FIRM NEWS: Melissa Tapanes Llahues: Attorney is heading Builders Association of South Florida
November 5, 2025Since becoming president of the Builders Association of South Florida (BASF) in May, Melissa Tapanes Llahues has been focused on guiding the organization’s goals to better the region’s economic and community development efforts.
Ms. Tapanes Llahues said her vision has been centered on strengthening public-private partnerships, improving housing accessibility, and giving the region’s builders a voice. Climate resilience, mobility, and evolving infrastructure needs challenges are also top priorities, she said.
Ms. Tapanes Llahues is known for her expertise in managing politically and high-stakes land-use matters, including zoning, site planning, development of regional impact, public-private partnerships, vested rights, development agreements, and historic preservation.
In 2020, she was named partner at Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin and Tapanes, where she represents the interests of landowners, institutional clients, and developers seeking real estate licensing and regulatory approvals from governmental boards and agencies at the local, state, and federal levels. She specializes in managing complex and politically sensitive legislative and quasi-judicial matters from initial due diligence to permitting.
Her commitment to public service began early. In 1999, she was appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush to the Florida Board of Education Postsecondary Education Planning Commission while a law student at the University of Miami School of Law, and she recommended legislation and policy initiatives for higher education. She also clerked for Judge Scott J. Silverman in Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit and for Black, Srebnick, Kornspan, & Stumpf.
She previously served as chair of the Florida International University President’s Council for three years.
She has donated her time and expertise in leadership roles with the Miami Downtown Development Authority, Latin Builders Association, Miami’s Miami 21 Report Ad Hoc Task Force, Commercial Real Estate Women, the Florida Association of Women Lawyers, and the Cuban American Bar Association.
Founded in 1944, the Builders Association of South Florida is an influential industry organization, advocating for growth, affordability, and sustainability. Ms. Tapanes Llahues said she is continuing to expand those efforts by creating vibrant neighborhoods, expanding housing access for working families, and preserving South Florida’s unique environment.
“At the Builders Association, our goal is really accessibility to housing as well as public-private partnerships, and I believe in the power of this organization,” she said. “I believe in the expertise and dedication of our members. And I believe that if we work together as partners in progress, we can meet the moment. We don’t just imagine communities – we create them. We lay the foundation for the American Dream.”
Ms. Tapanes Llahues spoke with Miami Today reporter Abraham Galvan.
