In-person

Development

South Florida

South Florida Development & Capital Leadership Forum

Thursday, October 9, 2025 @ 8:00 AM- 3:30 PM ET The Bath Club 5937 Collins Ave, Miami Beach,FL 33140

Keynote Speakers

Speakers

Marie South Florida Development & Capital Leadership Forum

Maria barry

Managing Director and Community Development Banking National Executive

Bank of America

Jefferson Brackin

Acquisitions Analyst

GFO Investments

Michael Comras is a visionary in South Florida’s commercial and retail real estate market, known for developing and representing some of the region’s most iconic destinations and attracting a transformative caliber of tenants.

Since founding Comras Company in 1992, he has led high-impact leasing, development, and repositioning strategies across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, playing a central role in shaping key neighborhoods including Lincoln Road, Wynwood, Downtown Miami, the Design District, Coconut Grove, Las Olas Boulevard and Downtown Boca Raton. The firm also serves as the exclusive leasing representative for national brands in South Florida, including Sephora and Lucky Strike.

On Lincoln Road, Comras has executed record-breaking deals that helped redefine the famed retail corridor. He assembled and sold a block of properties anchored by Apple, Nike, Gap, and Capital One for $370 million, still among the highest retail transactions in Miami-Dade history. More recently, his firm facilitated the $17.3 million sale of the retail condo at 100 Lincoln Road to Alo Yoga, bringing the buzzy Beverly Hills brand to a marquee Miami Beach corner.

Comras has built a strong track record for identifying undervalued, underperforming assets and transforming them into high-performing, culture-driving destinations. His firm’s investment strategy focuses on premier, retail-driven properties with strong fundamentals, creating lasting value through curated tenant mixes, design-forward repositioning, and strategic advisory work. This includes partnerships and advisory roles with institutions such as Apollo Global Management and LoanCore Capital.

Comras Company has played a central role in the resurgence of CocoWalk as co-developer and leasing lead. The firm also redeveloped a site across the street as The Canopy Offices, a boutique office project with a tenant roster that reflects Miami’s growing financial and investment sectors.

Recently, the Comras Company team completed the leasing of 250,000 square feet of retail space at Miami WorldCenter, reshaping Downtown Miami with a mix of nationally recognized brands, including Apple, Sephora, Lucky Strike, and the Museum of Ice Cream, among others.

Comras serves on the University of Miami Real Estate Advisory Board he is an active member of the Lincoln Road and Coconut Grove BIDs and ICSC. His philanthropic efforts include support for Mount Sinai Medical Center, Women of Tomorrow, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, and the Bass Museum.

An accomplished businessman and humanitarian, Gil Dezer is a visionary real estate developer and one of the largest oceanfront property owners in South Florida. Dezer and his father, Michael Dezer, have made Dezer Development one of the most innovative and successful developers of iconic luxury and ultra-luxury residences in the world. Through the introduction of powerful brand
partnerships with some of the world’s leading luxury brands, Dezer has restructured the face and value of the South Florida residential real estate industry. One thing that sets Gil apart from other developers is that his care for buyers goes far beyond just the sale of property. Gil remains active with the condominium associations and engages with unit owners in every project he develops.

Dezer’s first branded luxury condominiums were the very successful Trump Grande Ocean Resort and Residences and Trump Towers in Sunny Isles Beach. Despite the downturn of South Florida’s residential real estate market at the time, Dezer managed two
remarkable achievements. Between 2009 and 2010, Dezer secured sufficient sales to pay-off Trump Royale’s $210 million construction
loan and the $265 million pay-off of Trump Tower II and Trump Tower III’s mortgage, a combined $475 million.

Following the success of Dezer’s six Trump branded buildings, Dezer announced a master licensing agreement with Germany-based
Porsche Design Group to bring the iconic brand to South Florida’s first automobile branded residences. The 60-story ultra-luxury
Porsche Design Tower with its one of a kind, revolutionary automobile elevator lift system – the Dezervator – allows owners to park
their vehicles in ‘sky garages’ directly next to their luxurious homes. The success of the Porsche Design Tower began when Dezer Development received a $214 million construction loan from Wells Fargo in September 2013, at the time marking the largest loan for a single construction project in the Southeast in the post-recession era.

