Miami Freedom Park
The world’s greatest soccer player has a new pitch to call home. Miami Freedom Park, a 25,000-seat stadium, becomes the home for Inter Miami CF and global soccer icon Lionel Messi this spring. The team, owned by Jorge and Jose Mas and retired soccer superstar David Beckham, inked a three-year contract extension with Messi last fall.
A canopy wraps above the seating areas, protecting fans from South Florida’s heat and other elements. Inter Miami has played home games in Fort Lauderdale since the Major League Soccer franchise started in 2020.
In addition to the $350-million stadium, located east of Miami International Airport, the 58-acre Miami Freedom Park includes community soccer fields, an office park, retail area and a 750-room hotel. The project cost about $1 billion in total, with about $8 million coming from a state infrastructure grant.
Trio of Towers
No fewer than three new condo towers have been going up at the same time in the $6-billion, 27-acre Miami Worldcenter master-planned district in downtown Miami. Located in a once-blighted area just north of the Central Business District, the Worldcenter spans 10 blocks and includes a convention center, high-rises and high-end retail.
The largest new tower there is 600 Miami Worldcenter, which tops off at 32 stories and includes 606 sold-out condos with no rental restrictions, a format that’s friendly to vacation rentals. It’s on track for completion this year. It’s being joined by The Crosby, another sold-out tower with 33 floors and 450 condos with no rental restrictions; and Flow House, a 40-story, 466-unit tower developed by Flow, a real estate firm founded by Adam Neumann, former CEO of WeWork. Combined, that’s more than 1,500 new condo units downtown.
Security Platform
Miami’s tech scene scored a major boost last spring when California-based Kandji chose it to serve as its East Coast headquarters. Founded in 2018, Kandji offered AI-powered endpoint security and management for Apple devices.
Kandji rebranded as Iru — a Japanese word meaning “to exist” — in October, expanding its IT and security platform services to other systems. The goal, cofounder Adam Petit told Refresh Miami, is streamlining “stitched-together point solutions that don’t talk to each other” with a unified platform that increases work efficiency and reduces risk to the system. Miami, Petit said, “is fueling the next frontier for technology advancement.” More than 150 people work in the Coral Gables office, a number that’s expected to grow.
Iru, with offices in London, Sydney and Tokyo, is approaching unicorn status, with more than 4,500 customers in more than 40 industries, and an $850-million valuation in 2024 after a $100-million Series D funding round.
- LAW
Albert Dotson, Jr.
Managing Partner & CEO
Bilzin Sumberg, Miami
OUTLOOK: “Florida is thriving relative to other U.S. markets, even amidst higher capital, talent and insurance costs. Looking ahead, we believe Florida’s stature as a core market in the eyes of the world’s largest corporations and investors will grow stronger. ... Looking ahead to 2026, we believe real estate and corporate transaction volume will pick up as borrowing costs gradually come down.”
HIRING: “Florida is benefitting from an influx of talent, and Bilzin Sumberg continues to add attorneys and support professionals from across Florida and outside our state. Within the past year alone, we’ve grown our construction, tax, litigation, land development and real estate practices with the goal of capturing mounting demand for our services. … It’s worth noting that our tax and wealth group is advising a growing number of international high-net-worth individuals navigating estate planning and immigration questions, areas that have become increasingly relevant given the evolving policy landscape.”
TARIFF IMPACT: “While tariffs have not affected our business … some of our clients have felt early impacts — particularly those in the real estate and construction sectors as development budgets rise due to higher material and import costs.”
CHALLENGES/BRIGHT SPOTS: “Several practices at Bilzin Sumberg are in growth mode, including land development, environmental, tax and wealth, public-private partnerships, affordable housing finance and litigation. I anticipate an uptick in activity within our corporate and real estate practices in 2026 as capital costs subside and transaction volume accelerates.
“Housing affordability, transit connectivity, and access to quality public and private schools continue to be challenges that we’re navigating in Miami. The bipartisan Live Local Act that passed two years ago has resulted in the development of more than 3,000 new affordable and workforce housing units statewide, with 40,000-plus additional units on the way. Miami-Dade County is making meaningful investments in transportation, including the newly launched Bus Rapid Transit system serving south MiamiDade County. When it comes to education, Miami is seeing the continued expansion of private school campuses and charter school networks, along with physical upgrades to public schools across our community.”
