Thomas Capocefalo, Executive Managing Director, Savills

Invest: sat down with Thomas Capocefalo, executive managing director of Savills, to discuss how the firm’s tenant-only advisory model has evolved in South Florida and what he’s watching next. “South Florida, and Florida in general, has been the recipient of dramatic and exciting growth,” Capocefalo said.

What have been the defining milestones of Savills’ growth in Miami, and how has the role of the Miami office evolved over the years?

We’ve been in the Miami marketplace for almost 25 years. For a portion of that time, we were formally known as Studley and then Savills Studley. That shift occurred around 2018, as we aligned with the publicly traded Savills platform in the U.K.

One of the defining milestones has been the coupling of a tenant-only lease advisory perspective with the depth and breadth of an international organization. That combination broadened our platform and expanded what we can deliver in terms of real estate advisory services to a more diverse client base.

The Miami office’s role has grown along with that platform, supported by the firm’s global reach and market intelligence, while staying grounded in the tenant-only approach that we’ve deliberately chosen as our focus.

How is Savills positioning itself to help occupiers navigate the South Florida market’s strong demand and shifting dynamics, particularly in office and industrial?

South Florida was a growing marketplace in the United States even pre-pandemic, with anticipated growth tied to technology enhancements and activity across a number of different arenas. But that trajectory was dramatically accelerated during and after COVID, as principals of national organizations concluded they could reside here, and then further concluded they should relocate their businesses here.

Absent that unfortunate milestone, South Florida, and Florida in general, has been the recipient of dramatic and exciting growth. We’ve been able to capitalize on that because we’re a service provider that handles predominantly commercial leasing for office and warehouse users. We work with users who are looking for our services, and we also seek out firms that are expanding to present our services and help them find new offices or new warehouses.

It has been a deliberate opportunity to take advantage of those relocating organizations. That activity has helped us enhance what we deliver and the services we provide.

How do you tailor tenant advisory services to the unique challenges and opportunities of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties?

Many firms don’t have that deliberate practice of tenant-only services, and my colleagues and I have decided that’s what we’re going to deliver our advisory services along with.

Because we’ve made that choice, we concentrate on users who are looking for that specific hands-on, bespoke kind of advisory. If it makes sense for a client and they like our model and they like us, we’re able to secure retentions and produce the outcomes they’re looking for.

The core point is that our clients are predominantly the users of space, not the sellers or the owners. That informs how we advise them across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach.

Miami’s office market has seen leasing activity from major corporate tenants. What role does your team play in supporting new corporate activity in the region?

If we’re talking about investments in the sense of investor services, that’s a different service line, and our office is not predominantly engaged in that.

What we work to do, from the occupier perspective, is advance to a prospective user forthcoming developments and buildings, and give them perspective as to why they may or may not make sense for that individual business. We are on the leading edge of understanding what’s going to be delivered over time, whether that’s the next year to four or five years.

Because we’re on the front side of that information, we can advise prospects accordingly. Then the client makes their own definitive decisions as to whether a particular product or building is worthwhile to pursue.

How do you leverage Savills’ global data, research, and technology to support clients in the South Florida market?

Fortunately, we’re a large organization, and we’re a global group. We operate in about 60 countries, and we have 45 offices in the United States, with about 40,000 people across the organization.

We have a large background of information and databases on markets throughout the world, and also across North America. Because of that resource base, we’re able to deliver pertinent, detailed data for decision-makers who need that data, which enters into their equation as they make decisions.

What major trends and forecasts are you watching for Miami and South Florida over the next few years, and how are you preparing clients to capitalize on those trends?

I believe there will be a continuation of relocations nationally and internationally into the South Florida marketplace. We have appropriate resources here for organizations to be successful. Between the weather, financial infrastructure, cooperative government assistance, and limited tax burdens, these elements enhance relocation opportunities and growth opportunities for business users across the board.

I also believe that the absolute new-to-market office user, and to a degree the warehouse user, has trended down post-COVID. But nonetheless, there are still growth opportunities forthcoming, particularly as new Class A office inventory comes online.

Examples include the new Santander Bank building on Brickell Avenue, Ken Griffin’s proposed buildings, and the 848 project in Brickell. There is demand, and we do expect out-of-area demand, although we don’t think it will be at the same velocity we experienced over the last two and a half to three years.

Those deliveries are several years out. Over the next four to five years, and in some cases four to seven years, we should be able to maintain a prudent balance in the office market. The warehouse market is more flexible, and landlords can adjust more quickly than they can with a multi-story office building.

What’s your vision for Savills’ role in shaping South Florida’s commercial real estate landscape, and what new areas of service or innovation are you most excited about?

We’ve been fortunate to be associated with significant transactions in the region. For example, we represented Amazon’s headquarters in South Florida, the first in that part of the state. We’ve also represented several of the largest AMLAW 100 law firms in the corridor with their lease expansions and new-to-market office expansions.

Those are the kinds of businesses we’re going to continue to strive to assist and help. We’re able to do that because we’re investigating those opportunities and tracking footprints that are expected to be forthcoming in the market over the next two to three years.

We also continue to expand our platform here with a sophisticated project management group. Savills had a sister organization known as Macro that was New York-based and focused on high-profile project management delivery services. Macro is now a deliberate part of the Savills organization, with an expanded presence here in South Florida.

We’re looking forward to additional opportunities in the project management arena, and we’re currently doing some of the largest project management assignments in South Florida, including several hundred thousand square feet of assignments that are well below the radar.