President Trump has made it easier for countries that are close to Russia and China to build ties with the United States. Those countries are embracing the opportunity.

Cain International and OKO Group are looking to cash in again on 830 Brickell.

Real estate giant Blackstone has been quietly unloading most of its senior housing properties after pandemic-era hurdles and high interest rates have led to severe losses.
The firm began selling off its senior housing portfolio, which consists of roughly 9,000 senior housing units, in 2022 through a series of one-off transactions, The Wall Street Journal first reported.
So far, Blackstone has sold roughly 70 of the 90 properties in its senior housing portfolio, and it is in talks to sell the remaining properties. The firm has lost roughly $600M on these sales.
Blackstone made a massive investment in the sector in 2016, grabbing a 64-property portfolio from…

Barry Sternlicht is worried that Zohran Mamdani’s tenure as mayor could push New Yorkers out of the city — starting with his own employees.
“We’ll see how this works, but the team in New York is for the first time saying maybe we should leave,” Sternlicht, the billionaire CEO of Starwood, warned in an interview with CNBC this week.

The maker of Argus, a prolific piece of software in commercial real estate, concluded a review of strategic alternatives this week and replaced its CEO. 

Flagstar Bank is reducing its exposure to New York City multifamily properties. In the process, it’s reducing its exposure to Steve Croman, too. Flagstar sold notes with an original principal of $247 million to an affiliate of Bellwether Asset Management, PincusCo reported. The deal includes 38 loans tied to 49 of Croman’s properties, accounting for about 680 total units. All of the debt was originated by Flagstar’s predecessor, New York Community Bank, between 2015 and 2020. Properties are in a wide array of Manhattan neighborhoods, including the West Village, Murray Hill, Gramercy, Kips Bay, East Village and Alphabet City. Centennial […]

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A house of God is taking on new life.  Timber Equities plans to put up two 14-story residential buildings at 335 and 345 West 25th Street in Chelsea, according to plans filed with the city. The developer purchased the former site of the St. Columba campus in August for $48.25 million.   The towers are slated to hold 197 rental units — 98 in one and 99 in the other — and each will span roughly 100,000 gross square feet, according to Timber Equities principal Mitch Perle. The development will make use of the city’s 485x tax abatement and universal affordability […]

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A leading German automotive supplier said it was again allowed to ship semiconductors that Beijing had barred for export.

In the spring of last year, Patrick Carroll posted a video on his Instagram account that showed him on his boat clutching a shotgun, sporting a red “Make America Great Again” hat and a white towel draped over his shoulders. Carroll fired off a couple of rounds that he later claimed were blanks after police officers showed up at his house following calls from his neighbors.  Carroll deleted the video, but the clip generated a wave of controversy for the multifamily investor who sold his namesake firm to RMR Group for $80 million in 2023. Since the sale, Caroll had […]

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Long considered a linear slog, developing affordable housing just became a little more choose-your-own-adventure.  Builders of a 100 percent, publicly-funded project can seek approval from the Board of Standards and Appeals, rather than going through the city’s land use review process.  A rezoning that would add 30 percent more residential space in a medium-density district can go through a speedier review that bypasses the City Council.   And the prospect of facing off with a City Council member who is sure to reject a project doesn’t automatically mean a developer should abandon all hope.   The passage this week of three housing […]

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