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DAYNA KAFANTARIS

Development · Design · Strategy

Better development decisions before they become expensive construction decisions.

Kafantaris Collective helps owners and developers make better decisions between development strategy, product, design teams, operations, and execution.

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YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
20+YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
BUILD-TO-RENT PORTFOLIO
$2B+BUILD-TO-RENT PORTFOLIO
RETAIL TENANT-CRITERIA MANUALS
38RETAIL TENANT-CRITERIA MANUALS
PORTFOLIO LEADERSHIP
Multi-marketPORTFOLIO LEADERSHIP

Portfolio Scope

UNITS BUILT ACROSS CAREER
UNITS BUILT ACROSS CAREER
REPRESENTATIVE BTR COMMUNITIES
REPRESENTATIVE BTR COMMUNITIES
SECTORS
SECTORS
DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE
DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE

Owner / Developer-Side Consulting

Development decisions connect product, project delivery, and long-term operations.

01

Development + Product Strategy

Owner-side evaluation of what should be built, why it should be built, and whether the proposed physical product supports the business and development strategy.

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02

Residential Development

Owner and developer-side support for national and regional residential developers and homebuilders—connecting product, site, market, operations, and execution decisions.

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03

Owner’s Representation + Development Management

Experienced project leadership that extends the owner’s development team, keeps decisions visible, and connects owner objectives with project execution.

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04

Retail Development + Tenant Design Review

Landlord and owner-side review that connects tenant requirements, existing conditions, rollout standards, approvals, and development priorities.

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Discuss a Residential DevelopmentExplore Residential Experience

Business Value

Experience is only valuable when it creates better outcomes.

Kafantaris Collective helps owners, developers, retailers, and project teams identify problems earlier, make better-informed decisions, and create systems that support consistent execution across projects and portfolios.

  1. 01

    See what others miss

    Identify gaps in design, documentation, existing conditions, consultant coordination, standards, accessibility, constructability, and operational planning before they become larger problems.

  2. 02

    Turn complexity into clear decisions

    Connect development, design, construction, operations, customer experience, and business objectives so teams can move forward with greater clarity.

  3. 03

    Build systems that scale

    Transform lessons learned into criteria, standards, review processes, documentation, and repeatable frameworks that improve consistency across projects and markets.

  4. 04

    Protect investment and reduce surprises

    Bring an experienced owner-side perspective to due diligence, design review, capital planning, tenant coordination, and project delivery.

  5. 05

    Connect design decisions to business outcomes

    Evaluate projects not only for how they look, but for how they perform for the owner, operator, customer, resident, tenant, and long-term asset.

Problems I Help Solve

Experienced review where decisions carry consequence.

The work often begins when a project, rollout, or portfolio has outgrown a simple discipline-by-discipline answer.

  • 01

    Projects where design, development, construction, and operations are not fully aligned

  • 02

    Portfolio growth where standards need to become repeatable and scalable

  • 03

    Existing-condition or due-diligence situations where hidden issues can affect cost or schedule

  • 04

    Retail rollouts where prototype intent must adapt to different sites

  • 05

    Tenant projects where landlord criteria, drawings, field conditions, and approvals need coordination

  • 06

    Development teams that need experienced review before decisions become expensive

  • 07

    Organizations with valuable lessons learned that have not yet become systems or standards

  • 08

    Projects where ownership needs another experienced set of eyes

Between Disciplines

Many of the most expensive project problems do not happen inside one discipline. They happen between disciplines.

Kafantaris Collective brings experience across those intersections to identify gaps earlier, connect decisions across teams, and help protect design intent, investment, schedule, and long-term performance.

Development
↔
Design
Design
↔
Construction
Prototype
↔
Site Conditions
Owner
↔
Consultant
Landlord
↔
Tenant
Concept
↔
Operations
One successful project
↔
Portfolio-wide rollout

Two Ways to Engage

The right experience for the work ahead.

Consulting

Work With Kafantaris Collective

For development and product strategy, owner’s representation, development management, owner-side design review, standards, rollout strategy, due diligence, and project-specific engagements.

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Career

Executive Leadership

For organizations considering Dayna Kafantaris for senior leadership roles across development, product, design, real estate, retail, Build-to-Rent, or portfolio strategy.

