So it's easy to understand the pride Michael Adler takes in knowing that his development staff just successfully tackled on time a challenging job of redeveloping a 50,000-sf existing warehouse building near Miami International Airport into a high-tech production studio for the Latin TV sensation at an estimated construction cost of $5 million or $100 per sf.

Dubbed the Blue Dolphin Studios, this TV and film production facility contains 20,000 sf of office space that is about to become the global headquarters for the media empire known as Cristina Saralegui Enterprises.

It's not the size of the project that is so impressive, considering Adler as chairman and chief executive officer of Miami-based Adler Group manages a commercial real estate portfolio of nearly eight million sf throughout the southeastern United States. This is about serving a segment of the local economy where all that glitters is gold.

"This was such an exciting project because she is such a great celebrity," Adler tells GlobeSt.com.

Several developers vied for the project, Marcos Avila, Cristina's husband and business manager, tells GlobeSt.com. The husband-and-wife team have called Miami home since their childhood. "The Adler Group gave me the confidence that I needed to go ahead and hire them to do this project," Avila says.

Working in concert with locally based Cabrera Ramos Architects, the Adler Development division overcame the challenge of creating enhanced infrastructure in a building within a one-year project deadline.

"To do a facility in that type of timing took a lot of work from the initiation of it to the completion," Adler says. "And it wasn't one where complete plans developed without any change orders. This was a continuing evolution as we met the time schedule."

The biggest challenge came in making the warehouse facility soundproof as jets arrive and depart by the minute at the nearby airport. "When you're in the studio, you wouldn't know there is any aircraft traffic at all," Adler tells GlobeSt.com. "The design team did an excellent job."

The building's transformation met all of Avila's expectations."It's been a labor of love and a very long process in the development," he tells GlobeSt.com. "I've owned this building now for two years, and renovations took eight months to complete. It's a great sense of satisfaction that such a difficult project has come to fruition."

It's also the type of project that provides Adler with a marquee model in an industry that is growing exponentially in Miami. The Cristina Show and the 100 million TV viewers who watch her each day, for instance, joins a number of entertainment-industry ventures that use Miami as a base for global operations. "It definitely is a high profile project in an emerging industry," Adler says.

The production facility complements Miami's increasing presence in the Latin TV market as the home to the major Hispanic television networks Univision and Telemundo.

"We get an influx of many different productions from Latin America," Avila says. "For me, as a studio owner and producer, I have an incredible pool of talent and production companies flowing through the city."

He adds, "Cristina and I feel very much a part of the growth in the city because Miami is our hometown. To see its growth and potential, and to be a part of that growth, gives us tremendous satisfaction."

Instant Insights /

Adler Builds $5 Mil World HQ Studio for Latin TV Star Cristina

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