Eileen Higgins has been elected as Miami’s next mayor following a runoff election, marking a significant change in the city’s leadership. Higgins is the first woman to serve as mayor of Miami and the first Democrat to hold the position since 1997. She previously served as a Miami-Dade County commissioner.
Higgins ran against former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, who had received an endorsement from President Donald Trump. She will succeed Republican Francis Suarez, who has held the office since 2017 and was known for supporting major development projects such as the Miami Freedom Park mixed-use stadium.
Both candidates pledged to address issues with the city’s permitting process, improve housing affordability, and tackle corruption at City Hall. Higgins’ history includes approving nearly 7,000 affordable and workforce housing units during her time as county commissioner.
Campaign finance reports released after the November 4 election indicate that Higgins raised almost ten times more in donations from real estate professionals, corporations, and land use attorneys than Gonzalez. A fundraiser for Higgins was co-hosted by Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin & Tapanes at Brightline Station in downtown Miami. Other hosts included Integra Investments developer Nelson Stabile, Adler Properties CEO Jonathan Raiffe, and Florida East Coast Industries executive Jose Gonzalez.
Additional contributors to her campaign included Jeff Berkowitz and his wife Yolanda, zoning lawyers Iris Escarra and Melissa Tapanes Llahues, Cervera Real Estate’s Alicia Cervera Lamadrid, land use attorney Anthony De Yurre, along with several LLCs connected to Integra and Adler.
It remains to be seen whether Higgins will fulfill her campaign promises related to housing construction and improvements in permitting processes. The local real estate community is expected to monitor her administration closely.
In other real estate news:
– In Palm Beach, a trust sold an 8,400-square-foot mansion at 5 Via Sunny for $30 million to an LLC named after the address.
– Boston-based AEW Capital Management sold an office property at 169 Coral Way (Ryder Colonnade) in Coral Gables for $70.4 million; Crescent Real Estate of Fort Worth was the buyer.
– WeatherTech founder David MacNeil listed his waterfront property at 1120 South Ocean Boulevard in Manalapan for $125 million. Margit Brandt of Premier Estate Properties is handling the listing. MacNeil acquired parts of this property in two transactions: $38.5 million in 2024 and $55.5 million earlier this year.
– Most Citizens Property Insurance customers could see lower premiums next year. Homeowners in South Florida—specifically those in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties—are expected to benefit most with proposed cuts of about 12% to 13%, according to reporting by Sun Sentinel.
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