Popular crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and GoFundMe.com have completely transformed the way donations, capital and investments are collected online. Now that same concept is starting to emerge as a trend in the world of commercial real estate.
Neighborhood Ventures, Arizona’s first crowdfunding real estate company, has announce its formation and launch in the Arizona (Phoenix) marketplace. The company allows all Arizona residents the opportunity to be shareholders in apartment projects in the Phoenix area for a starting investment as little as $1,000.
The company was formed by apartment real estate veteran John Kobierowski and former Goldman Sachs tech analyst Jamison Manwaring.
Kobierowski, also senior managing partner at Phoenix-based ABI Multifamily, brings 25-plus years of experience in multifamily real estate, has brokered 900-plus multifamily transactions, owned/operated over 1,000-plus multifamily units and successfully developed and sold 500-plus condominium units.
He says, “The new crowdfunding legislation has empowered all Arizonans with the opportunity to invest locally in business start-ups, which had been for decades, reserved for only qualified investors. Neighborhood Ventures will focus on commercial real estate investment property, specifically multifamily assets. Investing in income producing apartment buildings with the guidance of a team of seasoned professionals is the core of our investment strategy. We intend to be the go-to company for Arizonan’s to make investments in the apartment market.”
Prior to launching Neighborhood Ventures, Manwaring was vice president of investor relations at Tempe-based LifeLock, where he helped lead the company to a successful sale in February 2017. Prior to LifeLock, Manwaring was a software analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York City where he participated in over a dozen software IPOs, including LifeLock’s public offering in 2012.
Manuring says, “Crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter have given entrepreneurs a large audience to showcase and fund new technologies. Platforms like GoFundMe have transformed how donations for charitable causes can be raised quickly online. Neighborhood Ventures is excited to take crowdfunding to commercial real estate to allow every Arizona resident the opportunity to own a portion of an apartment project within their neighborhood.”
Director of Research for Neighborhood Ventures Thomas M. Brophy says, “Never has there been a better time to invest in multifamily (apartment) real estate then now. Rental housing has entered its most significant growth period in a generation fueled, in large part, by monumental demographic changes at both ends of the age spectrum. These changes will continue to propel the industry for years to come. ”
The company plans to open its first project for investment in November 2017.
