Patricia Earnest

Patricia Earnest is an accomplished real estate finance executive with more than 30 years of experience in capital markets, investment strategy, client development and management, and the structuring and negotiation of complex equity and debt transactions.

Bio and Featured Works

Throughout her career, she has led multidisciplinary teams, developed new business initiatives, and identified and executed investment and financing strategies in evolving real estate markets.

In June 2018, Patricia joined Roadside Development, a Washington, DC-based, market-leading real estate development firm, where she collaborates with the firm’s principals on capital markets initiatives, investor and lender relationships, and the development and execution of the company’s portfolio and investment strategy. Roadside is the developer of several prominent Washington-area projects, including City Ridge, the award-winning 1.8 million-square-foot redevelopment of the former Fannie Mae headquarters, and City Market at O, a 1.1 million-square-foot mixed-use community in the heart of Washington, DC.

Over the course of her career, Patricia has executed more than $5.8 billion in equity and debt transactions across a broad range of capital structures and real estate asset classes, both as an intermediary and as a principal. Transactions she has led have ranged in size from approximately $5 million to more than $300 million.

Prior to joining Roadside, Patricia launched and led structured finance and equity initiatives at Walker & Dunlop, Transwestern, and Savills US, providing strategic equity and debt advisory services to real estate entrepreneurs and institutional clients nationally. Her practice focused on developing innovative capital markets solutions and delivering strong executions designed to create and enhance the value of her clients’ real estate investments.

Earlier in her career, Patricia served as Vice President, Investments with the Peterson Companies, a prominent family-owned real estate development and investment company in the Washington, DC region, where she focused on acquisitions, development, and financing.

Patricia began her financial career as a lender with a major U.S. money center bank, providing asset-based, equity, and structured financing to U.S. and multinational clients. During her tenure, she developed and managed a portfolio of more than $750 million in assets under management. She has also advised domestic money center banks and other financial institutions on note sales and debt restructurings.

Patricia earned her undergraduate degree in Economics from DePauw University and her MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

She is an active leader in the Urban Land Institute (ULI), both nationally and within the Washington, DC District Council. She serves on ULI’s Urban Revitalization Council, with a term extending through 2028, and was a founding member of ULI Washington’s Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI), which she chaired in 2014.

Patricia is also Chair of the Board of Directors of Iona Senior Services, a nonprofit serving more than 4,500 older adults and their families throughout the Washington, DC region, where she serves on the Executive, Governance, and Finance Committees. She serves on the Real Estate Advisory Board of Jubilee Housing, an organization dedicated to providing equitable housing and supportive services throughout Washington, DC. Since 2023, Patricia has also served as an adjunct professor of real estate finance in Georgetown University’s graduate real estate program.