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The bulldozers are busy clearing ground to make way for a two-tower mixed-use complex on Brickell Avenue near the Miami River bridge that promises to set a new trend in environmentally friendly buildings.

The project, occupying a full block between Sixth and Seventh streets on the west side of Brickell Avenue that will include a pedestrian-friendly plaza, is the fulfillment of a long-held dream of Miami native Loretta Hadley Cockrum, who founded her family-owned Foram Group real estate asset management and development company in Atlanta in 1978.

Ms. Cockrum detailed what the development will comprise, how it is meeting tough green-building standards and what it will mean to the community in an interview with Miami Today international editor Michael Hayes.

Q: Have you begun work yet on your new project?
A: We had a groundbreaking ceremony April 19, and we are just waiting for our final permit right now.

Q: How long have you had the property, and what is your goal for it?
A: I purchased the first part of the property in 1990, and in the ensuing seven years we assembled the remaining outparcels that were necessary in order for us to control and own the entire property from Brickell (Avenue) to the Metromover and from Sixth Street to Seventh Street. It is approximately 3.5 acres. So it wasn't all at the same time - it took quite a while to assemble the entire property.

Interestingly enough, from Day 1 it was always our goal to develop this piece of property and have it be the flagship property for this portfolio - and that was a long time ago. To really have that expectation and anticipation, I've really surprised myself sometimes when I think back on the fact that we sat and talked about this being an important piece of real estate that we want to develop some day.
What took us so long was that we felt that the location was so significant and the address of Brickell Avenue, even at that period of time, was recognized globally - if you say Brickell Avenue when you are in Paris, people know you are talking about Miami, the same as if you said Rodeo Drive and they know you're talking about Los Angeles.

When you have name recognition of that significance, we knew that it was really only time before it would become even more important as Miami matured. We didn't think it would take 17 years, but we did think it would take a while.

We waited this long because we knew that it would be of such significance that it would be recognized as the ultimate and the best address and property in the city. The reason that is so important to us is that from Day 1, our philosophy has always been that we are conservative, and if you operate with that philosophy, then your goal really is to make sure that what you do with any piece of real estate is not only in your own best good; but is really in the best good of the neighborhood and of those who follow behind you.

Because real estate really is one of those permanent things, especially dirt, therefore waiting for the market to be able to allow us to develop a property of this significance was imperative, and we had to wait 17 years for the market to come to us to allow us to do this.

That is the history of what brought us to this, and what we have designed from Day 1 was in the context of the neighborhood and its relationship to Brickell and the downtown area.

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