Late in October of 2024, I had the privilege of attending the Urban Land Institute’s Fall Meeting held at Resort World in Las Vegas, NV. Coming from northeast Florida, I went because I wanted to experience what ULI was like at the national level. Needless to say, I was incredibly impressed and networked with other commercial development industry folks from all over the country. Developers, consultants, engineers, planners were in ample supply. I learned much about the revitalization of downtown Omaha, NE, and how they improved it. I was inspired by author and speaker Simon Sinek’s in-person/on-stage chat about optimism, the future, and “Start with Why” topics. The Fall Meeting was attended by many and it lasted several days. Not only did I network with many professionals, but I met one of the engineers who worked on the design of the famous Wynn hotel in Las Vegas. I also met with and discussed a little about sustainability with a consultant from Evora Global, a sustainability advisor out of New York City.
January of 2025 brings with it a new U.S. political administration at the helm. Land values remain solid across most sectors, and you better believe that if an owner is taking his land parcels to the public market, he/she will want a very good price in the current environment, especially in Florida. Homebuilders still seek zoned land for building residential communities throughout the state near the major MSAs. Despite some of the economic tensions felt in the labor/job market, many desire high paying jobs. The University of Florida announced their decision to locate a graduate campus in downtown Jacksonville, which will no doubt add to the local economy in Jacksonville in the coming years. As for downtown, the renovations (upward of $1B) to the stadium in Jacksonville will begin soon enough and many here locally are extremely excited.
One new opportunity we undertook this year as a company was to broker not only all types of land, but also residential homes. New opportunities always take a while to get into, get familiar with, and adapt to. Marketing was a strong point for me in business school, as was economics, accounting, and organizational behavior. But graduate school taught the basics. I was taught essentially how to think fundamentally. In the real world, the real estate industry is extremely crowded and competitive, so you have to keep focused on what you can do best and not get distracted by others’ successes or achievements. It is easy to look around on social media and see the big dollar sales all over the state. It is less easy to remain focused on taking care of the client one property at a time, building one more relationship, and earning greater trust over the long haul.