Jay Windsor has been a Coconut Grove resident for just three-and-a-half years, but he certainly has made his presence felt in that short period. And, as general manager of Streets of Mayfair, he is considered by many as 'the man responsible for its incredible transformation.'

Jay Windsor

"I came in the summer of ninety-six," he recalled. "I jumped right into the thick of things with all the construction and everything else, working with existing tenants, working on the new ones, trying to get the new guys in their stores. It's been a challenge and it's been a lot of fun, too."

Windsor, 39, says he tried to 'flip' the Mayfair property ­ re-develop it, tear down the walls to open it up -- and make it a more pedestrian-friendly place, one where people would like to come, rather than the fortress-like presence it had commanded since its inception. He says he thinks the makeover is working, though he admits the recent loss of Planet Hollywood was a bit of a blow.
"You hate to lose a big tenant like Planet Hollywood," he said. "But the reality is that it's opened up some tremendous opportunities. In fairly short order we're going to have an even better tenant in that space."

Declining to name the prospective new tenant, Windsor says the demise of Planet Hollywood may have been a blessing in disguise in that it created a great deal of interest in leasing space in Mayfair.
"The availability of that space has brought in so many prospects, a lot of them who didn't even know there was space available in the center in general," he said. "So it created a really good flourish of leasing activity, which I think is going to be real positive for the Grove over the long haul."

Windsor, a bachelor, grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, went on to Washington & Lee University in Virginia and majored in accounting and marketing. After graduating in 1983, he settled in Dallas and entered the real estate management business, spending 13 years in the Texas city working for Fults Management Co. and Trammel-Crow Co. After a short stint in the computer business, he returned to real estate, joining Steiner & Associates, which led to his move to Miami.

"Yaromir Steiner said he had this really important project in Coconut Grove and asked me if I would consider coming to Miami," Windsor recalled. "He asked if I could help him out. So, I came down here and looked around and the rest is history."

Since arriving, Windsor has taken an active role in the community where he lives and works. He's on the board of directors of the Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce and recently was elected to the nine-member Village Council representing the North Grove. He's a member of the Coconut Grove Civic Club and also serves on the Miami-Dade County Hannibal Cox grant panel that awards $500,000 a year to emerging theater, music, dance and other performance arts groups. As if that were not enough on his plate, he serves as President of the Miami chapter of the influential Institute of Real Estate Management and is vice division director for national membership.

"I like it here," he said, "I like Coconut Grove, I like the community. Because I'm a resident as well as a businessman in the community, my hope is that I'll be able to bridge the gap that sometimes occurs between the two sides to make everybody work together to make what we've got here even better."

Windsor says Coconut Grove is a unique area, with a residential community that is integrated into the business community.

"You can't re-create what we have here in a shopping center, that pedestrian kind of small-town feel," he said. "The Grove has gone through a lot of cycles over the years, where it's real popular, then it's waning a bit, then it comes back up. I think we may be in a slight, small downturn right now, but I think that it will bounce back in fairly short order."

Windsor says he believes Coconut Grove will always be a popular place to live and visit.

"It's such a unique community, it really is an interesting place to come and explore and walk around," he said. "I think the biggest challenge the Grove has, just from a business perspective, is going to be increased competition from other areas ­ Lincoln Road, the South Beach area. I see us competing more with areas, as opposed to a shopping center such as Dadeland Mall or Aventura Mall or Shops at Sunset Place.