H2M’s Jim Powers Visits the Sunshine State
H2M architects + engineers Chief Growth & Development Officer Jim Powers, AIA took a trip to Florida earlier this month to learn more about the future of Florida’s economic development and meet some of the public and private sector leaders driving this growth.
On Monday, March 4, Powers attended the 2024 Fort Lauderdale Forum hosted by the Urban Land Institute’s Southeast Florida/Caribbean District Council. The event served as an excellent introduction to many of the area’s local power players and featured presentations on the state of the market in Fort Lauderdale, including private-public partnership (P3) opportunities and the latest growth in commercial real estate.
Powers met executives from Naftali Group, Kushner, and JLL, and even the owner of Inter Miami—Miami’s Major League Soccer club and the current home of legendary player Lionel Messi. Other notable attendees from the private sector included representatives from GID, Capital Group P3, Suntex, Newgard, and Suffolk Construction. Public sector representatives included Greg Chavarria, Fort Lauderdale City Manager, and Jenni Morejon, President and CEO of the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Agency.
On Wednesday, March 6, Powers attended Bisnow’s State of Tampa event in St. Petersburg, where presenters discussed many of the exciting new developments, financing opportunities, and urban downtown innovations shaping Tampa’s future. Weaving through the local competition, Powers was able to meet executives from the Feil Organization, the Ryan Companies, Kolter, Bozzuto, Catamount Constructors, Colliers, and Belleair Development.
The next day, Thursday, March 7, Powers attended a Forum on Multi-Family and Mixed-Use Developments in Miami, hosted by Commercial Observer. Discussion topics included the state of South Florida’s commercial real estate market as well as the rise of the mini-city. Miami’s affordable and workforce housing issues were highlighted, as were the luxury residential, hospitality, and retail markets.
Executives from Royal Palm, Terranova, CBRE, the Peebles Corporation, the Melo Group, Oak Row Equities, the Estate Companies, Dezer Development, ZOM Living, and many other developers were kind enough to share their plans for the future and hear about the wide variety of consulting services provided by H2M.
The following Tuesday, March 12, Powers joined other interested parties attending Bisnow’s State of the Market of Broward County. Major discussion topics included the commercial renaissance in Hollywood, FL, the wide variety of development opportunities in Broward County, and how to navigate the development world within the County.
In addition to networking with a diverse array of developers and service companies during the trip, Powers and H2M’s West Palm Beach Office Director Greg Cellamare, P.E., met with Mayors of Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Pompano Beach, and representatives from Moderno Development, Fortine, The Related Group, Pinnacle, Kast Construction, and Bachow Ventures.
“No matter which event I was attending or who I was speaking to, one thing stood out above all else: Florida is in a major boom,” said Powers. “Municipalities and public agencies in the state have been fast to react and use this growth to their advantage as they update their infrastructure and master plans. Florida has some incredible opportunities for us to grow our service offerings across all of our markets and disciplines.”
H2M currently operates three Florida-based offices in Miami, Tampa, and West Palm Beach under the name H2M Architects & Engineers, Inc.
