PROFILEmiami and MG Developer are pleased to present ‘An Exploration into Capital Markets Coral Gables’, a immersive panel event exploring capital markets and real estate development in South Florida with an emphasis on Miami’s Coral Gables neighborhood. The evening will include an in-depth discussion on Capital Markets along with cocktails and networking at MG Developer’s Village at Coral Gables sales gallery in the heart of Coral Gables.
The relaxed and open setting provides an opportunity for attendees to learn about the current and future state of South Florida’s Capital Markets in Coral Gables, one of Miami’s hotbed neighborhoods for business and development. The lavish showroom provides an intimate yet luxurious setting to enjoy cocktails and bites by Coral Gables staple Zucca while networking with some of South Florida’s preeminent real estate leaders. The engaging panel will feature keynote speakers Catie Naranjo, CDO at MG Developer; Scott Wadler of Berkadia, Melissa Tapanes, a partner at Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin and Tapanes, PPLC; and Ayush Kapahi, Founder at HKS; moderated by Demetri Demascus of PROFILEmiami.
The stunning, state-of-the-art, showroom for The Village at Coral Gables provides a sneak preview into the curated interiors and furnishings that were selected from RH (Restoration Hardware), which have proven their design leadership in the luxury lifestyle market. MG Developer, led by Alirio Torrealba, announced on July 5, 2023 that it has secured a $67.5 million construction loan from Churchill Real Estate to build the highly anticipated Village at Coral Gables development, with groundbreaking expected this July.
Why Coral Gables?
Coral Gables has been one of Miami’s main business and residential districts since George Merrick first incorporated the city in 1925. Coral Gables is home to the University of Miami, one of the nation's leading private research universities which also features one of the nation’s leading real estate programs. The city began as a Mediterranean-themed planned community known for its historic and affluent character reinforced by its strict zoning, popular landmarks, and tourist sights.
Today it is home to some of the wealthiest zip codes in the US and is also home to the headquarters of American Airlines, Bacardi USA, Kraft Foods, Millicom, Club Med, MG Developer, Danone Americas, The Allen Morris Company, Odebrecht Construction, Inc., Turbana. In the housing market, the median sale price per square foot in Coral Gables is $755, up 20.6% since last year with a vacancy rate of around 4%. Downtown Coral Gables is home to world-class restaurants such as Zucca and Hillstone Coral Gables and the Merrick Park shopping district is currently welcoming a new Louis Vuitton store to its tenant mix.
Attendance is free but space is limited due to venue constraints, so make sure to reserve your spot to guarantee attendance. Register below. - REGISTRATION NOW CLOSED [SOLD OUT]
Who Should Attend: Developers, Investors, Brokers, Lenders, Architects, Lawyers, Designers, Wealth Managers, Financial Planners, CPAs and other Business Professionals.
Date: July 25, 2023 | 5:30 - 9 PM
Where: The Village at Coral Gables Showroom, 2990 Ponce De Leon Blvd., Suite 101, Coral Gables, FL 33134.
Panelists:
Catie Naranjo, CDO at MG Developer
Scott Wadler, Berkadia
Melissa Tapanes, Partner at Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin and Tapanes, PPLC
Ayush Kapahi, Founder at HKS
Moderator: Demetri Demascus, Co-Founder of PROFILEmiami
SPEAKERS
Scott Wadler
Berkadia
Mr. Wadler is a Managing Director in the Miami office of Berkadia. He is primarily responsible for originating debt and equity placement transactions throughout the southeastern United States, focused across multiple asset classes including office, retail, residential, and lodging.
Prior to joining Berkadia, Scott was with HFF for ten years. Before joining at HFF, Scott held positions at Related Group of Florida and Fortune International, two of the largest residential developers in Florida.
Catie Naranjo
CDO, MG Developer
Catie Naranjo is the CDO of MG Developer. As CDO, Naranjo’s primary role includes managing investor, lender, and stakeholder relations which goes hand-in-hand with MG Developer nearing the $1 billion benchmark of real estate developments ranging from $6 million to $270 million in scope.
Naranjo earned an MRED degree from the University of Miami, and with MG Developer having launched three developments in and around the city limits of Coral Gables, Naranjo will be returning her focus to the area. She will also be focusing some of her time on financial underwriting and review, coordination between various arms of the development team, and tracking projects and budgets.
Prior to this role, Naranjo spent 12 years managing projects ranging in size from small private ventures to large-scale, high-profile endeavors. Naranjo’s skill set also includes investing and developing her own successful real estate ventures, allowing her to have a longer perspective on risk management, creative problem-solving, and long-term visioning.
Melissa Tapanes
Partner at Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin and Tapanes, PPLC
Melissa Tapanes Llahues has made her mark not only in the legal profession but also in the greater Miami community. She became a named partner at Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin and Tapanes, PLLC in 2020.
Melissa represents the interests of landowners, institutional clients, and developers seeking real estate licensing and regulatory approvals from governmental boards and agencies at the local, state and federal levels. She specializes in managing complex and politically sensitive legislative and quasi-judicial matters from initial due diligence to permitting, including applications and issues related to developments of regional impact, amendments to local government comprehensive plans, vested rights, public private partnerships, zoning, platting, and site planning, as well as development agreements, enforcement, eminent domain, historic preservation, and archaeological resources.
