the world that Spring Break was broken.

The Motwanis purchased the Merrimac with savings under a seller-finance plan, about the only positive element at the time, Motwani says. The sellers, who knew the city was planning to squash Spring Break, offered better financing terms than banks, believing the buyers would eventually fail. But the Motwanis held on.

Working hard to promote their motel and using income from their business in Missouri, the family not only survived, but acquired another nearby motel and other properties at bargain prices. Seeing that the city did not have a clear economic plan to replace the lost income from Spring Break, the Motwanis organized other business owners and met with city leaders to define a strategy for transforming Fort Lauderdale Beach into an attractive family tourist destination. Over time, their efforts (and investments) did just that, helping convert the city into a thriving tourist location with first-class hotels.

After Bob Motwani died in 1994, Ramola continued to develop new hotel properties through their family-owned Merrimac Ventures. Now chairwoman of Merrimac, she was a catalyst in attracting the Conrad Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach and the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale to properties owned by the Motwanis. “My mother walks along the Fort Lauderdale beach in the morning and is proud of what she has done for the community,” says Motwani.

JOINING THE FAMILY FIRM

During the late 1980s and 1990s, Nitin and Dev helped out their parents at the motels while becoming top students at local schools. After graduating from Duke, Nitin went to work for Goldman Sachs in New York City as an equity derivatives sales trader. Dev, now president and CEO of Merrimac Ventures, also left to study at Duke, Colombia University, and the London School of Economics. While both sons appreciated their parents’ hard work and business acumen, “We both said we’d never

work in real estate and never return to Fort Lauderdale,” says Nitin. Then, while Nitin was working for Goldman Sachs, his mother traveled to New York to meet with developers. “I went to meetings with her and learned about the hotel business,” Motwani says. “I found it interesting to talk to my mother about the business of acquiring properties and developing them. And I realized my family was not in the motel business, but in development.” Motwani was a real estate convert. He decided to enhance his knowledge of the sector, earning a master’s degree in real estate development at Columbia University, and in 2004 returning to Florida to work with his mother as managing partner at Merrimac Ventures. He also began exploring other opportunities in the industry.

MIAMI WORLDCENTER TAKES SHAPE

Back in South Florida, Motwani met developer Art Falcone, his future partner at Miami Worldcenter, through a mutual friend. “Art had sold his homebuilding business and was looking to do something big,” says Motwani. “This was before Wynwood and the Design District. There was just Brickell and

This was before Wynwood and the Design District. There was just Brickell and Downtown. Miami was a true world center, had great weather and global brand recognition, but it didn’t have a real center. I was excited by the idea of doing something big...

MOTWANI

ON THE

IDEA BEHIND MIAMI WORLDCENTER.

THE CROSBY CONDOMINIUM

Downtown. Miami was a true world trade center, had great weather and global brand recognition, but it didn’t have a real center. I was excited by the idea of doing something big and I got involved in June 2006.”

To develop the project, Falcone and Motwani set up Miami Worldcenter Associates, with Falcone the founding principal and Motwani the managing partner. California-based CIM Group – a firm that acquires and develops properties and invests in community projects – later joined as a third partner. That same year, Motwani and Falcone began acquiring land in Miami’s Park West and Overtown neighborhoods. The City of Miami was auctioning off parcels and the two saw long-term opportunity in owning land in the city’s core.

Keenly aware of the threat of rising sea levels, the team took steps early on to prepare for the future effect of climate change. “We started off by buying land at the highest elevations in Downtown Miami,” says Motwani, investing in infrastructure improvements for a large-scale development in a previously undeveloped area. The two partners assembled a team of experts and began the long and complex process of evaluating and acquiring land, working with

the City of Miami and local communities to win their support and obtain zoning approvals, and putting together an overall plan while making adjustments. Along the way, the project’s scope grew from 13 acres to 19, and then to 27. “We went to multiple hearings and public meetings over the years. We had attorneys but did not use lobbyists,” says Motwani, who served as a member of Miami’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) board for almost 15 years, helping advance programs like the Follow the Sun campaign and the Finance Sector Initiative, which helped attract new companies to Miami.

The Worldcenter development moved ahead despite the Great Recession, changes in demand and pricing in Miami’s commercial and residential real estate markets, and COVID. Reflecting the axiom “Timing is everything,” the project was helped by a combination of factors that, in recent years, have elevated Miami to a preferred destination for companies and individuals seeking to leave states where high taxes, crime, and COVID constraints were major issues. Florida – and especially Miami – offered a business-friendly location (no state income tax), a great climate, and an early end to COVID

restrictions, attracting a wave of corporate relocations and new or expanded regional offices. Art Basel, the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, major medical and university centers, world-class air and seaports, new opportunities for high-tech startups, and a host of other advantages boosted the city’s appeal in the U.S. and abroad, attracting firms like Citadel, Blackstone, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Softbank to new commercial spaces and bringing thousands of talented employees to Miami.

THE BLUEPRINT

The master plan for Miami Worldcenter was finalized in 2016 and construction began the same year. The plan initially called for more than $3 billion in investments for the massive mixed-use, live-work-play community, a figure that has grown to $5 billion as Miami Worldcenter Associates continues to partner with leading South Florida, New York, and European developers. The crisscrossing relationships are almost as complex as the task of assembling the land, and each project has its own story.

“CitizenM [hotel], for example, was a straight land deal. We just sold them the

THE CITIZEN/M HOTEL LOBBY

land and they built it themselves,” says Motwani. “The same for some of the apartment buildings, where we sold the land and they’re building it themselves. This building [the Caoba] we bought out of our land venture with our partner CIM, and Falcone and I developed it with them. We’ve since sold it,” he says. “Another new project that I’m doing with the Related Group personally is the Crosby [a 450-unit condominium]… We also created two pedestrian-only streets and large public spaces.”

Besides citizenM hotels and the Miami-based Related Group, Miami Worldcenter has joined forces with a litany of best-in-class developers, architects, and design and engineering firms to carry out the projects. These include Elkus Manfredi Architects, The Witkoff Group, ZOM Living, The Comras Company, Jeffery Deitch, Lalezarian Properties, Paramount, and The Moinian Group.

Financing for the development varies. “Every vertical project is financed separately through a combination of equity and debt,” says Motwani. The project uses financial institutions that include Inbursa, Fifth Third, Bank OZK, Santander, JPMorgan, Silverstein, CIM (partner), and Mack Capital. “In the case of condos, deposits were used to fill in the capital stack.” In addition to the infrastructure, Miami Worldcenter Associates finances the amenities and facilities used by the public, such as its green spaces.

“I’m into my 17th year with Miami Worldcenter,” Motwani says. “Investing in a community is different from one-off projects…. Currently, we have $2 billion in investments completed, and close to $1 billion in construction underway today.” Including construction, about 1,000 people are working on the project now. The total investment will be closer to $5 billion he says, since “We’re building more than we

originally planned.”

While Motwani is clearly proud of what he has accomplished so far, he remains a remarkably humble and approachable titan of real estate. Having come from a background that cherishes family, he spends as much time as possible with his wife and three sons.

“Nitin was exceptionally smart and ahead of his years and you just knew that he was going to be a wild success,” says Laura DiBella, Florida’s Secretary of Commerce, who grew up with him in Fort Lauderdale. “At the same time, he was down to earth, very nice, a good person and a good soul… His humility has helped bring him success because he hasn’t gotten in over his head.”

