Creating a Forum for Caribbean Thought Leadership: The First ULI Caribbean Roundtable
Great ideas rarely emerge in isolation. They are born through conversation, collaboration, and the willingness to bring together people with different perspectives to solve shared challenges.
That belief inspired the launch of the ULI Caribbean Roundtable, an initiative created to establish a regular forum where leaders from across the Caribbean real estate, hospitality, finance, planning, and development industries could exchange ideas and discuss the opportunities shaping the region’s future.
Chaired by Adam Greenfader, Chairman of AG&T and then Chair of the ULI Southeast Florida/Caribbean Council, the inaugural Roundtable brought together a diverse group of developers, investors, architects, financial advisors, and industry leaders committed to advancing thoughtful, sustainable growth throughout the Caribbean.
Among the featured speakers were:
Emilio Colón Zavala, President, Puerto Rico Builders Association
Ricardo Álvarez-Díaz, Founder and CEO, Álvarez-Díaz & Villalón (AD&V)
Robbie Karver, Ernst & Young (EY), Hospitality Advisory
The event was made possible through the collaboration of the Urban Land Institute Southeast Florida/Caribbean District Council and its outstanding leadership team, whose commitment helped establish what would become an ongoing series of conversations focused on the future of Caribbean development.
A Region Entering a New Chapter
The discussion took place during a pivotal moment for the Caribbean.
Only two years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the region was rebuilding with renewed optimism while simultaneously attracting increased interest from institutional investors, global hotel brands, and international developers.
Despite recent challenges, the panel shared a remarkably optimistic outlook.
- Tourism fundamentals remained strong.
- Airlift continued to expand.
- Hotel occupancy was recovering rapidly.
- Luxury travel demand remained resilient.
- Most importantly, investors continued to believe in the long-term strength of the Caribbean hospitality market.
Key Themes That Continue to Shape the Region
Several observations made during the Roundtable remain remarkably relevant today.
Access Drives Investment
The panel agreed that air connectivity remains one of the most important drivers of tourism and hospitality investment.
Destinations with strong international airlift continue to outperform, creating greater confidence among developers, lenders, hotel operators, and institutional investors.
The Caribbean Is Maturing
Rather than being viewed as a collection of isolated resort destinations, the Caribbean has increasingly evolved into a sophisticated investment market offering diverse opportunities across hospitality, branded residences, mixed-use development, marinas, logistics, and infrastructure.
This maturation has attracted increasingly sophisticated sources of capital seeking long-term investment opportunities.
Puerto Rico’s Competitive Position
The discussion also highlighted Puerto Rico’s unique advantages.
Federal disaster recovery funding, Opportunity Zones, tourism incentives, and the island’s attractive tax framework were already positioning Puerto Rico for renewed investment.
Many of those early observations have since materialized, with Puerto Rico experiencing record tourism performance, significant hospitality investment, and growing institutional interest.
Resilience Creates Value
One of the most encouraging conclusions reached during the Roundtable was that resilience does not necessarily reduce investment returns.
Developers increasingly recognized that resilient design, stronger construction standards, and sustainable planning can enhance long-term asset performance while reducing future risk.
Today, resilience has become a central component of hospitality development throughout the Caribbean.
Building More Than Conversations
Looking back, the greatest achievement of the Caribbean Roundtable was not any single discussion.
It was the creation of an ongoing community.
Over the following years, the Roundtable welcomed leaders from organizations including Hilton, CBRE Hotels, IDB Invest, Discover Puerto Rico, Apple Leisure Group, Sculptor Real Estate, major financial institutions, developers, architects, government agencies, and global investors.
Each conversation expanded the dialogue around the issues shaping Caribbean development—from hospitality and branded residences to climate resilience, institutional capital, infrastructure, manufacturing, tourism, and public-private partnerships.
AG&T’s Perspective
For AG&T, organizing the Caribbean Roundtable reflected a long-standing philosophy.
Economic development begins by bringing people together.
Throughout our history, we have sought to connect government leaders, investors, developers, hotel brands, universities, planners, architects, financial institutions, and entrepreneurs around one common objective: creating a stronger, more resilient Caribbean.
The Roundtable became one of many platforms through which those conversations could occur.
Today, those discussions continue to influence the way we think about hospitality, resilience, investment, and sustainable development across the region.
Because while individual projects may define skylines, it is collaboration that ultimately shapes the future of communities.
