Tokenization Platform Harbor Makes First Offering
Convexity Properties announced Tuesday it is using the Harbor platform for a tokenized REIT offering in The Hub at Columbia, an off-campus student housing high-rise near the University of South Carolina. The offering represents $20M of private equity in the 14-story, 500K SF facility. It has 260 apartment units and more than 800 beds, as well as 4K SF of street-level retail and 6K SF of leased commercial space.
The launch is the first offering on the Harbor platform and is divided into 955 shares, also called tokens, which are priced at $21K each.
Harbor uses blockchain technology in its platform service that tokenizes securities backed by real-world assets such as real estate, company equity and investment funds. The Harbor platform ensures tokenized securities comply with existing securities laws on every trade across the globe. The firm has raised more than $40M and is backed by Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Craft Ventures, Vy Capital, Fifth Wall, Valor Equity Partners and Pantera Capital.
“We are excited to partner with Convexity Properties to introduce a more accessible and liquid form of commercial real estate investment through the Harbor platform,” Harbor CEO Josh Stein said in a statement.
In the past, private investments in commercial real estate have had very little liquidity. The technology in tokenization platforms, such as that of Harbor, automatically enforces compliant transfers between buyers and sellers and reduces barriers to trading those shares on a secondary market. This allows for the private investments to become more liquid and makes it possible to trade around-the-clock worldwide with near-instant settlement while being low risk and in accordance with transfer rules.
“The launch of Harbor and the Hub at Columbia REIT marks the beginning of an exciting new model for real estate private equity, where investors can access institutional-grade properties in a more accessible and liquid form,” Trophy founder and CEO Michael Solimene said in a statement. Trophy is an anchor institutional investor in the Hub at Columbia REIT.
The Hub at Columbia T-REIT is open to accredited investors in the U.S. and select jurisdictions. Securities are being offered through Growth Capital Services.
