MIAMI—With more than 650 employees statewide providing real estate expertise across major markets, including Miami, Broward, Palm Beach, Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville—and a leasing and management portfolio of more than 28.6 million square feet—JLL continues to climb up the rankings as one of the top brokerage firms in Florida with a global platform. Under Doug Irmscher's leadership, the company has plans to double its statewide revenue by 2020.

GlobeSt.com caught up with Irmscher to discuss JLL's aggressive market growth across Florida, the firm's expansion goals he is pursuing, and some of the latest trends impacting key commercial. Be sure to check back with us in this afternoon's Miami edition for part two of this exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: Five years ago, prior to JLL's merger with Staubach, your firm had a relatively small presence in Florida. What has been the strategy behind your expansion in such a short period?