Motwani also has a keen eye for the elements that create a sense of community and continuity. At the end of one of the pedestrian walkways in Worldcenter stands an enormous globe of the world circa 1890, retrieved from the inside of the former Miami Science Museum in Coconut Grove.

When the Science Museum relocated to Downtown Miami – immediately east of Worldcenter – the globe was to be abandoned.

“The old science museum had a massive leak onto the globe. A lot of it was damaged. We said, ‘Why don’t we take this as an opportunity and make lemonade out of lemons.’ We hired Franz Ackermann, a famous artist from Germany, and we [restored it] in a way that it could be outside,” says Motwani. That the globe now adorns a central corridor and intersection of the Worldcenter is a perfect symbol for the transformation of Miami from its former role as a small, albeit strategic trading post to a world-class city.

“We have a vision of what Miami could be,” says Motwani. “What we like to do is create communities, help improve communities. It’s more than just putting up buildings. It’s building great buildings that will outlast us.” l

PHOTO BY RODOLFO BENITEZ

We have a vision of what Miami could be.... It’s more than just putting up buildings. It’s building great buildings that will outlast us.

MOTWANI ON THE FUTURE OF MIAMI

MIAMI WORLDCENTER

OVERVIEW

Occupying 27 acres in downtown Miami, Miami Worldcenter is one of the largest private real estate developments in the United States. The ten-block project features a mix of retail, hospitality, commercial/office, and residential projects integrated with public transportation. The development will bring approximately $5 billion in new investment to downtown Miami and create thousands of temporary and permanent jobs.

300,000 SQUARE FEET OF RETAIL SPACE

OVER 5,000 RESIDENTIAL UNITS

OVER 600,000 SQUARE FEET OF OFFICE SPACE

600 HOTEL ROOMS

OVER 100,000 SQUARE FEET OF PUBLIC GREEN SPACE

ESTIMATED COMPLETION IN 2024

LOCATION & CONNECTIVITY

Miami Worldcenter is immediately north of downtown Miami’s Central Business District (CBD), extending between 2nd Avenue and Miami Avenue to 11th Street. It is within walking distance of Miami Dade College, the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, the Miami-Dade Arena, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. Transportation to elsewhere includes Brightline’s high-speed rail, Metrorail, Metromover, Tri-Rail commuter rail and the Brickell/ Biscayne trolley systems.

RETAIL

Miami Worldcenter’s lifestyle-driven “high-street” (main street) retail component is the centerpiece of the master plan, with an openair shopping promenade running north and south from Northeast 10th Street to Northeast 7th Street, and between Northeast 1st and 2nd Avenues. A large public plaza and park will be surrounded by shops and restaurants. Approximately 255,000 of retail space has already been leased, including to Brasserie Laural, El Vecino, Maple & Ash, Etta, Sephora, Lucid, Lululemon, and Ray-Ban.

RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL

Miami Worldcenter will include more than 5,000 residential units with a mix of luxury condominiums and market-rate apartments.

COMPLETED RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS INCLUDE:

PARAMOUNT MIAMI WORLDCENTER, 569-UNIT CONDOMINIUM TOWER.

CAOBA, A 444-UNIT MARKET-RATE APARTMENT TOWER.

BEZEL MIAMI, A 434-UNIT LUXURY RENTAL TOWER.

PROJECTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION INCLUDE:

MIAMI WORLD TOWERS, 52-STORY TOWER WITH 550 MULTIFAMILY APARTMENT UNITS.

LEGACY HOTEL & RESIDENCES, A 50-STORY MIXED-USE TOWER WITH 310 BRANDED RESIDENCES ATOP A HOTEL AND 50,000 SQUARE FEET OF MEDICAL OFFICE SPACE.

CAOBA PHASE TWO, A 40-STORY TOWER WITH 420 MULTIFAMILY APARTMENTS.

PLANNED RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS INCLUDE:

600 MIAMI WORLDCENTER, A 579-UNIT FULLY FURNISHED CONDOMINIUM.

THE CROSBY, A 450-UNIT TURNKEY CONDOMINIUM.

A PAIR OF RESIDENTIAL TOWERS BY NEW YORK-BASED NAFTALI GROUP.

A THREE-TOWER MIXED-USE PROJECT BY THE WITKOFF GROUP.

HOSPITALITY

NOW: Miami Worldcenter’s first hotel, CitizenM, has opened, offering 351 “affordable luxury” boutique hotel rooms with a 10th floor pool deck and state-of-the-art fitness center and gym

PLANNED: Legacy Hotel & Residences is a 219-room luxury skyscraper hotel that will feature downtown Miami’s largest hotel pool deck set on one acre and an enclosed seven-floor rooftop atrium with restaurant, bar and lounge.

PUBLIC ART PROGRAM

Miami Worldcenter has engaged international art curator Jeffrey Deitch and Miami-based curatorial collective PRIMARY to spearhead a $5 million public art initiative. The program features large-scale murals, paintings, and sculptures created by globally acclaimed artists. l

PHOTO BY RODOLFO BENITEZ

The economic and political environment is ripe for EB-5. The program has changed, so you don’t have to wait years to get a visa waiver to stay and work in the U.S....

EDGARDO DEFORTUNA, FORTUNE INTERNATIONAL GROUP

Luring the Foreign Buyer

THE REVAMPED EB-5 PROGRAM IS ATTRACTING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN MIAMI REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT

BY DOREEN HEMLOCK

When AirBnB guests check into the new 15-floor Nexo Residences rising in North Miami Beach, they can thank investors from Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Argentina for helping create the comfort of their furnished apartments and the tower’s modern swimming pool, gym, and yoga studio. Developers behind the $300 million Nexo project are getting part of their funding through a U.S. program that lets foreign investors move to the United States. Dozens of Latin Americans are putting $800,000 each into Nexo so their families can qualify for “green cards” for permanent U.S. residency.

Credit the Employment-Based visa program called EB-5, created to spur U.S. employment in new projects. Popular through the 2000s, then out of favor and temporarily halted, EB-5 is making a comeback in South Florida under new U.S. legislation passed in 2022.

Developers see the EB-5 program as a less costly source of funds now that U.S.

interest rates have spiked. New rules give foreign investors greater security that they’ll earn returns and will be able to get permission to live and work quickly in the U.S., pending “green card” approval. Plus, wealthy Latin Americans are keener on U.S. residency nowadays amid a political shift to the left in their homelands.

“The economic and political environment is ripe for EB-5,” says Argentina-born developer Edgardo Defortuna, who leads the Miami-based Fortune International Group, partnering on Nexo Residences. “The program has changed, so you don’t have to wait years to get a visa waiver to stay and work in the U.S., even before your status as a permanent resident comes in. You can get a waiver in 90 days,” says Defortuna. That timing is “critical” to draw investors who lend at rates cheaper than other sources, he says.

From restaurants to hotels and apartment buildings, the list of South Florida ventures using EB-5 is growing fast. Celebrated chef Michelle Bernstein recently

raised $2 million from EB-5 investors in Peru and India for her Sra. Martinez restaurant set to open this year in Coral Gables. Mister O1 Extraordinary Pizza obtained more than $2 million in EB-5 funds to expand to Texas and the Orlando area. And Miami-based Tap 42 Craft Kitchen and Bar raised $14.5 million through EB-5 and is starting to pay back early funders, says attorney Bennett Blachar, a principal with two boutique firms in Miami – EB-5 Restaurants and EB-5 for Florida Regional Center – both active with investors worldwide.

