LEX, a commercial real estate securities marketplace that allows accredited and non-accredited investors to invest in individual properties, is hosting its first initial public offering (IPO) on its commercial real estate securities platform. By leveraging Nasdaq’s cloud-based trading and monitoring technology through Nasdaq’s Market Services Platform, LEX is able to flexibly unlock previously unavailable matching capabilities between real estate owners and retail and institutional investors, quickly and at scale. We spoke with LEX CEO Drew Sterrett about LEX’s first IPO in its market and its importance to the real estate market.

Can you explain to us how the idea of ​​LEX was born and why you wanted to create a trading platform for real estate shares?

I worked in real estate private equity at Tungsten Partners, where I structured real estate transactions. I observed firsthand market inefficiencies and also situations where there were no attractive solutions to recapitalize equity in individual real estate transactions.

I was working on interesting offers that I did not have access to because the investment minimums were significantly higher than my savings. I started wondering how the world’s oldest and largest asset class (one of the biggest creators of wealth) didn’t have a public, liquid market that everyone could access.

My co-founders and I had the big idea to reshape real estate investing through innovation. We found that securitizing single-asset real estate and creating attractive offerings for accredited and non-accredited investors was a benefit to owners and investors.

Can you tell us about your first IPO and its importance for the real estate market?

We just completed our first “public” IPO, 286 Lenox Avenue, New York. The building is “live” and trades on our public market under the symbol TESLU.

The property is a fully leased office and retail building located in Harlem, with Wells Fargo as anchor tenant. Because we transform individual properties into public stocks, any US investor can browse opportunities in various asset classes, such as multi-family properties and office properties. Investors can buy shares of individual properties and can trade their shares on our public market.

We open this asset class to the public and allow investors to enjoy the benefits of real estate investing.

How Does IPO Advance Your Business Strategy?

We are democratizing the commercial real estate asset class and providing our investors with unique opportunities to diversify their investment portfolio beyond stocks, bonds and crypto, providing an opportunity to unlock the benefits of real estate investing. direct.

More than 500 investors participated in this IPO. This IPO is a milestone for LEX and the industry but, more importantly, for investors.

We empower investors to access institutional-grade real estate and empower owners with effective equity recapitalization tools.

How can retail investors get involved in trading real estate on LEX?

Investors can create an account at LEX-Markets.com or download our app from the Apple and Android app stores. In just minutes, investors can set up and fund their accounts and start investing in unique properties.

All of our properties receive a ticker, like 286 Lenox, which trades under TESLU, so investors can easily buy and sell stocks through any brokerage account.

How did Nasdaq technology play a role in your IPO?

We leverage Nasdaq’s Market Services Platform, a cloud-based SaaS platform with trading and monitoring capabilities to match buyers and sellers while monitoring the market for potential market abuse. market in order to protect investors in our market.

With Nasdaq’s road-tested technology in place, we can unlock previously unavailable capital market opportunities between property owners, retailers and institutional investors at speed and scale.

Going forward, where do you see LEX evolving in the next five to ten years?

It’s simple. More buildings means more access to the asset class and more opportunities for wealth creation in a traditionally hard-to-reach market. We want to teach investors how impactful real estate investing in a single asset is and give them the tools and education that create wealth. Likewise, we want to continue to provide a meaningful platform for property owners to recapitalize their assets.