WATCH: National developers talk South Florida markets at TRD event

Kushner Companies, PMG, Crescent Height and Witkoff are all nationwide developers, yet as panelists at The Real Deal’s latest event in Miami, it was clear that they all have an affinity for South Florida.

“We have a big call” on the region, Steve Witkoff of Witkoff told the crowd last month at TRD’s Real Estate Showcase + Forum.

Nicole Kushner-Meyer of Kushner Companies, Kevin Maloney of Property Markets Group, and Russell Galbut of Crescent Heights spoke to TRD’s Erin Hudson during a panel on national developers. All were bullish on the South Florida market, for reasons ranging from the temperate climate to the business-friendly political atmosphere.

Still, other markets are to be explored. During the panel, the developers cited a wide variety of cities where opportunities abound, from South Florida to Louisville, Kentucky to San Francisco.

So, how do their teams find and identify those opportunities? Slowly. “We really scouted those locations for probably a good year,” Maloney said.

Kushner-Meyer agreed, noting that she wanted to understand a new market “from a local level, as opposed to from a spreadsheet.”

Watch the panel for more on how these developers expand their footprints.