In this short video, a set of Miami developers and brokers offer their views on the effects of sea level rise on the Miami real estate market. These comments were made backstage at a TRD forum held recently at Mana Wynwood. Among those that commented are: Melissa Rose, Managing Director at Ackman-Ziff; Phil Gutman, President of Brown Harris Stevens; Dob Peebles, CEO of The Peebles Organization; Jules Trump, Co-Founder of The Trump Group; Lissete Calderon, CEO & President of Neurology Life Development Group; Mike Pappas, President of The Keyes Company.
Comments in this video indicate a mix of sentiments with regard to the potential impact of climate change on Miami:
“I do worry about sea-level rising a little bit you know.”
“I live on the ocean.”
“I live right on the beach.”
“It’s a concern; it needs to be addressed and there’s a lot more work that needs to be done, but we’re not seeing a lack of flow of capital to South Florida.”
“You know we have questions about sea level rise because the media talks about that a lot, but I can honestly say that no one has told me that they have not purchased here because of sea level rise.”
“Sea level rise is something that I’m actually dealing with right now personally.”
“I happen to live in a residential neighborhood where they’re trying to raise the streets.”
“Rising sea levels are a real issue confronting South Florida and other coastal cities, however, Americans have a short memory and those memories don’t go from generation to generation.”
“So right now it’s a younger generation that is focusing on rising sea level.”
“If sea levels don’t wipeout rise and wipeout Miami Beach it’ll be an afterthought.”
“We’re building in terms of the worst worst possible tsunamis; we’re safe for that.”
“People still want those views.”
“They want to be in areas where they can see the water, and I think that that will continue to drive sales.”
“I have to say you know at the city of Miami has done a very good job taking a proactive approach and thinking about sea level rise and the impact.”
“I just sold a house to an interesting young tech guy and he had an opportunity to do some homework on the subject and what he revealed to me was that he felt that there’s a lot being done to counter on the sea level rise and a lot of technology that’s out there, but of course we don’t hear that in the media.”
“Five years ago ten years ago you never heard about sea level rise. Today you’re starting to hear about it, but it’s still distant and it’s still in the future.”
“I don’t think it’s affecting anybody today, but I think as we move on in the next five or ten years we’re gonna need to address it and I think we are starting to.”
“What is happening is a premium between waterfront properties and non waterfront properties is narrowing which is a good thing for urban infill of South Florida especially Miami.”
“I think there’s a concern and I think people are more reluctant to buy homes single-family homes that are waterfront and they’re thinking twice about the condos on the waterfront.”
“When I first moved here 1997 we always were dealing with flooded streets. Did it get a little bit worse? Yes, a little bit. But, nothing I don’t think for us to panic over if we’re going under so is New York and the rest of the East Coast in my opinion.”
“I would like to say that it doesn’t come up in conversation, but I think that people are seeing that the pleasure of having something here in the city is kind of shadowing that concern at the moment.”