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CEO Profile

A New Approach: Reshaping

Las Olas for the Future By Jennifer Nayak

Charles Ladd
Commercial Real Estate Developer
Barron Real Estate

Las Olas Blvd, often considered the jewel of Fort Lauderdale, is going through a
growth spurt. Thanks to the efforts of local developers Charles Ladd and partner
LSteven Hudson of Property Owners of Las Olas, the area is attracting a higher
level of retailers and entrepreneurs.
“Obviously, we love Las Olas,” says Charles Ladd, a Victoria Park resident and
Broward-based, commercial real estate developer with Barron Real Estate and partner
George Rahael, since 1984. Ladd and partners, currently own properties between
8th and 12th Streets along Las Olas.
Ladd, an extensive traveler and golfer, scouts nationwide looking for successful
regional investors like retailers, hotels, restaurants and service providers and
introducing them to Fort Lauderdale. iYou have to find the right tenants and connect
them to the community,w Ladd says of the process. )Js speciality is sourcing tenants
that provide amenities that residents need to support the live/work/play lifestyle.
Since 1999, Ladd has attracted national retailers to his Las Olas properties like
Tommy Bahama, Lilly Pulitzer, Alex & Ani and the luxury skincare boutique,
BlueMercury.
“I was turned down four times by Tommy Bahama. They had never done a retail
store without a restaurant and sent their people to check us out at 10 a.m. on a
weekday. That’s not showing the Boulevard at it’s best, so I was able to persuade the
president of the company to come and stay the weekend at The Riverside Hotel.”
he says. “They had to see it alive and activF 0nly then could they understand
what Las Olas was really like. It’s been a great partnership and was the precursor
to them opening retail stores nationwide.”

18 LAS OLAS BOULEVARD & ISLES