Leveraging his track record of success with marquee lifestyle brands, Gil entered into an exclusive partnership with The Related Group
and Armani/Casa Interior Design Studio to launch the world-renowned fashion and furnishings designer, Giorgio Armani’s, first residential tower in the U.S. real estate market: Residences by Armani/Casa. Designed by globally acclaimed Argentine-born architect, César Pelli, the 56-story oceanfront tower features 308 luxurious residences and incomparable amenities spanning two floors, all exquisitely designed by Armani/Casa with rich textiles and custom furnishings.

Dezer Development then expanded into Miami’s booming Arts & Design district through another joint venture with The Related Group to launch Hyde Midtown Suites and Residences. Designed by Arquitectonica with interiors by award-winning designer, David Rockwell,the 31-story tower includes 60 hotel rooms, 410 residential condominiums, and an array of contemporary lifestyle offerings. Dezer is once again partnering with The Related Group to develop the Rosewood Residences Hillsboro Beach, an Intracoastal-to-ocean property in Hillsboro Beach. The developers again engaged Arquitectonica to design this elegant community on the last undeveloped beach front property in South Florida.

Dezer currently has several other projects underway including the redevelopment of the Intracoastal Mall into Uptown Harbor, a
monumental mixed-use project. The 30-acre property will feature luxury condominiums spread out among five towers including condos, retail spaces, offices, town homes, a boutique hotel and more. Uptown Harbor will include a striking waterfront promenade offering an active harbor for recreational boats and waterfront dining and shopping.

The current crown jewel of Dezer’s projects is the Bentley Residences Miami. Designed in conjunction with Bentley Motors, the 62-
story building, with its diamond-quilted glass façade, was already awarded the South Florida Business Journal’s 2024 Structures Award.
Currently under construction in Sunny Isles Beach, the Bentley Residences will incorporate Dezervator car lifts delivering unit owners’ autos to three and four sky garages inside every unit. This luxury condominium will include amenities with five-star hospitality and service.

Dezer earned degrees in International Finance and Marketing from the University of Miami. He additionally holds a real estate license and is the past President and Chairman Emeritus of the Developers & Builders Alliance (DBA), one of the world’s largest development and construction organizations. Active in the community, Dezer is a staunch supporter of local organizations and holds several positions which include: one of the Founders of the Mount Sinai Medical Center Foundation; a Young President of the Miami Heart Institute; member of the Florida Friends of Israeli Defense Forces (FFIDF); member of Project Cradle in Miami; host committee member of satellite art fair, Art Miami; member of WIZO Florida and the One Family Fund Organization.

Under the direction of her father, Ian Bruce Eichner, founder of The Continuum Company from New York, Alexandra is leading the company’s South Florida development portfolio. The firm has a successful track record of developing residential condos that are timeless and hold its value. To date, the firm has developed more than 14 million square feet totaling over $7 billion. Notable development achievements that were the first in their class include: First high-rise built in Brooklyn since landmarks height legislation was passed in 1965 (Montague Street, 1998); first urban timeshare in New York, with a new concept of being able to book stays one day at a time (The Manhattan Club, 1996); first and only beachfront gated community in South Beach (The Continuum, 2002); and the first development on the Las Vegas strip to employ an urban development model, maximizing a small 8.5-acre site to its full square footage potential of 6 ½ million square feet (Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino).In Florida alone, Continuum Company is currently developing approximately 1 million square feet of residential real estate, totaling over $600 million in sales. Alexandra is already taking on Florida as a real estate developer for their current projects. Holding the title, president of Continuum Company, she has successfully spearheaded large-scale projects and has been a key player in the revitalization of Bay Harbor Islands in Miami. She also stands to be a key player in the transformation and revitalization of North Bay Village – a residential neighborhood that is now ripe for transformation. Additionally, she has been part of the conversation on the influx of new residents to South Florida, primarily from New York and Chicago.

