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Richard Rubin is a seasoned real estate entrepreneur with a pioneering background in adaptive reuse for affordable housing. His career, spanning nearly two decades, began in South Africa in 2004, where he led the conversion of commercial office buildings into workforce housing. His early projects transformed urban centers in Johannesburg, Durban, and Port Elizabeth, delivering thousands of rental units to address critical housing shortages.

Richard’s expertise in adaptive reuse continued with the launch of Live Easy in 2014, a company dedicated to converting commercial buildings into affordable housing. Notably, he spearheaded South Africa’s largest privately funded slum relocation project, repurposing a 150,000 SF warehouse into micro-apartments for 1,000 residents near Johannesburg’s Alexandra Township.

In 2015, Richard relocated to the United States to explore new opportunities in adaptive reuse. Identifying a critical housing gap for the “missing middle” (61-120% AMI), he co-founded Repvblik to convert underperforming real estate into naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH). 

His first U.S. project, a hotel conversion in Branson, Missouri, launched in 2018 under The Repvblik LLC brand. As CEO and majority shareholder of Repvblik AR LLC, he led the acquisition and redevelopment of six hotels, adding hundreds of housing units across various U.S. markets. In 2023, he sold his interest in Repvblik AR LLC.

Currently, Richard leads Babylon AR LLC, an adaptive reuse firm targeting specialized assets such as skilled nursing facilities, independent living centers, and medical offices for conversion into affordable housing. 

He also co-founded EGRE in 2023, further expanding his impact in the sector. Now based in Southern California, Richard is deeply committed to addressing the region’s affordable housing crisis, with several transformative projects underway.