This is Built World: Hot Shots , recorded live at The Real Deal Forum, where every guest takes a shot of tequila or espresso before diving into some rapid-fire questions. Today, David Moret joined us for an espresso shot and a quick-hit conversation. Connect with us Want to dive deeper into Miami’s commercial real estate scene? It’s our favorite topic and we’re always up for a good conversation. Whether you're just exploring or already making big moves, feel free to reach out at info@built...
In this episode, we sit down with legendary Miami developer Gil Dezer, the force behind Porsche Design Tower, Armani Residences, and the upcoming Bentley building. Gil opens up about hustling through high school and college, selling condos and timeshares before joining his father’s real estate empire and leading the charge himself. He walks us through the Dezer family story from his father immigrating from Israel in the 60s, building a typesetting business, then becoming one of the bigg...
This is Built World: Hot Shots , recorded live at The Real Deal Forum, where every guest takes a shot of tequila or espresso before diving into some rapid-fire questions. Today, Russell Galbut joined us for an espresso shot and a quick-hit conversation. Connect with us Want to dive deeper into Miami’s commercial real estate scene? It’s our favorite topic and we’re always up for a good conversation. Whether you're just exploring or already making big moves, feel free to reach out at info@bu...
Ever wondered how a stadium gets built, a pro sports team gets bought or sold, or who actually pays for it? Meet Irwin Raij, the sports and entertainment attorney behind some of the biggest deals in modern sports. From advising Inter Miami CF on their stadium, to helping negotiate the record-breaking $6.05B sale of the Washington Commanders, to working on acquisitions involving the Charlotte Hornets and major European soccer leagues Irwin’s career sits at the intersection of sports, law, poli...
The legend of New York City commercial real estate brokerage himself, Bob Knakal, flew down to Miami and joined us over some 1942 tequila to tell his story. From shoveling driveways as a kid to co-founding Massey Knakal in 1987, and ultimately selling it for $100 million, Bob takes us through the highs and lows of building one of the most iconic brokerage firms in the country. With over 2,363 buildings sold and more than $23 billion in total transaction volume, Bob’s track record speaks for ...
We recorded this episode live from Bilzin Sumberg’s office, in front of a packed room of ULI Leadership Institute alumni, sharing a pour of Don Julio 1942 with David Martin, CEO of Terra. David takes us through his Miami upbringing, his early entrepreneurial hustle (including the coffee shop he launched and sold while attending the University of Florida), and how that drive evolved into a career shaping the city’s skyline. From his first deal to a pipeline of nearly 30 projects, this conversa...
Over some Japanese whisky, we sit down with Gabe Navarro to talk about the family legacy behind the Navarro Pharmacy chain, a true Miami institution. Gabe shares what it was like growing up in the business, from sweeping floors and stocking shelves to ultimately helping lead the company through its major exit to CVS. We get into how he and his siblings transformed Navarro from a neighborhood pharmacy brand into a real estate powerhouse, investing in shopping centers across Florida, developing...
Hailing from the Napa Valley of Onions, Vidalia, Georgia, David Whitaker joins us over a glass of Bendersky Reserve Scotch to share his remarkable journey. David first arrived in Miami in the 1980s, where his introduction to the city was anything but smooth. He was mugged at gunpoint his first Friday in town, and then carjacked the following week. Undeterred, he stayed, built his career, and eventually rose to become the President & CEO of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bure...
This quarter, we poured some Nikka Japanese whiskey and sat down with two of the sharpest minds in the CRE data world: Juan Arias, National Director of Industrial Analytics at CoStar Group, and Anthony Graziano, Chairman & CEO of Integra Realty Resources. Every quarter, these guys help us dissect what’s actually moving Miami’s industrial market — pricing trends, vacancy shifts, absorption patterns, capital flows, and where deals are getting done (and where they’re not). We started with in...
We cracked open a couple of cold IPAs and went LIVE with Daniel Lebensohn, Co-CEO & Founder of BH3 Management, at Bisnow’s Miami State of the Market - our first-ever live podcast. Daniel brought the unfiltered stuff: building through cycles, spotting distress before it hits the headlines, assembling A-teams, and keeping conviction when deals get weird. We got into how BH3 thinks about risk, capital stacks, and value creation across Miami and beyond, plus the mindset it takes to compete at...
