Curbed.com, the fun, well-written and insightful Website about local real estate culture and deals, has gotten $1.5 million in new financing from Gawker Media, individuals associated with Gawker, and others, such as Brad Inman. The site is the brainchild of publisher Lockhart Steele, who used to run editorial for Gawker, a blogger network.
According to an article in today’s New York Times, the money will be used to expand beyond its existing sites in New York, San Francisco and LA, and add new staff members. The article quotes Steele as saying that traffic is growing 10 percent a month, and is attracting both local advertisers and national advertisers, such as American Express and Volkswagen. Steele indicates that the national advertisers are attracted mostly to the site’s urban context.