On Monday, Patel Real Estate Holdings (PREH), a U.S. real estate asset manager, announced the launch of a $100 million tokenized fund on the Chintai blockchain to streamline access to institutional-grade real estate investments for accredited investors.
The PREH Multifamily Fund will focus on vintage Class A multifamily units across the top 20 growth markets in the U.S., offering a fully digital-native investment structure.
$25 million to be tokenized on Chintai first
The fund is part of a $750 million investment developed in collaboration with institutional leaders, including Carlyle, DRA Advisors, Walton Street Capital, RPM, and KKR.
In the first phase, $25 million of the $100 million allocation will be tokenized on Chintai, a layer-1 blockchain specializing in real-world asset tokenization.
PREH President Tejas Patel emphasized the rationale behind choosing Chintai, stating: “We chose Chintai because they offer a fully regulated, institutional-grade platform purpose-built for tokenizing real-world assets. Their technology allows us to maintain the highest standards of compliance and investor protections while introducing the efficiencies and access advantages of blockchain.”
Tokenization is expected to address long-standing challenges in private market placements, such as transparency and liquidity constraints.
The rise of real estate tokenization
In recent years, real estate tokenization has grown as a means to modernize property investment, particularly in North America and the United Arab Emirates.
Earlier this year, Polygon CEO Mark Boiron noted tokenization’s potential to remove the illiquidity discount that typically affects real estate investments.
“The ability to eliminate the illiquidity discount on real estate” is a major catalyst for adoption.
The rise of fractional ownership platforms, such as DigiShares’ REX marketplace on Polygon, further underscores this shift, enabling retail investors to buy shares in luxury properties.
Commercial real estate is also entering the tokenization space. Blocksquare and Vera Capital recently partnered to offer fractional ownership of over $1 billion in properties.
In addition, consultancy firm Deloitte predicts that $4 trillion worth of real estate will be tokenized on the blockchain over the next decade, up from less than $300 billion in 2024—a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27 percent.
Other analysts, such as Roland Berger and BCG, estimate the tokenized real estate market could reach $3 trillion to $3.2 trillion by 2030, reflecting a CAGR between 49 percent and 60 percent.
Future of real estate: Rise of fractional ownership
The PREH Multifamily Fund is pivotal in converging traditional real estate and blockchain technology. Since its founding in 2010, PREH has completed over $500 million in real estate transactions, positioning it as a credible player in this innovative space.
Chintai, the blockchain underpinning the fund, also powers the R3 Sustainability Fund for ESG investing, further highlighting its institutional credibility. According to CoinMarketCap, its native token, CHEX, currently trades at $0.24 and has a market cap of $244 million.
As tokenization reshapes real estate investment, PREH’s initiative could pave the way for rapid adoption, offering investors unprecedented market access, efficiency, and liquidity.