Exploring DiRaimondo’s vision for merging technology and real estate for a smarter, inclusive marketplace.
Manhattan, New York — I met with Barry DiRaimondo, CEO of SteelWave, during New York Tech Week over lunch at The Carlyle, A Rosewood hotel, located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The last time I was there, I was working a 2023 Tony Awards party. This time, the focus was on real estate, the philosophy behind the design innovation of Google’s iconic campus, and how tokenization could reshape ownership across sectors.
“My buddy and I started painting houses one summer after seeing a couple guys walk out of a hardware store. We figured if they could do it, so could we,” DiRaimondo recalled. That entrepreneurial spark evolved through college and biochemistry labs into full-scale construction and, ultimately, commercial real estate.
“I got into med school but passed on it when the business took off. A bond trader we worked with said, ‘Go to business school.’ I had never taken a class in business in my life. But I thought I’d either leverage my biochem background at a place like Genentech or use my construction experience with a major developer. I chose the latter,” said DiRaimondo.
Barry DiRaimondo, CEO of SteelWave, photographed by David Lauer
DiRaimondo joined Lincoln Property Company, which later morphed into Legacy Partners and then rebranded as SteelWave in 2013. “It’s basically been the same firm for 50 years. We just got new websites and new cards,” he said jokingly.
One of SteelWave’s pivotal moments came in the early 2000s. After acquiring an unconventional campus from a Silicon Valley company called Silicon Graphics.
“The buildings were oddball, not your standard office space. Nobody knew what to do with this one 450,000 square-foot student union-style building,” said DiRaimondo.
“After months with no takers, this small company called Google came along. They wanted just that building. We actually turned them down at first—we didn’t know what a search engine was.”
Eventually, SteelWave leased the building to Google. It later became the Googleplex.
“That moment made us realize we were thinking like developers, not users,” DiRaimondo said. “That’s when we began designing spaces from the inside out, places people want to be—more like a Four Seasons experience than a traditional office lobby.”
Photo Credit: David Lauer, Infinite Labs – Louisville, CO
The Google deal transformed how DiRaimondo approached real estate. “We realized we were thinking backwards. That changed everything.”
Today, DiRaimondo is once again ahead of the curve—this time through tokenization, a process he believes will redefine ownership in commercial real estate. “The infrastructure of real estate is archaic,” he said.
“Limited partnerships, tenant-in-common structures, non-traded REITs—they’re all hard to trade. Tokenization changes that.”
Tokenization, in simple terms, involves converting ownership in a physical asset into digital tokens on a blockchain. These tokens can then be bought, sold, or traded without selling the asset itself.
“If you could trade your interest in a building without selling the building, that would be revolutionary,” DiRaimondo explained.
The idea took shape with inspiration from his son.
“He and his friends were trading tokens backed by nothing but a white paper. They looked at what we had and said, ‘Why not back coins with real estate?’ That lit the fire.”
How It Works: A Simplified Breakdown
Imagine a $100 million office tower. Instead of selling it entirely to one investor, SteelWave could issue 100,000 tokens, each representing a fractional ownership of the building. Investors could buy as many or as few tokens as they wish. Over time, they could sell those tokens without forcing a sale of the entire building.
According to McKinsey & Company, tokenized assets could grow into a $16 trillion market by 2030. Visual Capitalist projects that real estate will make up a significant share of that, particularly as regulation and infrastructure catch up.
DiRaimondo acknowledges challenges.
“Custody, regulation, compliance—it’s not simple. But in 2 to 3 years, you’ll see tokenization as a standard part of the capital stack.”
He also envisions broader use cases. “You could tokenize a sports team, an athlete’s future earnings, or a musician’s catalog. Suddenly, people who could never own a piece of the Empire State Building, now can.”
SteelWave is already laying groundwork. While specifics remain under wraps, DiRaimondo confirms multiple projects in development with tokenized financing models.
“You’ll see DeFi (decentralized finance) link with real-world assets like real estate before full-scale tokenization. It’s already happening.”
Still, DiRaimondo is cautious yet excited. “We’re early. Maybe two years early. But it’s coming, and it’s going to change who gets to invest, how wealth is distributed, and what real estate ownership even means.”
He believes this shift could also bring new capital into overlooked markets.
“Tokenization opens the door to unlikely investors—individuals, international stakeholders, even fans. It democratizes access to assets once out of reach.”
As for the next five years? “Ownership structures are the real disruption. Not the finishes, not the materials. It’s about making capital efficient and giving people flexibility. That’s the future” says DiRaimondo.
For a former biochemist-turned-painter-turned-developer, it seems to be about seeing what’s possible before others do.
“You have to move faster,” DiRaimondo said. “The world doesn’t wait anymore.”
Interview conducted by Kianga J. Moore. All quotes attributed to Barry DiRaimondo.
#RealEstateTech #Tokenization #CommercialRealEstate
