Utah-based Overstock, a large online retailer for brand names at clearance prices, revealed that its security token platform tZERO has teamed up with the Tezos Foundation in order to launch an initiative that aims to tokenize £500 million (appr. $643 million) in various real estate projects.

In collaboration with @TezosFoundation and Megalodon, tZERO is excited to partner with @allianceinv to provide technology services to tokenize River Plaza, the UK’s first real estate-backed security token offering (STO).https://t.co/dnTTA9cuG1 pic.twitter.com/a0Vrf396eP — NOT OFFICIAL – FOLLOW @tZERO (@tzeroblockchain) October 30, 2019

1/ We are thrilled to work with @tzeroblockchain, @allianceinv, and Megalodon to tokenize £500m of real estate assets across the UK on @tezos over the next several years.#Tezoshttps://t.co/rpwYq4Wf9F — Tezos Foundation (@TezosFoundation) October 30, 2019

tZERO CEO Saum Noursalehi remarked:

“We believe that asset tokenization will revolutionize the real estate sector. We applaud Alliance Investments for spearheading one of the world’s first real estate-backed security token offerings. Tokenization of real estate will democratize access and greatly enhance liquidity for this asset class.”

Announced on October 30, tZERO and the developers of Tezos will be tokenizing select portions of real estate. The project has reportedly been funded by UK-headquartered Alliance Investments, and will soon be offered to investors.

Rani Zahr, chief information officer at Alliance Investments, stated:

“Raising funds through a security token offering (STO) is more efficient, cost-effective, autonomous and democratic than traditional financing. We believe that we are at the forefront of a technological change that can disrupt the current funding paradigm.”

The first STO is scheduled to take place early next year, when tZERO’s management will distribute tokenized securities representing £20 million (appr. $25.8 million) in equity of a water-front property that’s being developed in Manchester.

In statements shared with Coindesk, Roman Schnider, chief financial officer at the Tezos Foundation, noted:

“This one building, a large multi-storage development, [is a] first for Alliance, but represents a large pipeline that they intend to fund using STOs.”

The Tezos protocol will form the foundational layer for “deploying, transferring and storing the digital assets and smart contracts,” which will be available in secondary markets on the PRO Securities alternative trading platform (developed by a US Securities and Exchange Commission-licensed subsidiary of tZERO).

The companies said that they’re planning to tokenize various other real estate properties in the coming years. These properties may include residential and student accommodations. Commercial and hospitality properties may also be tokenized in the future.

Business development consulting firm Megalodon will be serving as an advisor for these projects.