Falcone Group COO Alfonso Costa Jr. Earns ULI Young Leader of the Year Award
Falcone Group is pleased to announce that Chief Operating Officer Alfonso Costa Jr. was named the 2024 Young Leader of the Year by the Urban Land Institute Southeast Florida/Caribbean District Council (ULI). This prestigious award honors inspiring industry professionals aged 35 or younger whose outstanding achievements and contributions are advancing the industry and positively shaping our region’s communities.
Costa Jr. will receive the Young Leader of the Year Award on Sept. 26 at ULI’s 16th annual Vision Awards event, which brings together the top land use leaders and practitioners throughout Southeast Florida and the Caribbean.
“ULI has been such an important part of my real estate career thus far, and I am humbled by this meaningful recognition,” said Costa Jr. “Our entire team at the Falcone Group—led by real estate titan Art Falcone—continues to make a positive impact on the communities where we invest and develop, which is why this award is truly a reflection of our company as a whole.”
As COO of Falcone Group, Costa Jr. oversees the development of multifamily rental apartment communities and for-sale condominium projects, leading public-private partnership (P3) opportunities, and executing operational and strategic initiatives for the company. His current pipeline of mixed-use development projects includes more than 2,000 residential units and 200,000 square feet of retail and self-storage, with a total value exceeding $1 billion. These projects include Block C-East at Miami WorldCenter, and a mixed-use P3 with the City of Oakland Park.
Prior to joining Falcone Group, Costa Jr. served as Deputy Chief of Staff & Opportunity Zones lead for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), where he oversaw policy for the $50 billion annually-budgeted Cabinet agency. The agency maintains a wide range of housing and community development programs, a $1.3 trillion mortgage insurance portfolio, and approximately 7,000 employees across 57 offices nationwide.
A leader in the industry, Costa Jr. serves as Program Chair of ULI Florida’s Affordable & Workforce Housing Council (AWHC). He is also an Advisory Board Member and former Chair of Nova Southeastern University's Master of Science in Real Estate Development (MSRED) program and a member of the City of West Palm Beach Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. Nationally, he serves as a member of the Harvard Alumni Real Estate Board, National Housing Taskforce, Housing Advisory Council Member of the Bipartisan Policy Center, and Board Member of the Home Builders Institute.
Costa Jr. is also a passionate supporter of charitable organizations as a member of the Heart and Spirit Society for Boca Helping Hands and Jacob’s Shoes of Hope Heroes. Additionally, as a former fifth-grade teacher through the Teach for America corps, he is an active social advocate through philanthropic and academic volunteer efforts on both the local and national levels.
Costa Jr. earned his law degree from Harvard University, master’s degree from the University of Oxford, and bachelor’s degree from Yale University, where he played both Division-I basketball and Division-I lacrosse while serving as Chair of the Yale Athletic Department’s Thomas W. Ford Community Outreach Committee.
Headquartered in South Florida, Falcone Group is a national real estate development and investment firm that has developed and acquired more than 30,000 multifamily apartments, 15 million square feet of commercial space, and 30,000 single-family homes throughout the country.
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