“As interest rates rise, EB-5 financing looks progressively more viable for restauranteurs and developers. And new rules in place through 2027 make the program more attractive for investors,” says Blachar, who is also raising $21 million for a Fairmont Hotel in Hendersonville, North Carolina. “EB-5 is a far better product now.”

Perhaps the biggest South Florida project turning to EB-5 is the luxury Legacy Hotel and Residences, the $550 million-plus

tower in the Miami World Center in Downtown Miami, says Ronald R. Fieldstone of law firm Saul Ewing, a specialist in EB-5 since 2009. Also using the program: hotels near Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach international airports.

“We find developers coming out of the woodwork for EB-5 now – not only for projects in the Miami area but also in New York, Texas, and California,” says Fieldstone. Many use EB-5 to finance up to 30 percent of their venture, complementing the foreign investment with loans from other sources.

HOW EB-5 WORKS AND A BIT OF HISTORY

Congress created the EB-5 program in the 1990s to encourage foreign investment in the United States to increase jobs. The initial rules allowed investors – as well as their spouses and unmarried children - to qualify for “green cards” for permanent U.S. residence once they pumped at least $500,000 into a high-unemployment area or $1 million into other areas and created 10 full-time jobs in qualified projects.

The program was set to expire in 2015, but was tweaked and extended in spurts through June 30, 2021. However, several complications surfaced in recent years that eroded significant use. For one, so many Chinese citizens applied that the backlog to approve their “green cards” grew to exceed 15 years under the U.S. government’s visa quota system. EB-5 investment from China froze, since applicants could not stay and work in the U.S. while their paperwork was being processed.

Investors from outside China also shied away, uncertain whether EB-5 would be renewed and under what conditions. What’s more, some unscrupulous U.S. groups exploited EB-5 and did not follow up on projects or back foreign investors, eroding investor trust in the visa program.

New EB-5 legislation approved in March 2022 aims to address those concerns. The latest law is valid for until Sept. 30, 2027 and tightens regulations on U.S. developer groups to boost security for investors. Among other changes, says Fieldstone, it also lets Chinese citizens “jump the line” for approvals on new green card applications when they fund projects in long overlooked rural areas.

The new law also ups the financial ante. Foreigners must now invest at least $800,000 in high-unemployment or rural areas, or $1.05 million elsewhere, and create a minimum of 10 jobs in an approved project in order to qualify for a green card. In return, they can get permission to stay

and work in the U.S. temporarily in as little as three months while they await approval of their “card.”

“EB-5 now should see a substantial expansion given pent-up demand, greater certainty, and developers facing higher interest rates from other sources of financing,” says Fieldstone.

WHY NEXO RESIDENCES TURNED TO EB-5

All that explains why Defortuna and his partners turned to EB-5 to help fund Nexo Residences. Fortuna says he never considered the program years back, perhaps erroneously perceiving EB-5 as a funding source only for developers unable to raise money elsewhere. But now, he says, long-time customers from Latin America have been reaching out to him about EB-5, looking for a way to move to the U.S.

Today, Nexo has a pipeline of 50-plus investors looking to plunk down $800,000 each in the project, most of them from South America, including Brazil. His group is working with law firm Greenberg Traurig on the paperwork, aiming to get up to 55 approved and raise perhaps $44 million for the residences.

“It’s an expensive and long process,” admits Defortuna. “The program is not for

We find developers coming out of the woodwork for EB-5 now – not only for projects in the Miami area but also in New York, Texas, and California.

RONALD R. FIELDSTONE OF LAW FIRM SAUL EWING, A SPECIALIST IN EB-5 SINCE 2009.

OPPOSITE: THE NEXO RESIDENCES RISING IN NORTH MIAMI BEACH

everybody. It’s worth it if the project makes financial sense both for investors and developers and if you have scalability.”

Defortuna estimates the interest rate on EB-5 financing these days at roughly three to four percent per year, versus six to seven percent for bank loans and at least eight to 10 percent for financing from equity groups. “So, other sources are two or three times the cost of EB-5 funding,” says Defortuna.

A CAUTIONARY TALE: HIGH ADMINISTRATIVE, EMOTIONAL COSTS

Still, the burden of EB-5 paperwork and the costs attendant to individual investors turn off some developers. Rodrigo Azpurua, president of Riviera Point Development Group, used EB-5 to finance about $60

million of some $150 million in six projects he completed in Florida in the 2010s: an office building and four hotels, including the Radisson Red by Miami International Airport. The investment came largely from Latin America, including Azpurua’s homeland of Venezuela.

“While big developers were fighting for the Chinese market [at that time], I created my niche in South America,” Azpurua says. “It was very useful when the capital markets dried up after the 2008 financial crisis.”

But these days, Azpurua is no longer looking to EB-5 for funds, partly because of the time required to support individual foreign investors through the process. “The EB-5 client demands a lot of attention because of the emotional load around starting a new life for their family,” says Azpurua. “Our company has grown to a level that I have other sources of capital that are more rational and less emotional.”

Azpurua warns small companies that the burden of EB-5 compliance can overwhelm an organization. His advice: “Don’t drive your decision to use EB-5 for the cost of the capital. Because maybe you don’t see it up front, but through the period of your business plan, the administrative costs and

time will add up,” he says. “And be sure you follow the letter of the law to spend the money in the correct time frame to create the jobs as required for your client to obtain their permanent residency.”

Still, for larger ventures and developers with lots of overseas customers, EB-5 may be just the option. Defortuna takes pride in having helped Latin Americans invest in South Florida real estate for more than 30 years. His group, now employing more than 1,000 people, developed the luxury Jade towers in Greater Miami, the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Sunny Isles and Pompano Beach, and is launching the St. Regis Residences in Sunny Isles, with many of those condo units purchased by Latin American buyers.

At Nexo, he’s partnering with Blue Road in a less-developed neighborhood that will allow short-term apartment rentals through platforms like AirBnB. Sales of the 254-units at the 13899 Biscayne Boulevard tower start at $500,000 each. Separate from EB-5, he sees many Latin Americans buying the Nexo units as second homes, with the option of renting them out short-term. Says Defortuna: “That combination is a perfect solution for them and for us.” l

ABOVE: THE NEXO RESIDENCES ROOFTOP BOASTS A POOL AND OPEN ENTERTAINMENT AREA WHERE GUESTS CAN RELAX, SUNBATHE, OR WATCH A MOVIE.

OPPOSITE: RODRIGO AZPURUA, PRESIDENT OF RIVIERA POINT DEVELOPMENT GROUP, CUTS THE RIBBON AT THE OPENING OF THE RADISSON RED BY MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.

THE RISE OF

Like an incoming tide, billions of dollars are flowing into Miami’s residential and commercial real estate market from foreign investors. Last year, foreign spending on residential properties crested $6.8 billion, rising sharply from the previous year. Overseas capital for the commercial sector – the money used to build not only residential high-rises but office, retail, and mixed-use buildings – topped $1.3 billion, though that was a decline from the previous year, attributed to both the aggressive increase of capital from domestic sources and rising interest rates.

While overseas capital inflows have not yet reached preCOVID levels, they are rising especially fast for the residential mar-

REAL ESTATE

DESPITE DOUBTS ABOUT THE U.S. ECONOMY, MIAMI REAL ESTATE STILL ATTRACTS BILLIONS OF FOREIGN DOLLARS

BY JOSEPH A. MANN JR.

ket and, in spite of the commercial drop for 2022, foreign money is still a key source for financing projects.

