Lydia Dinkova
Appearances
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
Sure. And thanks so much for having me. So I think you're right. There was a lot of excitement back starting in late 2020 and it kind of carried on until mid to late 2022. Obviously, the mayor's tweet and every time I spoke to a broker, they were super giddy and excited about all the calls they're getting from techies from California, venture capitalists and so on.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
Part of their argument at the time was that the South Florida office market would dodge the South Florida office. Real estate market would dodge any trouble that are that were being seen in New York and elsewhere in the country, partly because of this interest from tech companies. Obviously, they were getting interest from financial service companies and other industries. But tech was
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
a lot of the hype a lot of the excitement so i think sometimes starting in 2023 we started uh looking at data to see how the leasing was panning out on the real estate side were they indeed getting those leases back in 2023 we kind of did a story that was a preview of this and just found that tech leasing in south florida was just a very very small portion
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
of the overall new leases and renewals signed. I think we got the data from Comstack and not only was it a small portion compared to other industries signing leases and renewing leases for offices down here, but it was nowhere near what Silicon Valley was getting at the time. Still, we were just not come, not, not even competing with them.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
And, you know, this was interesting because the phrase was Silicon Valley of the South. And that was the phrase to Miami and Wynwood, but it was just nowhere near a Silicon Valley. So,
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
Yeah, so this year we did a story because the whole hype just went quiet. Nobody was talking about this anymore. So we just kind of thought, well, let's look back, see, and took a look at a lot of data, VC data, leasing data, and so on. And I think part of the thing was... The hype in the beginning back in 2020, 2021 was crypto. Obviously, like you said, we had FTX Arena.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
I think the crypto conference down here, I want to say in 2020 because everything else was under lockdown. But then the hype and what was cool, so to speak, in tech turned out to be AI. over the past year to a year and a half. And just companies like Andy, it's a chatbot AI company. Delphi, they all, I think, Delphi started here but went back to San Francisco.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
I don't know if Andy started here, but they for sure had an office here and a headquarters here, but then they went back to San Francisco. And it's just AI played a big role in this. And the AI hub, the true hub, where you find the support, the trained workforce, just the network, it's Silicon Valley. I mean, I was looking at some data before this.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
VC investment in AI per PitchBook data for South Florida was just over one billion last year and that was just like knowing year it was like something over 20 or I want to say more than 20 billion dollars uh last year for San Francisco Metropolitan statistical area so AI played a big role in this right so it's growing there and it's contracting here there's no doubt about that right
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
It's growing there for sure. I don't know if contracting here, but just the growth here in terms of VC investment is not is nowhere near what's in Silicon Valley. And it's just we're not seeing these leaps and jumps and growth for VC investment here. It's just very slow. It's much, much, much lower. And it's definitely contracting in terms of real estate leases.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
Yeah, for sure. People have been, Andreessen Horowitz was the most, is the biggest example. They backed out of a five-year term in South Beach, I think two or three years before the lease ends. I think blockchain is another one that just never even opened an office. They were supposed to open quite a big office in Wynwood, but never did. I think there's a couple other examples.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
Plug and Play was supposed to come here, but they went to Orlando.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
i think you know talking among the industry down here is that andreessen horowitz still has employees working out of co-working spaces or remotely but it's just in terms of like the real estate impact it's it's not really there almost everybody in miami whether we know it or not whether we like it or not we're in the real estate business because the economy rises and falls
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
For sure, the most common one with brokers is that they're still getting calls and interest. But then again, it doesn't really like whether or not it materializes. The most solid examples are obviously Amazon, Spotify, Apple expanded. But if you really look at them, they're a couple thousand square feet, like 10,000 square feet or somewhere in that range.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
It's not 100,000 square feet or more that have leased here, but still we did get some gains following this two years of hype. I think the best thing I heard is that from one local VC firm that's been around since before even this hype is that we're not trying to be Silicon Valley. This is Miami Tech. And I think there's some... I think there's some good support for that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
I think it's more, they're just not in agreement with the idea that we would become the Silicon Valley of the South. It's more focused on what we can do here. So a lot of the examples he gave me are, for example, tech firms and fintech firms that have roots in South America and Latin America and, like, would open an office here.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
Or, I don't know, there was, like, a tax file company, a gaming company. But when I took a look at their leases, again, not huge. I guess the thing that's more connected to the things we have going for us, aside from real estate proximity to Latin America... Maybe some medical, the health care industry, that kind of thing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
Okay, no. The short answer is no.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
Honestly, I'm not sure what the capital of capital means.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
So I think, yeah, there is some truth to that. And some sources have alluded to this that it's, you know, when I, when I taught, when I, when I featured this company, Delphi, the AI company, you know, the descriptions for Miami were always like amazing vibes, melting pot, eagerness, excitement to grow and so on. But when I asked about moving back to Silicon Valley, it was more serious than
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
maybe so to speak more serious terms like network support system growth workforce and so on so there is and there is a notion that we lacks a lot of these things you listed like you said uh traffic transportation schools a lot of the things that many of the californians new yorkers chicagoans are used to
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
We may very well be. There is a record supply of apartment units and it's slowing down. The rents have like lowered. Lots of office projects that were planned during the boom cycle are canceled or paused. We obviously have some larger macroeconomic headwinds with the tariffs and some of that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
You don't say. Oh, okay. Yeah, so we'll see how it pans out and how this year pans out, but we very well maybe do for another bus cycle.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: The Relentless Pursuit of the Real Estate Hustle
Thank you. Nice to join you.