For Multinational Firms in Coral Gables, It’s All About the Neighborhood
Think Globally, Live Locally
About four months ago, Jorge Martinez and a colleague from New Jersey were walking to lunch in downtown Coral Gables when the visitor paused to make this observation of the world around him: “It is so beautiful here. It feels like we’re in a resort.” Martinez, director of finance for Terumo Latin America, said he had to agree. “The architecture, the restaurants, the convenience, the ambiance — so many reasons to be here,” he says.
Terumo Corp., the Japanese manufacturer of medical devices that reported revenues of more than $4.6 billion last year, is just one of the recent additions to the roster of companies that have set up shop in Coral Gables, helping to grow the reputation of The City Beautiful as a mecca of multinationals.
In the last 18 months, other companies new to the city or expanding their presence here include ThriveDX, a global leader in cybersecurity and digital skills training founded in Israel; Alava International, an architectural and engineering firm from Spain; and Amazon Web Services, which has rented nearly 9,000 square feet of office space at the WeWork building on Giralda Avenue. The global giant plans to add some 60 employees to the 100-person workforce now there with Amazon Prime Video and AWS, according to published reports, with many staffers coming in from Latin America.
“Coral Gables is an incredibly attractive place for gateways, for offices, a live-work-play place for so many,” says T.J. Villamil, senior vice president for international trade and development with Enterprise Florida, headquartered in the same Alhambra Circle block with Terumo. “It’s a very international city, very integrated with the global economy. What Coral Gables has done so well is provide quality of life while being a part of a thriving metropolitan area.” As for Florida in general, Villamil adds, “Everyone wants to be here. And from an economic standpoint, this is one of the best times we’ve seen.”
Located for several years in Doral, Terumo shifted its South Florida offices to the Gables in part because of the city’s walkability, says Martinez, who supervises more than 300 employees in Latin America. “It is so nice not to need a car to get around,” he says. “In Doral, you had to use a car for everything.”
Before moving to the Gables, Martinez and his staff shopped around. Doral, chock-a-block with warehouses, is close to Miami International Airport. Downtown Miami is home to many big law and accounting firms. Tech startups have popped up all around Wynwood. But Coral Gables has a mix of all those businesses in a setting of unrivaled convenience and elegance, Martinez found. “There is a professional, low-key ambiance that seems comfortable,” he says.
Coral Gables is currently home to more than 120 multinational firms, including household names such as Fresh Del Monte Produce, Bacardi, Hyatt, HBO Latin America, and American Airlines, says Julian Perez, director of the city’s Economic Development Department. Also located here are as many as 20 consular and trade offices representing Spain, Colombia, Italy, and other nations, which facilitate commerce.
“It’s very simple,” says Perez. “It’s about quality of life. For many years, it was about incentives. What can our community offer to a company’s employees and executives? Is there housing available?
How safe is the community? How far are you from the airport, the seaport? Is there a qualified workforce available in the area? And is the city government run efficiently and easy to do business with?” The City Beautiful scores well on all those metrics, Perez says. The city does not offer economic incentives to firms looking to open offices in the city. However, says Perez, officials have tried to ease the transition with an expedited permitting process and by dedicating one person in the city manager’s office to work with in-bound companies. “We are trying to eliminate uncertainties,” says Perez.
And there is room for growth. According to CoStar, which tracks commercial real estate, the Gables currently has a 1.9 percent vacancy rate in retail space and 12.4 percent vacancy rate in office space compared to Miami-Dade’s overall rate of 18.8 percent. At least some of that plentiful available office supply can be traced to two years of the pandemic. Many firms halted expansion plans and told employees to work from home. Some workers dropped out of the workforce completely. Uncertainty ruled.
The virus has not disappeared, and many firms continue to wrestle with decisions about returning to the office. Yet on-site staffing is on the rise. “The pandemic disrupted all sorts of things, but companies are realizing that they are better off having more people in the region,” says Ken Roberts, who heads Gables-based WorldCity, a media company that tracks international trade and multinationals.
As more people return to the office, some companies are working to re-establish a corporate culture that may have been diluted during the pandemic, offering perks that include everything from flexible hours, hybrid work, relaxed dress code, better pay, even better food in the company cafeteria. Decisions on where to open offices, however, comes from the top. “Offices get located where top executives want to live,” says Roberts. “Coral Gables is home to a lot of top executives who want to live the Coral Gables lifestyle. And if not live here, they want to work here, for sure.” Roberts also notes that many executives are not traveling as much as they once did. “And that has a positive impact on restaurants in Coral Gables,” he says.
A year ago, immigration attorney Deirdre D. Nero was dealing with Covid restrictions and a backlog of visa appointments abroad that made it difficult for non-U.S. entrepreneurs to visit Florida. She was advising clients to stay home. That has now changed, says Nero, who chairs the Global Business committee of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce. Now that testing requirements and mask mandates have dropped, international travel has picked up. “I notice that people are wanting to come into the office for meetings,” says Nero. “There are a lot of Colombians, Chileans, and Argentinians, some of whom want to get some money out [of their countries].” For those South Americans worried about what’s happening at home, “Coral Gables remains just as attractive as ever,” says Nero. “Why? Access, proximity to airport, an idyllic upscale area, walkable, that also has an international business flavor to it. Plus, there are many consulates from their home countries here.”
In becoming a magnet for multinationals, Coral Gables is fulfilling – nay, surpassing – a destiny that founder George Merrick predicted when he said the city would serve as “a gateway to Latin America.” In recent years, says Mayor Vince Lago, “we have worked to further establish international ties, forging relationships with six Sister Cities: Aix-en-Provence, France; Cartagena, Colombia; Granada, Spain; La Antigua, Guatemala; Province of Pisa, Italy; and Quito, Ecuador [emeritus].” Our proximity to Miami International Airport, PortMiami, and the University of Miami “make our city the ideal location for international companies,” he says.
Beyond the logistical and cultural advantages, sometimes it just feels right to be in the Gables. That’s what Dan Vigdor, co-founder and co-CEO of ThriveDX, said influenced his decision to establish the firm’s headquarters here. The company offers cybersecurity and digital skills training, online and in-person, often in collaboration with major universities through their computer science and engineering programs. “The University of Miami was our first partner in the U.S.,” says Vigdor, whose wife graduated from UM. He went to Gulliver Prep, and they live in the city.
“We were going to New York, but Covid changed that,” he says. “From here, we have access to Latin America and Europe. Here, there are just good people. What better place to affect great change and develop cyber talent than here?”