“About 35 percent of our commercial transactions are from foreign capital sources,” says Michael Fay, managing director of the Miami office of Avison Young, the firm handling the sale of the 15.5-acre waterfront parcel in Downtown Miami owned by Malaysian casino company Genting. “But if you look at some of the local and regional developers, that number is probably higher [because] a lot of these major developers will partner with foreign investor funds for the equity.”

The new downtown 830 office building, for example, is a joint commercial project between the U.S.-based OKO Group and London-based Cain International. A planned 1,000-foot-tall office tower at Miami’s Brickell Centre will be a joint venture between Stephen Ross U.S.-based Related Companies and Hong Kong and London-based Swire Group.

“Foreign investment plays a fundamental role in Miami real estate development today,” says Alirio Torrealba, the CEO of MG Developer, known for its high-end residential buildings, including Mediterranean-style townhome projects in Miami’s posh suburb of Coral Gables. “Foreign investors are an active community in the real estate sector, and there are important capital-management groups that work with key developers in the sector.” MG Developer works with Brazilian and Peruvian investors, as well as with U.S. investors, for a mix of financing from local financial institutions and overseas capital.

The more direct presence of foreign commercial investment can be seen in projects like the $400 million, 72-story downtown Okan tower, currently under construction and financed entirely by Turkish industrialist Bekir Okan. Or the recently approved $300 million mixed-used project on Miami’s 79th Street Causeway by the Jesta Group of Montreal. And bids are coming in from multiple foreign sources in excess of $1 billion for the downtown Genting parcel, which can be developed into 20 million-square-feet of office, retail, hotel, and residential buildings.

Coral Gables-based Driftwood Capital, for one, saw a steady flow of new international funds for its hotel projects in 2022. “In the past few months alone, foreign investors have committed more than $150 million to Driftwood projects,” says CEO Carlos Rodriguez Sr. And for 2023, he expects a steadily growing flow of funds. “The pace of foreign capital flows to Miami is only getting stronger,” says the CEO, whose firm invests in and develops hospitality projects while also providing lending and management services. Its current $3 billion project portfolio has 1,200 international investors who have acquired shares in their investment fund.

“The more turmoil there is in the world, the more capital will flow to cities like Miami, which is considered a safe haven for investment,” Rodriguez says – noting that since the COVID pandemic, “international capital is now competing with the domestic capital moving in from New York, California, and Chicago. This has provided jet fuel to Miami’s growth.” Driftwood’s projects include the Riverside Wharf/Dream Miami hotel, a $185 million joint venture with MV Real Estate Holdings.

THE RESIDENTIAL RISE

While foreign investments into commercial projects remains strong, the residential side of Miami real estate is exploding. Foreign residential purchases in the last full year measured by the Miami Association of Realtors climbed 34 percent, reaching $6.8 billion from the previous year’s total of $5.1 billion. The comprehensive

December 2022 report published by the Miami realtors’ group and the National Association of Realtors covers the period from August 2021 through July 2022.

Foreign buyers came from 54 countries, with the largest shares of the total from Argentina (16%), Colombia (13%), Canada (8%), Peru (8%), and Chile (6%). Foreigners bought 9,400 homes in the year covered, compared to 7,500 the previous year. Two-thirds of the international buyers – foreign individuals, companies, family offices, trust accounts, etc. – paid in cash. And the total foreign investment figure is higher than reported; the Miami Realtors’ total relies on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), but many sales are made directly between seller and buyer without listing the properties.

Edgardo Defortuna, founder, president, and CEO of Miami-

The more turmoil there is in the world, the more capital will flow to cities like Miami, which is considered a safe haven for investment...

CARLOS RODRIGUEZ SR., CEO OF DRIFTWOOD CAPITAL

DREAM MIAMI AT RIVERSIDE WHARF

DREAM MIAMI AT RIVERSIDE WHARF

830 BRICKELL OKAN TOWER

based Fortune International Realty (FIR) and its parent, Fortune International Group, has seen investment from 38 different countries for his residential and commercial businesses, “at last count,” he says. “Sales were extremely strong in 2022 and money has predominantly come from the U.S., Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, and Brazil. 2022 was probably our second or third best year. Since the 1980s, there has been a constant wave of international buyers acquiring properties in the area as second homes or as investment vehicles to diversify and/ or to protect their assets. Foreigners feel at home when spending time in South Florida because of our diversity and they continue to be a very important part of the overall luxury market.” Among the properties FIR developed, marketed, and sold in South Florida are the Ritz-Carlton Residences Sunny Isles Beach, Brickell Flatiron, 2000 Ocean, and Jade Signature.

“Since COVID, our firm has seen a huge push in domestic buyers – from New York and California – and recently some South American money, especially from Colombia,” says Victor Hernandez, principal of Haute & Boss, a construction design and management firm that specializes in ultra-luxury residences and high-end commercial properties. Indeed, interest from Colombian buyers in particular has been rising, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. Colombians posted the most web searches for Miami homes in December (11.81%), followed by China (11.78%), Venezuela (6.48%), and Argentina (6.24%). The biggest month-overmonth jump came from Brazil, moving from No. 12 to No. 7 in the list of queries, spurred by the election of leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as Brazil’s new president.

Nicolas Perez, senior vice president of Miami-based Related Group, said his company has seen an uptick in condo buyers from Brazil since the recent elections there, as well as clients from Venezuela, Chile, and Mexico.

Related, one of the top developers of Miami high-rise resi-

Miami.

dences and a leading marketer to foreign buyers, recently partnered with Nitin Motwani in developing The Crosby luxury residences at Miami Worldcenter (see story pg. 56). Perez says there is a 60/40 mix of South American to domestic buyers for units in this property, and that he expects turmoil in Latin America to drive more investment to Miami real estate. (Another nearby project, the 600 Miami Worldcenter building, is seeing 75 percent of units going to foreign buyers.)

Related, with properties ranging from affordable housing to mixed-use centers and luxury condos, has operations throughout the U.S. and Latin America. “It’s very important to build a critical mass of market-priced and affordable units in Miami,” says Perez. “You can’t be a great city and grow without everyone coming up together.”

MIAMI’S PRIVILEGED POSITION

Despite some doubts about the short and mid-term economic future of the U.S. economy, Miami’s residential and commercial real

It’s very important to build a critical mass of market-priced and affordable units in

You can’t be a great city and grow without everyone coming up together.

NICOLAS PEREZ (CENTER), SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF MIAMI-BASED RELATED GROUP, WITH PARTNER NITIN MOTWANI (TO HIS RIGHT) IN THE CROSBY RESIDENCES.

WHERE THE BUYERS ARE FROM

estate markets enjoy a privileged position among competing U.S. markets, bolstered by strong economic growth, business-friendly policies, and the city’s role as an international capital.

According to Colliers Real Capital Analytics, Canada, Thailand, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and Spain were all leading sources of foreign capital in 2022. Colliers, a top international real estate investment management and services firm, said that foreign investors were net sellers of Miami commercial properties in 2022, in keeping with a trend affecting other U.S. markets, and that “the second half of 2022 saw all investment activity cool off” due to market uncertainty, inflation, and high interest rates.

