The bubble hasn’t burst yet. And so the real estate industry continues to grow.

Yes, there is talk of a bubble, of a time when the real estate market just isn’t humming as loud as it used to. But since it still doesn’t snow in South Florida and the region hasn’t fallen into civil strife, the burst has not occurred yet as investors from all over the country continue to pour their money into land and future pre-construction units. The hum just gets louder, the real estate industry more vibrant and, as the industry progresses, so do many sectors of the economy – at least so far.

And as that economy improves, so do the numbers of movers-n-shakers who make this industry happen. A lot of business sections in various local publications tend to highlight these individuals. Oftentimes these individuals happen to me men. When the mover-n-shaker is a woman, for whatever reason, this seems to be a big deal.

Hence, the Power Women of Real Estate, our way of showing that, yes, there are, in fact, a lot of women who make the local real estate market what it is today – from the developers, to the project managers, to the realtors who sell a million dollar house as a matter of routine, to the publicists and ad executives who push several hundred million dollar projects to the buying public, media and (whether we like it or not) the politicians.

We should also mention that the number of entries in this year’s Power Women of Real Estate has also grown. So, too, have the number of people who didn’t quite make it. For every influential individual in the real estate industry we have mentioned, we are sure there are many, many worthy individuals who have been left out. That could be the curse of a vibrant real estate economy: it is nearly impossible to be truly comprehensive in a special section such as this.

Yet the Power Women of Real Estate does delve into the accomplishments of many of the key people who have more or less made this industry – and this area – what it is today. And since we virtually screened out those folks with an “XY” gene (those folks get mentioned once in a while), we get an unobstructed view of what women in this sector of the economy have accomplished.

The bubble hasn’t burst yet but, if it ever does, chances are everyone on this list will continue to thrive through their contacts, experience, business acumen and strength of will. They are the Power Women of Real Estate after all.

Developers, Property Owners and Representatives

Evangeline Gouletas

The chair and chief executive officer of Skyline Equities Realty, Evangeline Gouletas has been credited with developing over $4 billion in properties and more than 30,000 condominiums in at least 40 markets throughout the country since 1969. Gouletas is the first and only woman to be inducted into the Chicago Association of Realtors Hall of Fame.

In 2003, Gouletas came to Miami and embarked on making the South Florida real estate community remember her company’s motto: “The Sky Is the Limit” with the 369-unit Skyline at Mary Brickell Village. The lushly landscaped residence will be located within the mixed-use development known as Mary Brickell Village, which will include gourmet restaurants, retail and entertainment options, as well as a state-of-the art fitness complex.

Gouletas made her initial mark in the Brickell area with the development and marketing of Skyline on Brickell, a 35‑story tower, 360-unit community featuring three floors of covered parking. Targeted for completion in July 2004, Skyline on Brickell is located on one of the last remaining waterfront high-rise residential parcels on Brickell Avenue. 

A Trustee Member of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Evangeline “Engie” Gouletas, is seeking to make her mark in Miami. Miami Mayor Manny Diaz remarked, “Engie’s energy and dynamism is exactly what is needed in Miami.”

In Chicago and New York, her mark is unmistakable. Skyline completely restored a 1930’s art deco masterpiece, creating Skyline Century of Progress, with 293 premier rental residences at 182 West Lake Street in Chicago’s Loop. Recently designated as a Chicago Landmark, this architectural gem is twenty stories high. Gouletas also owns the Lake Point Tower Renaissance Plaza, the commercial property at Lake Point Tower, a 70-story tower she helped revitalize when she was its principal manager between 1971 and 1988.  

Lissette Calderon

Decades ago, a 30-year old Hispanic female may not have had the chance to move ahead in the business world. Well these days, Lissette Calderon, one of Miami’s rising entrepreneurs in the development industry, has not only moved ahead, but has done so without looking back.

At the young age of 28, the founder and CEO of Neo Development broke ground on her first solo high-rise condominium. Neo Lofts, Miami’s first residential loft building on the South Bank of the Miami River, brought residents to that area for the first time in almost a century. She continued to make history with her next project, NeoVertika, the first South Florida project featuring “splits”: European-style two-story living spaces.

Her newest endeavor, Wind, will comprise of two very distinct condominium towers, adding to the major Riverfront development. The 15-acre Riverfront will be the largest residential development on the Miami River, reinforcing the concept of a city-within-a-city where people can work, live and play.

Silvia Sabates Coltrane

Silvia Sabates Coltrane has carved her niche as a developer of upscale boutique developments in great locations. With her most recent development, Azure, slated to be completed by year end, she is ready to embark on her next missions which include the development of an oceanfront property in Miami Beach and two developments in Surfside.

As the broker for Real Estate Transactions, Inc. (RETI) for the last  24 years, Coltrane has been  involved  with  some of Dade County’s most prominent developers, working as their advisor and exclusive broker for more than 18 developments. 

Coltrane said she thanks God first for her success and “powerhouse” reputation and credits her husband Thomas Coltrane’s support for supplying her with the tenacity and drive to succeed. Finally she remembers the teachings of her parents who, she said, taught her “that the bottom line is not necessarily the most accurate measure of success, but that client satisfaction is.”

Stephanie Herman

Stephanie Herman is principal of Star Lofts Associates and co-developer of Star Lofts on the Bay. As part of a partnership that includes her business partner Thomas Fawell of Agincourt Companies, as well as Lauris Boulanger and Mark Rousso, she was responsible for finding the site and assembling the team. She also serves as the day-to-day liaison for operations and construction of the high-end, 23-story boutique tower that will rise directly on the bay in the flourishing Biscayne Corridor.

Herman’s experience in real estate development spans over 25 years in both New York State and South Florida. The self-proclaimed “Real Estate Baby” grew up in the industry learning under the tutelage of her father, M. Jack Herman, the developer of The Jockey Club, the 30-acre resort on Biscayne Bay in Miami. Stephanie would later join her father in developing the 208-unit Hilton Inn and Conference Center Hilton Hotel in Inverrary, Florida in 1978. In 1996, she opened her own commercial brokerage firm, SJH Realty, specializing in the sale of vacant land to developers. Yet she continued to be the administrator of her father’s project, The Jockey Club. It was during the building’s sale in 1999 she met Thomas Fawell. By 2002, their relationship flourished into a partnership and she joined Agincourt Companies, a Chicago-based holding company that manages all of Fawell’s investments, as vice-president of Florida development.

