Melissa Tapanes Llahues

Practice Areas

Growth Management

Land Use

Zoning

Environmental

Permitting

Historical Preservation

Archeological Resources

Due Diligence Reviews

Development Agreements

Public Benefit Agreements

Career

Melissa Tapanes Llahues has made her mark not only in the legal profession but also in the greater Miami community. She became a named partner at Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin and Tapanes, PLLC in 2020.

Melissa 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, including applications and issues related to developments of regional impact, amendments to local government comprehensive plans, vested rights, public-private partnerships, zoning, platting, and site planning, as well as development agreements, enforcement, eminent domain, historic preservation, and archaeological resources.

Highly committed to her community, Melissa was appointed as a member of the Miami Downtown Development Authority Board of Directors, where she serves as Chair of the Urbanism Committee. She was elected Chair of the City of Miami’s Miami 21 Report Ad Hoc Task Force, leading the review of the Miami 21 Zoning Code. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the City of Hialeah Affordable Housing Task Force, and was recently elected President of the Builders Association of South Florida (BASF).

She previously served as Chair of the Florida International University President’s Council for three years and on the Board of Directors of the Latin Builders Association for over a decade. She is also a trustee of the Builders Association of South Florida, and remains actively involved with numerous legal and civic organizations, including Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW), Florida Association of Women Lawyers (FAWL), and the Cuban American Bar Association (CABA).

In recognition of her leadership, Melissa received the South Florida Business Journal’s 2017 “40 Under 40” Award and was named one of Ford Motor Company’s Mujeres Legendarias in 2021, representing Ford’s pillar of leadership. In 2023, she was honored with the Miami Dade Bar Association Circle of Excellence Award for her accomplishments in government relations.

Melissa has been named a “Recommended Attorney” by The Legal 500 every year since 2017, is ranked in Chambers USA, and has been recognized as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers®, an “Up and Comer” by Florida Trend’s Legal Elite, and featured in numerous Who’s Who publications.

She earned her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law, and her B.A. in Political Science and Geography, magna cum laude, from Florida International University Honors College. During law school, she clerked for the Honorable Scott J. Silverman in Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit and for Black, Srebnick, Kornspan, & Stumpf.

Melissa’s commitment to public service began early. In 1999, she was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to the State of Florida Board of Education Postsecondary Education Planning Commission (PEPC), where she recommended legislation and policy initiatives for higher education. As an undergraduate, she also spearheaded the student initiative that led to the approval and funding of FIU’s public law school as a lobbyist for the Student Government Association.

Professional Memberships

City of Miami, Downtown Development Authority, Board Member (2021-2025)

City of Miami, Miami 21 Ad Hoc Task Force, now completed, Chair (2021)

Builders Association of South Florida, Trustee (2019-Present)

Florida International University President’s Council, Chair (2017-2020)

Florida International University Alumni Association, Lifetime Member

Florida International University Foundation, Director (2017-2019)

Latin Builders Association, Executive Board (2010-2019)

Florida Bar, Section of Environmental and Land Use Law, Member

Dade County Bar Association, Environmental Land Use Law Committee, Member

Cuban American Bar Association, Member

Friends of the Underline, Real Estate Committee, Member

Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Miami, Member

Florida Association of Women Lawyers (FAWL), Member

City of Doral Design District Steering Committee, now completed, Chair

City of Miami Charter Review & Reform Committee, now completed, Member