Donna Abood

Real estate was a family affair for Donna Abood, and it was during evening conversations around the dinner table that she determined she would follow in the footsteps of her father, a developer of single-family homes and apartments in the Tampa Bay area.

“He was really my mentor. He sowed the seeds of enthusiasm for this business. Every evening our dinner conversation was about his development,” she says. “I always knew that I would be doing this. I didn’t know it would be the commercial side.”

Abood is chief executive officer of Abood Wood-Fay Real Estate Group in Coral Gables, the result of a recent merger between Abood and Associates Inc. and Wood-Fay Realty Group. In 2002, the firm leased more than 550,000sf in transactions valued at $50 million. The firm leases more than 3 msf of commercial property in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Raised in Madeira Beach in the Tampa Bay area, Abood earned her real estate license at age 18. After graduation from Florida State University in 1981, she moved to Miami to jump-start her real estate career.

“I told my family, ‘Just give me a year in Miami.’ After one year, I said, ‘OK, just one more year.’ That went on for three years. After that, they knew I wasn’t coming back,” she says.

Abood was vice president of the commercial division of Terranova Corp. from 1984 to 1989. She developed and implemented marketing plans for the turnaround of distressed office properties for companies such as Polaroid Corp., Metropolitan Life and Club Med. Abood founded Abood and Associates in 1989.

Abood serves her clients in the creation and implementation of marketing plans to increase office building occupancy and as a tenant representative. Her clients include Beta West, Gibraltar Bank, RREEF Funds and Mass Mutual Life. She says her experience as a developer’s daughter helps her to appreciate the expenses that accumulate as the clock ticks on a project.

“The sense of urgency and timing is so important to the success of a project,” she says.

Abood has won the PricewaterhouseCoopers “Up and Comers Award” for the real estate industry and the “Small Business of the Year Impact Award” for company spirit, community service and ethics. She has been named “Rotarian of the Year” by the Coral Gables Rotary Club, and the company was awarded the “Gables Diamond Award” for business practices, ethics and community service.

Abood also has served numerous community organizations including the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, CREW Miami, Miami Lighthouse for the Blind, the Miracle Theater and the Beacon Council.

Abood says developing the merger with Wood-Fay Realty Group and increasing market share will occupy her time going forward. The company recently joined the TCN network, giving it a regional presence beyond Miami-Dade County.