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. A Day in Miami Website: https://adayinmiami.com/ Manny Alfonso: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mannyalfonso8/ Kiko Suarez: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/querikoconkiko/ Eduardo Moya: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr_moya/ Follow Us! - A Day in Miami: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adayinmiami/ Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/20WEys6jxiliBCLoo9iSID ________________________ Produced by: Ben Schwede Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benthecreatorrr/ 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
Episodes
50:04
The Man Designing Miami's Restaurants, Strip Malls, and More
Chris Vidal
Sep 14, 2026
50:57
Inside the Plan to Save Virginia Key
Robert Christoph Jr.
Sep 10, 2026
35:32
The HR Mistakes Costing Small Businesses Thousands
Joel Esquenazi
Sep 9, 2026
64:26
The Arena, Trading Cards, and Courtside's Next Chapter
Courtside Basketball
Sep 7, 2026
62:49
What Property Tax Reform Really Means for the County Budget
Daniella Levine Cava
Sep 1, 2026
61:49
Why Miami-Dade Police Officers Deserve to Get Paid More
Rosie Cordero-Stutz & Robert Gonzalez
Aug 28, 2026
33:41
The Monster Is Back - Uly Diaz Returns to Bare Knuckle Boxing
Uly Diaz
Aug 25, 2026
63:22
The Married Couple Behind Miami's Most Iconic Sandwich Shop
Daniel Figueredo & Rosa Romero
Aug 24, 2026
Featured Guests
Chris Vidal
Robert Christoph Jr.
Joel Esquenazi
Courtside Basketball
Daniella Levine Cava
Rosie Cordero-Stutz & Robert Gonzalez
Uly Diaz
Daniel Figueredo & Rosa Romero
Bella Cianni
Marshall Davis Sr.
Michael Arias
Miami DDA
Oliver Gilbert
Andrew Mayer
Jose Felix Diaz
Yaneth del Carmen Baez
Don Worth
Yenly Dominguez
Julio Robaina
Vicki Lopez
Henry Torres
UM Cheer
Coach Jube & Coach Dub
Faisal Gill
Destiny Alvarez
Christian Dominique
Carlos Gonzalez & Ed Easton
EJ Martinez
Raheem Sealey
Dr. Agustin Arietta
Anthony Rodriguez
David Burstyn
Jose Miguel Vera
Mario Ramil
Omar Marrufo
Dr. Morad Askari
Cristina Ortiz
Melissa Graziano
Alex & Marcos Macías
David Woldenberg
Madeline Pumariega
Cristy Diaz
Kenny Gilbert
Andres Camacho
Fui Martinez & Bryant Besu
Eileen Higgins
Matt Kuscher
Bryan Calvo
Gonzalo Rubino
Kyle Prats
Jay Cruz
Tony Arrufat
Erik Perez
Adrenaline Dance Studio
Vince Lago
Mario Naar
Tara Newell
Frankie Ruiz
Michael "DJ M DOT" Hankerson
Robert Gonzalez
Calvin Hughes
Richard Lamondin
Chris Kelly
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava
Jeremy Ford & Joe Mizzoni
Bruno Raschio
Al Benthall
Mehdi Taifi
Romero Britto
Otto Othman
Chef Brad Delgado
Natalie Milian Orbis
Raameel Anwaar
Jose De Armas & Vinny Di Francesco
Simon Hess
Seybold Building
Alina Nuñez
Amin Ebrahimi
Ana Bozovic
Emilio Gonzalez
Eileen Higgins
Jorge Arrizurieta
Katherine Fernandez Rundle
Brandsmart USA
Al Benthall
Dariel Fernandez
Mo Garcia
Juan Del Busto
Ammer Cabrera
Dan Ryan
Michel Gallero
Luis Lopez
OHM, Level Up & Bünda
Maiz y Agave
All Episodes
The Man Designing Miami's Restaurants, Strip Malls, and More
Chris Vidal
Inside the Plan to Save Virginia Key
Robert Christoph Jr.
The HR Mistakes Costing Small Businesses Thousands
Joel Esquenazi
The Arena, Trading Cards, and Courtside's Next Chapter
Courtside Basketball
What Property Tax Reform Really Means for the County Budget
Daniella Levine Cava
Why Miami-Dade Police Officers Deserve to Get Paid More
Rosie Cordero-Stutz & Robert Gonzalez
The Monster Is Back - Uly Diaz Returns to Bare Knuckle Boxing
Uly Diaz
The Married Couple Behind Miami's Most Iconic Sandwich Shop
Daniel Figueredo & Rosa Romero
From America's Got Talent to Her First Music Video
Bella Cianni
43 Years of Community Work - Now He's Running for Congress
Marshall Davis Sr.
The Former Prosecutor Running to Fix District 27
Michael Arias
You Could Get $50,000 to Host an Event Downtown
Miami DDA
