SOUTH FLORIDA SPEAKERS

Bruce Eichner
Chairman & CEO @ The Continuum Company

Ian Bruce Eichner, a seasoned developer of urban mixed-use properties, is the Chairman and CEO of The Continuum Company and has a proven track record in real estate spanning more than three decades. His vast portfolio of projects includes Madison Square Park Tower, City Spire, One Broadway Place, The Manhattan Club, The Royale and Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. Outside of New York he has developed the Continuum South Beach, a 2-tower gated beachfront community in Miami Beach, FL and the Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas strip.

Mr. Eichner’s acute business sense has produced a series of visionary real estate developments that have been characterized by a creative mix of distinctive purpose-built properties. Each of these properties illustrates his extensive real estate expertise and ability to take situations which others may find unachievable and execute solutions which realize value for the investor, consumer and developer.

Mr. Eichner’s notable development achievements that were the first in their class include: the first high-rise built in Brooklyn since landmarks height legislation was passed in 1965 (Montague Street, 1998); the first urban timeshare in New York, with a new concept of being able to book stays one day at a time (The Manhattan Club, 1996); the first and only beachfront gated community in South Beach (The Continuum, 2002-2008); and the first development on the Las Vegas strip to employ an urban development model, maximizing a small 8.5 acre site to its full square footage potential of 6 ½ million square feet (Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino).

Mr. Eichner’s career in real estate follows almost a decade in the criminal justice system, including terms as an assistant District Attorney and program development chief of a gubernational agency during Nelson Rockefeller’s tenure.

Guy Gal
CEO @ Side Inc

Guy Gal (yes, that is his real name) is a tech entrepreneur, innovator, and angel investor. Guy is the CEO and Co-Founder of Side, the only real estate technology company that transforms high-performing agents, teams and independent brokerages into successful businesses and boutique brands that are agent-owned. Prior to Side, he founded 3 successful technology companies, and is an advisor to Vidyard, a YCombinator Top 100. He also served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Matrix Partners, one of the best venture capital tech funds in the world. Today, Guy is dedicated to transforming the best real estate agents into market-leading businesses. He believes that the future of real estate is local, boutique, and agent-owned.

Robert Reffkin
Founder & CEO @ Compass

BIO TO COME

Marc Roberts
Founder @ E11EVEN Partners

A successful developer, entrepreneur and owner and founder of E11EVEN Partners, Marc Roberts has received worldwide attention for his ability to seamlessly meld a VIP, entertainment-driven lifestyle brand with an exclusive luxury condominium.

The youngest person to promote a professional boxing match at age 19, Mr. Roberts took his first sports management company, Triple Threat Enterprises public on the national NASDAQ in the late 1980s, and just a few years later, his Worldwide Entertainment & Sports Corporation became the first full‐service sports management company listed on the national NASDAQ. In the course of his sports management career, Mr. Roberts managed over 100 athletes including world heavyweight champions Shannon Briggs and Ray “Merciless” Mercer, who won the Olympic Gold medal for the US at the 1988 Olympic games. At the same time, Mr. Roberts achieved equal and simultaneous success through a series of real estate investments, completing over $1 billion in condominium conversion projects around the country.
Mr. Roberts went on to co-found Miami Worldcenter, the largest mixed-use project under development in the United States. Today, he is one of the largest landowners in downtown Miami, and Marc Roberts Companies is a leading real estate investment and development firm with upwards of $1 billion in investments.

Additionally, Mr. Roberts is co-owner and founder of E11EVEN Partners, who together with PMG is responsible for the astounding success of E11EVEN Residences Beyond, the second phase of their sold out E11EVEN Hotel & Residences in Downtown Miami’s Park West district. The project launched due to an unprecedented demand in the marketplace following the sellout of phase one. Rising 65 stories, E11EVEN Residences Beyond offers a highly exclusive, “members only” experience designed to cater to high profile buyers who seek the VIP, entertainment-driven lifestyle of E11EVEN Hotel & Residences and the privacy of a private condominium. Units range from 318-square-foot studios to 993-square-foot two-bedrooms, as well as a presidential collection ranging from 1,167 to 2,762 square feet and penthouses starting at 2,213 square feet, totaling 461 luxury residences. Recently, Mr. Roberts set the record price per square foot for raw land in Miami with a parcel sale at $1500/sf.