The same year, Herman and Fawell entered into a joint venture with Boulanger and Russo to develop their first project, Star Lofts. Herman and Fawell currently have two more projects in the pipeline including a low-rise, European-inspired boutique development on 39th Street and Biscayne Boulevard.

Andi Greenwald

President and founder of the Andi Greenwald Development Group, Andi Greenwald has sold out her latest Art Deco real estate renovation project known as Tribeca at 15^th Street between Michigan and Lenox Avenues, her fifth South Beach development project to date. Previously, Greenwald completed restorations at residential buildings such as the Santa Monica, Metropolis, Coconut and Cabana. Coconut and Cabana were both honored by the Miami Design Preservation League for excellence in restoration. 

Greenwald takes pride in her passion for detail. No aspect of Tribeca, from the sidewalk pavers to the bathroom sinks, to the custom window treatments escapes her attention. “I take fabulous properties and I make them shine,” Greenwald said, sharing credit with Rory Gershon of the Gershon Group interior design firm, landscaper Michelle Hill, architect Blake Thorson and contractor Robert Seraphin.

Greenwald said she wants those who buy homes she helped to redevelop to be sure they are built to the highest quality. “This is what’s going to survive me. It’s important that it gets done right.”

Joyce Bronson

Joyce Bronson is currently regional project manager for the Related Group of Florida, charged with overseeing projects such as Apogee, Murano, Murano Grande, Icon, One Miami, 50 Biscayne, The Residences on Hollywood Beach and Trump Towers I, II & III.

Bronson is presently focusing on The Related Group’s latest project, 50 Biscayne, a luxury 54-story tower in the heart of Downtown Miami set to break ground in early 2005.  She is also listed among the registered developers for Apogee, a proposed mixed-use development near South Pointe Park.

Bronson has lived in South Florida since 1985 when she was transferred from Chicago to assemble and organize the development team responsible for Mystic Pointe and The Bay Club in Aventura. She served as president of Ben Franklin Properties where the development team constructed 2,000 condominium units, 700 rentals and a 122-slip marina. After completion of these projects, she affiliated with Wimbish-Riteway where she specialized in large commercial transactions and represented developers in the acquisition of projects in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties. She also handled all new condominium consulting services for the firm during her tenure at Wimbish-Riteway. In 1994 Bronson became managing director for Multiplan USA, the developers of Il Villagio, where she managed the project until 1996.

Prior to coming to South Florida, Bronson was a senior vice president of commercial lending for Ben Franklin Savings & Loan, based in Oak Brook, Illinois. Her early career years were spent in Washington, D.C. where she administered a condominium conversion company that sold or converted over 20 properties throughout the southeastern United States.

Deborah Samuel

As owner’s representative for The Midtown Group, developers of Midtown Miami, Deborah Samuel, wife of Midtown partner Michael Samuel, serves as the creative force behind seven development projects in Florida, overseeing the design, marketing and public relations, working closely with the projects architects and designers and directing the overall image of respective developments.

While working at her family’s property management and contracting company, Deborah Samuel established a new division that specialized in commercial interior design, which allowed to business to grow. The division accumulated a high-profile clientele that included Helmsley Palace and the Empire State Building. The 15-year real estate professional has concentrated on interior design for the past 11 years and has recently ventured into a partnership with Majestic Properties to create a unique in-house sales force under the name Midtown Group Realty LLC for Midtown Miami, the first city-within-a-city concept rising on an 18-block stretch and featuring a mix of residential and retail developments that lay transverse across 28 acres of land. Samuel assisted with sales for Phase I of the project, which sold out within two days. She also designed Midtown Group’s corporate office as well as the Midtown Miami sales and design center, an awe-inspiring and cutting-edge 16,000 square-foot space.

Maura Landers

The director of sales and broker for CL Realty, Maura Landers’ responsibilities include managing the “on-site” pre-construction sales and marketing of the residential and commercial units for five projects: Palazzo Las Olas (173 units), Europa by-the-Sea (50 units), Infinity at Brickell (442 units), Bermuda Yacht Club (20 units) and ‘W” Fort Lauderdale Hotel and Residences (171 units). All five projects are being developed by Colonial Development Group, LLC, the parent company of CL Realty, a real estate company with more than $1.5 billion in active Florida and Caribbean projects.
Prior to joining Colonial Development Group, she was the founder and president of Landers Real Estate Corp. (formerly Altima International Realty, Inc.) on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach for the past 10 years. Her most recent achievements were the rapid sellouts of City Place Residential Townhomes and Condominiums and The Slade condominium. Both Related Group of Florida projects are in West Palm Beach.
Landers grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut and graduated from Greenwich Academy, founded in 1827, that state’s oldest school for girls. She holds a B.A. degree from Stetson University and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Miami, specializing in strategic management and finance. In addition she attended the University of Madrid.

Ana Cristina Defortuna

Edgardo Defortuna, president of Fortune International Realty, introduced his wife Ana Cristina into the world of real estate, not because of nepotism, but because of her financial background. Armed with a degree in finance and business administration, Ana Cristina worked in the international commodities trade, rising to the rank of chief financial manager for a Peruvian company. 

With that financial background Defortuna took a key role in the purchase of the Paco Rabanne building at 5600 Collins Avenue as well as the marketing, sales and advertising of that building’s units as project manager and sales director for what would be renamed as the Grandview. 

Defortuna also worked at making the Jade at Brickell Avenue, one of Fortune’s more important development projects, a success and was instrumental in selling out the project last fall, Ana Cristina is presently selling Jade Beach, a luxury high-rise in Sunny Isles Beach.

Dana Shear

As director of sales & marketing for Shear Construction & Development, Dana Shear works alongside her husband Gary in creating, marketing and selling some of South Florida’s most lavish luxury homes and condominiums. Dana and Gary Shear are involved in the entire process, from acquiring the land, to working with a team of architects and artisans in design, to selling the property in such a satisfying way as to create supportive references.

Dana Shear is currently working on condominiums in Miami Beach, such as The Fountain – a complete rebuild of the historic Fountain apartment building on 334 Euclid, south of Fifth Street that has been acclaimed by the Miami Design Preservation League. 