However, “South Florida stands out from the nation with its strong market fundamentals” and “its commercial real estate market continues to outperform against other markets in the U.S.,” Colliers said in a report. Florida is one of the top states receiving foreign investment in commercial properties, and Miami-Dade and Broward counties ranked among the top U.S. markets in attracting foreign capital last year. Canadian investors (part of Toronto’s Catalyst Capital Group), for example, recently bought The Balfour Hotel in South Beach for $39.3 million. On the residential side, Florida has been the top state for foreign buyers for 14 years, consistently beating California, Texas, and Arizona. At Miami Worldcenter, buyers from over 50 countries have purchased residences in the massive (569unit) Paramount luxury condo tower, now completed.

“The current upheaval of democratic institutions in Latin America directly correlates to increased foreign investment in Miami because corporations and family offices in these countries are reallocating their global capital with a flight towards security in U.S. property,” says Suzanne Hollander, associate teaching professor at the Hollo School of Real Estate at Florida International University. During the early days of this year, political instability led to political violence that “shook the democratic institutions of Brazil and Peru, shocked the market, and interrupted logistics and business operations. During 2022, Chile experienced political turmoil as it tried to change its constitution to devalue property rights as well.”

As for foreign investment, “Uncle Sam is the best business partner,” says Hollander. “This means that the U.S. is the safest country to buy property in because of the transparency of its real estate market data, the stability of the U.S. dollar, and U.S. government enforcement and protection of private property rights for both citizens and non-citizens.”

“We remain extremely confident in Miami’s future and the role that premium office assets will play in its expansion into a global gateway city,” says Jonathan Goldstein, co-founder and CEO of Cain International. “When [co-founder] Todd Boehly and I set up Cain, we had a very simple philosophy. We like to invest in gateway cities. If you look at the vast majority of our investments, they are in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Madrid, London, and Miami…. Miami has been undervalued in terms of the rest of the world. And it has a taxation environment that most people find desirable.”

And as for the impact of foreign investment in the Miami real estate market? “Increased foreign investment fuels Miami’s transformation from a tropical beach town to a dynamic global metropolis full of people who speak Spanish, English, and Portuguese, at minimum, and bring new ideas for innovation development and growth,” Hollander says. “Increased demand drives up property values [and] increases property tax collection, leading to the availability of more public services.” On the negative side, “Increased demand drives up purchase prices, sometimes squeezing local buyers out of the market.” l

The current upheaval of democratic institutions in Latin America directly correlates to increased foreign investment in Miami...

SUZANNE HOLLANDER, TOP, ASSOCIATE TEACHING PROFESSOR AT THE HOLLO SCHOOL OF REAL ESTATE AT FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY.

Source: National Association of Realtors, year-to-date July 2022

In 2022, foreigners bought 9,400 residences in Greater Miami. They came from 54 countries, with the largest numbers from:

Total foreign buyer share of all Miami dollar sales 2022: 17% Total foreign buyer share of all Miami dollar sales 2021: 14%

SMUGGLER’S BLUES

BIRD MARKETS IN ASIA AND SOUTH AMERICA SUPPLY THE DEMAND FOR EXOTIC SPECIES THAT ARE SMUGGLED THROUGH PORTS OF ENTRY SUCH AS MIAMI.

Thanks to its growing volume of trade, Miami remains a hotspot for contraband

BY KATELIN STECZ

On January 24, 2020, wildlife inspectors at Miami International Airport intercepted a shipment of 1,400 pounds of dried shark fins. In September 2020, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at MIA ripped open an armchair stuffed with almost $500,000 in cash en route to the Dominican Republic. And in February 2021, CBP officers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport stopped a passenger arriving from Colombia who was carrying six pounds of illegal gold bracelets and chains painted black, worth roughly $170,000.

The stories go on: A man arriving from Cuba tries to smuggle exotic birds in his pants – yes, his pants; Colombian narcos hide cocaine in a shipment of Valentine’s Day flowers; CBP Miami intercepts ancient stone carvings from Cameroon. Over the years, the ports of entry in Miami and Fort Lauderdale

have seen their fair share of strange and undeniably creative contraband schemes.However, most of what gets stopped is far less glamorous than what clickbait headlines would have you believe – it’s not all cocaine and canaries. What customs officials spend most of their time intercepting are items that violate intellectual property rights (IPR) – namely trademarked items that are counterfeited. Think Louis Vuitton or Versace handbags.

“Most of the time what I see in Miami are clothing items and electronics, like bluetooth items or cell phones,” says attorney Augusto Perera, who specializes in protecting IP rights – including those accused of violating them. “I have a client who was recently arrested for selling fake Apple products. It was an operation by police who sent someone to buy the products.”

While he does not have access to government data, Perera says he is seeing more

and more contraband cases in Miami. “The issue we have here is that Miami International Airport is one of the biggest cargo airports in the country,” he says. “During the pandemic, it became the largest for importing foreign goods.”

For most travelers who try to sneak in something off-limits – like cigars or rum from Cuba – customs will simply take it from you. “It’s when it goes through the cargo part of the airport – that’s when the IPR issues begin,” says Perera. Even in these cases, the defense may argue ignorance, that the counterfeit products were purchased unknowingly. In other cases, especially those involving volume, the culprits know that they are dealing in contraband, a term that covers a broad swath of products that can be seized by customs.

“Basically, any and everything that’s regulated by an agency of the government is

PHOTO BY RODOLFO BENITEZ

AUGUSTO PERERA, ATTORNEY FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

or may be completely inadmissible without certain parameters, whether that’s the licensing permit or the condition of the article itself,” says Deborah Stern, customs lawyer at the Import and Export Practice Group of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg P.A.

U.S. CBP can even seize goods that are just passing through the U.S. if they’re not compliant with the law. Stern mentions a former client that was shipping goods from Brazil to Canada. The company was not aware that its goods would be stopping in U.S. territory, so when the Drug Enforcement Agency inspected the goods and discovered that the company didn’t have the appropriate transit permit, the goods were seized despite not being “illegal” products per se. “Quite often, a lot of what I see is that some companies are just too busy running their business to stop and realize that there are rules that should be followed,” says Stern.

Aside from blips in paperwork and not following appropriate protocols, CBP stops items for violations of trademarks or mislabeling. Indeed, intellectual property rights are one of the main seven priority trade issues for CBP. It works closely with the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center to identify and detain goods that may bear an infringing trademark or copyright that has been registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or the U.S. Copyright Office. “Once you register your trademark, you have the right to register it with customs, including who can import the product,” says Perera. This is not just to prevent loss of revenue, but to protect brand integrity. “If your iPhone doesn’t work, you sue Apple, right? You have to put yourself in their place.”

In fiscal year 2021, CBP seized about $3.3 billion worth of goods that violated IPRs. The majority were counterfeit or pirated apparel and accessories: things like fake Gucci belts and unlawfully marked Miami Heat jerseys. CBP also focused on intercepting counterfeit cell phones and accessories along with COVID-19-related items like face masks.

Although the trend of pirating and distributing COVID-19-related items didn’t exist until the pandemic, CBP has a long history of managing and intercepting technological goods that violate trademark laws. Bluetooth technology is highly regulated, for example, and technological goods like tablet computers are often stopped to ensure the brand is authorized to have Bluetooth technology. Pirated software like Microsoft Windows and other operating systems are

also common seizures.

Stern recounts that around fifteen years ago CBP stopped a lot of devices that had “illegal Tetris” downloaded. The Tetris in question wasn’t fake Tetris; the particular devices simply didn’t have the proper licensing to have the game’s software.

