Iris Escarra, B.C.S.

Practice Details

• Languages
  Spanish
• Payment Information
  Accepted Credit Cards

  American Express
• Firm Information
  Position

  Shareholder; Co-Chair, Miami Land Development & Zoning Practice

  Firm Name

  Greenberg Traurig, LLP
• Representative Cases & Transactions
  Cases

  Experience: Sports Mixed-Use Development: Represented Miami Freedom Park in obtaining a comprehensive special area master plan from the Miami City Commission to build a new home stadium for Inter Miami CF. Iris also served as co-counsel during negotiations that led to a 99-year lease agreement to develop the project on city-owned l
  . As planned, Miami Freedom Park will be a 73-acre sports destination with a Major League Soccer stadium, hotel rooms, retail shops,
  office space.
  
  Commercial & Residential Mixed-Use Development: Represents an international real estate developer in securing development approvals for various multi-phase, mixed-use projects, each with over 1,400 residential units, in Miami's Arts & Entertainment, Edgewater,
  Brickell areas.
  Represents one of South Florida's largest developers in obtaining zoning entitlements for a 3.5-acre luxury hotel-
  -condo project on Brickell Key.
  Assisted the developer of Miami Worldcenter in updating its special district regulations to help transform 27 acres of Miami's urban core into a vibrant mix of residential, retail, commercial,
  hospitality properties. The $2 billion multi-phase project is one of the largest urban mixed-use developments under construction in the United States.
  Represented a Miami developer in gaining unanimous approval from the Miami City Commission to create a Special Area Plan for a mixed-use development covering nearly 40 acres in Wynwood -- one of the largest zoning code overhauls in Miami history.
  Represented various clients in the development of multiple mixed-use residential
  commercial projects in Wynwood, a former manufacturing
  warehouse district now known for its art galleries, restaurants,
  retail shops.
  Represented a Miami-based real estate investment
  development firm in securing entitlements for the redevelopment of Cocowalk, a 198,000-sq.-ft. urban lifestyle retail center in Coconut Grove, as well as an adjacent office project.
  Assisted various clients with entitlements
  other matters related to the construction of multiple mixed-use signature residential projects in Coconut Grove.
  Represented various clients in the redevelopment of Miami's Omni Arts & Entertainment District, a designated community redevelopment area that now includes more than 2,000 mixed-income residential units in mixed-use buildings near a previously underused Metromover station. Iris assisted with the creation of an incentive-based mixed-income bonus model that incentivizes the development of housing for a range of income levels in the district.
  Represented various developers in the creation of,
  subsequent updates to, a master plan for Midtown Miami, resulting in the area's transformation from an overlooked industrial site to a vibrant mixed-use district with retail, commercial/entertainment
  residential components.
  Represented various clients in the development of multiple mixed-use residential
  commercial projects in Edgewater, creating an upscale live-work-play destination just north of downtown Miami.
  
  Civic & Social Infrastructure Development: Oversaw l
  use matters for the development of the Perez Art Museum Miami, a three-story Herzog & de Meuron-designed building with 200,000 square feet of indoor
  outdoor exhibit space located near downtown Miami's waterfront Maurice A. Ferre Park.
  Oversaw l
  use matters for the development of the Phillip
  Patricia Frost Museum of Science, a planetarium, aquarium
  science museum also located near downtown's Ferre Park.
  
  Affordable Housing Development: Represented various clients in securing development approvals for affordable housing projects with a total of approximately 1,400 units for low-
  moderate-income residents throughout Miami.
  
  Educational, Health Care & Non-Profit Facility Development: Represented Miami Jewish Health, a non-profit health system, in obtaining approval from the City of Miami to create the first all-medical Special Area Plan in Miami, facilitating the construction of a cutting-edge memory care facility
  other specialized buildings with specific design, safety,
  accessibility requirements.
  Represented Mater Academy, a non-profit charter school management organization, in securing development approvals for several charter schools in Miami.
  Represented Avenues The World School, an international private school network based in New York, in securing development approvals for a new 11-building campus on 15.7 acres in Miami. As proposed, the new campus will include pre-school
  K-12 classrooms as well as a dormitory.
  Part of a team of Greenberg Traurig attorneys who donated 500+ pro bono hours over three years to help Make-A-Wish Southern Florida acquire a Miami site
  obtain development approvals for a new headquarters
  'wish house' designed to provide children with an inspirational, fun,
  safe destination to experience wishes. Make-A-Wish is a non-profit organization that grants wishes to children battling critical illnesses.
  Represents Beth David Congregation in the redevelopment of its Coral Way property with a new Center for Jewish Life comprising a synagogue, early childcare center,
  K-5 religious school in Miami. The city's oldest Jewish congregation, Beth David was founded in 1912
  has been at its Miami location since 1949.
  
  Previous Experience: Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney's Office, Miami, FL, 2002-2004
  Judicial Law Clerk, Judge Eleanor Schockett, Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court, 1999
• Additional Links
  http://www.gtlaw.com/People/Iris-Escarra