Hagai Feiner remembers his first office well. It was a room about the size of 120 square feet in Santa Monica, California. There wasn't a bathroom. A Pilates studio shared the same building. It was about as humble as humble can be. And Feiner loved it. “That environment was inspiring for me. I liked going there in the morning,” he says. And that's because he invested in the space and made it his own—IKEA furniture, espresso maker. These days, as president of the Easton-based boutique real estate company Platform Five, Feiner can afford to splurge a bit more on the square footage and décor. But his view on how to run a successful business hasn't changed: “It's how you treat people, and it's the spaces you put them in.”
Feiner's first career was in the Israeli military. Born and raised near Haifa in Israel, he describes himself as a hyperactive kid who got kicked out of middle school. The only high school that would accept him, he says, was the Israeli Air Force high school, a technical school that acts as a feeder to the military. “By the time I got to the Air Force, I was a trained F-16 mechanic,” says Feiner. And by the time he left the military at the age of 22, he had spent seven years in uniform. He immigrated to the United States shortly after and settled in the Los Angeles area, where he entertained the notion of studying architecture in college.
He even bought the books for the courses. His father, though, had other plans. “My dad insisted that I learn about IT and business because that would be, in his mind, the best path for me,” says Feiner.
In hindsight, it's obvious that dad was on to something. But, even as Feiner created and cultivated his own networking solutions company, Access Networks (founded in 2003), it seemed he was destined to return to that initial calling. “I was always drawn to designing spaces,” Feiner says. “That never faded away.” As Access Networks continued to grow, Feiner was tasked on more than one occasion with transforming humdrum office spaces into welcoming environments for his team. In 2014, having grown weary of playing tenant, they purchased and gutted a building in Valencia, California, which still serves as the company's West Coast headquarters today. “We went all out,” Feiner says.
Two years later, it became clear that Access Networks needed an East Coast office as well to combat the high cost of shipping everything from California to clients on the Eastern Seaboard. By then, Feiner had met and married Michelle Meyer, an Easton native. Feiner recalls visiting his future wife's hometown for the first time. Members of the Easton Ambassadors community group were at work in Centre Square, tidying up the place and greeting passersby. Feiner says he was struck by the city's blend of small-town charm with features and amenities associated with larger urban areas. “It's this crazy combo of so many different beautiful things, that I couldn't help but fall in love.”
And so, making that company expansion a reality in Easton was a no-brainer. Michelle tracked down a property that was for sale—225 Ferry Street. “There was no power, no AC, no lights. There was nothing,” Feiner recalls. “There was just a clean shell of a building.” Yes, it was the quintessential fixer-upper—a multi-level stone building constructed in 1847 that served first as a church and then a longtime dry-cleaning business that closed in 2007. It was also a honey of a litmus test for Feiner and his design aspirations. It took two years of renovations, but Feiner believes the goal was achieved: a modern, inviting workplace with nods to its historical roots and urban surroundings.
“It's this crazy combo of so many different beautiful things, that I couldn't help but fall in love.”
One problem—Access Networks team members needed a place to park, and the Ferry Street property didn't offer many options. An additional property was purchased on Sitgreaves Street that provided a parking lot, but it also came with a four-unit apartment building. And that's how Feiner got in on the property management business that became Platform Five, officially founded in 2021.
Platform Five became Feiner's sole focus after he struck a deal with Access Networks' biggest competitor to buy the company, a sale that was completed in May of last year. Feiner says it was a crossroads kind of moment for him: “What does Hagai do now?” What Hagai did was focus on broadening Platform Five's property portfolio. But the role of landlord takes precedence above all others. “We're really aggressive when it comes to service and taking care of business and answering the phone,” Feiner says of his team. “We're not the cheapest. But we provide amazing service.” According to Feiner, the company is built on three pillars: integrity, service and community. “We want to do what we say we're going to do. We want to provide excellent service, and we want to be part of the community and contribute to the community we operate in.” For that reason, Platform Five offers tenants amenities they may not find in other rental properties: free Wi-Fi, a community garden, security cameras and even free co-working space at its Northampton Street office in Easton's West Ward.
Although Feiner remains based in California with Michelle and their three daughters (he also has two sons from a previous marriage), he's a frequent flier of red-eye flights that bring him to the East Coast and to Easton to keep him in touch with his team. Platform Five has several properties under development, including the former Riegel family mansion on Spring Garden Street, which is being turned into an apartment building; and 8 Centre Square, the former Easton Dollar Savings and Trust building, a landmark in the city.
Feiner has another idea that's percolating as well, one that will take a bit more legwork than most renovation projects. He's hoping to open a technical school right next door to Platform Five's office. The idea, he says, came to him a few years ago, during one of his visits to Easton after purchasing the property on Ferry Street. Feiner began to spend more time in the city, and it became clear to him that some residents were struggling; according to 2020 census data, more than 16 percent of Easton residents live below the poverty line. Feiner says the school would help others learn the secrets of his success—how he molded Access Networks into a true powerhouse in the networking world. It would also focus on the audio/video trades, as well as soft skills: client services, how to become a productive team member, personal finance, etc. “Tech alone will not be enough to make one successful,” says Feiner.
It's important to him that the school be in the West Ward because it's those residents whom Feiner is hoping to reach. “All you have to do is commit to it and then cross the street and show up,” he says. He understands that some people might think high-level success is impractical and out of reach. But his message to them, he says, is that everyone has to start somewhere. And he should know—his first job in the United States was a day laborer who made five dollars an hour.
Feiner realizes there are many more details to be ironed out—funding, administrators, etc.—but believes having a physical space ready and waiting for students eliminates one of the biggest obstacles to the school's opening. He's talking to community partners about the other issues and says the answers will come in due time. “We're going to figure it out,” Feiner says. “At least we're doing something about it.”
Published as "Insight" in the February 2023 edition of Lehigh Valley Style magazine.