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Flagship Case Study — AHV Communities

Scaling Product and Design Across a National Build-to-Rent Portfolio

As Director of Product & Design at AHV Communities, Dayna directed product strategy and design operations across a national Build-to-Rent portfolio exceeding $2 billion in multiple U.S. markets.

Her portfolio-wide work included design standards, community specifications, amenity programs, consultant coordination, FF&E, signage standards, material and product research, documentation systems, tracking tools, quality reviews, and governance processes.

Read the AHV case study
  • Portfolio-wide product standards and design review
  • Multi-market coordination across internal and external teams
  • Documentation and process systems supporting repeatable delivery

Contributions were made as part of a broader team. Dayna does not own or develop these communities.

Build-to-Rent

US · BTR

National Build-to-Rent Portfolio

Multiple U.S. markets

AHV Communities · Product & Design Leadership

Selected Work

Projects and programs

All selected work
Open-air retail promenade at Westfield Century City with mature trees, pendant lighting, patterned paving, and shoppers seated in the landscaped central plaza

Retail and Mixed-Use

Westfield Century City

Century City, California

Employer
Westfield
Role
Design and documentation leadership
Dayna's Contribution
Creation and coordination of inline-retail and restaurant tenant requirements; coordination with base-building architecture and interior-design teams; tenant-criteria content, research, graphic selection, SketchUp modeling, and portfolio design integration.
View project detail
Shore Hotel entry elevation in Santa Monica showing the angled white sunshade trellis, timber-screened balconies, and the hotel signage above the glazed ground floor

Hospitality

Shore Hotel

Santa Monica, California

Firm
Gensler
Client
Ocean Avenue Management
Role
Design and documentation leadership
Dayna's Contribution
Architectural construction-administration and interior-design contributions for the four-story beachfront hotel.
View project detail

Experience

Career experience

Full experience

  1. 2026 – Present

    Retail & Residential Development Consultant | Owner’s Representative

    Kafantaris Collective

    Owner-side development consulting across retail and residential projects, aligning business objectives, design intent, and operational execution for investors, owners, and project teams.

  2. 2025 – 2026

    Senior Project Manager

    David A. Levy & Associates

    Leadership of a national retail modernization program including existing-condition assessments, due diligence, permitting support, QA/QC, documentation standards, and consultant coordination.

  3. 2021 – 2025

    Director of Product & Design

    American Housing Ventures (AHV)

    Product strategy and design operations across a national Build-to-Rent portfolio exceeding $2 billion, spanning standards, specifications, amenities, FF&E, signage, quality review, and cross-functional delivery.

  4. 2019 – 2020

    Associate 5

    MG2 Corporation

    Architectural design and coordination across hospitality, mixed-use, retail, and commercial work, including site planning, entitlement studies, and multidisciplinary coordination.

  5. 2016 – 2020

    Senior Designer

    KTGY Architecture + Planning

    Conceptual and schematic design with interior-design contributions across residential, civic, and cultural projects.

  6. 2012 – 2016

    Retail Design Manager

    Westfield

    Owner-side retail design management, tenant criteria authorship, tenant design coordination, design review, and redevelopment support.

  7. 2011

    Architectural Designer

    Gensler

    Architectural construction administration and interior-design contributions on hospitality and private-club work, including Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles.

  8. 2001 – 2010

    Selected earlier architectural and design experience

    Hayes Studio · Nudell Architects · DAVIS · Nelsen Partners · The Babcock Design Studio · Rich & Associates

    Schematic design, design development, construction documentation, client coordination, and project management across residential, retail, hospitality, workplace, and mixed-use environments.

Education & Credentials

Education and credentials

Master of Architecture

Arizona State University

Bachelor of Science in Architecture

University of Michigan

LEED AP, Legacy

Accredited professional of United States Green Building Council

CSI Construction Documents Technologist

Construction Specifications Institute

Associate AIA

American Institute of Architects

CSI Member

Construction Specifications Institute

NOMA

National Organization of Minority Architects

NCARB ARE in Progress

Architect Registration Examination underway

Portfolio Map

Markets across the portfolio

Confirmed markets only. Filter by sector to see how the work maps across typologies.

26 projects across 6 state markets

Contact

Bring experienced judgment to what comes next.

Discuss a consulting engagement with Kafantaris Collective or a senior leadership opportunity with Dayna Kafantaris.

dayna@kafantariscollective.comLinkedIn

Northeast Ohio

Remote, hybrid, Eastern Ohio, and Western Pennsylvania opportunities

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