MIAMI-As Hurricane Irene approaches US shores, some commercialreal estate owners may be holding their breath—and so couldstate-run insurers. If Irene stays on course, it could become aCategory 4 hurricane before it hits shore. That means winds of atleast 131 miles an hour will battle buildings there.

If the buildings are built by ProcacciDevelopment, though, they might beat the storm. Procacciclass A office buildings are built to withstand winds up to 185miles an hour—a Category 5 hurricane. But the fact is mostbuildings along the eastern seaboard are not up to that par.

GlobeSt.com caught up with Phil Procacci, CEOand co-founder of Procacci Development, to discuss his thoughts onhurricane-resistant office development, why it’s so vital in thishour, and why more developers aren’t taking this route despite thedevastation of hurricanes like Andrew and Katrina.