When Alexandra started at the company, she was an assistant project manager in New York. She had no formal experience in real estate development – other than what she learned from dinner conversations with her father. As an assistant PM, she had the opportunity to support/work directly with the most senior executives in the company – and, of course, with her father. She learned a lot, and very quickly. Soon after, Continuum Co acquired La Baia Bay Harbor. At the time, they hadn’t built anything in South Florida in 20 years, since the Continuum South Beach. Alexandra offered to be the boots on ground – running the La Baia project locally, with oversight from the New York team. She was promoted to Development Officer and started traveling to Florida on a regular basis. They opened an office, hired a few local employees and started looking to expand. After she successfully navigated a tricky site plan approval for La Baia and La Baia North, along with the recently acquired site in North Bay Village, Allexandra was promoted to President of South Florida.

Within the last 12 to 18 months, Alexandra has been promoted to President of Continuum Company’s Florida division as a result of overseeing the successful launch of 3 condo projects in South Florida. Within the first year of being President, Alexandra worked with public officials to enact a workforce housing law in the town of North Bay Village, something few developers in the private sector have ever accomplished. Additionally, within the last 18 months, Alexandra launched sales of Continuum’s first ground-up luxury condo development in South Florida in over 20 years. She did this in record time (less than 6 months) by delivering best-in-class floor plans with innovative amenities – such as the House Tesla program, all while navigating a complicated approval process for Continuum’s 2nd condo development in South Florida.

More specifically, in September 2023, Alexandra privately sponsored a workforce housing ordinance, as part of her bid to secure approvals for the Continuum Company’s 3rd residential development. This ordinance allows for developers to pay into a workforce housing fund for the benefit of existing condo residents who are struggling to afford their rising HOA fees. She worked on this law for the better part of a year, emboldened by yet another condo evacuation in this district, and was able to get it adopted the night before her wedding, after appearing before the Planning & Zoning Board and two Commission Hearings. This law not only represents a significant public benefit, as the lack of affordable housing is a national crisis, it also represents additional density for the project, which translates into a win-win for the public and private sector, not only for her project, but anyone else in this district.

Currently, Alexandra oversees the development of approximately 1 million square feet of residential real estate in South Florida, which will total over $600 million in sales. Alexandra has been a key player in the revitalization of Bay Harbor Islands in Miami with Continuum Company’s La Baia condominiums. She also stands to be a key player in the transformation and revitalization of North Bay Village – a residential neighborhood that is now ripe for transformation. Additionally, she has been part of the conversation on the influx of new residents to South Florida, primarily from New York. Alexandra is new to industry, but she’s definitely shaking things up. Her colleagues have nothing but amazing things to say about her. She has her foot in the door of a 99% male-dominated industry and is quickly becoming one of the most well-respected female real estate developers in South Florida.

What You Need To Know

While the commercial real estate market has taken a hard hit the past year, Miami has been able to hold strong and has seemingly dodged the trials dogging other cities. After years of a rising population fueled by out-of-state migration, corporate relocations and the announcement of “snow bird” offices, South Florida is enjoying job and economic growth.

South Florida’s economy is further bolstered by its famed tourism and hospitality industries. Already an international gateway to some of the U.S.’ best beaches, arts and cultural destinations, and culinary experiences, Miami continues to have a focus on pushing the envelope in creating an irreplicable lifestyle.

Don’t miss your chance to hear from the visionaries building and investing in one of the strongest markets in the U.S., and get critical insights on priorities for sustaining real estate and economic growth amidst rapid expansion. Hear directly from top real estate experts and investors on where they’re finding the best investment opportunities, the asset classes poised to take the lead in 2026, and the transformative neighborhoods and developments that have taken on a life of their own.

Agenda

Transformational Development Strategies & Financing Big Dollar Projects in an Uncertain Market

Follow the Capital: Business-Friendly Miami Emerges as a Strategic Investment Capital

The Art of the Deal: Case Studies & Insider Perspectives on Major investments & Financings

Strategies for Sustaining South Florida’s Population Growth: Prioritizing Education & Transportation Infrastructure

Asset Class Strength: How Office & Mixed-Use are Supporting Miami’s Booming Retail, Hospitality & Residential Sectors

Elevating Miami’s Global Profile: What’s Attracting Foreign & Domestic Investments

Public Private Partnerships Funding & Advancing South Florida’s Largest Projects

View Past AGENDA