Richard Spinelli

10.28.2026

Profession: Student housing ownership and operations.  Organization: Sandhills Real Estate.  Title: Co-Founder.  Significant other: My wife.  Alma mater: Boston College (B.S., Economics).

Current project: Expanding Sandhills within a few blocks of Fordham’s Rose Hill campus.  Recent recognition: Sandhills was named Fordham Athletics’ Exclusive Off-Campus Housing Partner.  Latest contribution to others: Hosting networking events, reviewing résumés and speaking to Fordham student clubs.  Hobbies: Tennis and running.  Recent travel or adventure: Running 42 miles in a Last Man Standing race in Portland, Maine, without formal training.

Personal mission: Giving Fordham students well-maintained homes and responsive support.  Personal motto: Prepare seriously, commit fully and see how far it can go.

How did you find your way into real estate?

I started my career in investment banking in New York after earning a degree in economics from Boston College. Banking taught me how deals get underwritten, structured and financed. Over time, though, I found myself more interested in what happens after the model is built. I wanted to identify opportunities myself, solve the problems that came with them and live with the results of my own decisions. That pull toward ownership is what led me to co-found Sandhills Real Estate. There's nowhere to hide when the decision is yours, and that accountability is the part of the work I find most rewarding.

What does Sandhills Real Estate do?

Sandhills owns and operates off-campus student housing within walking distance of Fordham University's Rose Hill campus. Our properties are concentrated around Belmont Avenue, Lorillard Place and Bathgate Avenue in Belmont, the Bronx neighborhood known for Arthur Avenue and its Italian heritage. Most are three-, four- and five-bedroom apartments and townhouses leased to groups of Fordham students. We market and lease our properties through Live Off the Hill, our student housing brand. Rather than spreading across many markets, we've chosen to focus on one: one neighborhood, one leasing market and one reputation with the student body.

What does a “resident-first” approach mean to you?‍

It means building the business around the people who live in it. Our tenants are students, and many are living away from home for the first time. They deserve a housing experience that's responsive to their needs and anticipates problems. Keeping our properties close together makes that possible. Having the maintenance team within walking distance helps us respond quickly when problems arise. The business is real estate, but what keeps me interested is how close we are to our residents: what students want, what they can afford and what makes one apartment feel like the right home.

How does Sandhills give back to the Fordham community?

That's the piece that matters most to me. We host networking events, give feedback on student résumés and speak to student-led clubs. Building relationships one student conversation at a time is how we want to operate. In 2026, Fordham Athletics named Sandhills its Exclusive Off-Campus Housing Partner. Our logo now appears on the jerseys of Fordham Baseball and Fordham Men's Tennis, the first sport-specific jersey patch sponsorship for either program. Being part of student life beyond the lease is exactly where we want to be.

What did running 42 miles teach you?

I had never run a marathon or formally trained for one when I entered a Last Man Standing race in Portland, Maine, where runners repeatedly complete the same loop. I kept going for 42 miles. I just wanted to see how far I could push myself. Afterward, I approached running more conventionally, and in 2024 I ran the Austin Marathon in three hours and 30 minutes, roughly the eight-minute-mile pace I'd set as my goal. The bigger lesson was being willing to start without knowing where I'd finish. I try to bring that to everything.

What matters most to you outside of work?

Family, before anything else. Becoming a husband and a father is a bigger accomplishment than anything in our portfolio, and it has changed what success means to me. Building something matters, and so does being present for the life around it. Tennis has been my other constant. I'm an avid player and a lifelong fan, and I've attended the US Open for nearly 20 years in a row. One of my personal goals is to attend all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same calendar year.

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