Dana Shear is also selling Shear condominiums in Coral Gables, consisting of luxury units that appeal to people wanting the square footage found in a single family house but in a condominium, urban environment. She’s also currently creating 14 bathroom concepts for an upcoming residential superstructure on the Miami River, for which she acquired the land. The Shears are also involved in developing homes in Miami such as the recently completed is Villa Saphire Blue, a seven-bedroom, seven-bath waterfront home that encompasses 9,000 square feet of luxury and 140 feet of Biscayne Bay waterfront. The home has an elevator, a spectacular zero-edge pool, lavish amenities built-in, and just went on the market for $4.6 million.

For Dana Shear, who has a background in marketing and fashion, it’s all in the details.  Literally tons of details, like 10,000 square feet of handcrafted wood moldings, 20,000 pounds of the finest imported marble and stone – often just for one house, as well as other accessories such as banisters, railings, appliances, furniture that are often handpicked by Dana Shear herself. It’s because of this attention to detail that Dana Shear, her husband and her team of architects, engineers and artisans have been involved in projects in Millionaire’s Row, Cocoplum, Tahiti Beach, Gables Estates, Old Cutler Bay and other luxurious pockets.

Melanie Muss

When Melanie Muss was appointed to head up development for the Fontainebleau Hilton Resort in 1999, she initiated a comprehensive renovation and expansion plan that positions Miami’s most famous landmark hotel to continue prospering well into the 21^st Century. 

The expansion focal point is on the Fontainebleau II and Fontainebleau III Ocean Club condominium-hotel projects being developed in partnership with Turnberry Associates at the south end of the resort’s 18-acre property. The 36-story Fontainebleau II is sold out and will open early next year in conjunction with the resort’s 50^th anniversary. Sales began in May for the 18-story Fontainebleau III and groundbreaking is scheduled for early next year.

“The Fontainebleau resort put Miami Beach on the map in the 1950s and 60s,” Muss said. “These projects will enable us to continue playing a dominant role in South Florida and throughout the world.”

Prior to working for the Fontainebleau, Muss was a marketing manager for the Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. in New York. She serves on the board of the Bass Museum of Art, the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority (VCA) and the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce.

Bonnie Bernstein

The senior director of marketing for both Lennar Developers Inc. and the Dade Division of Lennar Homes Inc., Bonnie Bernstein has aided in the development of 10 active communities since her commencement with the company in 2002. Her first project, The Grand, a 71-unit condominium in Kendall, sold out in one day. Her next project, 360º in North Bay Village, was launched soon after and virtually sold out within one year. A new development on the horizon, Casa Marina, will be the last waterfront property in North Bay Village, featuring 414 residences in two 22-story towers.

After working with the Ad Team back in 1995, Bernstein left to become vice president of marketing for Mars Music, where she opened 51 retail stores across the company. Aside from bringing years of real estate experience to Lennar, the entrepreneur is an original founding member of the Children’s Cancer Caring Clinic at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Her innovative ideas combined with her amiable, optimistic personality has been the recipe to success in her career and in her life.

Shannon Selby

Real estate professional Shannon Selby has enjoyed a long professional relationship with developer and art collector Martin Z. Margulies. Selby started working with Margulies in 1994 to oversee the development of Grand Bay Towers on Key Biscayne, and has been with the firm ever since. Now Selby is the chief operations officer of Bellini – Bal Harbour on the Ocean, a high-end boutique condominium. Among her responsibilities is keeping tabs of every aspect of the high-rises development, from early morning meetings with Marguilies and the project’s comptroller to fielding questions from Bellini’s sales staff, to discussing campaigns with her advertising agency and PR firm. Problem solving-oriented, Selby doesn’t let the multiple facets of her job overwhelm her and is focused on making Bellini a success.

Judith Berson-Levinson

After retiring after 27 years as a college administrator, Judith Berson-Levinson joined her husband Steven Z. Levinson in managing their residential and commercial real estate, including the historic Edison and Royal hotels in South Beach. They currently own and manage properties throughout Miami Beach and Miami and she is responsible for converting the Royal Hotel into condos, completing the sell-out is less than 10 months. The Royal was built in 1936 by Polly Lux de Hirshmeyer, a former Ziegfield follies showgirl who made a fortune in real estate.

When they acquired the historic Edison Hotel on Ocean Drive, Berson-Levinson published her third book, The Life & Times of a Deco Dowager, a history of the Edison and the Art Deco Historic District. In addition to the hotels and South Beach commercial properties, the Levinsons own numerous MiMo buildings in North Beach and Miami. In her spare time Berson-Levinson coordinates “Sand in Our Boots” reunions for World War II veterans who were stationed in Miami Beach, collects WWII memorabilia, and presents slide show/lectures on Miami Beach during the 1940s. “My father was stationed here and my mother joined him, so the era means a lot to me,” she said. “The facts I am learning are truly fascinating,” she said. (The Levinsons sold the Edison last week.)

Despite her busy schedule, Berson-Levinson is the new VP of the North Beach Development Board and serves on the city’s Historic Preservation Board, Miami Beach Historical Association Board, Urban Environmental League Board, Miami Beach Kiwanis Scholarship Committee and gives tours for the Miami Design Preservation League. 

Nancy Di Bernardo

Nancy Di Bernardo is the director of sales for The Setai Resort & Residences, a 40-story oceanfront regal condominium tower and five star resort hotel in Miami Beach that is being developed by the New York-based Setai Group and managed by Adrian Zecha’s GHM (General Hotel Management Ltd.) The project will offer 163 residential units and 75 hotel rooms, and will provide residents and guests unparallel views and first-class service and amenities.

Di Bernardo oversees the sales operations and coordinates the marketing and public relations efforts for The Setai Resort & Residences as well as for The Setai Group. Previously, she spent 11 years at ABC, Inc. in New York, where she held various positions in corporate public relations and marketing. Most recently, Di Bernardo served as director of corporate projects and synergy, where she was responsible for the coordination of cross-promotional marketing activities between ABC and its parent, The Walt Disney Company. She was also responsible for the management of several public relations departments including the ABC Foundation, Audience Information, Corporate Initiatives, as well as all corporate involvement in charitable and industry-related functions and operation of senior management meetings.

