Commercial real estate roundtable: SouthFloridaCEO magazine assembled leading real estate industry executives for a frank discussion about the state of the commercial real estate market in South Florida

South Florida CEO, Sept, 2004

BITTEL: But it doesn't have to work for the user, and it doesn't have to work in 10 or 15 years when there's no one there to organize it. And I'm not sure I buy into the philosophy that the answer to every solution is the Latin Americans. They have come into this market, and they've left too. At my first office, when I was still in law school, the rents on Flagler Street were hitting $100 a foot, all driven by South Americans. Just because there's flight capital or an excess amount of capital on the market doesn't make the dynamics of someone owning an office necessarily work, and structurally, in terms of operations, I think that's not a good ownership structure to make sure the building is properly cared for, maintained, and improved.

BLANCA: If you look at the European market and the South American market, it's condominium ownership. We're one of the few countries in the world where we haven't had this phenomenon really take off. The rest of the world is very comfortable with it. I think it's something that probably will take off and will stay and will permeate our market more.

JONES: But part of that is because of the capital market structures in those areas. There are niche places and markets for condos that will probably work long-term.

SFCEO: Thank you, everyone, for participating in our roundtable discussion on the state of commercial real estate in South Florida. We hope to have you back here next year.