Lightstone Group

Who it is

The Lightstone Group is the privately held platform David Lichtenstein founded in 1988. By The Promote's count it now holds a portfolio of $12B-plus. That covers nearly 250 properties in multifamily, hospitality, life sciences and industrial, plus a development pipeline of about $3.5B across major markets. It is less a single-strategy shop than a reflection of its founder's appetite: owner, developer, hotelier and, increasingly, special-situations investor.

Several themes define the platform. Lightstone is one of the largest apartment owners in Michigan, and in 2021 it added an 8,000-unit package that had not traded in decades. Lichtenstein says that portfolio is in the black but won't be the home run he expected once rates rose. In New York, Lightstone is best known for its Moxy hotels. It has also been an unusually heavy user of nontraditional capital, including EB-5 and Tel Aviv Stock Exchange bonds. Lichtenstein puts recent TASE raising at about $1B. In February 2025 Lightstone refinanced Moxy Times Square with $290M from Israeli bondholders. The firm has also run public non-traded REIT vehicles.

Lightstone's newest push is retail capital. Lightstone Direct lets individual investors choose specific assets and see their underwriting, with the firm putting in a 20% co-investment of its own. Lichtenstein pitches that as a contrast with mega-funds where "you're just making a bet on a person." The firm has also been circling distressed capital stacks. Strategically, it is cooling on New York rent-stabilized housing, which Lichtenstein says is not worth the regulatory risk. On the team, The Promote notes that Meir Milgraum, formerly of Pink Stone, runs acquisitions for Lichtenstein at Lightstone.