180: Gregory Minott, Managing Principal @ DREAM Collaborative

In 2008, Greg Minott and co-founder Troy Depeiza launched DREAM Collaborative with a clear conviction: architecture, planning, and real estate development should exist under one roof.

Now, seventeen years later, DREAM stands as Boston’s leading minority-owned integrated design and development firm with a portfolio that has transformed neighborhoods across the city.

Greg joins Rens on Design Development to share the story of his career journey: what it took to build a vertically integrated firm from the ground up, how nearly two decades of mission-driven development have shaped his approach to leadership, and realizing that controlling capital can redefine possibilities for a community.

Greg grew up in Mandeville, Jamaica, and moved to the United States in 1999 to pursue graduate studies at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. After earning his Master’s in Architecture and Infrastructure Planning, Greg built his early career at Elkus Manfredi Architects, where he worked on award-winning buildings across Boston before co-founding DREAM in 2008.

Inside this week’s episode:

• How DREAM’s vertically integrated model works in practice, and why controlling capital makes the difference in creating a building serving a community versus one merely sitting in it
• DREAM’s landmark mixed-use development in Nubian Square
• Greg’s path from Jamaica to Boston, connecting his passion for design to community development, and early mentors
• Co-founding DREAM during the 2008 recession and the cash flow realities of building a firm from scratch
• What a nearly 20-year partnership with co-founder Troy Depeiza has taught him about respect and alignment

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