Richard Joseph Spinelli

Cofounder, Sandhills Real Estate · Bronx, New York

Richard Joseph Spinelli is the cofounder of Sandhills Real Estate, a student housing owner and operator that buys, renovates and manages off campus housing around Fordham University's Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. He cofounded the firm in 2020, and since 2022 Sandhills has concentrated its acquisitions and renovations around the university.

The portfolio is 13 student housing assets and 27 units housing more than 100 students, concentrated in Belmont, the Bronx neighborhood known as Little Italy and home to Arthur Avenue. The properties sit on and around Belmont Avenue, Lorillard Place and Bathgate Avenue, and are mostly three, four and five bedroom apartments and townhouses leased to groups of Fordham students.

The company is vertically integrated, handling purchasing, leasing and management day to day, and its leasing and branding run through its in house student leasing brand, Live Off the Hill. Spinelli operates with a resident first mindset, a responsive housing experience that anticipates what student residents need, built on a maintenance radius a person can walk.

On August 11, 2026, Fordham Athletics named Sandhills Real Estate its Exclusive Off Campus Housing Partner and the first sport specific jersey patch sponsor of Fordham Baseball and Fordham Men's Tennis, with the patch appearing on uniforms in the 2026 to 2027 academic year. Sandhills also hosts networking events, gives feedback on student resumes and speaks at student led clubs.

He earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Boston College in 2018. Sandhills continues to buy within a few blocks of Rose Hill, with the stated goal of becoming the largest owner operator in Fordham's off campus housing market.

He writes about student housing operations on Medium and at his blog. His profile is on Muck Rack.