Profile
Iris Escarrá is Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Land Use Practice and a deeply experienced attorney in zoning and land use law. Located in the firm’s Miami office, Iris regularly represents property owners and developers in large development projects valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. With her counsel, dozens of high-profile commercial, mixed-use, and residential projects have been completed throughout Miami over the past two decades.
A Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist in city, county, and local government law, Iris guides clients through the municipal zoning and land use process to seek approvals for some of South Florida’s largest and most complex projects. She routinely helps clients obtain full entitlements for development, including navigating subdivision, zoning, and other applicable development regulations. She also assists in procuring government contracts and conducts due diligence to assess a property’s development potential.
Before joining Greenberg Traurig in 2005, Iris served as an assistant city attorney for the City of Miami, where she developed a keen understanding of local zoning and land use laws, rules, regulations, and procedures. She often appears on behalf of clients before zoning and planning boards, as well as before the Miami City Commission. Her clients include many of South Florida’s largest developers, who appreciate her creative and pragmatic approach to their complex legal matters. Clients frequently praise Iris for her ability to leverage her wide-ranging knowledge of zoning and land use law to help bring their development projects to fruition.
Greenberg Traurig’s South Florida Land Use Team has made an impact throughout the state. View a map of the team’s work on Miami’s skyline.
Concentrations
- Governmental affairs
- Land use representation
- Procurement
- City, county and local government law
- Subdivision law
Capabilities
Experience
- Represented Miami Freedom Park in obtaining a comprehensive special area master plan from the Miami City Commission to build a new home stadium for Inter Miami CF. Iris also served as co-counsel during negotiations that led to a 99-year lease agreement to develop the project on city-owned land. As planned, Miami Freedom Park will be a 73-acre sports destination with a Major League Soccer stadium, hotel rooms, retail shops, and office space.
- Represents an international real estate developer in securing development approvals for various multi-phase, mixed-use projects, each with over 1,400 residential units, in Miami’s Arts & Entertainment, Edgewater, and Brickell areas.
- Represents one of South Florida’s largest developers in obtaining zoning entitlements for a 3.5-acre luxury hotel-and-condo project on Brickell Key.
- Assisted the developer of Miami Worldcenter in updating its special district regulations to help transform 27 acres of Miami’s urban core into a vibrant mix of residential, retail, commercial, and hospitality properties. The $2 billion multi-phase project is one of the largest urban mixed-use developments under construction in the United States.
- Represented a Miami developer in gaining unanimous approval from the Miami City Commission to create a Special Area Plan for a mixed-use development covering nearly 40 acres in Wynwood -- one of the largest zoning code overhauls in Miami history.
- Represented various clients in the development of multiple mixed-use residential and commercial projects in Wynwood, a former manufacturing and warehouse district now known for its art galleries, restaurants, and retail shops.
- Represented a Miami-based real estate investment and development firm in securing entitlements for the redevelopment of Cocowalk, a 198,000-sq.-ft. urban lifestyle retail center in Coconut Grove, as well as an adjacent office project.
- Assisted various clients with entitlements and other matters related to the construction of multiple mixed-use signature residential projects in Coconut Grove.
- Represented various clients in the redevelopment of Miami’s Omni Arts & Entertainment District, a designated community redevelopment area that now includes more than 2,000 mixed-income residential units in mixed-use buildings near a previously underused Metromover station. Iris assisted with the creation of an incentive-based mixed-income bonus model that incentivizes the development of housing for a range of income levels in the district.
- Represented various developers in the creation of, and subsequent updates to, a master plan for Midtown Miami, resulting in the area’s transformation from an overlooked industrial site to a vibrant mixed-use district with retail, commercial/entertainment and residential components.
- Represented various clients in the development of multiple mixed-use residential and commercial projects in Edgewater, creating an upscale live-work-play destination just north of downtown Miami.
- Oversaw land use matters for the development of the Pérez Art Museum Miami, a three-story Herzog & de Meuron-designed building with 200,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibit space located near downtown Miami’s waterfront Maurice A. Ferré Park.
- Oversaw land use matters for the development of the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, a planetarium, aquarium and science museum also located near downtown’s Ferré Park.
- Represented various clients in securing development approvals for affordable housing projects with a total of approximately 1,400 units for low- and moderate-income residents throughout Miami.
