In a world awash with capital, it’s the same names who are vacuuming up increasing shares of it: We dive into Blackstone alpha cub Chad Pike's take-private megadeal for industrial REIT Plymouth, his most significant deal since being shunted to the BX sidelines. We then discuss how major US players such as Hines and Brookfield are now heading to the Gulf, not just to raise capital for US projects, but to build out those lucrative skylines. And finally, buying leftovers has never been sexier - CRE...
Nov 05, 2025•32 min•Ep. 35
This week, we look at explosive allegations of mortgage fraud that have caught up 2 prominent regional banks. Zions and Western Alliance woes stemming from shenanigans at a California CRE investor once again show how vital regional banks are to the industry’s capital markets – and how distress in that space can ruin the whole party. Next, we look at Walmart’s intriguing new playbook – the retail behemoth is on a mall shopping spree. And finally, there’s a LITERAL crackdown allegedly happening at...
Oct 29, 2025•31 min•Ep. 34
This week, we have a special episode diving deep into the skyscraper that encapsulates our political and financial age: 666 Fifth Avenue. Now known as 660 Fifth Avenue , this tower brings together a dizzying array of characters – from Jared and Charlie Kushner to the former finance minister of Qatar and an imprisoned Chinese mogul – and elements such as cocky scions, insane appraisals, overheated CMBS, hardball pref, media wars, White House wildcards, and so much more. We trace the history of th...
Oct 22, 2025•37 min•Ep. 33
This week, we asked the taboo question about New York office to residential conversions . Do the numbers work? There's been enough distress from some of the OGs, including Nathan Berman , that it warrants that question amid all the private-credit billions flowing into the space. We then look at how a single man, Zara founder Amancio Ortega , can drive pricing across product types and markets – even though his buys may not really be pegged on real-world investment metrics. And finally, we go a li...
Oct 15, 2025•31 min•Ep. 32
This week, we discuss an intriguing deal in the data-center space – TeraWulf is raising $3B in debt to build data centers for Google , in an intertwined transaction that's becoming a prototype for getting these massive developments going. We dive into the maverick mogul behind Terawulf, Paul Prager , who's using his heft to turn Maryland's Eastern Shore into the new Hamptons. We then take stock of the carnage in San Francisco's multifamily market , where the biggest players are winning and losin...
Oct 08, 2025•32 min•Ep. 31
This week, we dive into Brookfield's $10B mega-acquisition of manufactured-home player YES! Communities , and how it's emblematic of the next frontier of institutional CRE investing – we chop it up on the liquid debt markets for affordable housing, putting money to work at scale and Stockbridge's FAT upcoming promote. We then examine RXR's OPM masterclass in Manhattan with Gemini, a $3.5B office vehicle that is making splashy buys and generating even splashier fees in the process. We then visit ...
Oct 01, 2025•34 min•Ep. 30
This week, we take a closer look at one of the biggest winners from Nvidia's Silicon Valley real estate rampage: The Sobrato Organization amassed a 12M sf portfolio through a combination of guts, vision and HEAVY leverage, and are now reaping the rewards as Nvidia goes shopping. We then look at how some big players, including Toll Brothers , are bowing out of multifamily development , and explore who's stepping into the void. Finally, with his adventures on the high seas on pause, Harry Macklowe...
Sep 25, 2025•32 min•Ep. 29
Like a lot of older guys, Steve Ross moved to Florida. Unlike them, however, the billionaire real estate developer didn't go there to retire, but instead to take on an even more audacious skyline-shaping challenge: West Palm Beach . This week, we trace Ross' whirlwind of big-ticket dealmaking down south that combines real estate, private equity, education, sport, and glamour – much to take away for the aspiring city shaper. We then look at Gary Barnett's latest financing coup: a $1.2B pref commi...
Sep 17, 2025•32 min•Ep. 28
This week, it's Tupac vs Biggie, commercial real estate edition: We dive into a deal on each coast that brings together all the things that we think make CRE the greatest show on earth. Rapacious lenders, billion-dollar-dreams, broken capital stacks & creative financing. In New York, we look at the saga of 172 Madison Avenue, Yitzchak Tessler's moonshot condo project that ended in multiple bankruptcies. And in Beverly Hills, we look at the star-studded history of the One Beverly Hills site, ...
