McMillan launches Azur, international real estate investment and development firm

New York, NY Joseph McMillan, Jr. has launched Azur, an international real estate investment and development company focused on major American and European markets. McMillan will serve as chairman and CEO and will run the newly established company from offices in New York and Paris.

Under Azur, McMillan has united his interests in DDG, founded in 2009, with 2 million s/f of real estate developed throughout the U.S., with French real estate  investment firm GS Invest, a privately held company with over 40 years of experience and a portfolio in excess of 3 million s/f.

Formation of the new company enables McMillan to apply his groundbreaking approach to real estate investment on a global scale. Azur’s portfolio encompasses dozens of assets  throughout the U.S. and France, which include mixed-use, industrial, office, retail, hospitality, and residential properties.

McMillan, through Azur, has also closed his first investment in PropTech, with a significant  investment in Whiterock AI, an artificial intelligence real estate analytics startup.

McMillan is a pioneer in the integration of real estate design, development, construction, and asset management. Under his guidance, DDG has become known for its architecturally  sophisticated residential and mixed-use projects in California, Florida and New York. With  the formation of Azur, McMillan is able to apply his proven investment strategies to  projects in multiple markets and across asset classes.

“The formation of Azur represents a significant commitment to real estate at a moment that  demands meticulous data analysis and deep insight from investors,” McMillan said. “The  world is changing, and it is a privilege to steward Azur’s resources for the benefit of our  shareholders and end-users alike.”

Under McMillan’s leadership, Azur is also announcing two ground-up U.S. development  projects in the city of Chicago’s west loop, a 254-unit multi-family with parking project at  1415 Sedgwick St. in classic Old Town and a 259-key mixed-use hospitality project at

1234 West Randolph St. in the burgeoning Fulton Market neighborhood, near the recently  opened Google and McDonald’s campuses.

McMillan has also directed the Azur team to explore development and acquisition opportunities in Miami, Florida and Annecy, France. In both markets, Azur has projects in  pre-development pending entitlement approvals that range from waterfront hospitality and  residential developments to industrial expansions of warehouse capacity for existing e commerce tenants, and ground-up office development. In New York, Azur has multifamily residential in pre-development.

Buildings that are currently advertised or managed as DDG properties will not undergo any change to branding but will benefit from the combined resources of the new company.

McMillan said, “Azur’s strengths of creativity and operational efficiency have little  comparison in North America and Europe. We will unlock higher return performance as we  continue to create beautiful solutions that improve our built environment.”