The Man Designing Miami's Restaurants, Strip Malls, and More | Chris Vidal

Chris Vidal of Gershen Associates joins us to break down what actually goes into designing and developing Miami's restaurants, strip malls, and retail spaces. He shares the origins of the firm, how AI is starting to influence architecture, and how rising land prices have completely changed the way developers approach new projects.

We also get into Miami's infrastructure challenges, the downtown bridge, working with national versus private brands, grease traps, impact fees, the municipal permitting process, and why so many national brand locations never actually make it to market. Plus red flags when taking on clients, his favorite areas to build in, the Waldorf Astoria project, and his top 3 Miami restaurants.

This is what it really takes to build the spaces Miami eats, shops, and gathers in.

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Produced by: Ben Schwede
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0:00 Intro
1:13 Live Shopping Studio
2:42 About Chris Vidal
4:27 Origins of Gershen Associates
7:43 AI in Architecture
9:56 Designing Strip Malls
10:58 Creating Projects and Developing Them
12:36 How Prices of Land Changed Development
14:37 Why Miami Needs to Improve Its Infrastructure
18:05 How New Developments Are Causing Trouble to Infrastructure
21:28 His Thoughts on the Bridge in Downtown
24:08 Working with National vs Private Brands
25:42 Grease Traps
29:52 Second Gen vs New Build Projects
31:21 Impact Fees
33:59 Municipal Permitting Process
35:06 How Most National Brands’ Locations Never Reach the Market
37:11 Red Flags When Taking On Clients
39:02 Restaurant Wars
41:00 His Favorite Area to Build In
41:30 Who Designs Parking Lots
42:39 Waldorf Astoria Building
44:38 His Current Projects
45:41 Miami Spots They Designed
46:29 Top 3 Restaurants
49:18 How He Can Help Restaurants