Sep 10, 2025•38 min•Ep. 27
This week, we’re talking the Mormon real estate playbook – how the LDS church built a serious property portfolio and also run it like serious people. We then discuss syndicator Grant Cardone ’s intricate plan to rescue a distressed Boca rental – with a Bitcoin twist. We also chop it up on how fund managers' courtship of retail money is leading to pushback from big institutional LPs. Want to reach our audience of top CRE decision-makers? Reach out to partnerships@thepromote.com Further reading: h...
Sep 03, 2025•27 min•Ep. 26
We break down the puzzling $2.7B take-private of Soho House – what do Apollo, MCR, Ron Burkle and Ashton Kutcher think they can pull off by revitalizing the famed member's club? The discussion touches on everything from select-service hotels to Tyler Morse's start as "Barry's guy" to the perils of the hospitality business. We then break down the capital stacks on two closely watched Manhattan megadeals: RXR' s purchase of 590 Madison Avenue and Miki Naftali's ultra-luxury condo play at 800 Fifth...
Aug 27, 2025•33 min•Ep. 25
We dive into the singular life and multiple dramas of real estate impresario Michael Shvo , the luxury resi broker turned developer who went on one of the most epic commercial real estate buying sprees in the 2020s. Backed by German pension money, Shvo snapped up icons such as the Transamerica Pyramid in SF, Big Red in Chicago, and the sites of boutique ultra-luxury condo projects across gateway markets. Many of those deals are now in big trouble, and Shvo is tussling with his key equity partner...
Aug 20, 2025•32 min•Ep. 24
This week, we break down the outsized life & career of seminal Atlanta developer Tom Cousins: skyline-shaper, quail hunter, Ted Turner lender, Buffett buddy – an honest-to-goodness Man in Full. We trace his origins from selling tract homes to setting the stage for the modern Atlanta skyline, and examine his broader cultural impact on real estate. We then dive into the zany case of the late CRE mogul Jacob Chetrit, who left behind just $500K in cash but $800M in CRE stakes – that estate is no...
Aug 13, 2025•28 min•Ep. 23
This week, we dive into how private credit mega-managers such as Blackstone , KKR & Blue Owl have been setting the stage for a potentially huge new pool of capital: 401(k)s . With the Trump administration’s eagerness to push more retirement savings into PE, players have been forming alliances with the biggest 401(k) managers in a move that could mean a far bigger CRE private-credit war chest. We then dive into the singular life and career of Donald Soffer , the visionary behind Aventura and ...
Aug 06, 2025•30 min•Ep. 22
In this special episode of The Promote Podcast, we dive deep into Related Companies' de-risking playbook at its Hudson Yards megaproject. How they're pulling off a $25 billion, 18 million-square-foot undertaking in New York City while continuously taking chips off the table through creative financing structures, global capital sources, equity partners and tax breaks. We look at how Steve Ross spent 4 decades shoring up Related's balance sheet to take huge swings, and what other CRE hopefuls can ...
Jul 30, 2025•28 min•Ep. 21
This week, we discuss JPMorgan's age of empires, its play for the Roosevelt Hotel as part of a potentially 7 million square foot campus in the heart of New York. We dive into why 2 multifamily giants, Cortland and Bell Partners, are shopping for suitors and explore the capital landscape for large apartment owners. Finally, we do a quick-and-dirty breakdown of the Starwood-Fundamental $2.2B deal, and why a NNN lease isn't always mailbox money. Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Vesto , which g...
Jul 23, 2025•33 min•Ep. 20
This week, we discuss the great changing of the guard at real estate dynasties – the 2nd and 3rd gens are taking the helm of some of the industry's most prominent families and are doing their best to position themselves as serious people. We then head west for some California love – CEQA, the environmental law that was turned into a tool to torpedo new developments, has been gutted. And finally, we chronicle the taking of 625 Madison Ave, an office tower that became a battleground for some of Ne...
Jul 16, 2025•34 min•Ep. 19
We break down CRE's fear & loathing stemming from Zohran Mamdani’s improbable win in the New York City mayoral primary. Players have pulled the plug on deals and are devising a "retreat & resist" strategy. We then dive into the mechanics of a particularly juicy offshore hotel transaction – Hyatt is selling Playa Properties in a $2 billion asset-light megadeal. And finally, we head back to New York: a coveted casino license is up for grabs, and developers are doing whatever they can to sc...
