Realty Mogul Crowdfunds 150 KSF Georgetown Plaza in DC

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Investors responded well to Realty Mogul’s presentation of Georgetown Plaza, a 150,000-square-foot office building in Washington, D.C. The result: Realty Mogul was able to crowdfund the property on behalf of JOSS Realty Partners, which has acquired the Class B asset from Carr Properties for $26.8 million.

“Georgetown Plaza is a great example of the types of transactions Realty Mogul likes to fund: well located, with strong cash flow,” Jilliene Helman, CEO of Realty Mogul, told Commercial Property Executive. “We expect to have a distribution back to investors in the first full quarter after owning the property.”

Sited in Washington’s Glover Park, an area just north of the trendy Georgetown neighborhood, Georgetown Plaza first opened its doors at 2233 Wisconsin Ave. in 1964. The five-story boutique office building was last renovated in 2007 and today is 79 percent occupied by a diverse roster of more than 33 tenants.

Realty Mogul has been in the crowdfunding game for over a year now, having raised and placed commercial real estate capital allowing it to crowdfund properties valued in excess of $100 million. The company focuses predominantly on equity investments in apartment properties, office buildings, shopping centers, self-storage facilities, single-family home pools and real estate loans. However, the young firm is open to incorporating other property types into its activities; it just closed on the Hard Rock Hotel in Palm Springs, and is actively looking at hospitality that is well located with a history of cash flow.

But for now, one real estate sector in particular appears to be a favorite of those who invest through Realty Mogul’s crowdfunding platform. “Different investors want different types of properties, but we’ve seen a ton of success with retail—brand-name tenants can capture the hearts and minds of investors—and self-storage, an asset class that is typically harder to get into,” Helman said.

Crowdfunding is not a new concept, but at the moment it’s all the rage, and its popularity is only going to rise. Realty Mogul, which counts itself as the largest online marketplace for investors to pool money and buy shares of investment properties, believes that over the long term crowdfunding could have a notable impact on the financial standing of investors who participate.

“If you look at how pension funds and other major institutional investors invest, they invest in direct real estate partnerships, not in REITs or other public vehicles,” Helman noted. “There is a reason for this: These transactions may provide for stronger returns. And through crowdfunding, more investors now have access.”