New Company
Opp Zone Capital
New Position
Senior Financial Analyst of Acquisitions
New Company Website
Former Company
Strategic Property Partners
Former Position
Project/staff accountant
Opp Zone Capital, a private equity real estate firm that works within the opportunity zone and tax incentive industries, is proud to officially welcome Dakota M. Brown as a Senior Financial Analyst of Acquisitions.
Dakota will work alongside Director of Investments Edmon Rakipi. Within his role, he will oversee the underwriting of commercial opportunity zone deals. With a background in accounting within the commercial real estate industry, he has extensive knowledge of acquisitions, finance and underwriting. Dakota will be based at the firm’s location in Clearwater.
“I knew Dakota was a great fit for this position from the get-go,” says Edmon Rakipi. “His extraordinary educational and professional background is unmatched and proves his exceptional work ethic and motivation to succeed. We are lucky to have Dakota as our newest edition to Opp Zone Capital’s team and I am excited to begin this journey with him as his mentor.”
Dakota began his career as a leasing specialist and event coordinator working onsite for Greystar Real Estate Partners. Soon after, he was offered a position to work for the full-service commercial real estate development firm, Strategic Property Partners (SPP). At SPP, he was a project/staff accountant for The Water Street Project, a $3.3 billion project scoping in at 55+ acres and nine million sq. ft. of development. The Water Street Project is a development partnership between Bill Gates’ investment fund, Cascade LLC, and Tampa Bay Lightning owner, Jeff Vinik. During his time at SPP, Dakota also oversaw the accounting and financial development functions for seven key projects, two of them being in major opportunity zones.
Pursuing his entrepreneurial dreams, Dakota started a real estate business, Tampa Acquisitions and Investments LLC, during his last year of college. His goal was to build a portfolio of single-family homes and eventually work with large-scale, commercial world acquisitions.
“After spending several years in the commercial real estate industry, I had been seeking a specific opportunity to work on the fund management side of commercial real estate. Having the ability to bring my own expertise and experience to the table, I look forward to ensuring investment profitability while also learning from the industry experts here at Opp Zone Capital,” said Dakota. “Opportunity zones are a new tax incentive program that can be extremely advantageous to many large-scale investors. I am very excited to fully exercise my potential to not only generate attractive returns for investors but also create sustainability in lower-income areas. Having Edmon, an opportunity zone and all-around investment genius, as my mentor is truly an honor; I anticipate learning a lot from him.”
Dakota moved to South Florida from Philadelphia, PA in 2014 to pursue a bachelor’s degree in finance with a concentration in accounting from USF which he acquired in 2018. After graduating, Dakota pursued his MBA with a concentration in finance from USF as well.
Opp Zone Capital, LLC is a private equity firm focused on strategic diversification of multifamily, hospitality, and storage assets. By utilizing the Qualified Opportunity Zone Incentive Program, Opp Zone Capital rebuilds and reshapes communities across the southeastern and western US with primary targets in Florida and Texas.