We hit the road and sat down with Michael Swerdlow, founder and managing partner of The Swerdlow Group, in his Coconut Grove office. From his humble beginnings in the Bronx, where he hated school because it was too easy, to buying real estate in the 1970s with $0 of his own money, Michael’s story is a masterclass in hustle and vision. He walks us through flipping apartment buildings, discovering the power of net leases, and becoming one of the first to sell them to pension funds. His deep und...
We cracked open a few cold Peronis with Tadd Schwartz, the man behind Schwartz Media Strategies and one of the sharpest storytellers in Miami. Tadd took us behind the curtain of Miami’s PR machine: the spin, the splash, and the subtle art of making a real estate project feel like the second coming of South Beach. From rebranding neighborhoods to navigating media storms, he’s helped shape the way Miami sells itself to the world. We talked shop about the developers he’s worked with and why pe...
In this episode, we sat down with a couple of scotches and a legend of Miami Beach, Neisen Kasdin. Born and raised on the Beach, Neisen has witnessed its transformation firsthand. From his teenage years, he was drawn to politics with dreams of one day becoming president. That passion led him to Northwestern University, where he studied political science, and then back to Florida for a law degree at UF. Returning to South Beach, Neisen served as a Miami Beach commissioner and eventually as May...
From San Francisco to London to New York City, Gerald and Trish Posner have lived lives that are anything but ordinary. Gerald started his career as a young hotshot lawyer, while Trish came up through the fashion industry. Fate brought them together in NYC, and since then, they’ve become an award-winning investigative writing duo with a shelf full of acclaimed books. Their work has taken them everywhere. From digging into heroin syndicates in Hong Kong, to exposing Nazi fugitives, to chronicl...
Matt sat down with us over a glass of tequila and shared his journey. From growing up in Brooklyn and working early jobs as a club promoter to building a $2.1 billion real estate portfolio, Matt plays chess, not checkers. He discovered early that his superpower was a relentless work ethic; pounding the phones and making more cold calls than anyone else as a young NYC stockbroker. He took us through his path of dropping out of college to broker stocks, then returning to finish undergrad and ul...
Ana sat down with us over a couple of very dirty martinis, and the conversation went just as unfiltered. Ana is as much of a data nerd as we are, and we dug into the strength of Miami’s new development condo market, the macroeconomic forces funneling wealth into South Florida, and why she believes capital and high-net-worth individuals will keep flocking to the 305. We also got into blue vs. red state tax policies, her decision to walk away from Columbia University as a Physics and Math major...
No guests this week, just us, talking shop and sharing what’s really going on in Miami’s industrial market. We get into the story of Built World Advisors, why we’re betting big on Class B warehouses in the urban core, and what we’ve learned building a media-meets-brokerage platform from the ground up. We also break down what’s hot (and what’s not) in East Hialeah, West Hialeah, Allapattah, Opa-Locka, and Golden Glades, how Cafecito Club went from a casual coffee meetup to a go-to industry ev...
Hue Chen, President of Saglo Companies, stopped by to drop some serious shopping center knowledge. From his early days as a leasing agent to leading one of South Florida’s most active retail owner-operators, Hue’s journey is a masterclass in grit, hustle, and long-term vision. A fixture at ICSC and a forward-thinker in applying AI to real estate, Hue shares how he’s stayed ahead of the curve while scaling a portfolio and building lasting relationships in the CRE world. Tune in to hear how to ...
The brain trust is back. Juan Arias (CoStar Group) and Anthony Graziano (Integra Realty Resources) join us to break down what’s shaping up for the second half of 2025 in commercial real estate. We cover the macro trends: interest rates, capital flows, development costs, and zoom in on how they’re impacting real-world dealmaking in South Florida. Whether you’re investing, developing, or just trying to read the tea leaves, this episode delivers sharp insights and on-the-ground perspecti...
A former attorney and once a professional tennis player Andy brings a rare mix of discipline, strategy, and precision to the world of real estate development. He takes us behind the scenes of River Landing, one of the largest mixed-use projects on the Miami River. The River Landing story is just the tip of the iceberg. Before founding Urban-X, Andy helped restructure a $750 million portfolio at Leviev Boymelgreen Developers ahead of the 2008 crash. He later served as a court-appointed receive...