Adam Neumann’s New Year’s resolution might have been to clean out his real estate portfolio. He’s now sold off his stakes in development properties in San Jose.
The former CEO of WeWork sold his personal stake in six properties in the Northern California tech hub that were supposed to be part of WeWork’s “future of cities” program, according to Bloomberg. His holdings could have been worth as much at $150 million.
Neumann invested in the properties as part of a development plan spearheaded by Urban Community, a development company led by former eBay exec Gary Dillabough and developer Jeff Arrillaga. Urban Community will continue to develop the roughly two dozen properties it owns in the city, which are mostly office properties.
In documents related to WeWork’s nixed initial public offering, the company called the Neumann’s personal investment a “first step in pursuing the [WeWork’s] vision for the future of cities,” although little has come out about that strategy since the IPO push fell apart.
Nuemann has also looked to offload some of his residential properties since leaving his post as CEO last fall. This week he listed his six-bedroom triplex penthouse in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park for $37 million.
Meanwhile, his family office is reportedly in talks to take part in a $4 million convertible note in a mortgage servicing startup called Peach Street Inc. (the firm has yet to launch).
Urban Community is now partnering with Westbank, Peterson Group, and OPTrust on at least some of the development projects, starting with the Bank of Italy building in downtown San Jose. Urban Community looks to lure companies from San Jose’s business and technology parks into the city center. [Bloomberg] — Dennis Lynch