Pay It Forward: "Outwork Your Competition Consistently"
Terranova Corp. founder and chairman Stephen Bittel has dedicated his life to building his business, while promoting the livelihood of his hometown through active involvement.
Stephen Bittel, 66, founder and chairman of Terranova Corp. in Miami Beach, FL
Stephen Bittel is a fixture in both the real estate industry and the community of Miami, FL. With deep roots in the southern coastal city, Bittel has dedicated his life towards not only building his business to be one of the top commercial real estate firms in South Florida (for which in 2005 he was awarded the South Florida Business Journal “Ultimate CEO” award), but also promoting the livelihood of his hometown through his active involvement in it.
Area of expertise or focus: Commercial real estate and private equity investments/capital markets.
How have you overcome obstacles in your industry/? The best way to overcome any obstacle in this industry is to build a team with a shared commitment to excellence and a joint belief in consistent hard work.
What about your current role at the company are you most happy with? I am very proud of the senior leadership team we have built over the years. Everyone is well aligned, enabling us to achieve the best results possible in a constantly shifting and challenging market.
What is the best piece of advice you have received that has helped you succeed in your industry, and do you have any advice specifically for the next generation? A common misconception — but balance is not a lifestyle. It is something that happens in a bank account after a lot of hard work. My advice is to outwork your competition consistently so you can outperform them again and again.
How has the industry changed from when you were starting out? Commercial real estate remains a great career that enables those to control significant assets with far fewer people than most other industries. What has changed in the industry is the increasing focus others have on increasing fees rather than the traditional goal in the industry of building asset values. At Terranova, we are still overwhelmingly focused on building asset value and growing community assets over time. I advise those in the industry to focus on this approach.
Please share with us the best lessons learned or a surprising component of your unique journey. Terranova started as a real estate investing business and then pivoted to focus on a fee-based business in the late 80’s. In 2005, we began to exit that model in order to focus full time on our own investments. I wish we had done this 10 years earlier and focused on building our own portfolios sooner.
In your opinion, what takeaways did we learn from the COVID-19 crisis? We worked as hard as we ever had in the first few months of the pandemic to keep our tenants and properties open and paying rents. The local tenants were much more motivated to stay open. Our teams really stepped up and did more to keep our assets performing which made all the difference. For us, overcommunicating with our team, capital sources and tenants is what really worked and help us get through the temporary slow down. We came out of it stronger than ever!
What three words would you use to describe your work mindset? Focus, intensity and commitment. We have always fostered and rewarded a culture of preparation and hard work. It has paid off tremendously from the start of my career to today. It’s been quite the journey and hard to believe how fortunate we have been with all the success since then!
