Mike Leipart, who led luxury new development sales at The Agency for over a decade, has branched off to start his own real estate firm called Redeavor as part of a strategic departure from the traditional brokerage-led model for new development sales in order to achieve autonomy.

The company plans to specialize in multifamily development sales and value-add deals, advisory services and capital investment. It is backed by a team responsible for over $40 billion in sales volume and 14,000 residences sold.

Redeavor soft launched last year but only recently debuted publicly. Leipart said his team still works with The Agency but is working to create its own identity as a relatively new company.

“The majority of the large national development sales firms in the country are attached to a brokerage, just like me,” Leipart said. “And the reality of it is, that while it on paper looks like we’d be the best partners ever, there’re only so many resources to go around and most companies figured out a long time ago that the more stable business is agents in resale.”

Alongside Leipart, Andrew Wachtfogel, Wade Hundley and Shane Farkas serve as Redeavor’s cofounders. Also joining Redeavor at launch are Violet Tudas, Maranda Blanton, Katherine Demakos, Kristin Corsetti and Jenna Marks.

The firm debuted with $4 billion in current global real estate represented and offices in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Nashville. While currently based in Encino, Leipart said he is working on securing a more permanent office in Century City.

“It’s imperative that we have a strong presence on the West Coast and it’s imperative that we have a strong presence on the East Coast,” he said. “And then we will fill in when the opportunities present themselves … We’re working on something in Texas, we love those markets.”

Specializing in value-add deals

While Redeavor does not plan to operate as a development firm pursuing its own construction projects, it does plan to specialize in the takeover of distressed assets, specifically as they relate to condo buildings and luxury multifamily properties.

These can include office to apartment building conversions, finishing up stalled projects or completing renovations.

Redeavor does not plan to operate any of these projects itself and instead plans to reposition and sell.

Leipart said the firm is opportunistic and joked that, in terms of geographical footprint, any market within the U.S. that has at least two professional sports teams is most likely of interest. He pointed out cities such as Denver and Austin to be especially appealing.

In addition to its development sales and marketing line of business, Redeavor plans to offer advisory services to clients and be an originator of both private equity and debt for the creation of multifamily, luxury residential, hotel-branded and urban development projects.

While Redeavor works to build up its real estate portfolio as its own entity, Leipart said he’s most focused on increasing Redeavor’s headcount and expanding team growth first.

“If you add the right people, then you don’t have to worry about marketing. The business follows the people, and my focus is purely on the people,” Leipart said.