A graduate of Colby College in Waterville, Maine, Di Bernardo earned a Masters of Arts degree in communications studies and a public relations and advertising degree from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. She also completed the “Program for Developing Managers” at Simmons College in Boston.

Gigi Ganatra

Breaking news, sort of: Gigi Ganatra, previously the executive director of Gen Art, has been hired by Terra International as the senior vice president of marketing and public relations.

So why is Ganatra listed among the femme veterans of real estate? As the director of Miami office of GenArt, an organization dedicated to promoting and supporting emerging fashion, film, music and visual arts, she was among the first to see the development community as a potential sponsor of Miami’s arts scene. In 2003 she started working with (not for) Pedro Martin’s Terra International, the developer of Nautica, Metropolis at Dadeland, Quantum on the Bay and 900 Biscayne Day, in a series of marketing events like the Styles 2003 fashion show and Shorts in the Park, a short films showcase taking place in Margaret Pace Park.

So why is Ganatra’s new job “sort of” breaking news?  Prior to the big announcement, Ganatra organized the groundbreaking event for Quantum on the Bay. The event featured a concert by “bossa nova” sensation Bebel Gilberto that drew 3,000.

Ganatra was previously the owner and CEO of MKG Lifestyle Productions, a New York-based public relations firm that included Vogue, GQ, Clear Channel Entertainment and Roc-A-Fella records among its clients.

Realtors and Brokers

Edie Laquer

You can’t have a Women of Real Estate issue, or for that matter a real estate issue of any kind, without Edie Laquer.

A whirlwind of real estate energy, Laquer has brokered some of the most important land deals in Miami-Dade County history: Midtown Miami, One Miami, Everglades on the Bay, the introduction of the billion-dollar real estate/diamond company known as Africa-Israel Boymelgreen to the Magic City – and now she is spearheading Jacob “Hank” Sopher’s investment spree in the newly incorporated municipality of Miami Gardens. 

Even the near misses are impressive. Sopher, with Laquer’s assistance, sought to purchase the Miami Arena for $25 million but Palm Beach Polo Inc. CEO and Broward Yachts owner Glenn Straub won the site with a bid of $28,010,000. Sopher was happy anyway: the deal enabled convention development tax revenue used to maintain the Arena to flow into the construction of a Florida Marlins Stadium near the Orange Bowl.  Besides, Sopher controls all the parking lots around the Miami Arena, thanks again to Laquer’s superhuman deal making abilities.

Patricia “Pat” Dahne

Since April 2000, soon after the company acquired Arvida Realty Services, Pat Dahne has been the regional senior vice president of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, overseeing 19 offices and 1,200 sales associates. Why did this giant real estate company tap Dahne for such a lofty position? Probably because, as regional president of Prudential Florida Realty/Arvida Realty Services, she doubled the size of her company from six to 12 offices in just five years, even handling the acquisition of Jeanne Baker Realty, Framer Realty, Mystic Point Realty and Bay Harbor International Realty. No wonder Miami Metro Magazine named her among the 101 Most Influential Females in Miami-Dade County.

Dahne is also involved in the community. She is a trustee of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, the past director of the Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce, on the board of directors of both the American Diabetes Association and the Realtor Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches and on the Dean Council of the Florida International University Graduate School of Business. She also initiated company scholarships for the Coconut Grove Arts Festival, American’s Walk for Diabetes, American Heart Walk, Race for the Cure and Corporate Run and won the American Diabetes Association Valor Award for community service in June 2003.

Esther Percal

Having sold her first home at the ripe young age of 14, Esther Percal, the senior vice president of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell (EWM), has made a name for herself as not only one of South Florida’s premier real estate professionals, but one of the nation’s most successful, especially since the average home she lists is in excess of $2 million.

Percal attributes her success to intuitive knowledge of the market. For over 20 years, Esther has matched up unique properties with homebuyers from around the globe. Percal works hard to ensure she understands her clients’ specific needs and objectives in order to introduce them to their perfect home. She notes that buying and selling a home is a very emotional and important step in an individual’s life. It is a business transaction involving financial commitment. However, it’s much more than that. A home reflects both the soul and heart of its owner.

Percal specializes the sale and rental of homes, condominium apartments and commercial and investment properties, predominantly in Miami Beach and coastal South Florida.

Audrey Ross

Pop quiz. Who is Audrey Ross?  (A) the senior vice president and shareholder of Esslinger Wooten Maxwell, (B) has the highest volume of sales in Miami-Dade County and the United States, (C) a volunteer in areas of education and other philanthropic endeavors, (D) all of the above. 

Choose “D”?  Congratulations, you have passed the first and only test to be poised here in “The Power Women of Real Estate.” 

Ross was a power woman of her own right long before she was “merged” into EWM. Ross founded Ross and Associates in Coral Gables in 1984. By 1999 Ross was named “Best American Estate Agent” by International Homes magazine (a title she would earn again and again from 1999 to 2002) and a year later, according to a South Florida Business Journal article at the time, “Ross will single-handedly account for some $120 million in closed real estate transactions during 2000, making her among the highest volume sellers in South Florida.” So EWM, a firm with 850 associates and staffers with 12 offices in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, acquired the Ross firm that year, making her senior vice president. 

Today, Ross not only sells luxury homes but also has negotiated the sale of Brickell Avenue office buildings. She is the number 12 sales volume agent in the U.S. and the number one volume agent in the county. Last year, Ross broke EWM sales records by selling $63 million in one week.  In February 2004, Ross made history again when she sold One Arvida Parkway, a 12,641 square foot waterfront home, for $20.6 million, breaking the record for the largest home sale in Miami-Dade County history.

Still, Ross has time to head a division of school volunteers in the fourth largest school district in the U.S., act as president of the National School Volunteer Program, lobby Congress on legislation effecting education and donate her time with Friends of the Arts, the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Informed Families, an organization fighting substance abuse in schools.

Alicia Cervera, Sr., Veronica Cervera, Alicia Cervera, Jr.

