Construction is rising in South Florida

Construction spending in South Florida rose for the fourth month in a row in Broward County in November, joining Miami-Dade County as areas with sustained growth in the sector, the Miami Herald reported. “We’re seeing a lot of custom-home building,” said Bernie Navarro, head of the Latin Builders Association. “You see it in Key Biscayne and Coral Gables and Pinecrest. Those places had fallen to zero. Now they’re back on.” While construction employment is falling, the losses are more narrow than previously. [more]

A group of 12 industry experts has established a Center for Real Estate Studies and Research at the University of Miami. The panel, which will include Howard Lorber, president and CEO of Prudential Douglas Elliman, Steven Witkoff, CEO of the Witkoff Group, Noelia Moreno, president of the Latin Builders Association, and Gary Trock, senior vice president of CBRE retail services, will also help expand the university’s undergraduate and graduate real estate curricula. Barbara Kahn, dean of the business school, cited real estate’s growing role in the Florida economy as central to the university’s decision to expand its program. “As real estate has increasingly become integrated into the economy of South Florida and around the world, it has become a key strategic area for the school,” Kahn said. TRD [more]

Times are tough for the construction industry, especially in Florida, said Noelia Moreno, the incoming president of the Latin Builders Association, so she wants its membership to look ahead and be ready.

Moreno, who will be the first female president of the South Florida trade group in its 38-year history, wants its 650 members focused on the region’s future, despite the current battered state of the construction industry.

“We need to think about the fact that the problems we have in real estate are not going to last forever,” said Moreno, who commences her term Dec. 12. Already a member of the Latin Builders Association’s board of directors, Moreno will succeed Anthony Seijas, senior vice president of the Southeast Florida division of nationwide Lennar, the largest developer in Florida. Seijas became president of the LBA in January 2009.
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