- BANKING
JORGE GONZALEZ
CEO
City National Bank, Miami
OUTLOOK: “The banking sector is a bellwether for the economy, and I can report that client confidence is stable, most banks are lending responsibly, and there is a significant amount of equity in the market. Demand for corporate credit is showing moderate growth, and bank earnings have been strong. The most significant factor affecting Florida banks is staying competitive amidst rising costs. At CNB, we are investing heavily in talent, technology, compliance and cybersecurity, all of which are costly. We are making these investments because we are optimistic about Florida’s economic future and confident in our model. Small banks face a critical choice: successfully scale their operations or consider consolidation, and that has led to the number of banks in Florida falling from 300 to under 100 over the span of two decades.”
HIRING: “We are in hiring mode … and that involves recruiting team members from across Florida and outside our market. This investment has seen CNB grow its workforce by 20% over the past year, including key hires in all sectors and geographic markets. … Our hiring practices have not been impacted by federal immigration policies.”
TARIFFS: “Tariffs can create volatility, especially for clients involved in trade, logistics and manufacturing. However, they also push companies to diversify supply chains and seek new market strategies. While tariffs are not directly impacting our business lines at CNB, the implementation of new trade policies has been an opportunity to partner more closely with clients, whether that means helping them manage risk, optimize cash flow or reposition their capital. The prospect of tariffs is also motivating investors to allocate more capital to existing, income-generating assets, such as real estate, which are not as vulnerable to rising material costs.”
CHALLENGES/BRIGHT SPOTS: “Each day, business decision makers across the country and around the world are plotting their corporate strategy and, in many instances, Florida is factoring into their plans. That makes me optimistic that our state’s growth trajectory will continue. I speak with CNB clients across the state on a daily basis, and my sense is that companies are hiring and investing. … Florida’s greatest challenge is housing affordability, which is a function of elevated costs and increased demand for living and doing business here. My hope is that a more moderate pace of economic growth will coincide with a gradual easing of interest rates at the federal level, which will bring down the cost of capital, labor and materials over time. That dynamic will help improve housing affordability, which is critical to Florida’s long-term economic strength.”
Business Briefs
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
- The Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, a part of the University of Miami’s UHealth system, has opened a 70,000-sq.-ft. ambulatory care center in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It is the institute’s first international facility and includes three operating rooms, 31 exam rooms and an ocular surface disease laboratory.
- The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne is back in business after a $100-million renovation that includes redesigned guest rooms, two new restaurant concepts, a new spa and a bigger gym.
- William Kelley is now executive director for the Wynwood Business Improvement District. Kelley previously directed planning and programs for the Clinton Housing Development Corp. and led business improvement districts in New York’s Greenwich Village and Union Square. He is charged with expanding infrastructure and public spaces around Wynwood.
- Spanish bank Santander has secured a 10-year, $5-million targeted jobs incentive funding allotment from Miami-Dade County that it promises will support 250 six-figure jobs. Santander is building a 40-story office tower on Brickell Avenue.
- Baghdadi Capital has made a strategic investment in Miami’s American Capital Financial Group in a move the Spain-based independent family office hopes help it bridge U.S., Latin American, European and Middle East markets. ACF has financed more than 500 companies, helping small and medium enterprises with cross-border commerce in Latin America.
- Terra’s Centro City Residences opened in West Little Havana, adding 470 market-rate apartments. It’s part of a 38-acre mixed use development that will include a retail area with a grocery and drug store. Construction begins later this year on a second phase adding 518 more apartments.
- New York-based RIPCO Real Estate is moving its Miami branch from Brickell to Wynwood, leasing a 30% larger space in anticipation of future growth. Wynwood, it says, is where the cultural energy and growth are.
- Los Angeles’ trendy Monarch Athletic Club plans to open its first location outside Southern California later this year when it moves into South Beach’s Rivani office building. Monarch says it merges medicine with training and recovery, offering access to doctors, nurses and physical therapists.
- Construction is underway on Miami-Dade’s new $210-million, 300,000-sq.- ft. Integrated Command and Communications Center west of Miami International Airport. Topped with a helipad and 80-foot communications tower, the 12-story building will be home to county emergency operations.
- Florida International University’s Aquarius underwater research laboratory has teamed with Bradenton-based start-up Tekmara, using AI to develop autonomous systems and data platforms to detect pollution sources or oxygen depletion in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Tekmara founder Todd Kleperis says the project can lead to the first profitable marine protected area.
MONROE COUNTY
- Though its current lease with Community Health Systems runs into 2029, the Lower Florida Keys Hospital District Board may issue a request for proposal to run the Lower Keys Medical Center later this year. Community Health would like to renew its contract, but Baptist Health, Mount Sinai and Tampa General Hospital reportedly have interest in running the 55-year-old, 167-bed acute care facility in Key West.