HBI Welcomes Tony Lopes

HBI Welcomes Tony Lopes

Tony Lopes is HBI’s new Director of Real Estate Development.   A native of Dorchester and Roxbury, Tony will be leading HBI’s real estate finance and development projects.    Tom Palmer shares with us some of the highlights of a conversation he recently had with Tony, getting to know his background and what excites him about HBI’s work in Boston’s neighborhoods.  

Tony, what is your title at Historic Boston?

I’m Director of Real Estate Development.

What do you do in that role?

Overall, I provide strategic leadership and tactical implementation for the organization’s development pipeline. I structure financing and oversee the progress of all projects from start to close. I work closely with the Project Manager Lisa Lewis and with the Executive Director, Kathy Kottaridis. I handle external aspects as well. That would be in terms of identifying, analyzing, and negotiating new projects.

What appealed to you about the job?

It’s the unique blend of history, real estate, and development, sort of like a bridge between the past, present, and future. I’ve worked in development in the past, but there is just something special about preserving a piece of history that excites me. After a few minutes researching HBI’s current and past projects, it was like “Yes … this is the place.” I’m looking forward to growing and learning from the very best.

What did you do before Historic Boston?

I started out in real estate sales in 2005, opening up a residential brokerage. We focused on lower-income first-time home buyers. Later, I got into lending and creative financing. The past few years I’ve been more focused on development, leading a team, restoring distressed properties. They were mostly residential, single-family and some multifamily. We worked in eastern Massachusetts, particularly the South Shore.

Where did you go to school?

I always knew what I wanted to do. I went straight into real estate right from my senior year in high school, John D. O’Bryant High School in Roxbury.

And where did you grow up?

I grew up in a tight-knit Cape Verdean community in Roxbury and Dorchester.

Where do you live now?

Abington, a small suburban town just south of Boston, about 18 miles. I take the Red Line from Braintree and a short walk to the office at Downtown Crossing.

What do you do to have fun or outside work?

We’re into travel, also into food. I’m a foodie. I enjoy cooking, baking and eating out with the family. We visit rare restaurants as far as Maine – Portland, that’s the place — and Newport. It’s like a family affair, with my wife and three girls, who are 20, 12, and 10. We’re all in. I also produced and hosted a radio show for about a year, teaching financial literacy and homeownership. It aired on weekdays every day. I’ve also been working on a book for a couple of years now.  Titled “Have Dominion”, it’s about overcoming the poverty mindset and creating generational wealth through financial literacy and strategic homeownership. I’ll be wrapping that up by the end of the year.