2022 Women in Commercial Real Estate: Lindsay Bajda, Dakota Partners

What advice would you offer to women getting into the CRE industry? There is tremendous opportunity in this industry regardless of your background. If you work hard, are willing to learn, and produce results, you will achieve success and continue to grow your career. Whether you work for a CRE broker/manager, multifamily developer/owner/operator, REIT, financial institution, the number of opportunities and potential to grow are vast. This is an industry where it is truly up to you how far you want to take your career. I have worked for several real estate companies with female VPs, CFOs, and CEOs. Opportunities are based on achievements, and as a female, that inspires me.

What trends will dominate your industry in the coming months? I work for Dakota Partners, an affordable housing developer. With single family homes still selling for high prices, interest rates close to 6%, and market-rate apartments continuing to increase rents year over year at double-digit rates, the demand for affordable housing continues to outpace supply. Our biggest challenges are securing funding so we can continue to build more housing in locations where it is most needed, and similar to other industries, we are experiencing construction delays and supply chain issues.