On this episode of the Impact Real Estate podcast, we take a deep dive into affordable housing with the co-founder and President of Dakota Partners, Roberto Arista. Roberto tells us how he went from engineer to real estate developer and guides us as we look into the future of affordable housing. Roberto is a treasure trove of knowledge and he’s sharing with all of us today on the Impact Real Estate Podcast.

Episode Notes:

02:55 - Getting back into the office

04:34 - What is Dakota Partners?

06:36 - A journey without forethought

09:04 - The most complicated real estate business

10:16 - Figuring things out

11:31 - Passionate and compassionate

13:00 - 4% vs 9%

15:02 - A little bit of legwork

17:35 - Transit-oriented development

20:21 - Controlling your destiny

23:43 - The “itch”

26:16 - Sustainable construction — “passive house”

29:46 - The Hot Seat presented by KK Reset

Dakota’s co-founder and President, Roberto is responsible for the development, project financing, and asset management activities of the firm. Roberto brings over 20 years of project planning, budgeting, development and financing experience, and has successfully managed over $100 million in capital projects. Previously, Roberto was co-founder of Austin Development where he was involved in multi-family condominium projects. Roberto holds a BS in Engineering from Northeastern, an MBA from Boston College, and an MS in Real Estate Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.