About

David Hochfelder is a senior finance professional living in New York City with 10 years of experience in principal real estate investing. David was recently hired as the Executive Vice President and Head of Acquisitions for Naftali Group LLC, where he is responsible for overseeing the firm’s acquisitions as well as sourcing, structuring, and executing the firm’s investments. 

Known for the creativity brought to every projects they undertake, The Naftali Group has earned recognition for their ability to maneuver all aspects of the real estate transaction process. They have handled projects ranging from building improvements to ground-up, full-scale developments. Comprised of highly skilled individuals with impressive acumen in construction, financing, marketing, design, and complex financial structures, since its creation in 2011 the Naftali Group has operated, developed, or owned 15 buildings of both residential and commercial usage with a value totaling over $1.75 billion, covering more than 1,300,000 square feet of real estate.

Before working at Naftali Group, from 2011 to 2016, David headed the acquisitions group at RFR Holding where he was instrumental in handling, underwriting, and executing over $2 billion worth of property acquisitions and credit investments across the commercial real estate sector including office, residential, retail, and hotel real estate spanning a total of 3.5 million square feet of property.

Since it was first founded in 1991 by Michael Fuchs and Aby Rosen, RFR Holding has earned recognition across the industry as an adept real estate owner, developer, sponsor, and operator. For the last 25 years, RFR has acquired more than 100 residential, hotel, retail, and office properties in every stage of the development process from design to completion. In 2000, RFR decided to expand its reach and grew to acquire new properties in Miami Beach, Las Vegas, and Germany.

A seasoned real estate investor with particular knowledge of the New York market, David Hochfelder has seamlessly worked across the debt, private equity, and development sectors of the business. As the Vice President and Director of Acquisitions at RFR Holding David’s primary responsibilities included sourcing, underwriting, structuring, negotiation and capital raising for new projects. Earlier in his career, David was a financial analyst for The City Investment Fund, a real estate private equity fund where he was responsible for underwriting and executing the fund’s acquisitions. David first began his career in finance and real estate at The Lightstone Group, a real estate investment firm with a nationwide focus in property acquisitions and loan originations where he worked as a financial analyst responsible for supporting the firm’s nationwide property and credit investments.

David Hochfelder emphasizes the importance of networking and building relationships across different sectors of real estate investing. Thanks to previous roles in lending, real estate private equity, and direct property investing and development, David has interacted with professionals from all sides of the industry and has cultivated a comprehensive business acumen. He knows the importance of building strong business relationships with people and corporations. 


Outside of work, David Hochfelder is an active charitable contributor who has both founded and directed numerous New York City-based charity organizations; David’s charities include the Mirwais School Fund Benefit which helped to raise money to fund Afghanistan’s Mirwais School for Girls and the Annual Toy and Gift Drive which collects gifts for numerous nursing homes, hospitals, and hospices around New York.

Because of his background in real estate, it’s no surprise that David Hochfelder is a staunch supporter of organizations and initiatives that advocate and raise awareness for affordable housing, housing relief, and homeless youth, particularly in New York. Each year, alongside many of his industry peers, David takes part in New York’s “Real Estate Executive Sleep Out,” a fundraising event held in 27 cities across the country to help raise awareness and support for homelessness.

David firmly operates on the belief that every position of power comes with the opportunity to help those who cannot help themselves. He believes in leveraging his position as an executive to help those less fortunate, as he does with the Real Estate Executive Sleep Out. While many people choose not to give — whether under the assumption that someone else will do the giving they don’t or that their contribution will not be sizable enough to make a difference — David knew he could not sit idly by and let the voices of the voiceless go unheard.

David Hochfelder first got his start in charity in the wake of the 9/11 attacks that happened in New York City. He saw the suffering and the need surrounding him, so he took the initiative to create a fundraising event whose profits would go to support the local law enforcement and fire companies. He saw the success he had achieved and was hooked; from then on, David was resolved in his efforts to help the nonprofit sector of his community. He has since been a key component in planning, orchestrating, and supporting various charitable organizations.


David graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Philosophy, and completed an MBA at Columbia Business School and an M.S. in Real Estate from New York University.