CBP also stops contraband based on mislabeling. Typically, it’s to snag a company that purposely mislabels a product’s country of origin – or the product itself – to skimp on duties and tariffs. For example, Gabriel Rodriguez, president of A Customs Brokerage, had a former client who was exporting hairdryers from China to Venezuela. When the hairdryers were inspected at PortMiami, they were seized because of a faulty origin listing; the paperwork said the hairdryers were made in China, but when customs officers opened up the shipment they found a little Italian flag and a “Fatto in Italia” sticker.

Robert Becerra, founding attorney at Becerra Law P.A., says that sometimes goods made in China are transported over the border to Vietnam and marked with

Miami is still a gateway for better and for worse by its geography. But it’s changed since the ’80s. Obviously it’s a well-known vacation destination, but now it’s known for its international commerce.

OPPOSITE: GOODS PASSING THROUGH BORDERS ARE CHECKED WITH BARCODE SCANNERS FOR THEIR ORIGIN.

SHARK FINS AND COUNTERFEIT LUXURY BRANDS ARE SOME OF THE GOODS THAT HAVE BEEN INTERCEPTED BY CUSTOMS AT MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.

PHOTO BY RODOLFO BENITEZ

DEBORAH STERN, ABOVE, A CUSTOMS LAWYER AT THE IMPORT AND EXPORT PRACTICE GROUP OF SANDLER, TRAVIS & ROSENBERG P.A.

“Made in Vietnam” stickers to avoid the higher tariffs and duties for Chinese goods. But Becerra notes that it’s fairly easy to audit these instances of contraband. “Customs is pretty good at figuring this kind of stuff out. They’ll look at the address for the factory on the paperwork and it turns out that it’s a P.O. box. The ‘factory’ in Vietnam doesn’t really exist,” says Becerra.

Other popular instances of mislabeling revolve around the food industry. Seafood fraud occurs when companies intentionally mislabel the type of fish they’re selling as a more expensive species. A study by the nonprofit conservation organization Oceana found that around one-third of fish sampled in supermarkets and restaurants was mislabeled. You may think you’re buying premium wild red snapper for $30 a pound when, in fact, you’re getting farm-raised tilapia.

As for the volume of contraband, it’s impossible to accurately estimate how much gets past customs. CBP can’t check every shipment without severely disrupting the supply chain. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the Food

and Drug Administration examines less than one percent of imported food annually; CBP Miami could not comment about how much cargo is physically examined at its ports due to security concerns. However, Miami isn’t the cocaine-fueled free-for-all that it once was, and customs officers are staying ahead of the game with intel and new technology. “First thing you have to know is that customs officers are not dumb,” says Rodriguez.

Rodriguez adds that customs officers have a huge intelligence network. Often, they receive anonymous tips about potential contraband before it arrives at a port of entry. CBP also uses A.I.-generated algorithms to assess the probability that a particular shipment may contain contraband. “The more sophisticated that illegal importation, money laundering schemes, and such become, the more efficient customs need to get with technology. You’re not going to get anywhere by throwing bodies at this problem, but rather bytes,” says Becerra.

Even though Miami CBP has buckled down and improved since the 80s, Miami

is still a popular entry and transit point for contraband. Due to its mild climate and vicinity to South America, “Miami is the biggest port for live animals,” says Sylvia Gaudio, a Supervisory Wildlife Inspector for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). “Most flights leaving out of the Caribbean and South America stop through Miami, so that’s just a routing matter. But also consider the weather. Ports in New York can’t really do wildlife year-round because of the winter.” And because Miami acts as a Latin American hub for Asia, most of the shark fins and sea turtle shells USFWS intercepts are en route to China and other Asian countries.

“Miami is still a gateway for better and for worse by its geography,” says Stern. “But it’s changed since the ’80s. Obviously it’s a well-known vacation destination, but now it’s known for its international commerce.” So, the idea that Miami is a hotspot for contraband doesn’t necessarily reflect the CBP’s abilities, or point to a large criminal network within Miami, but rather signals its status as a burgeoning international capital for trade. l

Meat, Meat, More Meat

KOREAN BARBECUE REACHES ITS HAUTE ZENITH AT COTE

BY KYLIE WANG

Known as bulgogi, literally meaning “fire meat,” Korean barbecue’s roots date back 2,000 years, but didn’t gain popularity worldwide until the Korean Wave of the 1990s and early 2000s. Nowadays, eating from grills built into a table isn’t so novel, but at COTE, the experience is still one-of-a-kind.

The golden-hued dining room in the midst of Miami’s Design District is expansive, lined with comfortable black leather booths and tables inset with golden Shinpo grills, the focus of COTE’s culinary experience. The Japanese-made charcoal grills are smokeless, with a ring of exhaust ports around to keep the hot air contained and the aroma of cooking meat out of guests’ hair and clothing. Shinpo was the first to invent these back in the ‘70s, and now holds a 55 percent share of the Japanese market. COTE is one of the few U.S. restaurants that use them.

Although the restaurant uses Japanese grills, it’s still a Korean steakhouse at heart, with a well-endowed list of traditional Korean cuts and accompaniments. The illustrated menu features such headlines as “Butcher’s Feast” and “Meat, Meat & More Meat.” This is no pretension – if you’re not at COTE for the steaks, you’re not in the right place.

The Butcher’s Feast ($68 per person) is the highlight, tailored for a power lunch, and second only to the Steak Omakase Grand Tour ($225 per person) which would take a full evening and plenty

TOP: KOREAN-BORN DAVID SHIM, EXECUTIVE CHEF AND PARTNER

ABOVE: LUXURIOUS UPSCALE SURROUNDINGS FOR A FINE DINING EXPERIENCE

OPPOSITE PAGE

TOP LEFT: MARINATED SHORT RIB (GALBI)

BOTTOM LEFT: COTE STEAK ON THE GRILL

FAR RIGHT: STEAK OMAKASE GRAND TOUR

COTE MIAMI 3900 NE 2ND AVE. 305.434.4668

of belt-loosening to appreciate. The “Feast” is plenty, featuring four four-ounce cuts of USDA Prime and American Wagyu beef, giving guests the opportunity to try four different traditional Korean steaks. Each one is grilled at the table as per guests’ instructions. With the exception of the marinated short rib (known in Korea as galbi), each is fairly subtly seasoned with the special COTE salt blend (British Maldon salt, Himalayan pink salt, and Korean thousand-day sea salt). A special dipping sauce made from sesame, garlic, onions, ginger, jalapeños, and soy paste gives them all a slightly similar taste that is differentiated mostly by the cut of the meat itself.

The short rib is served last but must be mentioned first. The flavoring is explosive compared to the other cuts, with a sweet and savory marinade made from soy sauce, garlic, and sugar, and a slightly charred rind that elevates the caramelized flavor. The ribeye, which American steak lovers will recognize as a Delmonico and Koreans will know as kkot deung sim, is dry-aged in-house in a special room that allows for the moisture to evaporate, tenderizing the meat and heightening the flavor. The hanger steak, meanwhile, is on the leaner side, somewhat similar to a flank steak, and the classic flat iron is the restaurant’s “local favorite,” more Americanized in flavor.