Arnaud Karsenti
Managing Principal @ 13th Floor Investments

Arnaud Karsenti is the Managing Principal of 13th Floor Investments, a real estate investment and development firm based in Miami, Florida. Since inception, 13th Floor has acquired, developed, and managed over $3 billion in real estate assets. The firm adheres to a value-investing philosophy and seeks opportunistic risk-adjusted returns for its investors. 13th Floor has been active across the broad real estate spectrum, ranging from distressed residential assets to condominiums, multifamily, and single-family homes. Today, the firm is mainly focused on mixed-use residential developments and expanding its homebuilding business, 13th Floor Homes.

Mr. Karsenti is primarily responsible for the general direction of the firm’s investment strategy as well as its overall capitalization. 13th Floor manages capital through a series of discretionary private equity funds, which consist of private and institutional capital. In addition, the firm enjoys longstanding partnerships with best-in class capital partners across the United States. Given its unique role as both operator and capital partner, 13th Floor prides itself on being a great partner to a wide range of players in the real estate industry. This reputation has allowed 13th Floor to expand geographically as well as across a wide range of asset classes.

Prior to founding 13th Floor, Mr. Karsenti founded Collegeboxes, the nation’s leading college-based shipping and storage company, which was acquired by U-Haul in 2004. Mr. Karsenti began his real estate career by knocking on doors in Miami’s urban core where he assembled a portfolio of properties which ultimately lead to forming 13th Floor.
Mr. Karsenti is also active in the community – he is an active member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO) and sits on the executive board of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. Mr. Karsenti graduated cum laude from the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University, with a dual degree in Mechanical Engineering and Economics, and holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

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Pam Liebman
President & CEO @ The Corcoran Group

Pamela Liebman joined Corcoran as an agent in 1984, at the age of 23. With a string of headline-worthy deals, she promptly established herself as an A-lister in the New York City real estate scene, becoming a sales manager within months and, in 1990, a partner in the company. In 1995, Pamela created the Corcoran Group Marketing division, focused on new developments, which in 2005 joined forces with the Sunshine Marketing Group to become the industry-leading Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group. In 2000, she stepped up as Corcoran’s President and Chief Executive Officer, leading the brand into the Hamptons and South Florida. Responsible for some of the most high-profile Manhattan new development projects in the history of New York City, including personally overseeing the record-setting sales at 220 Central Park South, Pamela cemented her position as one of the most discerning visionaries in New York City real estate. With her strategic direction, Corcoran has achieved record sales that have reached more than $23 billion annually. In 2019, she crafted Corcoran’s ambitious affiliate strategy, putting in motion what has since become one of the real estate industry’s most extraordinary franchise success stories. Recognized as Realogy’s fastest growing brand, Corcoran’s affiliate network spans the length of the United States and marked its one-year anniversary with the launch of Corcoran’s first global franchise in the British Virgin Islands. Pamela’s keen eye for real estate talent and remarkable ability to anticipate trends has earned her continual recognition from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, and Crain’s New York Business, where she’s been named one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women in New York for the past several years. Born in New York City, Pamela studied at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, as well as the European Business School in London. She is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, The Committee of 200 and the Partnership for New York City. Pamela also serves on the Board of Directors for The Bass Museum, the Mount Sinai Medical Center Foundation’s Executive Committee and the Real Estate Board of New York’s Executive Committee and Board of Governors.

Robert Rivani
President @ Black Lion Investment Group

Robert Rivani, President, Black Lion Investment Group, is an American entrepreneur, retail entertainment innovator and real estate visionary. Born in 1990, Rivani sold his first company–a footwear business–for $150,000 when he was only a teenager. From there, he went on to participate in day trading, only to lose most of his earnings. It was this first foray into the stock market that taught him patience and deliberation when it comes to investing.

During the economic downtown of 2008 and 2009, Rivani worked at his family’s property management firm. He soon realized that there were opportunities in buying, flipping and re-selling inexpensive buildings and areas in need of development. He began doing this in Georgia, and then expanded to Wisconsin, Illinois and Texas. Over time, he would perfect his business model. Rivani became increasingly interested in finding vacant or abandoned sites and transforming them into thriving retail and entertainment destinations. Throughout each process, Rivani always made it a goal to create ways to benefit the community.

