Sebastian Olarte, Founder and CEO of Blanco Design + Build was raised in a place surrounded by mountains and lush landscapes where his love and admiration for nature began. From a young age his ability to draw and create was noticed by many of those around him. With continued encouragement, he began attending classes with local artist throughout his childhood and young adulthood. With such an impressionable beginning, he decided to continue his passion by pursuing a career in architecture by enrolling in Florida Atlantic University’s (“FAU”) School of Architecture. He graduated from FAU with a major in Architecture and a Minor in Fine Arts and Graphic Design.

After receiving his degree in architecture, Sebastian continued his practical education by working with top leading firms such as Pavlik Design Team and Gustavo Carbonel.

In the year 2010, after becoming frustrated with the typical business model, Sebastian decided to create his own path and created Blanco Design +Build (“BDB”). BDB originated from the disconnect Sebastian found between the Architects and General Contractors; this disconnect resulted in expensive projects, deadlines never met and most importantly frustrated and unsatisfied clients.

Sebastian’s architecture and conceptual designs begin with the study of the site which includes the local climate, views, sun movement, trees, noise, wind direction, and approach just to name a few…. where he then goes to his memories and notes of the images and feel captured thru his travels throughout Asia, Northern Africa, Europe and South America. At this point, he merges the client’s site with the client’s needs and desires along with his own interpretation of the best design for that location based on his training and experience.

Hank Bush currently serves as Co-owner and President of Blanco Design + Build headquartered in Miami Beach, FL. A Georgia native, Mr. Bush has spent nearly 26 years in real estate construction and development focusing on numerous complex specialties, including urban adaptive re-use projects, large scale mixed-use development, office, office condominiums and single-family custom home construction.

Mr. Bush “started” his career at the age of ten where he severed as the apprentice of Jack D. Smith, the CEO and Founder of JDS Development. His $50 a week job cleaning construction sites and being exposed to single-family home construction and development, created a lasting impact that continues to shape Mr. Bush today. This desire to become a real estate professional and builder even caused Mr. Bush to discontinue his medical studies after four years of medical school in order to dedicate his life to his passion.

He began his real estate career in the 1980’s working for JDS Development in central Georgia. JDS Development is a family-owned privately held company that focuses on the development of infrastructure for neighborhoods and the construction of single-family homes. He worked for JDS for over 10 years.

From 1992 to 1996, Mr. Bush enjoyed much success as an individual investor and developer of real estate. During this time, his focus was on the acquisition, construction and repositioning of residential property. Additionally, he served as the president of Lanier Development Associates, LLC, which managed the acquisition, pre-development and disposition of a 200,000 square foot retail development in Dawsonville, Ga.

Mr. Bush co-founded Southern Investment Associates, LLC (“SIA”) in 1996 and served as the principal and managing member. Under Mr. Bush’s leadership, SIA grew its real estate development and investment portfolio to include projects and holdings throughout the southeastern United States. Mr. Bush was responsible for maintaining daily operations of SIA and its several holding companies, as well as for acquisitions, development, and liquidation of many properties.

In 1999, Mr. Bush was involved with one of Atlanta’s largest residential condominium conversions. The $30 million Lenox Collection; a partnership with Skelton Development. This project was a huge success and is still regarding as the standard bearer.

In 2001, Mr. Bush relocated to Miami, FL, in order to pursue an opportunity of providing a fresh alternative in commercial real estate. Realizing the need for office ownership opportunities in Miami, Mr. Bush accepted the challenge of delivering the first office condominium in the Miami CBD and on famed Brickell Avenue. After several years of pre-development, Hank announced the conversion of 1000 Brickell Avenue to office condominium in the summer of 2004. 1000 Brickell Avenue was met with great success financially and with great regard from the new owners. His other numerous projects like Galleria Corporate Centre in Fort Lauderdale, Florida followed similar paths and have been the subject of much attention from the national, regional and local media with Mr. Bush being honored for his accomplishments in the real estate sector with such accolades at South Florida Journal’s 2005 Real Estate Conversion of the Year.

In 2007, Mr. Bush restructured his real estate companies under a single banner, Bush Development Group, LLC (“BDG”). With a name that better reflects his commitment to cooperate responsibility and accountability. Under this new banner, BDG continued to expand with such developments as Poston Bayou in Carrabelle, Florida; a six-unit, waterfront townhome project. In 2013, Mr. Bush returned to his beginnings by launching a custom single-family home division.

After 6 years of delivering quality homes in Miami Beach, Mr. Bush was presented an opportunity to join forces with one of south Florida’s most creative and exciting design/build firms, Blanco Design. Mr. Bush and Blanco Design began working together in 2013 on Miami Beach. After delivering several, successful single-family home projects, Mr. Bush joined the Blanco Design family in 2019 changing the name to Blanco Design + Build to better reflect the company’s focus on both in-house architecture/design and in-house single-family home construction. Recognizing the outstanding architectural and building talents of co-owner Sebastian Olarte, Mr. Bush also realized their mutual commitment to quality and dedication to building only the best in custom homes. By working together, Blanco Design + Build became positioned to expand their design + build offerings into multiple markets throughout south Florida.