Real estate crowdfunding platform RealtyMogul announced today that REIT industry veteran Aaron Halfacre will be joining the company as its new president.
“I am excited to be joining the RealtyMogul team and contributing to the continued success of the company,” Halfacre said in a statement. “I believe my industry experience across real estate and alternatives, debt and equity, retail and institutional, and both public and private markets is a perfect fit for RealtyMogul’s future.”
Halfacre (pictured) brings more than 20 years of experience in the investing industry, including five years as Head of Real Estate New Product Development for BlackRock. In addition to serving as Head of Strategic Relations for Cole Capital and Strategic Consultant for GMH Associates, Halfacre was also President and Chief Investment Officer for Campus Crest, a publicly traded student housing REIT. He has a BA in Accounting from College of Santa Fe and earned an MBA in Finance from the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University.
Jilliene Helman, RealtyMogul CEO praised Halfacre’s “stellar track record and incredible depth of real estate and capital market industry expertise.” She said, “We will benefit immensely from his experience, and I am confident he will help the company reach new heights.” Halfacre will be tasked with developing company-wide strategy as well as leveraging his direct oversight of capital markets activity to grow assets under management and real estate transaction volume.
The addition of Halfacre is only the latest executive acquisition from the Beverly Hills, California-based real estate crowdfunding platform. Earlier this month, the company announced that it had appointed interim Chief Investment Officer Chris Fraley as its official CIO. In December, the company hired Soley Van Lokeren as its first “Chief People Officer.”
RealtyMogul launched its second REIT offering, MogulREIT II, last fall, giving investors the opportunity to finance multi-family apartment communities. The company’s first REIT offering, MogulREIT I, was introduced in 2016. More than $318 million has been invested across RealtyMogul’s platform, with $70 million paid out to RealtyMogul’s 150,000 members. More than $1 billion in property value has been financed since inception.
Ranked in the top 100 of real estate crowdfunding sites by The Real Estate Crowdfunding Review, and the winner of a Gold Stevie Award for Company of the Year last November, RealtyMogul demonstrated its crowdfunding for real estate platform at FinovateSpring 2014. The company was founded in 2012 and has raised more than $46 million in funding. Sorenson Capital and Canaan Partners are among RealtyMogul’s investors.