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Foundation New York is a Manhattan-focused institutional real estate investment platform led by Richard Ohebshalom. It specializes in complex, off-market opportunities that larger platforms typically overlook, including landmark conversions, recapitalizations, distressed situations, and value-add investments in prime Manhattan corridors.

Foundation New York was founded by Richard Ohebshalom, a principal with over 25 years of experience acquiring, repositioning, and operating real estate assets in New York City across multiple market cycles.

Unlike large institutional platforms that focus on standardized, large-ticket transactions, Foundation New York targets complexity-driven opportunities in the $60 - 150 million range. It combines deep local relationships, regulatory expertise, and capital structure creativity to access deals that are not available through conventional marketed processes.

Yes. Foundation New York operates as part of the broader Foundation platform, which also includes verticals in Israel, Ukraine, and human capital development, all unified under a philosophy of principal-level value creation and long-term legacy building.

Foundation New York engages exclusively with qualified institutional counterparties, including pension funds, sovereign wealth platforms, European and Swiss private banks, and sophisticated family offices.

The platform focuses on creating value at entry through structure and execution rather than relying on market appreciation. It targets assets where a specific, resolvable condition creates a dislocated basis that can be improved through active management.

The BRRRR strategy refers to acquiring assets at a dislocated basis, executing the required business plan, stabilizing the asset, refinancing at its institutional value, and redeploying the recovered capital into new opportunities. This approach allows the same equity to compound across multiple assets.

The platform focuses on institutional multifamily, office-to-residential and life sciences conversions, transitional prime office, mixed-use trophy assets, and capital structure opportunities such as distressed debt and recapitalizations in Manhattan.

Through deep expertise in navigating the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission process, combined with creative entitlement strategies, air rights utilization, and operational excellence, as demonstrated in the successful redevelopment of 250 Fifth Avenue.

Zoning and entitlement are central value drivers. Foundation New York actively pursues opportunities involving air rights transfers, special permits, variances, and conversion incentives to unlock additional density and uses that are not available as-of-right.

Richard Ohebshalom has over 25 years of principal-level experience in Manhattan real estate. He has completed more than 50 transactions with an aggregate gross asset value exceeding $2 billion and has developed or repositioned more than 2,000 residential units.

Notable projects include the full landmark restoration and redevelopment of 250 Fifth Avenue into The Fifth Avenue Hotel (basis grown to approximately $750 million), the development of 8 Carlisle Street (a 64-story, 462-unit residential tower in the Financial District), and the successful repositioning of The Greywood and Manhasset Miracle Mile.

Yes. The redevelopment of 250 Fifth Avenue is a prime example, where the team successfully navigated the full New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission process to deliver a Michelin-recognized luxury hotel while preserving the historic facade.

8 Carlisle Street represents a full-cycle development from a dormant parking structure to a major institutional residential tower, including full entitlement, design, and the structuring of a joint venture with Grubb Properties.

Foundation New York is led by Richard Ohebshalom, supported by senior strategic partners across key verticals including landmark restoration, development and entitlement, conversions, leasing, capital markets, and legal structuring.

While Richard Ohebshalom is the public face of the platform, many senior strategic partners are currently being confirmed, with names and biographies to be added upon finalization of their participation.

The team combines deep expertise in landmark preservation, large-scale entitlement, office-to-residential conversion, distressed debt and capital structure, institutional capital raising, and complex legal structuring - all tailored to Manhattan’s unique market dynamics.

Yes. Specific institutional-scale assets in strategic Manhattan corridors are under active discussion. These opportunities arise from ownership transitions, capital structure stress, and repositioning requirements.

Access to detailed pipeline information is available in the confidential data room following qualification and execution of a mutual non-disclosure agreement.

The pipeline includes conversion candidates, recapitalization opportunities, distressed debt situations, fractured partnerships, and off-market acquisitions in prime Manhattan submarkets.

Engagement begins with a qualification conversation. Foundation New York works with a limited number of qualified institutional counterparties and does not respond to unsolicited inquiries from brokers or service providers.

The process involves an initial conversation to determine whether the opportunity set and confidential materials are appropriate for the specific investor or institution.

Foundation New York targets institutional-scale opportunities, typically in the range suitable for sophisticated allocators and large family offices rather than smaller individual investors.

Only qualified family offices and institutional investors that meet the platform’s criteria are considered. All engagement is subject to qualification.

Investments are structured with clear governance rights, distribution waterfalls, and downside protection agreed upon before any co-investor participates. The platform emphasizes institutional-grade documentation and transparency.

Foundation New York primarily operates through direct investments and co-investments rather than a blind-pool fund, allowing for deal-by-deal evaluation and alignment.

Qualified investors receive access to comprehensive materials in the confidential data room, including financials, legal documentation, and full underwriting packages following execution of an NDA.

The vision is to build a portfolio of four to six institutional-quality assets that can support a publicly traded platform with a gross asset value well in excess of $2 billion at stabilization.

The platform is being built with the potential for a future public listing. However, any IPO would represent the beginning of the next phase of deployment rather than an exit for current investors.

The current environment - characterized by office dislocation, significant debt maturities, favorable conversion regulations, and major land-use reforms - has created one of the most compelling sets of asymmetric entry points in Manhattan in decades.

Despite short-term headwinds, Manhattan remains the most liquid and transparent major real estate market globally, with structural undersupply in key segments and enduring long-term demand from both domestic and international capital.

Multiple forces are converging, including a significant wave of debt maturities, negative sentiment creating pricing dislocations, and regulatory changes that have improved the economics of office-to-residential and other conversions.

The platform sees meaningful opportunity in well-located assets where the basis reflects current office impairment rather than long-term residential or alternative use potential, particularly where zoning and incentive programs can be leveraged.