Highly committed to her community, Melissa was appointed as a member of the Miami Downtown Development Authority Board of Directors. She served on the City of Miami’s Miami 21 Report Ad Hoc Task Force where she was elected Chairperson by her peers to lead in the review of the Miami 21 Zoning Code. She served as Chair of the Florida International University President’s Council for three years, a trustee of the Builders Association of South Florida, and served on the Board of Directors of the Latin Builders Association for over a decade. She is involved with numerous legal and civic organizations, including Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW), Florida Association of Women Lawyers (FAWL) and the Cuban American Bar Association (CABA). In 2017, the South Florida Business Journal recognized her professional accomplishments and community leadership with its coveted 2017 “40 Under 40” Award. In 2021, she was recognized as one of Ford Motor Company’s Mujeres Legendarias representing Ford’s pillar of leadership. Melissa received the Miami Dade Bar Association Circle of Excellence Award in 2023 in recognition of her accomplishments in government relations.
The Legal 500 has named her a “Recommended Attorney” every year since 2017 and is ranked in Chambers USA 2021. She has been named a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers® and an “Up and Comer” by Florida Trend’s Legal Elite, and selected for inclusion in numerous Who’s Who publications.
Melissa graduated from the University of Miami School of Law (Juris Doctor, cum laude) and the Florida International University Honors College (Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Geography, magna cum laude). During her law studies, she clerked for the Honorable Scott J. Silverman in the 11th judicial Circuit of Florida and for the law firm of Black, Srebnick, Kornspan, & Stumpf.
Her activism has been long in the making. In 1999, Melissa was appointed to the State of Florida Board of Education Postsecondary Education Planning Commission (PEPC) by Governor Jeb Bush, where she recommended legislation, funding, and policy initiatives to the Governor, Legislature, and Board of Education for both public and private higher education institutions. While still an undergraduate, Melissa spearheaded the student initiative for the approval and funding of a public law school as a lobbyist for Florida International University’s Student Government Association.
Ayush Kapahi
Founder, HKS
Mr. Kapahi entered the CRE finance industry at Pergolis & Swartz Associates in 2005, originating commercial mortgages on various assets classes including Hotel, Multi-Family, Retail, Industrial, Office, Land and Owner Occupied properties. In 2011, he left that firm to co-found HKS Capital Partners along with Jerry Swartz and John Harrington. Since then, he has financed well over $7 Billion in transactions spanning ground-up construction, preferred equity, and nearly all “agency” classes” Fannie, Freddie, HPD & HUD. He presents a unique understanding of the capital markets and their constant changing appetite for risk and analysis. With his comprehensive knowledge, he has been able to execute on vanilla and complex transactions alike. He carved himself a niche in the structured finance end of the real estate business with the ability to analyze and procure debt and equity, for value-add situations, note sales and Discounted Payoff (DPOs). Mr. Kapahi's career highlights include a $150 million construction loan for a 42-story luxury rental building in Long Island City with 467 units at a time when construction lenders were pulling out of the market. Ayush sourced a $120 million loan for an Upper East Side condominium conversion with a 45-day, Time-of-the-Essence closing period. In addition Mr. Kapahi was able to arrange $19 million for the acquisition of 176 unsold, sponsor held, co-op units in a time sensitive transaction, $107 million for an 18-story office building to hotel conversion on Park Avenue, $40 million for a leasehold interest in a Midtown East, 135,000 SF mixed-use property, and $135 million for 17 ground-up developments in The Bronx. Since 2011 Mr. Kapahi has spearheaded HKS's expansion from 3 partners to 30+ employees covering financing, investment sales, direct lending, ground-up development, note purchasing, and property management. This diverse experience provides Mr. Kapahi with unique insight during negotiations allowing him to relate to each stakeholder in the financing transaction. Lenders and borrowers alike trust Ayush to look out for their varied interests. Ayush' industry accolades include being named a Top 20 Mortgage Broker by Mortgage Observer (now Commercial Observer) three times, and being on the Mortgage Professional America's (MPA) Hot 100 list. Mr. Kapahi is a graduate of Skidmore College with a Bachelor's degree in Economics.
Moderator:
Demetri Demascus
Co-Founder of PROFILEmiami & Managing Broker of ALTARA Properties
Demetri Demascus is the co-founder and Publisher of leading South Florida real estate news platform PROFILEmiami; co-founder, CEO and Managing Broker of Altara Properties.
Demetri has been a licensed real estate professional in Florida since 2015 and has overseen over $400+ million in real estate transactions. Prior to launching Altara Properties in 2021, Demetri worked in acquisitions and business development for Galium Capital, a Miami-based real estate private equity firm and helped grow the firm’s AUM from $300+ million to $650+ million. Demetri has also previously worked as in real estate brokerage with Spectrum Realty Group and Century 21 Premier Elite Realty.
In 2016, Demetri co-founded PROFILEmedia, a digital publisher and events platform of the popular real estate news publications PROFILEmiami and PROFILEnyc. PROFILEmiami has over 3 million annual readers, 45K email subscribers and 19K+ Instagram followers. PROFILEmiami’s platforms include digital media, events and podcast.
Demetri graduated from Babson College with an undergraduate degree in business in 2013 and University of Miami MBA 2020.
About MG Developer:
MG Developer is a residential property development company based in Coral Gables, Florida. Led by Alirio Torrealba, the firm is a subsidiary of MG Capital, and provides and implements a comprehensive array of real estate-oriented services, from concept creation and property site selection to project advancement. As a member of the Coral Gables community, MG Developer is committed to the beautification of the city and supports its Art in Public Places program, having commissioned original stone sculptures at Balboa Plaza called “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which represents an outdoor living area. The firm is an advocate of public exhibitions throughout Coral Gables that enhance the area’s unique lifestyle and design and is also a proponent of philanthropic efforts and organizations that elevate the city’s standard of living, including the Coral Gables Community Foundation and FundaHigado. In 2021 MG Developer, entered the Hialeah market with its first multi-family apartment community called Metro Center. Today, MG Developer is the most active developer in Hialeah, with more than $600 million in development.
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