In 2014, Rivani created Black Lion Investment Group. He named it Black Lion because he feels he is the trend-bucking black sheep of the real estate world, and the lion is his favorite animal. To date, the company has transacted $500 million in real estate deals across the United States. Year over year, Rivani and Black Lion have consistently doubled their growth.
“I’m not your typical developer and owner, and never wanted to be. We have strong ambitions as a company, and are not afraid to take risks in this burgeoning new climate for entertainment and lifestyle real estate. As we begin to expand our portfolio, we are going to change the way it’s done. I don’t follow trends. I want to set them to ensure future success,” says Robert Rivani.

Rivani sees the overlap of retail, entertainment and dining as a new frontier in real estate. Inspired by Miami’s high energy lifestyle, Black Lion presently focuses on entertainment-focused endeavors for South Florida’s ever-expanding social scene. Through his company, Rivani has recently acquired the restaurant Amara at Paraiso, Marea and Continuum–both high profile restaurant spaces in Miami Beach’s South of Fifth neighborhood, and a retail location at the SLS LUX tower featuring the hot new restaurant Gekko with famed restauranteur David Grutman. Furthermore, Rivani also has his sights set on a retail plaza located in the heart of Wynwood, Miami’s famed creative hub. He recently acquired the property Wynwood Jungle to achieve this dream. In this discipline, he calls these projects “retail power centers.”
Rivani plans to invest another $100 million into South Florida in the next year, as companies and individuals alike continue to relocate to the area from across the country, particularly the New York and California markets. He also plans to invest another $100 million in additional retail power centers.

An early riser and a dedicated athlete (namely tennis and basketball), Rivani credits his disciplined routine for part of his success. His interests in life include spending time with his wife, traveling the world and enjoying culinary adventures. As his family grows, he looks forward to becoming bicoastal and putting down roots in Miami while maintaining a residence in Los Angeles.

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Carlos Rosso
Founder @ Rosso Development

Ryan Serhant is one of the most successful and well-known real estate brokers in the world.  He is founder and CEO of SERHANT. and is also an innovator, entrepreneur, producer, author, podcast host, public speaker, educator, content creator, and star of multiple Bravo TV shows, including the two-time Emmy-nominated Million Dollar Listing New York.  Over the course of his career, Ryan has closed more than $5 billion USD in sales and has represented clients record-breaking deals across New York and South Florida.

For more than a decade, Ryan led the # 1-ranked residential real estate sales team in New York City.  In September 2020, Ryan decided to strike out on his own and launch his own brokerage; SERHANT. is a content-to-commerce real estate ecosystem that is mobile first, with a first-of-its-kind in-house film studio for organic lead generation, creating customer acquisition for its two core businesses: brokerage and education.  In its first year of business, the firm solidified its position as one of the top real estate companies in New York City and became the most followed real estate brand in the world.

SERHANT. has since grown to more than 120 agents and over 55 full-time employees across New York City, Long Island, and the Hamptons.  The firm is based in Manhattan and has a 15,000-square-foot headquarters in the heart of SoHo called “SERHANT. House NYC.”

Ryan is on a mission to revolutionize and modernize the real estate industry, give back, and share his formula for success to enable and motivate others.  He is the author of two best-selling books, creator of the Sell It Like Serhant education platform, designed to teach others how to master the art of sales to succeed in any profession, and host of the iHeartRadio Original Podcast “Big Money Energy with Ryan Serhant.”  He also serves as executive producer of LISTED, a dedicated YouTube network for entertaining lifestyle and real estate shows featuring the firm’s diverse up-and-coming real estate agents. 

Central to Ryan’s beliefs and the SERHANT. vision is giving back and amplifying others’ success.  Both operate with purpose and support causes that focus on bettering housing equality, health, and the city of New York including: Feeding America, the Ali Forney Center, the NYC Sanitation Foundation, and Project Sunshine.  In 2021, Ryan was named the national ambassador for the American Cancer Society’s “Real Men Wear Pink” initiative, a campaign set for the month of October that enlists men to raise awareness around breast cancer; the campaign raised $12 million USD towards breast cancer research.

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Ryan Serhant
CEO @ SERHANT

Arnaud Karsenti is the Managing Principal of 13th Floor Investments, a real estate investment and development firm based in Miami, Florida. Since inception, 13th Floor has acquired, developed, and managed over $3 billion in real estate assets. The firm adheres to a value-investing philosophy and seeks opportunistic risk-adjusted returns for its investors. 13th Floor has been active across the broad real estate spectrum, ranging from distressed residential assets to condominiums, multifamily, and single-family homes. Today, the firm is mainly focused on mixed-use residential developments and expanding its homebuilding business, 13th Floor Homes.

