Real estate developer in New York buys the first real office building ever as an NFT

As interest in buying land in the metaverse continues to grow, the very first non-fungible token (NFT) office building in New York City has been sold.

The 4,700 square foot NFT “located” at 44 West 37th Street, serves as an irreversible digital asset that aims to monetize and authenticate ownership of the building’s digital assets and was acquired by real estate developer Azul NYC.

The 16-story structure that questions the role architecture plays in real estate and the metaverse was designed by Integrated Projects, which announced the sale in early September. Furthermore, the 44W37 NFT was minted on the decentralized, open-source Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, and was sold for just 1 ETH at a value of around $1,300.

Jose Cruz Jr, founder of Integrated Projects, said Integrated Projects.

“NFTs are not new. 3D scanning of buildings is not new … what is new is the merging of these technologies with blockchain tools, enabling building owners to create, own, trade and monetize their digital possessions – in the same way as we do with our physical possessions.”

Buy properties in minutes

Without having to worry about the inconvenience of transferring ownership, owners can develop, own, sell and monetize their digital assets.

This means that instead of selling or buying actual property, you trade in digital assets such as photographs, 3D scans, floor plans, virtual tours and location reports. Since this process of the transaction is expedited using an NFT, it is possible for a buyer to take possession of a property within minutes.

NFTs provide the potential to set strict ownership laws not only in real estate but also in intellectual property. “44W37”, like many other Manhattan skyscrapers, may herald the start of a new era in architecture and real estate in megacities.

“The digital transformation of commercial real estate is going to fundamentally change how we design, build, operate and monetize our spaces,” says Jack Ezon, principal at Azul NYC, “this is still day one.”

Notably, Finbold reported last year that people could now buy or sell real estate in New York City with Bitcoin (BTC), Dogecoin (DOGE) and ETH, so the latest NFT purchase marks the next stage of growth in the city as virtual real estate investments continue to find investors .