Stephen Bittel

Chairman, Terranova Corporation

Bittel purchased Terranova’s first set of properties on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach for $52 million, of $850 per square foot, a staggering price in the early 1980s. But two decades later, Terranova sold its Lincoln Road portfolio for $342 million. 

The Coral Gables-based firm set its sights more recently on acquiring commercial properties along Miracle Mile. Terranova is the largest property owner on the half-mile stretch of Coral Way, holding at least 15 properties. It invested over $20 million from 2021 to 2022, paying $6 million for 300 Miracle Mile, $6.8 million for 93 Miracle Mile, and $7.8 million for two storefronts. 

The firm is redeveloping the one-story former pharmacy at 93 Miracle Way into a four-story retail and office building.

Terranova is one of South Florida’s most active privately held commercial real estate firms, with holdings stretching from Lincoln Road in Miami Beach to Miracle Mile in Coral Gables, underscoring Bittel’s decades-long influence in shaping Miami’s retail corridors. The firm oversees a $1 billion portfolio. 

Born and raised in Miami, Bittel launched Terranova in 1980 while still attending law school, quickly establishing himself as a transformative force in South Florida’s commercial real estate industry.

—Francisco Alvarado