With an impressively well-built menu, COTE could get by on its selection of meats alone. A coterie of accompaniments come with

the Butcher’s Feast, however, including a spicy kimchi stew, one of the most traditional Korean dishes. It delivers a nice kick, with salted and fermented nappa cabbage, Korean radish, spring onions, and the all-important gochugaru, or Korean chili powder, that produces the heat and its red coloring. For the less courageous, there is also a savory (but not hot) dwen-jang stew, which is a soybean paste soup with vegetables. The table is also laden with pickled vegetables, a scallion salad, red leaf lettuce, and an egg soufflé with kelp broth. And if that is not enough, you can order from the “shareable appetizers.” We tried the COTE Ceviche, with madai (snapper), cobia (kingfish), kampachi (amberjack), and trout roe, which is distinctly Korean (vs. Peruvian) thanks to its sweet and spicy chojang vinaigrette with sesame oil, soy sauce, chili paste, and rice vinegar. Also not to be missed is the Korean “bacon,” a house-smoked crispy pork belly with pickled jalapeños and Korean mustard that is toothsome, crunchy, and salty, and much less fatty than you would expect.

But it’s the experience that shines here, offering both a conversational icebreaker and a shared meal that dives beyond the typical lunch meeting. Just walking into the restaurant alone is unique, down a blue tunnel to a visual immersion that is something more akin to an upscale club in Dubai than a restaurant in South Florida. Even for Miami’s Design District, it’s unique amongst the high-end restaurants and designer stores. l

Ultimate Sushi

AT SUSHI BY BOU, THE RAW FISH EXPERIENCE REACHES ITS PINNACLE

BY JAMES BROIDA

The Japanese phrase “omakase” literally means “I leave it up to you,” and refers to the dining experience where the customer leaves it up to the chef to select and serve the best he has to offer. In Miami’s Brickell financial district, that is the culinary adventure promised at Sushi by Bou.

If you are a fan of sushi, and think you know what great sushi is, think again. Indulging in the 12-course omakase experience at Sushi by Bou will take your tastebuds to new places and elevate your sense of what sushi is all about.

The restaurant itself is an intimate 650-square-foot space with lounge seating and a long bar with 12 seats. The room is decorated in black and gold: black tile walls with inlaid gold designs of octopi and star fish, a black arched ceiling with recessed lighting, and, behind the bar, a giant black fish head with golden horns, golden fins, and a golden mask, bracketed by shelves lined with bottles of Japanese whiskey.

The long bar is where patrons sit in groups of two, three, and four, each cluster served by its own chef. Our chef was from Japan, of course, with a thick accent that sometimes made the translation a little difficult. No matter. He executed his task with the precision of a surgeon, serving us with twelve exquisite selections.

Over the course of an hour, we experienced sushi tastes that ranged from stiped jack with a dab of ginger and chive puree to smoked Spanish mackerel topped by graded onions with ponzu sauce. Not all of the selections were enhanced. The botan ebi, or raw shrimp, “is better to serve by itself,” our chef told us, and he was correct. I have never tasted anything with a more profoundly shrimp

TOP: TORCHING THE DISH

ABOVE: THE LONG BAR

LEFT: IKURA OR SALMON ROE

OPPOSITE PAGE...

TOP LEFT: SUSHI BY BOU OMAKASE

TOP RIGHT: BOTAN EBI OR RAW

SHRIMP

MIDDLE: MAGURO OR BLUE FIN TUNA

BOTTOM: OTORO OR FATTY TUNA

SUSHI BY BOU BRICKELL INSIDE THE SLS BRICKELL HOTEL 1300 S MIAMI AVE.

5 PM TO 11 PM DAILY EXCEPT MON. 305.874.0692

flavor. The ikura, or salmon roe, was wrapped in seaweed and amplified with a lemon zest that made the flavor pop. I’ve never liked salmon eggs, but I am now a convert.

Each sampling was prepared by the chef with great precision and delicacy, and the add-ons – fermented garlic on the bluefin tuna, for example – were tiny, but explosive with flavor. The buttery hotate, or scallop, was brought to life with a miniscule amount of charcoal; other samplings were enhanced by a dab of Japanese chili paste or grated daikon radish.

With some selections, the chef merely brushes on extra flavor. Our favorite, the otoro, or fatty tuna, had a truffle sauce painted on, adding another dimension to tuna so soft it tasted like a delicious fish pudding. The chef also used a torch on a couple of the servings to make a tiny crust.

All the while, the music pressed us onward, with its upbeat dance mash of Madonna, Elton John, Michael Jackson, and Queen. Somehow it fit. And then our $60 journey into the finest sushi we’d ever tasted was over – until the next time. At which point, we might escalate to the 17-course, $125 experience. l

Cocktail Culture

RATED THE TOP BAR IN MIAMI, CAFE LA TROVA

TAKES YOU TO A WORLD GONE BY

BY KYLIE WANG

In Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, you can’t walk a block down Calle Ocho without running into a Cuban restaurant serving up dishes of ropa vieja and platters of lechón. Cafe La Trova could be easily confused with any of these, with its old-style Cuban décor and cafeteria-style environment, but its live trova music and standout cocktails elevate it above the rest of the pack.

The concept – recreating the atmosphere of a vintage Cuban night spot – was contrived by Miami’s most famous food and drinks trio: James Beard-awarded chef Michelle Bernstein, her business partner-husband David Martinez, and internationally recognized cantinero (Spanish for bartender) Julio Cabrera, who first tied his name to Bernstein’s about 20 years ago. Bernstein, Martinez, and Cabrera are the powerhouse behind some of Miami’s most iconic restaurants (Michy’s, Sra. Martinez), including Cafe La Trova, which was recently ranked No. 21 in the world and No. 6 in North America for bars by William Reed, the global food & beverage media company. It’s also gained recognition by GQ, Esquire, and other publications for its contemporary Cuban dishes and traditional cantinero cocktail culture.

The interior is dominated by a stage where the band Salsa Mayor plays the popular trova music that originated in Santiago de Cuba nightly until 11 pm on weekdays and midnight on weekends. A wall made to look like the dilapidated exterior of an old Cuban building stands behind them while a clothesline strung with laundry hangs from the ceiling and a 50s-era car prop, perfect for photo ops, sits in the corner, setting a Havana-esque scene.

As band members beat on bongos and pluck an upright bass, patrons can sit at the bar opposite and sip the cocktails that have made Cafe La Trova famous. The Buenavista cocktail ($16) is the most popular, consisting of Bombay Sapphire, sugar, and a slightly zesty yet light mixture of cucumber, mint, lime juice, and elderflower liqueur. The sugar offsets the tartness of the lime and liquor, leaving a smooth finish that lingers; the cucumber is subtly refreshing, also added as a garnish with a dainty mint leaf. The toppings here come courtesy of Filthy Foods, a revolutionary garnish company that uses the freshest ingredients, sourced globally and processed naturally (see page 36).

The other must-have is the Magic City Daiquiri: Bacardi Superior, lime juice, sugar, and a mysterious mix of homemade liquors that Cabrera calls “the elixir of life.” Forget what you think you know about daiquiris; Cafe La Trova will introduce you to the real thing. This isn’t the frozen adult slushie you’re apt to get on Miami Beach. This is an iteration of the simple three-ingredient recipe invented in 1898 in Daiquiri, Cuba – rum, lime, and sugar with chopped ice – supposedly by an American mining engineer named Jennings Cox, but clearly perfected by Cabrera and his team of cantineros a century and change later.

And if you’re looking for the full Cuban experience, try the Trio Matamoros. With Flor de Caña 18 rum, a cafecito, and a cigar, this tray of delights is meant to be indulged in on the restaurant’s outdoor patio over a game of dominoes, about as close to Havana as you can get in the states, both geographically and culturally. Bienvenido l

CENTER:

ABOVE: TROVA’S CANTINERO (BARTENDER) IS JULIO CABRERA

CAFE LA TROVA

971 SW 8TH ST.

786.615.4379

CAFELATROVA.COM

TOP: THE CAFE LA TROVA BUENAVISTA COCKTAIL WITH BOMBAY SAPPHIRE.

