South Florida Construction & Development

For nearly three decades, real estate industry veteran Louis Birdman has taken a leadership role in the development of over 70 residential projects, comprising more than 18,000 residential units nationwide.   Mr. Birdman has a significant background in property acquisitions, dispositions, entitlements, financing, planning, design, construction, sales and marketing. Mr. Birdman has been a principal investor and developer in numerous real estate developments projects throughout Florida and nationwide, including Las Vegas, Arizona, Colorado and Texas. He is also the founder and principal of Louis Birdman Architect, an architectural consulting practice that provides consulting services to developers of real estate in both related and unrelated entities. He has been a registered architect licensed in Florida since 1989 and has held architectural licenses in multiple jurisdictions in the United States, including Chicago, New York and Nevada. Mr. Birdman is currently the Co-Developer of One Thousand Museum by Zaha Hadid Architects, a 62-story, ultra-luxury high-rise condominium Tower in Miami, FL with 83 half-floor and full-floor residences. One Thousand Museum is currently under construction and scheduled for completion in mid-2018, slated to be Miami’s most iconic tower and the centerpiece of Miami’s Museum Park. Mr. Birdman is also the Co- Developer of The Diplomat Golf & Tennis Club, an iconic 130-acre, 1950’s Golf Resort in Hallandale Beach, FL that is currently being entitled for redevelopment. The redevelopment plans will include a redesign of the golf course, the renovation of the existing 60-room hotel, club, and banquet facilities with the planned construction of four new towers with a total 1,200 new hotel-condo units and residential condominium units. Mr. Birdman has most recently launched a unique commercial condominium concept, AutoHouse, a unique auto-centric development and private members-only social club that provides luxury storage and display for high-end and collectable vehicles.

Todd Benson is managing director of development and asset management at PEBB Capital. In his role, he specializes in acquiring assets below intrinsic value and maximizing value through active management and innovative problem solving. Over the course of his career, Benson has successfully completed more than a billion dollars in real estate transactions and has played a pivotal role in the acquisition, financing, construction, operations and leasing of those assets. His unique operational skillset is marked by a combination of an institutional background and extensive “on-the-ground” management experience. Prior to his current position, Benson served as principal of Collegium Capital, now a subsidiary of PEBB Capital. Benson received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Michigan and his master’s in finance and development from New York University, where he served as adjunct professor in finance and development in the university’s Real Estate Institute.

Has extensive knowledge with over 18 years of public works, criminal justice, education and aviation construction project and program management experience for federal, state and local government agencies. Highly skilled in public sector construction bid and award processes, pre-construction services and managing public sector contractors. As a leader, he takes responsibility for providing effective program/project management services with the four pillars of effective management, budget, quality, safety and client continually in focus. Responsible for managing all aspects of pre-construction, construction and post construction of Okan Tower Miami, the tallest building in Miami, including budget preparation, negotiating and preparing construction contracts, coordinating with all project stakeholders and overseeing the overall project. The 1.4 million sqft project consists of a 70 story tower with 153 Residential Condominium Units, 236 Condo-Hotel Units, 294 Room Full-Service Hilton Hotel with extensive amenities and 90,000 square feet of office and meeting room space.

Michael’s focus is in the area of construction contract drafting and negotiation, construction litigation, construction defect claims, delay claims, contract claims, construction liens and surety bond claims. Michael represents Developers, Owners, Contractors, Sureties, Subcontractors and Suppliers in all construction claims. Michael is Board Certified in Construction Law by the Florida Bar and has earned an individual "AV" rating by Martindale-Hubbell signifying that his peers rank him at the highest level of professional excellence. He is listed in Florida Trend's Florida Legal Elite 2008 Edition as one of the top construction litigation lawyers in Florida, and has been included in Law & Politics Super Lawyers®-2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019. Also Legal Elite 2019. Editions for Construction Law. Michael and his family have a long history, in the Construction and Development industry. Michael is a member of the Florida Bar Construction Certification Committee. Michael has considerable experience in litigating cases in both federal and state courts and in arbitrating many cases with the American Arbitration Association. In addition, he has argued cases before the District Courts of Appeal in the State of Florida. Michael also has significant experience in drafting and negotiating construction contracts on all types of construction projects including large hotel resorts, apartment buildings, condominiums, roads, bridges, and other projects. Michael routinely lectures before various professional groups and has written numerous outlines and articles on construction-related matters for various publications.

Santiago Vanegas is the Founder, CEO and President of Habitat Group, a leading Miami-based real estate asset management firm. An economist from Universidad del Rosario, Colombia, Santiago arrived to Miami in 2000, beginning his career in the real estate industry as Financial Manager for Fortune International Group. He founded Habitat Group in 2005, eventually expanding the firm’s portfolio to include four branches offering specialized services, including: Habitat Development, an expert in the construction and remodeling of properties; Habitat Realty, which focuses on analyzing the real estate market in search of the best properties and investment opportunities; Habitat Management, which focuses on the management of company assets; and Habitat Hotel, the hotel operations system. Throughout his time in the industry, Santiago has worked on a number of notable projects, including: Habitat Residence 1 & 2 located in Brickell, Historic Miami River Hotel, Brickell Ten, the Jefferson Hotel, and Le Parc in Colombia. Santiago has worked to generate better urbanism by evolving parks and mixed-use outdoor spaces through land acquisition and assemblage. His greatest career milestones thus far include the completion of Smart Brickell and the Jefferson Hotel.

Rishi has spent the last 10 years focused on residential real estate, primarily in the luxury sector, with a strong background in sales and marketing, prior to focusing on sponsoring development. Upon founding Location Ventures, he set out to create meaningful living experiences in premium locations centered around nature and technology. To date, Rishi is responsible for leading the development of a $400 million portfolio including: high-end, custom single-family homes; rehabilitation of multi-family properties; and the development of boutique condominiums. He is also the Managing Partner of URBIN, a company dedicated to co-living, co-working and wellness, and FORUM, an elevated coworking experience with high-touch business services. Rishi, first and foremost, takes great pride in fostering close relationships with the company’s partners and team. His day-to-day role centers around identifying unique opportunities, capital formation and setting the product vision for our projects, while working closely with the development team on proper execution. He received business degrees in Finance, Marketing and Management from the University of Miami, and is also a non-practicing attorney, having graduated from University of Miami School of Law. Rishi comes from a real estate family that has developed and invested in hotels, single-family homes and offices throughout the Southeast United States and New Delhi, India over the last 40 years.

Ryan is responsible for overseeing SageGlass’ overall marketing strategy – from demand generation to product management. Ryan holds a B.S. in Electronic Engineering Technology from Minnesota State University Mankato and has extensive experience in marketing, strategy, product management and engineering.

Alexandra, never content with an off-the-shelf approach, is known to seek out creative solutions to meet her clients' objectives. Alexandra focuses her practice on all aspects of commercial real estate transactions, including complex commercial financing on behalf of borrowers and lenders, acquisitions, dispositions, and leasing. She has significant experience in the REIT and hospitality industries and is active with the servicing, workout, and documentation of loans on a nationwide basis. Alexandra's practice also includes structuring transactions for optimum documentary stamp and intangible tax treatment.