Manuel A.

Diaz
2015 South Florida's Real Estate Summit Keynote Address
March 27, 2015
Miami, Florida
*** As prepared for delivery ***
I suspect that most of you have done very well financially during the last 15 years.
This morning, I would like to share some advice with you on how to protect your investments and make
even more money in the future. I wont give you real estate tips. You know your business well enough.
Instead, Ill appeal to your profit drive, perhaps even your greed, and remind you that your ability to
achieve greater financial success in the future is directly related to factors without, but also within, your
control.
Through the late 1990s, Miami was still known to many as the capital of drugs and murder, of poverty
and riots. We had double digit unemployment, a rate higher than during the Great Recession.
We had a declining urban population, but plenty of suburban sprawl- (people were voting with their
feet). No major projects were being built or contemplated. Our parks and open spaces were neglected.
Our streets filthy, broken and unsafe -- our neighborhoods in decay.
We lacked political stability (in fact a court replaced one of our sitting Mayors with another), and we
were a community divided by ethnic and racial tensions.
We were the brunt of national and international jokes and humiliation.
This was the Miami of just 15 years ago. Our leaders failed to invest, and we lost our way.
Ours was a city with no choices, relegated to mediocrity, and without hope and opportunity. Americas
poorest large city was bankrupt in many ways.
I suspect you may have not done quite as well financially during these difficult times.
I ran for office to change that because I knew Miami was better.
We started to invest in our people and our neighborhoods. We invested in job creation, economic
development, education, affordable housing and homelessness, public safety, infrastructure, the arts, a
cleaner and greener Miami and urban planning,
Because of this, today we are not the same Miami of 15 years ago.
We became a top 10 job generator.
Our schools showed remarkable gains in academic achievement; while dramatically increasing parental
participation and investing in bricks and mortar and technology.
We produced over $1 billion in affordable housing and reduced our homeless population by over 50%.

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Our crime rate dropped by 30% to rates not seen since the 1960s and 70s. Our use of force policy
became a national model- resulting in an unprecedented 20 consecutive month period without the
discharge of a gun by a police officer.
Our citys neighborhoods benefitted from over $5 billion dollars in infrastructure investments. From
streets and sidewalks, flood mitigation, parks and open spaces and a port tunnel-- we rebuilt our city.
We invested in the arts. A region previously criticized of being devoid of art and culture has become one
of the worlds art capitals.
The arts generate thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic impact- but its about more than
that- the arts are the expression of who we are as humans.
Many of us are fortunate enough to afford a trip to Paris, New York or any other great art city. But not
everyone has that luxury.
The opportunity to experience great art did not exist in Miami but it does now.
A child from the West Grove will be inspired by an exhibit at our Perez Art Museum of Miami, a child
from Wynwood will learn about the effects of climate change at our Frost Museum of Science, and a
child from Shenandoah will listen to beautiful music at the Arsht Center.
And because Miami is on the front line of global climate change (oops- Im not supposed to use that
phrase) we invested in a greener and cleaner Miami.
We adopted a climate protection plan, partnered on the then most comprehensive smart grid in the U.S.
and became one of the first cities to mandate green buildings- and are now among the top 10 cities in
the U.S.
And we became the cleanest large city in America.
Yet, the single most critical step for environmental and economic sustainability is designing a city that
works. Miami 21 was our answerand it is one of the most comprehensive urban plans ever in
American history.
Proper planning and strategic investments helped create the Miami of today by ushering in the greatest
real estate expansion in our citys history and perhaps in the history of any city in America.
Just look at where Miami is today.
Our metro area is now the 11th largest metro economy in the US; larger than 32 States; 47th largest in
the world; and only 6 countries in the Western Hemisphere have an economy larger than ours.
In 2001, the tax base for the entire city of Miami was $ 13 billion. As of last year, the tax base for the
Downtown Development Authority area alone was over $ 13 billion.
The population in our urban core increased 100% during the last decade and may soon reach 100,000.
During the last decade, 135 new high rise buildings were completed; greater than the combined total of
high-rise buildings built between 1960 and 2000. In 2007 alone, 32 high-rise buildings were completed.

