CBRE Brings In Outsider to Head Re-Tooled South Florida Operations

Carter is named senior managing director and South Florida market leader and is located in CBRE's Downtown Miami office where he will be responsible for four offices and 76 employees in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Scott Sime, head of the West Dade office here, is promoted to managing director of the Downtown Miami office, and Steven Gomez, formerly with Marcus & Millichap in New York City, takes Sime's place as managing director of the West Dade office.

Raymond Sandelli, CBRE's senior managing director for the state of Florida, who is based in Tampa, tells GlobeSt.com the changes represent a "re-tooling" of the South Florida operations. While acknowledging that it's "unique now" for the company to bring in a non-broker from outside the organization for such top spots, he says he believes it will become more common in the real estate field as companies look to expand areas of expertise. "We do have managing directors with law backgrounds, for example."

The selection of Carter, however, was a process that began "when we were in no rush to replace Ed Mitchell, who left as a leader of South Florida last year for a production role in our Fort Lauderdale office," Sandelli says. "We assessed what, considering South Florida's state of in-migration, this market might look like three to five years from now. I felt, from my experience with Tampa Downtown Partnership, there were increasing opportunities to make a decision based not just on real estate, but on what's happening to cities, because of density and urban planning. Sandelli says a good deal of growth in the market is being fueled by public-private partnerships. "Whole new urban communities are being created, and they need comprehensive support structures." CBRE's head of brokerage in Washington DC had worked with Carter, "who had great command of the public sector and we also had a 10-year relationship with Carter as a client. We have all the real estate experience we need to head this area."

Regarding the emergence of private-public partnerships, Sandelli points to Palm Beach County's assignment of land for Scripps as an example of a "public entity employing us." NCRC's approximately $1 billion in private sector investment included the development of more than two million sf of retail and approximately 2,000 residential units. Prior to heading NCRC, Carter also served as deputy assistant secretary for management at the US Department of the Treasury, where he oversaw the department's real estate and capital asset portfolio.

"I love the dynamic nature of the Miami market," Carter tells GlobeSt.com. "I've participated in the Washington DC renaissance since 1995, and Miami is undergoing a similar renaissance in multi-ethnicity, globalism, the arts and other factors that make a multi-dimensional city. I see endless possibilities for Miami."

As for Gomez, Sandelli says, "he brings strong investment program experience from New York City. We felt this new leadership, combined with our existing managing directors makes an ideal forward-looking composition to the South Florida team." Sime is a 20-year veteran of South Florida real estate and was hired by CBRE five years ago to help found the West Dade office. In addition to Carter, Sime and Gomez, the CBRE South Florida management team includes Jeff Holding, managing director of the Fort Lauderdale office and Jeff Kelly, managing director of the West Palm Beach office.