MIAMI—I moderated CREW-Miami's luxury retail panel discussion on Wednesday afternoon, questioning three leading voices in Miami's real estate scene. On the panel were Greg Masin, senior director of Cushman & Wakefield's Miami brokerage; Matthew Whitman Lazenby, president and CEO of the Whiteman Family Development; and Beth Azor, owner of Azor Advisory Services.
The room was packed out with South Floridians who wanted to know what Masin, Lazenby, and Azor know about the local scene. When I asked them about surprising trends in Miami retail, all three had a unique perspective.
Masin, for example, pointed to urbanization. He noted we live between an ocean and a swamp—and we've built out as far as we can.
“If you want to do business in this town—especially in the east side of this town—you're going to have to be creative,” Masin said. “You're going to have to pay a bit more. The retailer is willing to do that because of the historical performance of the retailers in Miami. This east side revival isn't going away.”
Azor has noticed a trend that keeps growing: the medical industry is moving into retail space. That's not a new trend, but it's one that's gaining momentum.
“Every single hospital is building a satellite,” Azor said. “Baptist started it and now others are following. Also, food, food and food. If developers could figure out how to build only end caps, there would be no vacancy in the world. 'Fast-casual' is the buzzword of the day.”
Lazenby agreed with Azor on the food front. In Bal Harbour Shops, he said restaurants have been posting double digit increases.
“It wasn't that long ago that retailers didn't want to be near restaurants,” he said. “Now it's the opposite, they're asking 'Where is the nearest restaurant? We want to be right next door."
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