With Rents Rising, CREC Beefs Up Retail Ranks

MIAMI—CREC continues its retail leasing push, adding Downtown Dadeland to its leasing portfolio and bringing on former Simon Property Group expert Rafael Romero as a senior vice president. Romero most recently handled leasing for Simon's Dadeland Mall and the Shops at Sunset Place.

At CREC, Romero will represent retail property owners on the leasing front and help build the firm's lifestyle retail portfolio across Florida. One of his first assignments is spearheading the leasing for the retail component of Downtown Dadeland, a 127,000-square-foot shopping and dining destination located directly across from Dadeland Mall in Miami's Kendall submarket.

“Creating value for lifestyle retail centers means knowing how to correctly position a property in the marketplace while helping brands connect with consumers in a unique, urban setting,” says CREC president and co-founder Carol Brooks. “Our leasing and management program for Downtown Dadeland will give the property a new sense of place through physical improvements, consumer events, and new tenants. Rafael's addition to the CREC team brings us additional market expertise and sets us up for continued growth in the lifestyle segment.”

Romero will work from CREC's Coral Gables headquarters and handle several retail assets in the portfolio while also supporting new business development. CREC's current commercial real estate portfolio includes 11.4 million square feet of properties in South and Central Florida.

CREC represents landlords. Paco Diaz, a senior vice president with CBRE, tells GlobeSt.com Miami retail is definitely a landlord-driven business based on the low vacancy.

“Rents are going up and the value of land has skyrocketed,” he says. “Even in places like Pinecrest, which is a bit south of the city center, rents that used to be $35 are now coming in at $50.”