Robert Wennett - President & Founder, UIA Management

Robert Wennett grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, with a real estate attorney for a father and a mother who never went past high school, started her own residential brokerage when he was ten, and out-earned her husband two to one. "My father was definitely the intellect. My mother was the entrepreneur." He got discovered as a model and spent 1978 to 1985 in New York, working the job straight through Penn and then Columbia. "I knew it was a side hustle, and it was better than washing dishes or waiting tables." It also put him inside Studio 54 at its peak. "Everybody wanted to be together, and it was just like party central. You'd go to Studio 54, then you'd go to the Factory after." Then a very different New York. He securitized mortgages at Manufacturers Hanover, Chemical Bank and JP Morgan, spent nine years at Federal Realty growing it toward $2 billion, and in 1998 launched his own fund buying urban property in New York, Washington and Miami. He sold out ahead of the 2008 crash. Miami got him early. He bought at Portofino Towers in 1993, the first high rise going up on South Beach, because everyone he knew in New York was already coming down. In 2005 he bought an ugly bank building and the parking lot beside it on Lincoln Road. "I'm gonna put it all on the line. If I don't do it now, I'm never going to do it." He hired Herzog and de Meuron, refused partners who might dilute the design, and opened a parking garage in 2010 into the worst market in a generation, fully leased. It sold in 2017 for $283 million. Now he owns nine contiguous acres in Allapattah and is starting with a barbecue joint. "We need a draw to the neighborhood because nobody knew about Allapattah. People will travel anywhere for great brisket." He splits the year between Miami and Madrid, and he is candid about what Miami lost after COVID as rents climbed and the street life thinned. We drank Cuvée Rosé, which is the only correct pour for a man who was at Studio 54 when it mattered. Connect with us Want to dive deeper into Miami’s commercial real estate scene? 📧 Get in touch: Built World Advisors 🎙️ Listen & Watch: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube 📱 Follow the show: LinkedIn | Instagram Connect with the Hosts: Felipe Azenha  Ben Hoffman  Our Partners & Sponsors 🏢 Studio Space: A special thank you to Büro coworking space for hosting us!  Proudly sponsored by: Top of Mind PR Vizzda Vinya