Robert Given.
Robert Given
Executive vice chairman at Cushman & Wakefield
For Miamians, it’s a given that Robert Given dominates multifamily deal-making in South Florida.
As South Florida apartment rents skyrocketed during the pandemic due to an influx of new residents, investors from across the country zeroed in on the region, pushing its multifamily market to new heights.
Two deals breached the $400 million mark, a record for South Florida rental properties: Virginia-based Harbor Group International purchased the 816-unit ParkLine Miami complex and global real estate company Hines acquired the 495-unit Gables Station property.
The deals had one thing in common: Cushman & Wakefield (CWK)’s Robert Given represented the seller both times, Florida East Coast Companies in the MiamiLine purchase and Nolan Reynolds International for the Gables complex.
As HGI continued its multifamily shopping spree across South Florida, Given shepherded some of those deals, such as the acquisition of a 420-unit property in Miami Gardens for $113 million.
But, even before the pandemic-fueled bull market took off, Given and his team, which now includes Troy Ballard and Zachary Sackley, had long cornered South Florida’s multifamily deal flow. When he moved to Cushman & Wakefield from CBRE in 2016, his team had closed more than $20 billion in deals over the previous 13 years. The figure has grown to $40 billion.
Perhaps now the broker is crossing into development. Last month, Given and another Cushman agent bought an 11-acre vacant developable site in Fort Lauderdale for $22 million. (Given could not be reached for comment prior to publication.) —J.E.
