This former developer now manages Miami’s city-owned real estate and marinas
.jpg "Andrew Frey, a former developer and zoning lawyer, has been named director of the city of Miami’s department of real estate and asset management.")
Former real estate developer Andrew Frey was recently hired as director of the city of Miami’s real estate management department.
Frey, 43, has worked with companies owned by developers Armando Codina and Russell Galbut, and he ran his own firm, Tecela, for nearly two years. He most recently worked as senior vice president of development and construction at AJ Capital Partners. He has some municipal government experience from his time working as a planner at the Cambridge Housing Authority in Boston in the early 2000s. Frey has a bachelor’s degree from Boston College and a law degree from the University of Michigan.
Frey started this month as director of the department of real estate and asset management (DREAM). The department manages a real estate portfolio estimated to be worth about $17.5 billion, according to the city. The city owns 513 properties, 139 million square feet of islands, and three marinas with over 1,300 boat slips, moorings and dry racks.
“His vast knowledge, experience and commitment to the city of Miami make him a value-added DREAM Director,” said City Manager Art Noriega, in a statement.
At Galbut’s company, Crescent Heights, Frey worked on major projects such as a new park and upcoming luxury condo tower at 500 Alton Road in South Beach, and the upcoming NEMA Miami complex in Edgewater. At Codina Partners, Frey’s projects includes several multifamily buildings in Doral.
In 2015, Frey helped advocate for a major zoning change that lifted parking requirements for buildings under 10,000 square feet that are near transit corridors. That amendment was sponsored by Mayor Francis Suarez, who was a commissioner at the time. The change cleared a path for Frey to develop townhouse-style apartments in Little Havana. One year ago, the City Commission voted to reverse the change without any detailed analysis, causing controversy in the planning and development community.
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Frey’s compensation package from the city includes an annual salary of $175,000 and monthly allowances of $500 for a car and $100 for a cellphone.
Frey is filling a position left open after the departure of Jacqueline Lorenzo, who left Jan. 2 to work as a real estate manager in Miami-Dade County’s internal services department.
This story was originally published January 25, 2023 at 1:26 PM.