Alicia Cervera Sr. knows how to take on the “big boys” when it comes to marketing and sales. In 1969, Cervera Sr. founded Cervera Real Estate, Inc., which has become South Florida’s premier brokerage specializing in luxury residential property. For almost a decade, the company has been responsible for billions of dollars in high-end residential sales. Cervera has a staff of 60 associates who assist with a range of services, including buying, selling, renting or building. Cervera, along with her daughters Veronica and Alicia Jr., brings a pan-American perspective to local real estate trends, which has allowed Cervera Real Estate to move ahead and excel when it comes to introducing greater Miami to the international community. She is currently working on sales for Latitude on the River, the 44-story luxury condominium situated on Miami River in the midst of Brickell Village.

Speaking of her daughters:

Veronica Cervera, president of Cervera Real Estate, Inc. orchestrated the sellout of Gables East for FIRC Group and Grand Bay Towers for Martin Z. Margulies while, at the same time, she oversaw the completion of The Residences at The Ritz Carlton in Coconut Grove, serving as that project’s manager as well as the director of sales and marketing. Veronica Cervera later joined forces with Margulies as director of sales for the unique 82-unit boutique condominium, Bellini on the Ocean in Bal Harbour. She is currently working on sales for Grovenor House, an ultra exclusive 32-story tower in Coconut Grove.

Alicia Cervera Jr., who earned her stripes by selling-out Related Group of Florida projects such as Murano at Portofino and 2080 Ocean Drive, continues to serve as chair of the Master Brokers Forum, an organization where 250 of South Florida leading Realtors can network and exchange information.

Jill Eber and Jill Hertzberg

Tim Allen, Jennifer Lopez, Lenny Kravitz, Mickey Arison, Tony Ridder, Gloria Estefan, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Leonardo Dicaprio, Daisy Fuentes, Thomas Kramer, Melanie Griffith, Rosie O’Donnell, AL Paccieno, Sylevester Stallone, Oliver Stone, Sharon Stone, Eddie Murphy, Cher….

Just a small sample of clients of the dynamic duo team of Coldwell Banker realtors known as “the Jills”: Jill Eber and Jill Hertzberg. Besides being the Coldwell connection to the stars, the Jills have made record-breaking sales in Fisher Island, Bal Harbour, Gables Estates, Golden Beach, the Miami Beach Islands and Tahiti Beach. This year the Jills have sold $100 million in luxury homes and waterfront condominiums. Last year and the year before the Jills were admitted into Coldwell Banker’s Legends Society, reserved for the top .5 percent of all Coldwell sales associates worldwide.

Carolyn Rosen Miller

A professional real estate broker for over 44 years, Carolyn Rosen Miller was the president/broker/co-owner of Wimbish Riteway Realtors, the exclusive affiliate of Sotheby's International Realty for the Miami and Miami Beach areas, until its purchase by Coldwell Banker in October 2002.
Carolyn has been a principal of every company she has been involved with since she began her career in real estate. Her first office, Carolyn Rosen Realty, was based in her Miami home when her two children were babies. Since that time, she has continually expanded her operations, incorporating into Riteway Realty, which in 1995 merged with its chief competitor, Wimbish Realty, to form Wimbish Riteway Realtors, one of the highest volume, most respected Realtors in South Florida. In October of 2002 she sold her company to Cendant which will operate it under Coldwell Bankers Previews International.

Miller’s particular areas of specialization are in high-end residential properties in exclusive and secure communities, resulting in the sale of many multi-million dollar homes. She also continues to be involved with many large commercial transactions in the area. During her long career in real estate, her personal sales volume has been over one billion dollars.
Miller is also active in many charitable, artistic and professional organizations. These include the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, the Alzheimer's Care Committee (where she holds the distinction of being a Grand Notable), the United Way of Dade County, the New World Symphony Composers Society, and the Coconut Grove Theater, as well as many other organizations.

Donna Abood

Donna Abood was doing very well prior to her merger with Wood-Fay Group/TCN Worldwide. In 1989, Abood formed Abood & Associates and the firm soon grew to the point of becoming the largest locally based real estate firm in Miami-Dade County. 

Yet things did get better in 2002 when she became the chief executive officer of Abood Wood-Fay Real Estate Group. Last year her company leased over 600,000 square feet, totaling more than $50 million in total lease values. Right now the firm leases and manages 3 million square feet of commercial property throughout South Florida, raking up sales of over $156 million. 

How did Abood become such a wiz at real estate? In a previous life, Abood made a living trying to save distressed companies. Between 1984 and 1989 she was vice president of the commercial division for Terranova Corporation, breathing life into companies such as the Polaroid Corporation, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and Club Med. Among her duties: finding office space. One thing led to another….

Besides leasing office space, Abood is on the board of directors of the Beacon Council, the Real Estate Institute of Florida State University, the Miracle Theater, and the Historical Museum of South Florida. She has also chaired the Local Business Local Jobs Task Force, a committee seeking to assist the county’s local businesses in finding ways of expanding their employee base.

Cara Mantovani

In her mid-twenties, Cara Mantovani is the owner of one of the fastest growing real estate companies in South Florida with branch offices and affiliates throughout the state and across the globe. Cara’s father, Kenneth J. Mantovani, Jr., established Mantovani Realty over thirty years ago as a commercial and industrial brokerage and development company. Since taking over the business, Cara Mantovani has expanded the company by opening both a residential and marketing division. The new developments are lined up to launch for sales this winter season as she seamlessly moves from one project to the next. 

Mantovani has set benchmarks in sales from Coconut Grove to Key Biscayne and Miami Beach. Her numbers speak for themselves. Westside Lofts sold at record numbers per square foot. The Chelsea sold in days. Her latest new development, Nordica, is slated to be a landmark property located between two of Miami’s most prestigious and picturesque communities offering the best of Brickell and the Gables.

A native of South Florida, she is passionate about giving back to the community and helping other young professionals have the opportunities she has. She serves as the director of membership for Next In Line, a Miami-based networking organization for young professionals that is receiving national attention. 

Andrea Silverthorne

Andrea Silverthorne’s South Beach history dates back to the heyday of the district itself. Born to art deco muralist Paul Silverthorne during his stint in the U.S. Army in Portland Maine, Silverthorne spent her first night in South Beach at the Raleigh Hotel. 

In 1987, encouraged by a friend who knew of Silverthorne’s South Beach roots, and who wanted to purchase buildings in the district, she began working the 33139 zip code, first in commercial and then in residential sales. By 1998 she had started her own company, NewStar Realty Inc.

