About

Who We Are

PROSPERA is a real estate development company creating high-performing neighborhoods across residential, mixed-use, hospitality, senior living, and public-private development.

Our work is grounded in an understanding that successful development requires more than identifying a market opportunity. It requires understanding people and place, making informed decisions, assembling the right partners and capital, and executing with discipline and intent.

Our Story

PROSPERA was founded on a belief that real estate development carries both an opportunity and a responsibility: to create places that perform for the people who experience them, the communities they become part of, and the partners who invest in them.

Decades of experience leading complex development across residential, mixed-use, hospitality, commercial, and public-private projects informs how PROSPERA approaches every opportunity — from evaluating a site and understanding a market to shaping a vision, navigating complex approvals, structuring partnerships, and delivering the finished project.

We bring that experience together with a deeper understanding of the relationship between people and the built environment. We are continually learning from the communities in which we work, emerging research and innovation, and the projects we develop — and applying those insights to the decisions we make every day.

What We Believe

We believe the places we build today shape how people live for generations.

That’s a responsibility we embrace with intention, rigor, and a long-term view.

We build places for people.

And ultimately, people determine their value. Their choices — where they live, work, gather, spend time, and invest — shape demand and, ultimately, real estate value. Understanding what drives those choices leads to better development decisions, stronger places, and greater value for people who experience them and partners who invest in them.

We believe in giving back.

We partner with nonprofits in the communities where we build, supporting the people and organizations working to strengthen those neighborhoods.

Leadership

Ellen C. Buckley

Founder & CEO

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Ellen Buckley leads PROSPERA with nearly three decades of real estate development experience spanning more than $16 billion in projects across the U.S. and Southeast Asia. Her work spans residential, mixed-use, hospitality, commercial, and public-private development, with experience leading complex projects from vision through execution.

Ellen has spent most of her life learning real estate from the ground up. At 14, she was transferring deeds at the county courthouse for her grandfather’s law practice; by 17, she was framing houses and finishing out commercial buildings on an all-male construction crew. She went on to study architecture at the University of Miami, historic preservation at the University of Pennsylvania, and real estate development and finance at Wharton.

That same curiosity and drive to continually learn and apply new insights are central to how Ellen leads PROSPERA today. Her focus is simple: create real estate that improves how people live and, in doing so, creates greater value.

Real Estate DNA

Beyond the courthouse and the job site, Ellen interned at a Washington, D.C. design firm and studied real estate on her own time. She read everything she could on architecture and development, took courses, and traveled to see iconic buildings at home and abroad, curious about how places shape people and societies. She later graduated first in her class in architecture at the University of Miami, then earned a Master of Science in Historic Preservation at the University of Pennsylvania and a Certificate in Real Estate Development and Finance from The Wharton School.

Decades of Impact

Over the next decades, Ellen led major projects totaling more than $16 billion in real estate value. Her work spans multifamily, office, retail, mixed-use, industrial, education, adaptive reuse, and master-planned communities across the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Asia.

Before founding PROSPERA in 2023, Ellen was Vice President and Director of Development at Terra, leading the team that took approximately $6 billion in projects from acquisition through start of construction. Examples of these projects include:

  • Five Park: 48-story, 285-residence luxury condominium with a 3-acre park and signature pedestrian bridge
  • Grand Hyatt Miami Beach Convention Center Hotel: 800-key Public-private partnership hospitality
  • Upland Park: 47-acre transit-oriented community with 1,700+ residences, 560,000 sf of retail and commercial space, and 120 hotel keys
  • The Well Bay Harbor Islands: luxury mixed-use with 66 units, 102,000 sf office, retail, private club
  • Grove Central: urban transit-oriented development with 402 apartments and 100,000 sf of retail
  • Centro City: 1,200 residences and 300,000 sf of retail
  • Natura Gardens: master-planned community of approximately 400 garden-style apartments

Turning Vision Into Execution

Thomas Edison said, “The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” That line has guided Ellen’s career. Many developers can think big. Ellen’s strength is turning vision into built reality. She breaks big-picture ideas into executable parts, so short-term execution and long-term strategy move together. She anchors decisions in data, works collaboratively, and thrives on complex challenges.

Recognition

GlobeSt. Woman of Influence (2025) · Bisnow Women Leading Real Estate (2025) · University of Miami Centennial Medal (2025)

Explore Our Work