Jaime Sturgis, founder and CEO, Native Realty of Fort Lauderdale

FORT LAUDERDALE—Native Realty's Jaime Sturgis believes the future of Fort Lauderdale and particularly its emerging Flagler Village is bright due to heightened demand from investors and developers that realized the district needed more than just new high-rise multifamily projects to succeed.

The 30-year-old native of Fort Lauderdale formerly worked with Miami brokerage Metro 1 and brokered retail deals in Miami's Wynwood section. However, two years ago, he went back to his roots and founded Native Realty in 2017 and established offices in the emerging Flagler Village district and has concentrated his efforts on Fort Lauderdale.

He said that after graduating Florida State University, Sturgis told Globest.com that he constantly saw his classmates and friends relocate to Miami, New York, Los Angeles and other major markets across the country. He said the migration to other markets was simply due to the lack of arts, culture and entertainment in the area.