- Represented Miami Jewish Health, a non-profit health system, in obtaining approval from the City of Miami to create the first all-medical Special Area Plan in Miami, facilitating the construction of a cutting-edge memory care facility and other specialized buildings with specific design, safety, and accessibility requirements.
- Represented Mater Academy, a non-profit charter school management organization, in securing development approvals for several charter schools in Miami.
- Represented Avenues The World School, an international private school network based in New York, in securing development approvals for a new 11-building campus on 15.7 acres in Miami. As proposed, the new campus will include pre-school and K-12 classrooms as well as a dormitory.
- Part of a team of Greenberg Traurig attorneys who donated 500+ pro bono hours over three years to help Make-A-Wish Southern Florida acquire a Miami site and obtain development approvals for a new headquarters and “wish house” designed to provide children with an inspirational, fun, and safe destination to experience wishes. Make-A-Wish is a non-profit organization that grants wishes to children battling critical illnesses.
- Represents Beth David Congregation in the redevelopment of its Coral Way property with a new Center for Jewish Life comprising a synagogue, early childcare center, and K-5 religious school in Miami. The city’s oldest Jewish congregation, Beth David was founded in 1912 and has been at its Miami location since 1949.
- Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney's Office, Miami, FL, 2002-2004
- Judicial Law Clerk, Judge Eleanor Schockett, Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court, 1999
Recognition & Leadership
- Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Land Use and Zoning Law; Real Estate Law, 2021-2024
- Team Member, a Law360 "Environmental Practice Group of the Year," 2022
- Recipient, "President's Award," Builders Association of South Florida, 2021
- Recipient, South Florida Business & Wealth, Prestigious Women Award, 2020-2021
- Listed, Chambers USA Guide, 2018-2023
- Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use, 2019-2023
- “Up and Coming,” 2018
- Listed, The Legal 500 United States, Real Estate: Land Use/Zoning, "Recommended Lawyer," 2022-2023
- Team Member, Chambers & Partners USA Real Estate Law Firm of the Year, 2013, 2017-2018, and 2022
- South Florida Power Women, Bisnow, 2018
- Listed, South Florida Business Journal, "People on the Move," 2017
- Listed, The Legal 500 United States, Real Estate and Construction - Land Use/Zoning, 2016
- Team Member, U.S. News - Best Lawyers®, Best Law Firms Edition
- "Law Firm of the Year," Environmental Law, 2016 "Law Firm of the Year," Environmental Law, 2016
- "Law Firm of the Year," in Real Estate Law, 2015
- "Government Relations Law Firm of the Year," 2014
- Ranked, Tier 1 - Government Relations, Miami Metropolitan Area
- Listed, South Florida Legal Guide, 2008-2021
- Listed, "Top Lawyer," 2012-2021
- Midyear 2012
- Listed, "Top Up and Comer," 2008-2012
- Team Member, Latin Builders Association, “Law Firm of the Year,” 2017
- Listed, Daily Business Review, Most Effective Lawyers - Government Relations and Regulation, 2016
- Selected, South Florida Business Journal, one of 25 "Influential Business Women," 2015
- Team Member, a Law360 "Real Estate Practice Group of the Year," 2013, 2015, and 2022
- Recipient, "Networking Deal of the Year Award," CREW-Miami, 2014
- Team Member, The Legal 500 United States, "Top Tier" Firm in Real Estate, 2014
- Listed, Florida Super Lawyers, "Rising Star," 2009-2014
- Recipient, "Star Award," CREW-Miami, 2010
- Selected, Real Estate Florida, "40 Under 40," 2009
- Board Member, Friends of The Underline, 2022-Present
- Member, Urban Land Institute (ULI)
- Southeast Florida/Caribbean Advisory Board, 2020
- Graduate, Leadership Miami, Class 30, 2008-2009
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, Dade County Bar Association, Environmental and Land Use Committee
- Member, Cuban American Bar Association
- Member, The Florida Bar
- Board Certified, City, County and Local Government, Board of Legal Specialization and Education
- Former Member, City, County & Local Government Law Certification Committee
Credentials
Education
-
J.D., St. Thomas University School of Law
- Who's Who in American Law Students, 2000
- Research Assistant, Legal Writing Department, 1999
- B.B.A., Florida International University
Admissions
- Florida