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Citywide, we have 24% more houses and apartments in 2010 than existed in 2000. In the urban core, the
increase was 134%. Miami was #1 in housing supply growth in America.
And during the last decade, 82 % of all skyscrapers in the history of our city were completed.
And despite the skeptics and the Great Recession, these units were fully absorbed and over 30 new
buildings have or will soon join our beautiful skyline.
This was the Miami Transformation. From the brunt of jokes to a city others wish to emulate; a
laboratory of new ideas and innovation; the face of the new American city. Our brand has never been
stronger!!!
This Transformation was not a coincidence it happened because of strategic investments designed to
create a climate of opportunity that encourages private investment and growth.
But you must know that our future is not guaranteed.
Miami must function as an incubator of the knowledge-based businesses driving the new economy. We
must be able to attract knowledge workers whose ideas serve to grow economies. And in order to
attract the best and the brightest, we must continue investing in the drivers of growth.
If we dont, those with a choice will choose others over us, and, rest assured, our city will cease to
prosper. And we shall once again condemn ourselves to mediocrity.
That is why the state of our future city (and the state of your bank account) depends entirely on you and
your commitment to recognize and tackle the challenges we face.
In the new global economy, knowledge is more powerful and important than ever. Simply, the more
you learn, the more youll earn. Are we making the investments necessary to prepare our children to be
successful in the 21st Century?
Our graduation rate remains low and the ability of many of our children (especially minorities) to
perform at grade level in math and reading is dangerously low.
And yet we continue to argue over making the necessary investments in education while raising tuition
and making college unaffordable for many.
I cannot conceive of any strategy to a build an economically sustainable city that does not make
improving education the top priority. A quality educational system is not merely a social obligation. It is
an economic imperative for our citys survival.
As a city, we have achieved positive economic and job growth. But the vast majority of our residents are
working harder only to watch their families falling further behind.
We are recovering faster than many cities from the recession, but many of us are more worried than
ever that somehow our children will not enjoy the quality of life that we have.
Over the last 12 years, wages for American workers have been going down, not up. As a result, the gap
between the rich and poor has increased dramatically.
Miami-Dade has the second highest income inequality of any large county in the country.

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For too many of us, the dream of things that could be, and once were, seems to be slipping from our
grasp.
A stronger middle class is not the consequence of economic growth -- a stronger middle class is the
cause of economic growth.
The growing income gap has adversely affected a familys ability to find decent and affordable housing.
We need to re-focus our efforts on developing more affordable housing that is not just for the poor but
also for our struggling middle class and that is closer to the urban core. No doubt you have noticed
that Miamians are not the ones buying our new urban condos.
Adding to their difficulties is the lack of public transportation. In the U.S., $7,000 of average family's
income is spent on transit costs. American families spend more on transportation than on food and
healthcare combined. Given the need to live out in the suburbs together with the lack of public
transportation, Miami should be no different.
Combined with the double digit growth we are experiencing in the urban core, is it any wonder that
traffic and congestion continue to worsen. And, by the way, since I expect all of you to continue
developing and selling Miami, our population will continue to grow; that is, until these problems force
future buyers to choose another city with a better transit system.
And the answer is not adding more roads or additional lanes or higher tolls
What about Tri-Rail, street cars, Baylink?
Recent reports suggest that California may run out of water in the next year.
But, I guess thats their problem. That wont happen here. Or will it? We simply turn on our faucet and
there it is- cheap water.
Potable drinking water is one of our most important natural resources. Increasing demand, increasing
salt water intrusion and decreased precipitation threaten to reduce our regions supply of drinking
water.
Can anyone here identify the source(s) and capacity of our water supply?
And by the way, what is the condition of our infrastructure, our water and sewer lines? Not too long ago
we were told that the price tag for the necessary repairs was in excess of $10 Billion.
Should we kick the can down the road or deal with this problem now, before a development
moratorium becomes a real possibility?
Should we continue to pretend that sea level rise does not exist? (Dont worry I will not repeat the
prohibited phrase). We read yesterday that Miami Beachs answer is to elevate the city. Kudos to
Mayor Levine for confronting this challenge with bold solutions.
Finally, we need to enhance the quality of life that has made us a preferred destination to invest, live,
work and play. We must continue to promote green and open spaces, bike lanes, waterfront access,
smart growth and pedestrian friendly streets.
And while we proudly boast of PAMM, the Science Museum and the Arsht, know that they will only
survive with your continued financial support.
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We cannot lose faith in our city - we cannot fail to invest in the promise it has always offered. We
cannot sit idly, and again let the world pass us by.
We must ensure that future Miamians enjoy all the advantages of a global city? Why shouldnt the
Miami of tomorrow be greater than it is today?
I hope you will take my advice. I also hope that I have been able to convince you to take on these
challenges for the right reason- because you love your city, you love Miami.
If not, do it anyway, do it because you want to make a fortune designing, developing and selling Miami
real estate. Thats O.K, its the American Way. But just do something! Just do it!
Lets expect and demand common sense from our elected leaders. We can all agree that it is unlikely
that a job creator will invest, a buyer will buy, or a lender will lend, in a city with low performing schools,
an uneducated and unskilled citizenry, lack of economic opportunity and affordable housing, a broken
infrastructure and poor public transit, high crime, environmental concerns and a lack of art and cultural
offerings.
Before we open our checkbooks at the next fundraiser, lets get answers to these and other questions.
Instead of complaining about politicians, why not hold them accountable? Better yet, run for office!!
Throw your hat in the ring. I did
Ultimately, its up to all of you. Pick any of these challenges.
Right hereright now, before you leave this room, lets commit to this goal:
We will leave a city: where poverty is not a lifelong sentence, but a temporary condition to be
overcome a city that combines economic prosperity with environmental sustainability - where our
children can receive the best education, afford a home, hold a good paying job, have access to the arts
and live in well planned communities - a city much greater than the one left to us.
This is a long-term investment. The financial success of you and your children is directly linked to the
future competitiveness of our city.
Invest your time today and enjoy the fruits of your efforts tomorrow.
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