Ari Rastegar is a New Breed of Developer Who Wants to Live to 120
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Most developers are hard-living, hard-drinking, stress-filled time bombs of roller-coaster energy, over-indulgence, extreme risk-taking, and compulsion.
Not Ari Rastegar.
Remember when Jon Anderson told you all about the Austin-based investor/developer of Rastegar Property Company – and his first new-build in Dallas, which has been 100% leased by the short-term stay company Sonder? (Condos are hard to get financing for, and because of the prevalence of construction defect litigation, many developers shy away from building condos: one reason why so many apartments are going up. But because of the lease with Sonder, Rastegar was able to get financing and de-risk the transaction: brilliant. Rastegar says he’ll lease his Uptown building to Sonder for 10 years, then convert the building to residential condominiums.)
I wrote extensively about Ari Rastegar for Forbes, well after Jon gave us the scoop on his beautiful new, totally non-cookie-cutter, Uptown project. Most vitally, Jon APPROVED:
The driving force behind such a not-Dallas-cookie-cutter building is the lot. It’s 19,456 square feet (0.45 acres), it slopes, and it’s triangular. In my book, the triangular lot works for something unique because it harnesses views up and down streets differently because of the angles. I noted that the other triangular lot on the southern opposing edge would make a great bookend at some point – an hourglass of sorts.
Anyhoo, I’ve spent a lot of time with Ari Rastegar, and find him to be even more amazing than his developments. So to read all about how the once-Dallas resident (he went to Highland Park for high school) got his start in developing, how he talks to a life coach each day (who he credits with saving his life), and the compulsive health care regime he practices under the supervision of an Arlington physician, read this.
Then check out this:
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The parking plan for the Rastegar building is still a joke! This isn’t New York where a parking space costs a quarter of a million dollars. Rastegar wants to build as little as possible so this kick the can down the road approach is great for them but that’s all. I can hear it already….when they attempt to convert the building to condos and find Dallas buyers won’t buy all valet and stackable residential parking, this kick the can development company will be back for a variance while threatening the building will otherwise be obsolete! No dice Chicago! It’s Just another attempt of a developer treating everyone in the neighborhood like suckers! I like the building but NO to their current parking plan.
U mad, bro?
This has to be a joke
I won’t get into the absurdity of his daily 3-hour biohacking regiment since it can’t necessarily be disproven, but here are some other fact-based items to consider from the CBS video:
1) This guy pitches himself as “ultra-wealthy” yet it looks like his master bedroom was furnished by Ashley Furniture. I love the plantation shutters.
2) He cites the “towers” he builds as the source of his wealth, yet he has never even built a hot dog stand, much less a tower. Again, he has literally never built anything. That would otherwise be fine for an aspiring young developer, but this guy acts like he’s already completed a lifetime of success.
3) He specifically cites the tower at 1899 McKinney in Dallas, yet that property is currently a piece of dirt with a construction fence around it. All he has to show for the project is a rendering of a pie-in-the-sky project that will surely never happen. Regardless, he could not have yet derived “wealth” from this project since it has not started. Maybe some fees but that’s it. It is in the same condition that it sat in for years when owned by Nate Paul/World Class Capital Group, who then sold it to his friend Rastegar.