MIAMI—South Florida's retail landscape is not only posting rapid growth, it's also seeing plenty of diversification. Major new retail centers like the $2 billion Miami Worldcenter and $1.2 billion Brickell City Centre are putting an exclamation point on that growth and diversity.

At the University of Miami's (UM) fourth annual Real Estate Impact Conference in February, an expert panel of industry leaders assessed the evolutionary and revolutionary nature the dramatic changes taking place in the increasingly international and eclectic South Florida retail market.

The Retail Evolution and Revolutions panel featured: Robert Cohen, president of retail leasing and investment sales brokerage firm RKF's Southern California division; David Forbes, a partner at the Forbes Company, an owner and developer of iconic regional shopping centers and co-developer of Miami Worldcenter's mall; Matthew Lazenby, president and CEO of Whitman Family Development; and Erich Melsheimer, senior director of Real Estate at The Gap Inc. Michael Comras, president and CEO of Comras Company, who is largely credited with shaping retail on Lincoln Road, moderated the discussion.