Silverthorne is known for her focus on market analysis to maximize her customer’s sale price.

“The most significant factor between this September’s market and the 2003 market is the approximate 50% reduction in inventory levels, slipping below the 700 unit figure in mid September, the slowest selling season of our calendar year,” Silverthorne says of the 33139 market as we approach the beginning of the 2005 season. “Equally striking is the paucity of inventory in the lower end of the market; only 89 listings are priced below the 200K benchmark. Increase the price point to 300 and you have only 192. Given 75% of the market is now priced in excess of $300,000 and over 50% of the inventory is offered with no parking facilities, our status as a high priced luxury market is firmly established.”

She predicts that the under $200,000 condo market will “become extinct” in South Beach by next year, the over one million dollar residence market will experience a 20 percent increase and the condo hotel market will make a strong comeback.

“Recommendation: If you are considering listing your property but are not in a hurry to sell before the end of the year, wait until after Thanksgiving to list your property; further depletion in existing inventories will create a rising tide for everyone,” Silverthorne concludes.

Diane Lieberman

Why is South Beach Investment now known as SBI? Because, Diane Lieberman is no longer just on South Beach – she is expanded toward the bourgeoning redeveloping areas of Miami.

The wife of developer and hotelier Alan Lieberman, Diane Lieberman learned about the real estate business in the big city worlds of Philadelphia and New York. In 1999, her first year of business, Lieberman racked up $14 million in sales. More than that, SBI has bucked the trend of being absorbed by giant real estate companies and her company has continues to grow with a staff of 50 agents fluent Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Estonian, Hungarian, Dutch and Flemish. At her realty office at 6815 Biscayne Boulevard, Lieberman has embraced the bourgeoning art scene by hosting rotating art exhibitions by local artists.

Lieberman is also a philanthropist, volunteering at the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center, the Aventura-Turnberry Jewish Center, the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, and the Jewish Museum of Florida (where she is a member of the board of directors). Lieberman has also sponsored the Children’s Cultural Series, co-chaired an event for the Purim Ball 2002 and co-chaired the Milk & Honey Gala.

Denise Rubin

Denise Rubin has been involved with the real estate industry for 27 years. Her expertise in the local South Florida market has brought her to the top 1 percent of Coldwell Banker’s associates, the nation’s largest real estate firm, as well as numerous other awards such as Platinum Florida’s Best Realtor of the Year award in 2004, being listed among the Top 500 of “Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate Worldwide,” earning a place in Wimbish-Riteway’s Winner’s Circle and obtaining a membership in the Masters Broker Forum, an association of South Florida’s top brokers. 

A specialist in previewing properties, Rubin also has a multi-lingual staff of associates who are fluent in English, Spanish and German. Rubin is also well known for her involvement in several charities and civic organizations such as being a Love & Hope Ball committee member since 1984, past president of the Suburban League for the Diabetes Research Institute, a member of the CARES Community Foundation as well as the Humane Society and being named as an honoree for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in 2000 and 2004.

Marie-Anginette McBeth

Marie-Anginette McBeth was a journalist prior to becoming a Realtor four years ago.  She credits a distressed buyer for inspiring to take up writing again. “A prospective client called, confused about all the conflicting information she’d been getting,” McBeth, a realtor with Triangle Properties, told Florida Realtor Magazine. “She didn’t know what a financing contingency was, that FREC (the Florida Real Estate Commission) operated on her behalf. We were on the phone until late that night.” Several other of her clients also had similar questions. She became inspired to write and self-publish The Secrets of South Beach Real Estate. “I wrote the book to help people buy with greater confidence,” she said.

Today, McBeth markets her book, as well as her clients, in newspaper supplements, the Visitor’s Guide at Miami International Airport, the Beach Television Channel, cable advertising as well as in over two thousand postcards she mails herself every month. As such, McBeth sells lots of books, and condos. According to McBeth, local bookstores and retail shops sell more than 100 copies of her book every month and, during her last condo conversion project, the Royal South Beach Condominium, the realtor has been credited with selling 42 condos in just four days last year. In recognition of this, Florida Realtor Magazine named her the “Marketer of the Month” in June 2004.

Speaking four languages, Marie-Anginette prides herself on being at the forefront of all local events and charitable and business endeavors by being an active member of the Miami Beach Rotary Club, a pillar trustee of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, affiliated with the Historical Preservation Society, part of the Florida and National Association of Realtors as well as a member of the National Association of Women Realtors.

Jeri Jenkins

As a third generation native of Miami, Jeri Jenkins is an expert in the real estate marketing arena.

Jenkins has been an associate of Coldwell Banker Previews International since 1984. She is the longest-standing realtor with the company and is continually ranked as one of its   “top producers.” Her networking skills are awesome, wielding international contacts with stars of the stage, cinema, music and the fashion industry.

Before coming to Coldwell Banker Previews International, Jeri Jenkins founded her own company in 1971, a firm with primary focus on Miami's growing involvement in the entertainment industry. “Home at Last” provides exclusive residences for the music and film industry, foreign dignitaries and investors. Jenkins still owns and runs “Home at Last” and is now providing commercial locations for both print and film. The firm is well-known as a valuable asset to people within the entertainment industry.

As a realtor of the 21st century, Jenkins believes that continually changing with the times is crucial to satisfying the needs of her buyers and sellers. She specializes in luxury lifestyles, providing individual, personalized attention and successful, mutually beneficial transactions.

Lillian & Jodi Macken

A mother and daughter team, Lillan and Jodi Macken and Alan Macken (the company’s male component) have been operating at the same Aventura office for nearly 20 years.  But just because Macken Realty is family owned, don’t mistake it for a boutique firm. Macken Realty represents what they call “distinctive properties” all over Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. These include some of the latest high-rise condominiums to grace the Miami-Dade County skyline such as Blue, One Miami, Bellini, One Bal Harbour, 6000 Indian Creek, Akoya, Acqualina, La Perla, Trump Grande, Emerald, Jade, The Four Seasons, Azure, Uptown Marina Lofts, the Atrium, Aventura Marina, etc. etc., etc., etc.