Mr. Karsenti is primarily responsible for the general direction of the firm’s investment strategy as well as its overall capitalization. 13th Floor manages capital through a series of discretionary private equity funds, which consist of private and institutional capital. In addition, the firm enjoys longstanding partnerships with best-in class capital partners across the United States. Given its unique role as both operator and capital partner, 13th Floor prides itself on being a great partner to a wide range of players in the real estate industry. This reputation has allowed 13th Floor to expand geographically as well as across a wide range of asset classes.

Prior to founding 13th Floor, Mr. Karsenti founded Collegeboxes, the nation’s leading college-based shipping and storage company, which was acquired by U-Haul in 2004. Mr. Karsenti began his real estate career by knocking on doors in Miami’s urban core where he assembled a portfolio of properties which ultimately lead to forming 13th Floor.
Mr. Karsenti is also active in the community – he is an active member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO) and sits on the executive board of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. Mr. Karsenti graduated cum laude from the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University, with a dual degree in Mechanical Engineering and Economics, and holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

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Michael Shvo
CEO @ SHVO

Michael Shvo is the founder, Chairman and CEO of SHVO, a New York City based real estate firm focused on the development of unique and innovative luxury properties. As a developer, Mr. Shvo uses his diverse background in real estate, from brokerage to marketing and sales, to lead his firm in creating one-of-a-kind projects at some of the most sought-after addresses in the world.

Mr. Shvo started his career as a real estate broker 20 years ago in New York City and quickly rose to prominence as one of America’s top producers. He founded SHVO in 2004, where he earned a reputation for groundbreaking residential lifestyle concepts and an innovative sales and marketing process inspired by some of the world’s leading luxury brands. During this time, Mr. Shvo collaborated with world-renowned architects, designers, and fashion brands including Herzog & de Meuron, Philippe Starck, Denniston, Gwathmey Siegal, and Piero Lissoni. These concepts continue to be emulated throughout the world.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Shvo has transformed residential real estate development with his unparalleled commitment to creating extreme value through aspirational experiences. These experiences are created with thoughtful coalescence of design, lifestyle, and innovation, paired with impeccable finishes unique to each project and its intended purchaser. This vision was first realized at 20 Pine Street in New York City, where Mr. Shvo engaged fashion house Armani Casa to design the interiors — a first in the industry, giving consumers an exclusive connection between a fashion brand and a residential real estate property.

Today, Mr. Shvo leads his development firm’s vast portfolio of more than $4 billion with a hand in investment strategy, site selection, design, conceptualization, and developing projects at the forefront of urban architecture. Not resting on past successes and with the vision and fearlessness to always challenge the status quo, Mr. Shvo is committed to continuing to innovate and redefine real estate development worldwide.

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Pete Tuffo
President of the Southeast Region @ Suffolk

Pete Tuffo serves as the President of Suffolk’s Southeast region which maintains office locations in West Palm Beach, Miami, Tampa, and Estero, Florida. He is responsible for operational efficiency and the successful execution of the business strategy. Under Pete’s leadership, the Florida offices have grown to an annual revenue exceeding $800 million with 350+ employees. Notable projects in the
South Florida market include:

– Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood – Hotel & Casino Expansion Hollywood, FL | $1,346,000,000 | 2,000,000+ SF
– Ritz-Carlton Residences Sunny Isles Beach, FL | $230,000,000 | 827,000 SF
– The Bristol West Palm Beach, FL | $214,000,000 | 610,000 SF
– Royal Caribbean – PortMiami Terminal A Miami, FL | $123,000,000 | 702,000 SF | LEED Silver

During his 26 years in the industry, Pete has built strong relationships with clients, architects, trade partners, local organizations, and community leaders throughout Florida. His service-focused approach has allowed Pete to serve an integral role in Suffolk’s growth and diversification throughout the region.
Pete is active within the construction industry and has held board positions with the Urban Land Institute, the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, the Collier County Education Foundation, and the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. He supports multiple community causes such as the American Heart Association and the Florida Gulf Coast University Foundation. He has also been on the board for the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins charity golf tournament.

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Maya Vander
Founder @ The Maya Vander Group

BIO TO COME

Alex Wiktoff
EVP Development @ Witkoff

BIO TO COME

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  • Rebranded the beleaguered condo project