Vijay George Varki

Vijay George Varki was born on December 14, 1948 in Chenganoor, Kerala, India. He did his primary schooling at Bishop Cotton in Bangalore. He completed his Bachelors in Architecture at IIT Kharagpoor and subsequently earned his Masters in Urban Design and City Planning at Georgia Tech. Vijay G. Varki was a licensed real estate broker and a "Concept to Key" Commercial Builder. Vijay's professional career spans over 40 years of experience and during this period, he was directly or indirectly involved in approximately 5 billion dollars of public and private planning and development projects. Mr. Varki was the Principal Planner/Urban Designer for the city of Atlanta during the phenomenal resurgence of Atlanta in the early 70's and he is responsible for the evolution of Atlanta which included dealing with the problems of the inner city core, and the exclusive and affluent Bucknead/Lenox Area. Recognizing his accomplishments, Vijay Varki was featured in the Bicentennial addition of the Smithsonian Magazine as a dedicated and knowledgeable Planner who understood the problems and issues of the Urban America as it prepared for the next 100 years. In the early 1980's, as the Director of Planning, Urban Design and Development for the Miami Downtown Development Authority, he was involved in the resurgence of Downtown Miami with private investment and public projects that included but were not limited to the Miami Center/Intercontinental Hotel development on Ball Point, and the first generation of new office buildings that provided the infrastructure to establish Brickell Avenue as the South's New Wall s treet/International Banking Center, the Southeast Financial Center (now The Wachovia Bank Center) and the CenTrust (now the Bank of America) Towers were also conceived and completed, the genesis of overcoming the negative images of Downtown Government Center, Miami Riverwalk, the Bayfront Park System, the Bayside Marketplace, the Miami Arena, studies to build the Performing Art Center, studies to develop a World Trade Center, the expansion of the Port of Miami, the Flagler Street Pedestrianization Program, the planning and construction of the Metrorail and Metro mover Systems, and the Southeast Overtown Park West Downtown Urban Housing Project. In the mid 80's, Varki was recruited by the distinguished real estate development firm chaired by Armando Codina and partnered by former Governor Jeb Bush. Varki, was the Executive Vice President of the Codina Group, President of Codina Development, Vice Chairman of Codina, Construction and Vice President of Bush Realty during this time. Projects completed and initiated included but were not limited to the 30 story Museum Tower Office Building, Downton Miami, the Professional Medical Office Complex at Baptist Hospital, the Coral Gables Medical Arts Building, the high-end luxury Deering Bay custom residential golf course community, and the Beacon Center Flex, Warehouse, Distribution Project that were the seeds that fueled the subsequent and current substantial growth of the Codina Group of Companies. He founded the present Varki Group companies which have been providing turnkey, one stop, real estate, acquisition, planning, designs, permitting, construction and management services to individuals and firms in the Dade and Broward markets. He made a significant impact on the community as a whole and he will be remembered through these works and acts of service. Vijay Varki passed away peacefully on September 11, 2024. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Jolly Varki and three children, Vivek Mathai Varki, Vinod Mathew Varki, & Veena Anna Varki.