The nearly completed Met2 Financial Center (glass buildings, center) will add to the glut of office space Miami is already trying to fill. [Photo: Aerial Photography]

Miami-Dade County

Beacon Council CEO Frank Nero says the area is getting interest from companies in Asia, Europe and Brazil and from a big financial services company that could create 500 jobs. [Photo: The Beacon Council]

Most economists think Miami has bottomed out and believe businesses will start to grow again this year. However, no one is predicting unemployment will improve much. “I think that the signs point to the fact that the unemployment rate is going to remain relatively high for 2010,” says Frank Nero, president and CEO of Miami-Dade’s economic development partnership, the Beacon Council. “A lot of that was in the construction side, and we don’t see that having any immediate uptick.”

To see real job growth, says Nero, “we would like to see, in the short term, construction back and financial services back, (and in the long term) more knowledge-based industries, more green industries and increased foreign direct investment.”

The area’s tourism industry held steady in 2009. Average occupancy rose 10.6% to 74.6% and revenue per available room was up 3.9%, but the increases came on the back of room rates, which were down 7%, to an average of $166.28.

There are also some indicators that the housing market has bottomed out, with sales of existing single-family homes hitting 6,685 in 2009, up from 4,379, and the median sales price falling to $195,300, down 29%, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.

Condominium sales seemed to be stabilizing as well, and by the end of the year, the number of new condo units for sale in greater downtown Miami had fallen to 7,265, from 9,631 at the end of 2008.

But a potential meltdown looms in the commercial real estate sector. Vacancies are continuing to increase, and 2.4 million square feet of office space is now under construction throughout the county. Filling those vacancies will require business expansion and new relocation into the area.

Nero says the Beacon Council is working on several projects, with a lot of interest from companies in Asia, Europe and Brazil and a financial services company he would not name that could create more than 500 jobs.

The Port of Miami is undergoing $1 billion in improvements, including a dredging project.

People to Watch

» Port of Miami Director Bill Johnson is overseeing more than $1 billion in infrastructure improvements as the port prepares for the completion of the expansion of the Panama Canal in 2014.

Donna Shalala

» Miami Dade College President Eduardo Padrón will continue to spearhead growth and push to increase the skill level of students at the nation’s largest institution of higher education.

» University of Miami President Donna Shalala is the driving force behind UM’s Life Science Park, which could create as many as 4,500 jobs and have a $253-million economic impact. Many in the county believe in her vision that the park can be a catalyst for a major life science industry.

Rendering of UM’s Life Science Park. President Donna Shalala has been instrumental in moving the project along.

Person to Watch

» After BankUnited failed last year, John A. Kanas led a group that bought the bank’s assets and started a revival of Florida’s largest locally based financial institution. Rather than retreat, the bank’s chairman, president and CEO has fixed his eye on further growing the institution, looking to open branches, acquire another bank or both.

Businesses to Watch

» Rilea Group’s 1450 Brickell Avenue, MDM Development Group’s Met2 Financial Center and Foram Group’s Brickell Financial will together add more than 2.8 million square feet of office space to downtown Miami —?a market already struggling with a 15% vacancy rate. If the companies are able to make inroads toward filling their spaces, it will likely be because of new companies entering the market.

» France-based Bouyges Travaux Publics is leading the consortium that will build a $1-billion tunnel under Biscayne Bay to connect the Port of Miami with the MacArthur Causeway. Officials expect the company to begin hiring for construction jobs this year.

» The number of American Airlines’ international flights through Miami International Airport is one measure of the health of international business and leisure travel into the area. Last year, American Airlines and American Eagle added 25 flights. Executives say this year the airlines will add 20 flights. Economic development leaders say the growth in flights to MIA is instrumental in being able to pitch international companies to open locations in the county.

» Fontainebleau Miami Beach is south Florida’s largest resort — with 1,504 rooms. It reopened in late 2008 after being closed for two years for renovations and expansion. It’s the closest thing the county has to a convention hotel and is a popular site for business meetings and leisure travelers. Bookings at the hotel, which is one of Miami Beach’s largest employers, could indicate a recovery in the group business travel sector. But expect drama this year from legal battles the company is involved in, including unpaid contractor bills, an overdue construction loan and fallout from the bankruptcy of its sister property in Las Vegas.

Business bookings at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach will be a good indicator of how quickly Miami’s economy will bounce back. [Photo: AP/Lynne Sladky]

Carnival is hiring. [Photo: Carnival Cruise]

Who's Hiring

Monroe County

As Monroe County Mayor Sylvia Murphy puts it, “The economics ... have been kinder to us than almost anywhere else in Florida.” The county’s finances are in good shape, and the Keys tourism industry had high occupancy and room rates in 2009, with average occupancy for the year at 70.3%, up 3.9% from 2008. Those in the industry attribute the gains to a strong summer with high traffic from Floridians and Europeans.

But room rates, though the highest in the state, were down 11.9% from 2008, to $171.51. “The lodging industry is worried about when they will be able to move their rates up to a level that will return their businesses to profit levels they enjoyed prior to the recession,” says Harold Wheeler, director of the Monroe County Tourist development Council. And companies that offer high-end tourism activities, such as offshore charter boat fishing, are struggling to survive.

Murphy says all small businesses are concerned that the economy isn’t turning around fast enough. But, she says, “these small businesses have been up and down ... many times before, and they go with the flow and they change their business practices to suit whatever it is that will bring the tourists in.”

Person to Watch

» Robert A. Spottswood, president of hospitality and real estate development firm Spottswood Cos., oversees a company that manages more than 1,000 hotel rooms in the Keys and is one of its largest private employers.

Business to Watch

The Monroe County School District is the Keys’ largest employer, followed by county government. With an economy made up almost entirely of small businesses, these two entities have the most impact on unemployment numbers.

» Jobs
MSA	Jan. 2009	Jan. 2010	% Change	Jobless Rate
Miami/Miami Beach/Kendall	1,119,107	1,119,183	NC	10.9%
Source: Agency for Workforce Innovation
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» Homes Single-family, existing-home sales by Realtors
MSA	Jan. 2010 Sales	1-Year Change	Jan. 2010 Price	1-Year Change
Miami	436	+7%	$183,400	-12%
Source: Florida Association of Realtors

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» Population Totals
2.4% or higher ?? 1.0%-2.4% ?? 1.0% or less
?	?	Average Annual Growth
County	2010	2006-2010	Trend
Miami-Dade	2,446,920	0.73
Monroe	72,533	-0.53
Florida	18,910,672	1.21%

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» Population by Age
?	Years of Age (2010)
County	0-14	15-19	20-39	40-64	65+	Total
Miami-Dade	17.9%	6.6 %	25.7 %	33.9%	15.9%	2,446,920
Monroe	12.6	4.4	17.9	47.7	17.4	72,533
Florida	17.9%	6.1%	25.4%	32.9%	17.6%	18,910,672

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» Per Capita Income
?	?	Source of Income
County	Per Capita Income 2010	Labor	Property	Transfer
Miami-Dade	$37,512	70.5%	18.6%	11.8%
Monroe	68,863	49.2	46.7	4.1
Florida	$39,927	62.2%	26.5%	11.3%