Chairman Stephen Bittel talks real estate, trends, and building better communities.

SOLVE at MIT

SOLVE at MIT 2018

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May 18, 2018 — Flying back right now from the SOLVE at MIT 2018 conference in Cambridge. What a remarkable gathering of social and environmental entrepreneurs and funders engaging together with an enduring passion to improve the world. The exchange of ideas and coaching was extraordinary. Two “solvers” selected from the sustainable urban communities track were amongst eight social entrepreneurs chosen in 2017, really igniting my passion.

Komal Ahmad is the Founder and CEO of San Francisco based Copia, a platform that enables Copia’s certified food handlers to collect surplus food from businesses and deliver it to local communities in need. The platform helps businesses track surplus trends, that can then be used to make more efficient purchasing decisions and also simplify access to tax deductions for donated unused food that otherwise would go to waste. Forty percent of prepared food is wasted while nearly one in six Americans are in need. Copia’s for profit business model matches excess prepared food with those in need and is now operating in several U.S. communities. One of their most effective partnerships is with the San Francisco 49er football team.

Gregorio Landel is the Founder and CEO of CityTaps, the producer of a smart prepaid water meter coupled with a billing software that bridges the gap between water utilities and the urban poor. The device that contains a 10-year battery, also detects pipe leaks discovering savings for utilities while at the same time facilitating cell phone payment for many who otherwise might not have water access. I immediately shared with Greg a commercial application in our buildings where we have paid firms to sub meter commercial tenant spaces, and physically read and bill tenants monthly.

These are just two of many great new technological creations to do good on a for profit model that came forth to respond to MIT’s Solve Challenge, under the leadership of remarkable Executive Director, Alex Amouyel. In a world barraged by troubling news, I left the conference feeling hopeful again for the future and excited to look for ways to apply these types of innovative solutions in our community.

Stephen Bittel

Gun Safety

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May 17, 2018 — A few months ago, 17 innocent people were murdered at Majorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Florida. Students and teachers alike had their lives senselessly ended with a weapon of war. an AR-15 assault weapon. Families wept at their loss and survivors mobilized to, once and for all, demand our elected officials stand up to the gun lobby and act to save lives. Common sense laws in the form of universal background checks have long been supported by an overwhelming majority of United States citizens, yet our state and federal elected officials have done nothing. We require a car operator to be educated, have a license and have insurance. Guns are at least as dangerous as a car, maybe the same standards should apply.

Military style assault weapons are for killing people, not hunting or any other purpose. Their ownership outside of the military continues to the allow mass killings that have plagued our country. In Florida alone, we have had over thirty instances where more than four people have been filled in one incident in the last two years.

Gun safety legislation at both the State and Federal levels that saves lives while ensuring responsible gun ownership is long overdue and desperately needed. Our students are demanding we act like adults and protect them. Isn’t it enough already?

Our real estate community is uniquely positioned to push the ideas of universal background checks an a ban on assault weapons forward into legislation. We have spent our entire careers building relationships with elected officials to gain project entitlement, variances, permits and the like. What if we used the relationships we have developed to ask them to lead on new laws? The power to protect our communities is in our hands, if we only take the time to use it.

Stephen Bittel

Stephen Bittel

Welcome to Bittel on Business

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We have raised a family and built a business in our South Florida community for many years.  Responsibility to our broader community has been a part of our lives for as long as I can remember.  The success of our business is inextricably linked to the success of the communities, where are investments are located.  Our team has always endeavored to play a leadership and advisory role in every facet of community life and leadership.

While my family and Terranova have long been primary in my life, I am also an avid non-fiction reader, a political activist, a public education enthusiast, and a supporter of sustainable development, all of which I look forward to writing about.  I even have a tiny bit of time for my love of fine wine and pescatarian food, music, and the Miami Heat.

Each week I hope to highlight a different viewpoint about what I am concerned with and thinking about on all of these topics that drive my life.

Each of us are directly impacted by the events of our world and communities that surround us and with which we interact.  I hope that by sharing my thoughts, I can give everyone new ideas to ponder and help make sense of a world that often seems chaotic and spinning out of order.

Throughout it all, I have always remained enormously positive about the future, no matter how hard one day can seem.  Tomorrow is always filled with the opportunity to be better.

I look forward to exploring new horizons and creating more connections within our community.

Stephen H. Bittel