Owner
Michael Freedman
Michael Freedman is the founder and principal of Freedman Properties, a boutique real estate investment and development firm focused on the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Since founding the company in 2010, Mike has acquired, developed, and managed in excess of $30 million in real estate encompassing over 200,000 square feet and more than 120 residential and commercial units across Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs. His portfolio includes value add multifamily, single family, commercial and mixed use repositioning, ground up new construction, and land entitlement projects.
Every property in the Freedman Properties portfolio has been acquired with a disciplined, value driven approach and developed under Mike's direct oversight from planning through completion. He brings hands on expertise across every facet of the real estate business, from acquisition and underwriting to construction management, design, leasing, and disposition.
Mike also founded FT Builders, a construction company based on Philadelphia's Main Line that specialized in luxury residential new construction, additions, and renovations. Through FT Builders, Mike self performed construction on his projects, developing deep expertise in architecture, building systems, structural engineering, and site work. Beyond estimating what a project costs to build, this hands on construction experience taught Mike how to manage general contractors, navigate the unexpected issues that inevitably arise during construction, and solve problems in the field without derailing budgets or timelines. That builder's perspective remains central to how Freedman Properties underwrites, budgets, and executes every deal.
Prior to founding Freedman Properties, Mike spent over five years at LEAF Financial Corporation, a subsidiary of Resource America, where he served as a Portfolio Manager responsible for funding, managing and liquidating a $150 million commercial loan portfolio. In that role, he oversaw the funding and workout of construction loans to developers across the Philadelphia, Northern New Jersey, and New York markets. His responsibilities included managing the foreclosure process, overseeing REO properties, and executing the sale of both properties and notes, handling all transactional work from negotiation through documentation and closing.
This combination of experience in construction, lending, development, workouts, management, and financing gives Mike a unique perspective as a principal. He evaluates every acquisition through the lens of an operator, a lender, and a builder, with a deep understanding of risk, capital structure, construction costs, and deal execution at every stage of the investment lifecycle.
Mike graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He is a member of the Jewish Federation Real Estate group.