SALSA MAYOR PLAYS AUTHENTIC TROVA MUSIC.

Business & Pleasure

THE JW MARRIOTT MARQUIS IN DOWNTOWN MIAMI CATERS TO ALL COMERS

BY KYLIE WANG

It’s not uncommon to see businesspeople crowding the elevators of the JW Marriott Marquis, moving back and forth from a conference downstairs to the suites above. It’s also not uncommon to see children roaming around the pool or game room. This is a place where work and a family vacation can intersect, where kids can find myriad ways to distract themselves while the adults join clients over dinner at Boulud Sud, the chef-driven Mediterranean restaurant in the lobby, or take meetings at the office buildings crisscrossing Brickell and Downtown Miami.

With two ballrooms and 10 meeting rooms, the Marquis has positioned itself as a business-friendly hotel first, with over 80,000-square-feet of total meeting space that’s been used by groups ranging from the San Francisco 49ers football team to the Independent Women’s Forum. The Metropolitan Grand Ballroom takes up the entire third floor, equipped with a lighting system and big screen for conferences and events like the Miami Film Festival, which was hosted at the hotel last year. Meeting rooms line the fourth and fifth floors, with a Junior Ballroom on the fifth. All can be accessed by

LEFT: THE MARRIOTT MARQUIS LOBBY ABOVE: VIEW FROM THE MIAMI RIVER ENTRANCE AND THE ROOF-DECK POOL OPPOSITE PAGE FROM THE TOP: FULL-SIZED BASKETBALL COURT RECREATION ROOM WITH BOWLING ALLEY MEETING ROOM DELUXE BAY VIEW ROOM

elevators or escalators, making for fluid travel between meetings, events, and the coffee bar on the second floor.

For families or individuals looking for something to do between meetings or trips to South Beach, the recently renovated entertainment lounge on the 19th floor is the place to be. It features a mini bowling alley, a billiards table, air hockey, and other table games, as well as a golf simulator. There’s also a 10,000-square-foot NBA-approved basketball court that can be used by anyone, including visiting pro teams who occasionally train at the facility when they come to play the Miami Heat. It also doubles as a tennis court during the Miami Open for enthusiasts who want to get in a game of their own.

Following the sports theme, the Marquis has a Mariano Bartolome golf school with a shop and instruction, and a pool – though don’t expect to get a tan or a drink here; most of the pool patio is shaded by the neighboring Monarc building and there is no bar. However, a nighttime dip when the sun goes down affords an excellent view of the downtown and Biscayne Bay. All of these amenities are included in a fee each guest pays during booking, a $25 daily charge per room, which also includes Wi-Fi, a 10 percent discount at Boulud Sud, and access to the gym.

The fitness center is among the best hotel gyms we’ve seen, with an array of equipment encompassing both weightlifting and aerobic machines as well as items like yoga mats, medicine balls, free weights, and more. With complimentary towels, water, snacks, and earbuds, guests don’t need to bring a thing, and the views from the 20th floor looking onto the downtown and the bay are a constant reminder of the luxuriousness of both the city and the hotel itself.

The Enliven Spa & Salon on the same floor is mostly focused on facials and massages with basic salon offerings like blowouts and gel manicures. While the menu is not as robust as other hotel spas, the offerings are perfect for the businessperson on the go who’s looking for a quick treatment rather than a full spa day.

For food, the Marquis offers a nice range. A complimentary continental breakfast is served from 6:30 to 11 am at the 345 Restaurant for guests staying in a Concierge Level room, or for Marriott Rewards members with Platinum status or higher. The second floor features the Intermezzo Coffee Bar (coffee and pastries), a wine store, clothing boutique, and the Met Cafe & Bar. The bar has an American menu with the usual offerings, as well as beer, wine, and cocktails. While it might be considered overpriced anywhere else, for a hotel restaurant in Miami, an $18 sandwich is almost a steal.

A highlight of what the Marquis has to offer is Boulud Sud, open for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch. The brainchild of Michelin-starred international chef Daniel Boulud, the restaurant is under the daily supervision of Chef Michael Hernandez, a Miami native who’s spent time at several high-profile restaurants in the area, and General Manager Gregory Delaunay, a Parisian with a gift for wine pairings. The food is Mediterranean with a large wine list and seasonal desserts rooted in traditional French patisserie.

With the hotel undergoing renovations to the lobby, rooms, and meeting spaces this year, the Marquis is aiming to become even more business-centric while also adding “space to focus on what really matters,” connecting with the self as well as family. This is how the JW Marriott Marquis likes to operate: kid-friendly amenities and a location in Downtown Miami, just across the river from the Brickell financial district. l

Waterfront Condominiums

With summer on the horizon and visitors fleeing north to escape the South Florida sun, luxury waterfront condominiums are becoming more available in both MiamiDade and Broward County. We asked three local realtors for their condo listings in South Florida with pools and best-in-class waterfront views. This is what they offered.

LISTING PRICE: $59M

UNIQUE PENTHOUSE

300 Biscayne Blvd. (Aston Martin Residences), Downtown Miami 7 bed / 8 bath. 20,000 sq. ft.

Accessed via private elevator and with three floors, this penthouse suite at the award-winning Aston Martin Residences has breathtaking views; a wraparound terrace on each floor; a private pool,

gym, and spa; and a climate-controlled garage. The luxury condo tower has already been over 98 percent sold.

Listing Agent: Alicia Cervera Lamadrid (Cervera

LISTING PRICE: $17.9M

SHADES OF GRAY

18501 Collins Ave. #1401/1402, Sunny Isles Beach 5 bed / 7.5 bath. 6,740 sq. ft.

This turnkey residence at Turnberry Ocean Club Residences features walk-in closets, an oceanfront sunrise terrace with summer kitchen, and top-of-the-line Gaggenau appliances. It also comes with two garage spaces with EV charging

and access to all of the building’s amenities, including its pools, private dining, and spa.

Listing Agent: Maria Del Carmen Mariana (Fortune), 786.587.0789 and Luis Iglesias (Fortune), 305.336.1520

LISTING PRICE: $25.5M

MINIMALIST TROPICS

19575 Collins Ave. #PH-43, Sunny Isles Beach

6 bed / 7 bath / 2 half-bath. 9,193 sq. ft.

This penthouse suite features a 20-foot-high great room, custom wine cellar, movie theater, game room, and private spa. The master suite has His and Hers bathrooms and closets, and the VIP Guest Suite comes

with a midnight kitchen. A private terrace, pool, summer kitchen, and retractable canopy are all perfect for enjoying the iconic Miami sunsets. Listing Agent: Jeff Miller (One Sotheby), 305.610.4509

A View From the Paramount

Downtown Miami at night from the 60th floor of the Paramount condominium building in Miami Worldcenter.

Photo by Rodolfo Benitez.

Timeless Luxury. Memorable Moments.

A true icon surrounded by 150 acres of tropical landscape. We invite you to soak in our rich history, world-class golf, European spa, decadent dining, including our internationally recognized Signature Sunday Brunch or Afternoon Tea and more.

The Biltmore, where luxury and good taste never go out of style. THE BILTMORE HOTEL

1200 Anastasia Avenue | Coral Gables, Florida 33134

Reservations: 305-445-1926 | www.biltmorehotel.com