Iris Escarra, B.C.S.

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 land. As planned, Miami Freedom Park will be a 73-acre sports destination with a Major League Soccer stadium, hotel rooms, retail shops, and 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, and Brickell areas.; Represents one of South Florida's largest developers in obtaining zoning entitlements for a 3.5-acre luxury hotel-and-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, and 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 and commercial projects in Wynwood, a former manufacturing and warehouse district now known for its art galleries, restaurants, and retail shops.; Represented a Miami-based real estate investment and 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 and 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, and 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 and residential components.; Represented various clients in the development of multiple mixed-use residential and commercial projects in Edgewater, creating an upscale live-work-play destination just north of downtown Miami.;; Civic & Social Infrastructure Development: Oversaw land 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 and outdoor exhibit space located near downtown Miami's waterfront Maurice A. Ferre Park.; Oversaw land use matters for the development of the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, a planetarium, aquarium and 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- and 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 and other specialized buildings with specific design, safety, and 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 and 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 and obtain development approvals for a new headquarters and 'wish house' designed to provide children with an inspirational, fun, and 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, and K-5 religious school in Miami. The city's oldest Jewish congregation, Beth David was founded in 1912 and 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