Lance Lefkovits.
Lance Lefkovits, 28
Managing director of acquisitions and operations at Davean Holdings
After five years in finance, Lance Lefkovits pivoted to commercial real estate when he joined his brother’s newly launched firm Davean Holdings as the managing director of acquisitions and operations.
Sean Lefkovits and David Lloyd launched Davean, a value-add real estate investment firm, in 2017, after spending many years on the brokerage side of commercial real estate. At the time, Lance was in London, having spent several years there working in strategic consulting at Barclays and Deutsche Bank. But, when he came back stateside in 2018, the younger Lefkovits was ready for a change.
“It was a perfect kind of time, once I moved back from London,” Lefkovits said about working with his brother. “We have very complementary skill sets, and we just make a great team. I have more of an investment banking background. Sean and David have a ton of transactional experience.”
In the past 24 months, Davean has acquired 18 properties throughout New York City with private and institutional capital. One of its acquisitions was the 73-unit multifamily 103-105 MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village, which they purchased in an estate sale for $22.5 million. The one-day transaction closed during the pandemic, and Davean paid 50 percent less than the pre-pandemic asking price, according to Lefkovits.
Davean, with Lefkovits leading, plans to reposition the asset to focus on young professionals and student renters as the property is in prime New York University territory.
“We’re upgrading the technology capabilities in this building, whether it’s key fobs, Wi-Fi, virtual doorman, package rooms, etc.,” Lefkovits said. The previous owners held the building for many years, and, while it was well-maintained, it was never modernized in a way that would meet the needs of their target renter and, thereby, maximize the rent, he said.
Lefkovits is also focused on raising more capital now from private and international investors, with plans to load up on more acquisitions in the near term.
Throughout quarantine, Lefkovits has been working from his home in the Flatiron District, but also has been spending a lot of time looking at properties. Peering ahead, he plans to keep doing what he’s doing. “It’s about rebuilding New York City,” he said.
