South Florida developer Jeff Berkowitz, who shaped Miami-Dade County’s retail landscape, has died at 78.
Berkowitz was from Boston and moved to South Florida, drawn by the climate and to attend the University of Miami School of Law. He started his Coconut Grove-based Berkowitz Development Group in 1985. He was still active in the firm as of last fall, when he shared plans with The Real Deal for his firm to pivot into multifamily development, initially targeting 500 units.
Although his distinctions and accolades run deep, Berkowitz’s legacy is defined by his character and good will, his family said.
“He wanted to help. One of his legacies, and one of the things he did best was give back. So I would say there were countless people in the community who reached out to him for advice,” said Michael Berkowitz, one of Berkowitz’s sons. “My dad was always available.”
Berkowitz’s sons, Andrew and Michael, already held executive posts at Berkowitz Development and will now take the helm of the company. Besides his sons, he is survived by his former wife, his daughters-in-law, grandchildren, brother, sister-in-law and nieces.
Berkowitz’s first project was in Kendall in the 1980s, launching his real estate career trajectory.
“It was more fun,” he told TRD in October. “I got to hire lawyers and not be one.”
Berkowitz Development’s completed projects include the 330,000-square-foot Dadeland Station, home to big-box stores near Dadeland Mall. The firm recently signed leases with Burlington and Marshalls and is in talks with other potential tenants, Michael Berkowitz said.
Under Berkowitz’s leadership, the family company also developed the 267,000-square-foot Aventura Commons in Aventura, the 200,600-square-foot Kendallgate Shopping Center, the 31,100-square-foot Kendall Commons and the 267,000-square-foot Kendall Village Center.
Berkowitz Development also built Fifth & Alton, a three-story retail center named for its central location in South Beach and anchored by Publix, later selling the property.
Work on the 282,000-square-foot Homestead Commerce Park is wrapping up, marking the firm’s debut into industrial construction. It’s signed five tenants, with a certificate of occupancy expected this week, Michael Berkowitz said.
Berkowitz Development’s portfolio spans more than 2 million square feet, with the late Berkowitz saying in October the plan is to start developing apartments on the parking lots of some of the Kendall shopping centers.
The ability to use land the firm already owns “is a huge edge,” especially in a time of rising construction costs, he said.
In the pre-pandemic years, Berkowitz drew widespread attention with his proposal for a 1,000-foot-tall entertainment and observation tower SkyRise Miami. After more than a decade of planning, opposition and lawsuits, the project was nixed due to the pandemic. Berkowitz expressed disappointment over the project, which he called “Miami’s Eiffel Tower,” not coming to fruition.
It would be a “gamechanger for Miami,” he said in October. Berkowitz Development “was engaged in preliminary discussions with one of Miami’s top cruise lines to not only provide the money but take the naming rights. When the pandemic hit, the cruise ship industry was temporarily decimated, so that was the end of SkyRise.”
Berkowitz was equally prolific as a philanthropist.
He founded and chaired the Children’s Foundation of Greater Miami and was founding Executive Director of Dade County’s Civilian Review Board and Ombudsman Office. He also held leadership roles in the South Dade JCC, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Greater Miami Jewish Federation, People For the American Way, Anti-Defamation League, Voices For Children Foundation, Friends of Miami Animals Foundation and the Miami Children’s Museum, where he was a founder and served as chairman, according to a Legacy.com obituary.
“He was very much under the radar,” Michael said. “He never wanted a trophy for any of this stuff. He raised money for the right causes.”
Michael recalled a Hunter S. Thompson quote on his father’s desk: “Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘Holy shit, what a ride!’”
The quote “always made me smile because it described exactly how he lived. He did projects that most people wouldn’t have the guts to do,” Michael said, adding that his father was first nationwide to build vertical retail centers with the three-level Dadeland Station. “He was brave enough to go through the process and risked a lot because he believed in it.”