Alejandro Arias '09

Biography

Alejandro J. Arias is a partner at Holland & Knight, LLP, a global law firm with more than 1,600 attorneys practicing in more than 200 areas of law, throughout 30 domestic and international offices. Arias's practice is focused on land use and zoning matters, and throughout his career, he has obtained a multitude of development entitlement approvals for a number of diverse projects, including multifamily housing, master-planned residential subdivisions, retail and commercial uses, live/work developments, student housing complexes and more. As a result of his legal practice, he has represented some of the most influential and trailblazing developers and design professionals in the real estate industry, which has afforded him the opportunity to be at the forefront of some of the most transformative and monumental projects in South Florida.

More specific to his direct impact on the Florida International University community, Arias has represented numerous developers, and obtained the required development entitlements for a multitude of the student housing developments that have sprouted in the City of Sweetwater, just across Southwest 8th Street, and a stone's throw from the Modesto A. Maidique Campus. These projects include The One at University City, Identity Miami, and the 1,086-bed Lapis project currently being developed by Toll Brothers Apartment Living.

Arias attended the Florida International University Honors College for his undergraduate studies (2005-2009), where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Certificate of Cuban and Cuban American Studies from the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs. In 2012, Arias earned a Juris Doctor, and an LL.M degree in Real Property Development from the University of Miami School of Law. In 2020, he earned a Certificate in Commercial Real Estate Analysis and Investment from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Architecture and Planning.

Arias is also involved in a number of professional and community organizations including the Urban Land Institute, where he is an alumnus of the ULI Leadership Program for the Southeast Florida/Caribbean Chapter, the Florida Bar - Environmental and Land Use Section and Young Lawyers Division, and the Belen Jesuit Preparatory School Alumni Lawyers Section. Additionally, in 2021, he was recognized by Holland & Knight with the "Pro Bono All-Star" designation, and he has also been an active member of the Nicklaus Children's Hospital Young Ambassadors Program. In 2021, Arias was also named to the Board of Directors for Ronald McDonald House Charities of South Florida.