In an apparent first, a New York city high-end apartment development has joined in on, and could possibly benefit from the enthusiasm around the tokenized funding model and blockchain technology.

Located on 436 & 442 E 13th St in Manhattan’s East Village, the completed  “THIRTEEN EAST + WEST” development, which comprises twelve full floor luxury apartments, has  according to Forbes decided on the Ethereum blockchain as the digital base for its tokenized operations.

The tokenized funding project  born of Proppelr (a company that creates, manages and services digital assets) and Fluidity (the creators of AirSwap) makes this the first Manhattan asset of this magnitude to be tokenized on ethereum.

The partnership between the two companies likely stems from i a mutual desire to offer compliant products and services regarding the creation, transfer and distribution of digitally held securities. This is achieved by leveraging the tokenization process of representing an asset owned in the ‘real world’ digitally and immutably  on a blockchain. 

Proppelr CEO Todd Lappiat told Forbes:

Traditional securities structures and issuance frameworks haven’t evolved in a long time. With blockchain technology, a transparent and trustless ecosystem can start to solve the information asymmetry that hinders the market’s potential for liquidity.

Star of Million Dollar Listing New York and author of Sell It Like Serhant Ryan Serhant, echoed Mr Lappiat’s sentiments as he told Forbes:

The market in New York is always strong, but it can take some time to sell for the right price in a new construction building. With blockchain tokenization, we can remove the unruly pressure of traditional bank financing, which is much healthier for the project and all of the stakeholders.

Serhant is also reported to have been the broker behind the deal, as he and the developers Amirian Group and Vail Associates Architects look for a more efficient financing vehicle for the project and investors.