MIAMI—I was on hand to moderate JLL's Pulse360 panel last week and learned plenty from its experts and panelists. Indeed, there were plenty of predictions about what's in store for South Florida's commercial real estate industry.

Doug Irmscher, marketing director for Florida at JLL, offered opening remarks. He introduced keynote speaker John Sikaitis, Us Research Director at JLL. Against the backdrop of global uncertainty, he called the US the “shining star around the world.”

Overall, Sikaitis offered a positive outlook for South Florida. He pointed to several factors driving that forecast, including a strengthening economy and ongoing investment into the region.

Panelists at the event included: Brad Simpkins, senior director of Asset Management at TIAA-CREF; Ed Soco, senior managing director and national sales leader at GE Capital; Gregory Rumpel, managing director of JLL's Hotels & Hospitality Group; Nitwin Motwani, principal and managing director of Miami Worldcenter Group; and Jeff Morris, managing director of JLL's Capital Markets group.

It's not news that South Florida is hitting on all cylinders on the hospitality front. Rumpel said, “People have discovered Florida again. It's not the same Florida as it was 20 years ago.”

With Miami Worldcenter and Brickell City Centre, among other projects, set to transform Miami retail in the urban core, I asked this question: Is there too much retail coming online? Nitkin offered a resounding “no.”

Panelists agreed that retail demand strong enough to sustain the new development. With tourists helping drive the demand, Miami needs more retail square footage per capita than some others cities might.

With regard to office space, and the lack of new development coming online, panelists weren't too concerned. There's still occupancy to fill.

At the same time, alternative workspace brands like Pipeline and Venture Hive are rising. Motwani said, “The challenge is financing, because it is not the norm, but it will be in 10 years.”

Morris predicted the next class A office tower in Downtown Miami, beyond what Swires is planning at Brickell City Centre, may elude us in the next cycle. Land prices are soaring and most developers securing land are building condos.

“I don't think we'll see traditional offices ever built on Brickell again,” said Morris. “There's been four years of no supply and it's already a tight market. The sky's the limit for interest rates."