A 40-year resident of South Florida, Lillian Macken has gained respect from her colleagues for her knowledge in South Florida real estate. Jodi Macken, assisting in her mother’s daily operations, has gathered a clientele that includes athletes, celebrities and Fortune 500 executives. Then there is son Alan Macken, head of the Macken’s construction and development division, who has constructed, built and sold homes in Golden Beach, Aventura’s Country Club Estates, Highland Lakes and Windmill Ranch Estates. Of course, he is a guy and since this is the Power Women of Real Estate, we won’t delve into his background any further.

Harriet Nickolaus

In the top half of one percent in sales volume among Coldwell Banker realtors, Harriet Nickolaus has expanded her scope of luxury real estate from Miami Beach to Palm Beach. How does she have the energy to cover such a swath of territory? Well, prior to working in real estate she was the co-owner and founder of 14 Nickolaus Exercise Centers in New York, Philadelphia, and Beverly Hills. Later, she co-founded the Nickolaus Institute for the Development of Exercise and Dance in Greenwich, Connecticut. Among other early ventures were cultural enrichment programs for seniors and forming a small ballet company.

Now, after 13 years with Coldwell Banker, Nickolaus routinely sells homes in excess of $1.2 million.

Bonnie Brooks and Ilene Tessler

With over 24 years in the luxury real estate market in South Florida, Bonnie Brooks & Ilene Tessler have been providing clients with professionalism, expertise, and knowledge about their marketplace.

The pair of realtors have been best friends since they were 13 and growing up in Miami Beach, so they know what it means to work as a team. Brooks and Tessler are recipients of numerous awards including founding members of Wimbish-Riteway’s Top Producers’ Winners Circle, featured in Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate and are presently among the “Legends Society” with Coldwell Banker Previews International, reserved for the top .5 percent of Coldwell agents worldwide.

Their track record speaks for itself: in 2003 Brooks and Tessler had over $56 million in sales on North Bay Road, the Venetian Islands, Bay Harbor Islands and Bal Harbour Village – the highest residential sales record for those areas.

Jo-Ann Forster

Jo-Ann Forster has been selling real estate for over 30 years. Her real estate practice and production have earned her numerous awards and respect among her peers. She is a member of the Legends Society, a designation ranking her among the top .5% of all Coldwell Banker International agents worldwide.
Forster also ranks in the top 1/4% of realtors nationally and is listed in Realtor Magazine as one of the “Top 100 Agents in the Nation.”. She is recognized in “Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate” year after year.

Before Wimbish-Riteway, a Sotheby’s Affiliate, was bought by Coldwell Banker, Forster was Wimbish-Riteway’s top producer company wide. In 2002, her first year with Coldwell Banker, she earned top producer and the Legend’s Designation, a feat she repeated again in 2003. Besides winning recognition from South Florida’s Best Awards and Miami Today’s Best of Miami, Forster is on the advisory board of the Master Broker’s Forum, which counts the top 250 agents in South Florida as members, and co-chairs their marketing committee.

Then there is Forster’s technological savvy.  Her website, uniquehomesofmiami.com, has won numerous first place awards statewide and nationally. Florida Realtor Magazine honored this site with their 1st place award, and it was featured in Realtor Magazine in “The Top 5 Sites That Pay.”

Melissa Rubin

Platinum Properties International has only been around for a year but already the name of this boutique firm is being heard all over South Florida and beyond.

Melissa Rubin has a lot to do with that.

Rubin is realtor and senior partner of Platinum Properties, a firm co-owned by Miguel Flores, specializing in the transaction of homes, condos and commercial property in South Florida, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic and Europe.

Raised in Montreal, the English/French-speaking Rubin brings 15 years of marketing, strategic planning and execution to Platinum Properties International Inc. Her education includes course work in real estate investments, mortgage, economics, marketing and business development.

“My principal belief is that the relationship between the client and the realtor is greatly impacted by the level of trust established through the partnership,” Rubin said. “Trust is directly related to the realtor’s understanding of, and ability to deliver on, the client’s expectations.”

And it’s because of her delivery and her marketing abilities that Melissa Rubin is an up-and comer in South Florida real estate.

Advocates

Jami Reyes

When public relations executive Jami Reyes joined the board of the LBA (Latin Builders Association) in 1996, the group could have been called the LMBA (Latin MALE Builders Association). Brought in under the sponsorship of then LBA president Will Bermello, Reyes – a Honduran woman within an overwhelmingly Cuban male organization – was initially the odd-woman-out. But she quickly established herself as a hardworking and effective member and, perhaps most important, a very savvy and valuable political analyst.

Her firm, Gordon Reyes & Partners, is one of very few in Florida able to work both sides of the public relations street: media relations (telling their client’s story in the press) and public affairs (working the inner and upper channels of government on behalf of their clients). The partner of publicist Seth Gordon, Reyes oversees clients involved in the real estate and development sectors, specializing in client interaction with governments at all levels. Toward that end it probably pays that Reyes is among the advisors and friends of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, that U.S. Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart is a former business partner, that she is widely known amongst the Miami-Dade Legislative Delegation in Tallahassee and that she serves on influential boards such as the Miami Bond Oversight Board and the Miami Parking Authority.

Known for her cool, analytical (some say “bad ass”) demeanor, Reyes is a potent force in the conjoined worlds of politics and development in South Florida

Jennifer Ford and Diana Fleming

Jennifer Ford has worked for a decade in the advertising business for such firms as Beber Silverstein & Partners and Marc USA Advertising.

Diana Fleming meanwhile logged six years in Miami’s ad agencies such as Len Dogow & Associates and Marc USA.

Together they have formed the ad agency known as Blue Daisy, a company that
“specializes in paid media strategies for a wide range of clientele.” Of course, thanks to the real estate boom, much of that clientele are developers and realtors who want to tap into their expertise in finding the perfect media to push their projects. When you have to sell off luxury units worth $10 million apiece there is something about a pair of ad execs who know a little thing about “guerilla advertising” that is attractive, hence why this pair are rapidly becoming a force in South Florida’s real estate circles.

Lucia Dougherty

Thanks to the real estate boom, there are plenty of individuals out there who fancy themselves “Power Developers,” especially if they are encoded with an “XY” gene.  (Something about giant towers….) But a developer isn’t very powerful if he doesn’t have a good lawyer. 

