Building Better Spaces at Miami’s Premier Industrial Park: Meet Melissa Racette

Meet Melissa Racette a manager on the Regional Construction team at Link Parks, the business park division of Link Logistics. Based at Miami International Commerce Center (MICC) in South Florida, Melissa oversees vacant space preparation, tenant improvements and capital projects across a 3.5 MSF portfolio of small-bay, multi-tenant industrial buildings. Read on to learn how she helps keep warehouse and distribution space lease-ready—and what she does to unwind after a busy week.

You’ve been working in commercial real estate for about 10 years. How did your career evolve to where you are today?

Melissa: I spent a long time in property management before moving into construction management. Making that transition gave me a well-rounded perspective to support my current work at Link Parks. I understand what our Property Management and Leasing teams need and how our Regional Construction team fits into the bigger picture of keeping our industrial properties in operation.

What does your role on Link Parks’ Regional Construction team involve day-to-day?

Melissa: We focus on vacant space preparation—what we call VSPs—and making sure spaces are ready to lease as quickly as possible once a customer moves out. We stay on budget, hit our timelines and maintain Link Parks quality standards throughout. We also handle landlord-tenant improvements, or LTIs, for customers who need permitted work done as part of a new lease or renewal. And then there are capital improvement projects such as exterior painting, parking lot seal coating or roof replacements.

We break VSPs into two categories: refreshes, which are lighter-scope projects like paint, carpet and ceiling tiles; and remodels, which are more involved—sometimes demolishing a prior build-out, permitting new work and restoring a suite to its original condition before completing the full VSP.

Can you walk us through a recent commercial real estate construction project?

Melissa: Right now, we’re converting a 100% warehouse space into two separate suites, each with spec offices, restrooms and break rooms. We worked with the Leasing team on the floor plans and got the permit process underway. While we were still in the permitting phase, one of the suites got leased. That means we have a customer ready to move in and we’re working fast to get the project done for them. It’s a good example of how our Regional Construction and Leasing teams work together as we serve customers.

What is Miami International Commerce Center, and why is the property such a strategic choice for small businesses in South Florida?

Melissa: MICC is located in Miami, a major logistics hub. The city serves as the main U.S. gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean, with strong multimodal connections by sea, air, truck and rail. The South Florida industrial market is also extremely tight. Land is scarce and expensive, vacancy is low, and you simply can’t build much more because there’s nowhere to build. For customers in logistics and distribution, that makes well-located, well-maintained industrial space for lease at properties like MICC highly valuable.

What types of industrial properties does the Link Parks South Florida portfolio include?

Melissa: We have small-bay and mid-bay multi-tenant buildings, with both dock-height and street-level configurations. One thing I really like about our portfolio at MICC is the range of suite sizes. We have customers who start in a small-bay space and want to move into a larger one—and, because we have so many options within the same business park, we make expansion easy for them. 

What skills have been most valuable to you in your career in commercial real estate construction?

Melissa: Connecting with people and really understanding their needs is essential when working in commercial real estate, whether you’re working with internal stakeholders or vendors. With vendors especially, building trust and maintaining open communication is critical. When I need something urgently, I want them to feel comfortable being honest with me about what’s realistic. At Link Parks, we try to maintain strong relationships with our vendors as well as our customers.

What do you value most about working at Link Parks?

Melissa: Link Parks offers a lot of flexibility and focuses on investing in our team and customers. We do customer appreciation events twice a year at MICC, where we bring in food trucks, play music and raffle prizes. It’s a chance to see customers who you might not run into otherwise, watch them interact with each other and help build meaningful connections. On the team side, my managers have always been flexible and understanding, and the benefits and PTO are genuinely competitive.

When you aren’t managing VSPs or other construction projects, what keeps you busy?

Melissa: I have two kids, so my hobbies are whatever their hobbies are at the moment. Last weekend, my daughter and I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up a miniature camper kit with tiny furniture, a huge instruction book and a lot of glue. We spent the whole weekend building it. She played with it when we were done and that made it worth every minute.