Origin Ready to Grow Crowdfunding Effort

CHICAGO—Origin Capital Partners has just hired Melissa Harris, the Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist and former Chicago Tribune business columnist, to help grow its new real estate crowdfunding platform. As the Chicago-based firm's vice president of marketing, Harris will help lead its effort to democratize private equity and encourage qualified investors to participate alongside Origin principals in the firm's deals.

"It's an industry that has been so walled off,"  Harris tells GlobeSt.com. "For decades, the only people with an avenue into real estate were institutional investors and the ultra-wealthy, and we're changing that." For a minimum of $25,000, investors who use Origin's platform can find "opportunities that were not available before. And the fact that real estate is a physical thing you can walk by and say, 'I own a piece of that,'" makes it meaningful for the smaller investor.

"Joining Wall Street isn't the only way to get access to great returns," says Michael Episcope, a founding principal of Origin Capital. "Melissa is here because she understands how to engage a large audience."

As a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, Harris reported on Chicago's leading business executives and civic leaders. While there she launched a column, called Chicago Confidential, for the Tribune's business section; led a one-year examination of Illinois tax credits for businesses; and broke national and local business news, including Groupon's rejection of Google's $6 billion buyout offer. She previously held reporting positions at The Baltimore Sun and The Orlando Sentinel. An MBA candidate at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, Harris recently won admittance to Booth's prestigious New Venture Challenge.

The move from business journalism to business also fulfills some of Harris' personal goals. "I get to join a digital start-up, but one that is already part of an established company," she says. "Origin brings immediate credibility because there is a lot of evidence that we know how to find and vet deals," whereas many online efforts are marketing platforms for other people's real estate.

Origin currently has properties worth roughly $400 million under management. It concentrates on multifamily and office opportunities in eight large metro areas, and recently bought properties in suburban Chicago, Dallas, Austin, Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham.

The company will initially offer two possible investments through the website. Those putting up at least $25,000 can get a piece of the Iroquois Club, a multifamily apartment complex in suburban Naperville that, as reported in GlobeSt.com, Origin and a partner plan to renovate. And for those that want to spread out the risk, for a minimum of $50,000 they can join the company's third fund, a $150 million investment pool.

"It's necessary to gain trust when you're working in an online environment," Harris adds. Not only does Origin provide a complete record of its financial performance on the website, but "each property has a business plan that we share with the investors, who also have access to real-time updates."

"And anyone who invests with Origin online is investing in deals alongside our co-founders. They are in the deal for as long as you're in the deal. And I think that sets us apart."