We’re welcoming Sherry Larjani to the podcast at the Land & Development Conference. She is the President of Spotlight Development, and just finished a panel at the conference regarding affordable housing and inclusionary zoning before recording.

Sherry tells us about what it’s like to be a woman in real estate, and if her experience is different now versus when she first got into the industry. Later, we’ll hear all about Spotlight’s affordable housing project, which is extremely unique with many intricacies.

Topics covered include:

• Why everything Sherry learned in school became meaningless on the construction site.
  
• The way that Sherry took advantage of opportunities to grow.
  
• How Sherry was able to make her first partnerships.
  
• How Sherry pivoted when companies told her that her piece of land was too small.
  
• The perception that Sherry faced every day as a female in this industry.
  
• Has the real estate industry and its attitude towards women improved?
  
• What Spotlight is trying to achieve with a new affordable housing project.
  
• The issue with affordable housing usually focusing only on apartments.
  
• Partnering with Habitat for Humanity, among other groups.
  
• Why Sherry believes her project is the best way to tackle affordable housing.
  
• Difficulties in finding investors for this type of impact investing.
  
• CMHC being one of the organizations serious about affordable housing.
  

More about our guest….

Sherry Larjani is an experienced real estate developer and entrepreneur, with a focus on creating beautifully designed spaces that bring her visions to life. Sherry began her career working as a designer at a luxury architecture firm in Toronto and quickly progressed into building new single-home builds and renovation jobs. In 2010, Sherry created Spotlight Developments, specializing in the acquisition of properties for redevelopment into high density residential, commercial, and mixed-use projects. An advocate for collaboration, she champions inclusivity and teamwork as a foundation for a successful approach towards real estate development.

In 2019, Sherry partnered with Urban Capital to create Reina, a project with Canada’s first all-female development team to raise awareness of gender inequality in the industry and the many roles women can play. In recent years, Sherry has completed numerous projects and partnered with many major developers including Liberty Development, Urban Capital, and others, continuing her life-long legacy in the real estate industry.

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