The Urban Land Institute’s fourth annual Florida Summit begins tomorrow, with an estimated 500 professionals headed to Jacksonville to attend. Hundreds of development professionals, civic leaders and land-use experts will gather to make business connections and tackle some of the industry’s most pressing issues.
READ RELATED: FLORIDA’S REAL ESTATE MEETING OF THE MINDS 2014 SUMMIT
As a sponsor, we’ve been following along the planning process and how the panels have come together. Here are the top five sessions we’re most looking forward to at this year’s Summit led by some of the sharpest minds in business and real estate:
1) The Young Guns of Real Estate Development: Miami Worldcenter’s Nitin Motwani will moderate a discussion on the future of Florida real estate amidst a generational shift in the business landscape.
Moderator: Nitin Motwani, Miami World Center
Panelists: Ross Cooper, Director of Acquisitions/Dispositions at KIMCO Realty; Katie Pelczar, Director of Acquisitions at UBS Global Asset Management – Real Estate; Robin Potts, Senior Director, Acquisitions – Southeast, Texas, Midwest at Canyon Capital Realty Advisors LLC; and Jonathan S. Wang, Managing Director at Northwood Investors.
2) How to Prepare for Tomorrow’s Transformational Trends: Keynote speaker Jack Ulrich will discuss the top 12 trends set to transform Florida’s economy ahead, and what actions real estate and business leaders can take today to better prepare for and capitalize on them tomorrow.
3) Behind the Scenes on Cuba: The panel will discuss the island’s newly-accessible building inventory and explain how to navigate it and how U.S.-based firms can tap into the island’s real estate market.
Moderator: Augusto E. Maxwell, Partner & Chair – Cuba Practice at Akerman.
Panelists: Jay Brickman, Vice President of Government Services for Crowley Maritime Corporation; Julio Cesar Perez-Hernandez, President of Caesar Studio|Architects and Planners; Joseph Stephen Cronk, Co-Founder of Cronk Duch Architecture.
4) Automated Vehicles – The Future is Here: Indeed, the idea of automated cars is no longer just a scene from a movie. An expert panel will discuss what we can expect from automated vehicles and the infrastructure needed to bring them to market.
Moderator: John Kaliski, Principal of Cambridge Systematics.
Panelists: Richard Biter, Assistant Secretary of Intermodal Systems Development at the Florida Department of Transportation; Lori Boyer, City Council Member of the City of Jacksonville; and Timothy Jackson, Director of Real Estate at Plum Creek.
5) The Urbanization of Retail Development: Retail is moving towards more urban infill locations and creative spaces. Hear the latest trends in retail site selection and new shifts in the size of spaces for various retailers, new co-tenancies and the new face of retail development projects.
Moderator: Bruce Johnson, President of Live Oak Investments.
Panelists: Robert Breslau, Chief Development Officer at Stiles; John Crossman, President of Crossman & Company; Gabe Jonas, Area Real Estate Manager – Florida Execution Team at McDonald’s USA; Carlos Valera, Studio Director at Gensler.
If you can’t make it to the summit, follow @SchwartzMedia on Twitter for pics and updates.
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