the 1980 “Westward Ho” in Broward County
is now the 2008 “Eastward Ho.”
On environmental or “green” issues: Green
projects are being viewed more favorably by
developers, municipalities and lenders. The
green component is taking a larger portion
of many deals and will become increasingly
more important in almost every deal.
Daniel L.
DeCubellis
Shareholder
Carlton Fields PA,
Orlando
Background: Currently
serves on Florida Bar
Board of Governors,
past president of
Orange County Bar
Association
Practice areas: Commercial real estate transactions and financing and business transactions
Notable transaction: Redevelopment of outdated power generation plant in Key West
On market conditions: The commercial market
has slowed somewhat from the extraordinary period ending a couple of years ago.
Prices may have stagnated somewhat, but
there is still substantial commercial activity.
Lending restrictions are making properties
more difficult to finance. Interest rate declines
should help borrowers, but overall there is
uncertainty due to political issues and economic fears that may translate into a flat 2008.
On environmental or “green” issues: This is a
hot topic on everybody’s radar due to the
expectation of never-ending increases to
energy costs. I have not yet seen much practical application for typical properties. On
the other hand, buyers with a more optimistic view of the probable hold period who
seek less-aggressive returns are beginning to
find some action.
James B. Soble
Shareholder
Ruden McClosky,
Tampa
Background: Over 40
years experience in
commercial real
estate, real estate
financing, leasing and
construction law
Notable transactions:
Acquisition and development of Bay Walk in
St. Petersburg, Centro Ybor in Tampa,
Clearwater Mall, Grand Boulevard in Destin
and Raymond James Financial Center in St.
Petersburg
On market conditions: Commercial develop-
ment in Florida will experience a slowdown
during the balance of 2008. However, quality,
well-anchored neighborhood and power centers will continue to attract attention, although
some delay in construction. As residential
housing in suburban markets re-emerges in
2009, additional retail will come on line.
On infill development: As growth in suburbia
has slowed or stopped, there will be a significant move toward redevelopment of
existing shopping centers, including renovation and change of tenancy. Big-box tenants
are looking to play a more relevant role in
the infill market.
Cecelia Bonifay
Shareholder
Akerman Senterfitt,
Tavares
Background: Former
city attorney, attorney
to Lake County School
Board, lobbyist for
Florida Department of
Community Affairs,
liaison to state’s 11
regional planning councils
Practice areas: Policy, real estate, administrative law, indoor air quality, land use and
zoning and local government
Major clients: Windermere Properties
Holding Inc., CenterLake Properties, Ltd.,
Pineloch Management, MSKP Volusia
Partners LLC, Battaglias
On entitlements: Securing entitlements is a
difficult game and one that contains many
traps for the unwary. Any property owner,
developer, business entity or end user that
will need a comprehensive plan amendment in order to move forward with development should be working now with a
land use attorney to file an application
and begin the process. Most amendments
are done only twice a year by local governments and now take six to nine months
to get approved.
Daniel Mackler
Shareholder
Gunster Yoakley &
Stewart, Ft. Lauderdale
Background: Chair of
the firm’s real estate
department, graduated with honors from
Rutgers University
Law School
Practice areas:
Commercial real estate acquisitions, development and finance, hotel development and
finance, leasing, condominiums and com-
munity developments
Major clients: Cabot Properties, Kitson &
Partners, Lennar Homes, Trammell Crow
On market conditions: There still seems to be
a fair amount of money available for the
right deal, something that would require a
hold of two to three years. I expect there will
be a lot of buying opportunities at the end of
this year as there may be a perceived bottom
of this cycle.
On entitlements: With the residential boom
over, many properties are now being converted back to commercial zoning. The
estimated time frame for obtaining entitlements for any large-scale project in
Florida continues to lengthen, due to difficulty in obtaining local approvals and
third-party challenges.
On environmental or “green” issues: This is an
excellent marketing tool and helps with
environmentalists who may be otherwise
inclined to oppose a project. The concept
of preserving as much open space as possible, in exchange for increased density on
smaller portions of a project, will continue
to gain popularity.
Howard Bregman
Managing Shareholder
Greenberg Traurig,
West Palm Beach
Background: Manager
of the firm’s West Palm
Beach and Boca Raton
offices, member of the
firm since 1991, represents residential community developers as
well as retail and wholesale distributors
Practice areas: Real estate; hotels, resorts
and clubs
Notable transaction: $70-million refinance of
a former Hilton hotel, now called Ocean
Club, which was converted to a hotel-condo
then renovated to operate as a hotel
Major clients: Sunbeam Products Inc., Empire
of Carolina, Toll Bros., Quality King
Distributors Inc., Bank of America
On market conditions: With interest rates
low and the continued influx of people
moving to Florida, coupled with the fact
that pre-2004 residential real estate prices
here were still a bargain as compared to
other parts of the country, there is some
reasonable optimism that the South Florida
residential market may respond more
quickly than other parts of the country.
