A. Vicky Leiva

Most of my clients are very concerned about their project timelines, and my experience working with the city allows me to be realistic about timing. Knowing, having been through, and having seen the process and its challenges allows me to determine where the hurdles will be. It helps me manage my clients' expectations and leads them to a successful outcome.

I can go through the entire building process with a client in Spanish, and that’s very important because much of land use and building terminology doesn't have a translation. These legal concepts don’t exist in some foreign countries, and so translating and explaining how their local process is different than ours is essential. Doing so in their own language, in a way that's uncomplicated, is very helpful to my foreign clients.

Understanding the nuances of development in Miami is imperative to the success of a project. The City of Miami, for example, adopted Miami 21 as its building code in 2010. The terminology that is used in Miami 21 is different than the standard terminology used in zoning throughout the United States. Therefore, it requires not only understanding what a form-based code is, but also appreciating that whatever project is going to be done, it’s really controlled by the architectural design of the project. It particularly requires a great deal of preliminary work with the architect in order to do the best work for the client.