MIAMI—What a difference a year makes. The mood at last year's University of Miami (UM) Real Estate Impact Conference was hopeful. This year, commercial real estate developers and capital markets gurus were downright bullish on Miami and beyond.

Set against the backdrop of the newly-minted Perez Art Museum, one of the latest developments in the move to revitalize the Magic City, about 200 people attended UM's third annual event. UM President Donna Shalala moderated a keynote session with Starwood Capital Group CEO Barry Sternlicht, but that was merely the finale of a day that left event-goers walking away perhaps more bullish than they came in.

Although the panels were national in scope, Miami was a prime example again and again, from discussions on mixed-use development and walkability in a panel called "The Invisible Asset Class Initiative" to subsequent panels focusing on creativity in the commercial real estate sector and the power of residential real estate to change a city's future.