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January | February | 2015 CCIM.com
Verro to switch from a small boutique f rm
to a larger NAI af liate in his market. "Part
of my decision was the fact that I'd have a
second global reach for my clients to enhance
my ability to get them the best price from a
wider pool of buyers," he says.
Urbanization
T e move to revitalize urban business dis-
tricts is also creating opportunities.
"What's happening in Miami is happen-
ing all over the world, especially in the U.S.
— everybody's building up because they're
running out of land," Zelonker says. He points
to several areas of the city that have grown
quickly in the last f ve years, including Brick-
ell, which boasts Miami's primary f nancial
district as well as high-rise upscale condos and
apartments; and Wynwood, a rapidly gentri-
fying neighborhood with an emphasis on art
and design. "But all of Miami is undergoing
incredible growth," Zelonker says.
But development isn't limited to multi-
family and retail, he adds. "We have 228 mil-
lion square feet of industrial space in Dade
County, and during the recession, nobody
built for f ve years," he says. But now the city
has a 4 percent vacancy rate, and "everybody
wants to build — my industrial business has
been booming."
Seattle's market has been like its weather
— "no crazy swings," Armanious says.
"T ere were a lot of extremes in other parts
of the country, but in the Seattle market, it's
been steady. It went down steadily and it
grew steadily — it didn't crash and it didn't
take of like a rocket."
However, he adds, the city has seen a surge
of development in an area known as South
Lake Union, north of downtown. Vulcan,
owned by Microsof co-founder Paul Allen,
led the development of the area, which has
become a hub for life science organizations.
"It's class A of ce space in one of the most
desirable areas of Seattle," Armanious says.
"It's on the lake, and there was only so much
waterfront property in the city to develop."
Albany's market has also avoided eco-
nomic swings, Verro says. "Because we're
also the state capital, we've been pretty
stable." Verro specializes in investment
properties — apartments in particular —
and sees a def nite trend toward downtown