Happy New Year (I Know I’m Late)

Happy New Year, GowerCrowders!

I hope your 2022 was as wonderful as mine was. And yes, I know I’m a bit late- but you know what they say…

Moving on from my tardiness, I just want you, my readers to know that It is my sincere desire that we all make our mark in the crowdfunding space, reach new heights, and attain every single one of our investment goals in 2023.

What better way to celebrate another journey around the sun than with a curated list of the most valuable and relevant crowdfunding news out there.

I also have a small gift for you this week- a new section in the newsletter, one dedicated to the SEC Filing Data my team so lovingly collects each month. 

My hope is that you’ll be able to use this data to learn more about the SEC, new real estate projects and generally improve your understanding of the wide world of real estate crowdfunding.

With that said, we’ve got a lot of great stuff this week, including a new deal from FNRP, coverage of a recent class action suit involving real estate personality Grant Cardone, and an update on the newest member of CrowdStreet’s board of advisors.

We’ll also look at the aforementioned review of last week’s GowerCrowd Crowdfunding SEC Filing Report and finish things off with a look at the latest episode of The Real Estate Syndication Show– titled “Scaling From Single-Family to Multifamily with Steven Gesis.”

New Crowdfunding Platform Deals

Over the lifetime of the newsletter, I’ve been proud to cover many of the big names in the real estate crowdfunding space. Names like CrowdStreet, AcreTrader, RealtyMogul, and Fundrise helped build this industry. But I think we may have overlooked many excellent crowdfunding platforms that have the potential to create real value for you- my readers. 

With that said, we’ll still cover all of the best deals from those sites- but I’m also going to make an effort to bring you new deals and news from some of the other platforms that you don’t often see in the real estate media.

First up this week is a deal from First National Realty Partners, or FNRP, which is a leading private equity sponsor in the CRE space. Founded in 2015, the firm aims to create better outcomes for investors through rigorous data analysis, partnership with national-brand tenants, and white glove service.

On offer at FNRP is the Waldorf Marketplace, a 359,484 square foot shopping center that sits in Waldorf, Maryland, anchored by a large Safeway grocery store. The center also boasts several other necessity-based national retailers, including Petco, Starbucks, Wells Fargo, and several other nationally and globally recognized brands. 

This project is open for investment right now, with a minimum $50,000 investment, a targeted annual return of 14-14.5%, a targeted annual cash distribution of 5-6%, and a targeted equity multiple of 1.4x to 1.5x. Head over to FNRP to get more details.

General Crowdfunding Industry News

A federal appeals judge recently reversed the dismissal of a Los Angeles class action lawsuit against real estate impresario and crowdfunding booster Grant Cardone. The lawsuit alleges that Cardone and his company misled investors on social media regarding profits they might hope to make by investing in his multifamily deals. His firm, Cardone Capital, owns roughly $5 billion in multifamily apartment complexes in South Florida and across the United States.

In the ruling, U.S. Appeals Judge Barbara Lynn allowed the plaintiff’s complaint to move forward, which means that the case will continue to move through the justice system, and other investors will have the opportunity to join the lawsuit. 

In the ruling, Judge Lynn determined that some of Cardone’s social media posts- that promoted his crowdfunded investments- are, in fact, subject to federal securities regulations that guard against omissions and misstatements- in what could be a huge wake-up call for many others in the industry. Read more about this story in the latest issue of TheRealDeal, here.

Crowdfunding Platform Updates

CrowdStreet has a new member on their Board of Advisors. Shawn Lese, CIO, and Head of Funds Management, Americas, at Nuveen Real Estate, recently joined the crowdfunding titan’s board following an equity investment by TIAA Ventures, which is an affiliate of TIAA alongside Nuveen. 

In his new role, Lese will help CrowdStreet navigate its new private real estate diversification efforts. He currently heads up a team of veteran portfolio managers at Nuveen, which boasts a platform with over $110 billion under their watch. 

The move comes as Nuveen signaled plans to raise equity capital on CrowdStreet for several real estate projects aimed at allowing individual investors to join forces with institutional capital. The appointment may also pave the way for plans for both firms to develop products in concert and work together as joint-venture partners. Learn more at PR Newswire, here.

SEC Filing Data

2022 ended with a bang, with a solid number of both Reg D(b) deals and Reg D(c) deals exceeding the average we’ve seen over the last few months of the year. 

We saw 39 new Reg D(b) deals and 7 Reg D (c) deals, with $1.12 billion issued with a wide range of investment opportunities. Last week, the smallest minimum investment amount came in at $1,000, and the largest minimum investment amount sat at a healthy $350,000. 

You can check out the data for yourself, and compare and contrast with previous weeks, here. 

Multimedia Links (Videos, Podcasts, etc.)

Per tradition, let’s finish things with a look at a new podcast in the real estate crowdfunding space. 

This week, I’ve got the latest episode of The Real Estate Syndication Show– titled “Scaling From Single-Family to Multifamily with Steven Gesis.” In this episode, Steven Gesis, co-founder of Smartland, discusses his triumphs (and failures) in the SFR space and how it led him to eventually invest in multifamily. 

He explains how and why they decided to transition to MF after scaling, how the asset class offers tremendous opportunity for value-add investors, and many other topics of great interest to newbie and veteran real estate investors alike. Check it out on Listen Notes, here.

That’s it for this week- please tune in next week for more real estate crowdfunding news, stories, new deals, platform updates, podcasts, and proprietary crowdfunding market data available ONLY at GowerCrowd.