In the development community of South Florida, two words are most revered: “Greenberg Traurig.” And in this firm of influential land use attorneys, Lucia Dougherty, a shareholder no less, is among the most talented and tenacious. Lennar, Ugo Columbo, the Siegel Group, the Millennium Group, the Related Group, Terremark, Swire Properties, Midtown Equities – all those associated with these developers and companies, plus many, many more too numerous to mention, have Dougherty’s name on their speed dial. 

Whether it is talking to a stressed-out planning department employee, preparing to argue before a zoning board or meeting with an administrative official, Dougherty can do it all.  And the Power Developers of South Florida pretty much know that Dougherty is a powerhouse in land use law.

Sonja Bogensperger

Why is it that we can hardly walk a few feet in South Beach or drive a few blocks in Miami’s Biscayne Corridor without seeing some kind of reference to “Majestic”? Okay, there is the fact that Majestic Properties is just simply all over South Beach and Miami’s redeveloping regions. And then there is the in-house marketing-factor: Majestic Properties is among the few real estate companies that has a fully-staffed, full-time in-house marketing department.

And the leader of this marketing department: Sonja Bogensperger.

Bogensperger has quite a background in tourism and destination marketing. In a way, she was born into that field – she grew up on her parents’ ski resort in Austria. She was recruited as product manager for Pegasus Tours USA in Miami soon after attending the International School for Hotel and Tourism Management in Salzburg. In 1995 she became the Europe sales manager for the Dollar Rent a Car’s tours division in Tampa. 

By the time she was tapped by Majestic, Bogensperger had amassed experience in selling Miami as a destination – a skill that the realty company has put to great use. Besides promoting Majestic Properties projects and properties, her department also publishes an arts and real estate magazine called Majestic Match.

Rochelle Fraga

Corporate takeovers can be scary. People have a tendency of being fired during such events. Three months prior to Arvida’s acquisition of Prudential Florida Realty, Fraga had just started as Prudential’s marketing assistant. However, when the buyout was over in 1998, Fraga was promoted as Arvida’s marketing director, a position she retained when Arvida was itself taken over by Coldwell Banker four years later. “The realization that ‘growth means change’ has only intensified,” Fraga said of the experience.

Fraga considers her clients to be the “nearly 1,300 of the most successful real estate professionals in the industry.” Her duties include handling the local advertising, planning special events and overseeing the “marketing responsibilities” for Coldwell Banker’s 19 offices in Miami-Dade.

So how does she manage to handle the PR accounts of 1,300 or so realtor powerhouses.  Positive attitude helps. “I take great pride in knowing that the company I work for is the most successful real estate company in the country, and in [this] state [we have] the market share to prove it,” she said.

Sissy DeMaria

Sissy De Maria is a principal of Kreps De Maria, a mid-sized, full-service public relations and marketing agency based in Coral Gables, Florida. She joined the firm in l994 as an account executive, and her keen media and business insight earned her a partnership within five years. De Maria specializes in media relations and in 2001 formed the company’s KD Luxe Division, which concentrates on public relations and marketing efforts for luxury brands.

With clients including Fisher Island, Four Seasons Residences, Trump Grande Ocean Resort and Residences, The Setai, Continuum, The Sports Club/LA-Miami, Skyline on Brickell, M/S Four Seasons, Russell Post Properties at Ocean Reef, the Law Firm of White and Case, Samy, Coastal Construction, Musha Cay, and Bill Ussery Motors, KD has become known as “the” leading public relations firm for developers, construction services, and luxury products in South Florida. 

Phyllis Apple

Anything is possible. That is the catchphrase used by Phyllis Apple, the CEO of the Apple Organization, a full-service public relations firm that is sought after by South Florida developers, particularly in Northeast Miami-Dade.

More than 25 years ago, a friend of Apple’s suggested she open her own PR company. During those years, Apple wholeheartedly devoted herself to the company and turned her $100-a-week, home-based business into a $1.75 million agency. The 82-year old has represented countless leading developers including Donald Soffer, the founding father of Aventura. Her organization has helped premier developers, such as Joseph Milton, Willy Bernello and Jorge Perez rise to the top of the rankings by delivering media placements and producing memorable special events. Apple has also delivered equally exceptional results for other high-profile clients likeSimon Property Group, FAO Schwarz, FedEx and Visa International. Although she may be the county’s oldest working woman, Apple is young at heart and has no plans of retiring any time soon.

Patricia Soffer

Patricia Soffer is the co-founder of Soffer Adkins, an advertisement agency that seeks to “leave the maze of typical large agency un-creativity, politics and red tape.” With that mission Soofer-Atkins has won many ADDY and CHARLIES awards in the categories of real estate, hospitality, corporate identity and entertainment. Yet it’s in the area of real estate that Soffer Adkins has particularly made its mark. Among their clients: the mini-metropolis known as Midtown Miami, the seven-acre Metropolitan, The Related Group’s Hallandale Beach Club Phase I and Las Olas Beach Club, the 36-unit Eastside at Aventura, Radius, the mixed-use condo in Hollywood – all these projects and more use Soffer Adkins for their advertising and promotional needs. And in charge of real estate sector is Soffer, an award-winning copywriter.

Patricia Soffer, a magnum cum laude graduate of Florida International University’s School of Mass Communication, ran Creative Communications Group prior to becoming a principal at Soffer Adkins, a company specializing in RFP responses, brochures, corporate communications and collateral material. 

Amy Zakarin

The president of Zakarin Public Relations, Amy Zakarin is among the upper echelon in luxury-category real estate public relations. An “ideas” person, Zakarin draws on her extensive network of media, corporate and community contacts to create a multitude of high-profile marketing and press opportunities for her clients who include WSG Development Company (Canyon Ranch Living), Peebles Atlantic Development Corporation (The Bath Club and Royal Palm Hotel), The Related Group of Florida (Apogee) and Fortune International (Jade Residences at Brickell Bay, Jade Beach and Le Meridien Sunny Isles Beach Resort).

Prior to founding her own firm, Zakarin was manager of client services for the Miami office of Burson-Marsteller, the world’s largest public relations company,
where she led campaigns for such clients as Fisher Island, Portofino Tower, Grand Bay Tower Residences, and The Waterways.