Jul 09, 2025•28 min•Ep. 18
This week, we dive into Carlyle's attempt to stitch together an empire of Brooklyn walk-ups and how it illustrates the REPE giant's playbook. We then examine mortgage fraudster Barry Drillman' s get-out-of-jail-free card, a feat of game theory and cooperation with the feds. We hit the real estate battlefields in the war between luxury leaders LVMH and Kering , looking at their race to snap up the world's most coveted corners (and hotel chains). Finally, we head north to the TSX to riff on Meye r...
Jul 02, 2025•31 min•Ep. 17
This week, data center pioneer and DigitalBridge CEO Marc Ganzi walks Will & Hiten through 2 defining transactions in the space: The $11B take-private of Switch, and the "metaphorical lockbox" financing for cloud-computing player CoreWeave, one of the largest-ever private debt financings. Ganzi gives us an insider look at the numbers, real estate intricacies and capital markets maneuvers that went into both deals – this is "how the sausage gets made" stuff in one of the fastest-growing and l...
Jun 25, 2025•33 min•Ep. 16
This week, Will & Hiten dive deep into the movement of the moment: AUM gobbling ™️ We break down the Sixth Street/L+M transaction, and how allocator preferences are driving this wave of M&A in commercial real estate. We then look at restaurateur Greg Flynn’s 🌮 basis bets in the SF CRE market – a man w/ deep pockets ™️ taking advantage of the bargains by the Bay. And finally, we tackle the financialization of the American Dream – i.e. a new lender-assisted EB-5 vehicle . Favors: 1) Leave...
Jun 18, 2025•27 min•Ep. 15
This week, Hiten & Will are joined by Benefit Street Partners' Michael Comparato, who gives us an insider's look into the wild world of lending to multifamily syndicators. Comparato provides unvarnished, behind-the-scenes details on the conversations, numbers and battles that define lending in such a high-octane space – it's a level of candor and color that we rarely see from active lenders. He then walks us through BSP's headline-grabbing $425M acquisition of agency lender NewPoint, and the...
Jun 11, 2025•29 min•Ep. 14
This week, we break down two asset classes on extreme ends of the fortune spectrum: The first, NYC rent-stabilized multifamily, which is facing a tidal wave of distress, with name-brand sponsors battling with lenders and very few investors willing to take the plunge. The second, massive data centers, which global investors cannot seem to stop throwing money at. We dive deep into both the carnage and opportunity in both sectors, as well as look at the players at the center of both. We tackle Pinn...
Jun 04, 2025•33 min•Ep. 13
This week, we dive deep into one of the most extraordinary tax loopholes that the CRE market has ever witnessed: the Traveling HFC, a Texas property-tax absolving vehicle that's been adopted en masse by distressed syndicators, agency lenders and a cottage industry of consultants, nonprofits and attorneys. The most punitive version of a bill designed to torpedo it flew through the Texas Senate, and now the industry is grappling with a very rude and abrupt end to a too-good-to-be-true party. We're...
May 28, 2025•31 min•Ep. 12
This week, we break down the sensational allegations made by the feds against former New York golden boy developer Josh Schuster – and why they are emblematic of the market. We dive into a big judgment over Personal Guarantees brought against multifamily mad lads Sean Kia and Ryan Andrade of Tides Equities – the case has important implications for syndicators. And we have a reprieve of sort on the tariffs- will it be enough to restore normalcy to the CRE markets? Sponsor: This episode is sponsor...
May 21, 2025•28 min•Ep. 11
This week, we dive into the tangled web of Jona Rechnitz, a New York real estate developer who was caught up in a massive NYPD corruption scandal before heading to LA and reinventing himself as a diamond dealer and Floyd Mayweather whisperer. Rechnitz is the archetype of a netherworld character who somehow keeps popping up in real estate: the hustler with the incredible Rolodex and fuzzy origin story, someone who manages to whip up controversy whereever he goes but keeps escaping any real conseq...
May 14, 2025•33 min•Ep. 10
This week, Northwind Group's Ran Eliasaf, one of the most active private lenders in New York real estate, gives us an inside look at the debt game – the returns, the structures and the nuances of funding some of the city's most high-profile projects. He walks us through the capital stack of the supertall condo tower at 125 Greenwich in particular, building on our discussion from last week. Will and Hiten also chop it up on Adam Neumann's latest venture, Flow, a multifamily operator that is bleed...
May 07, 2025•27 min•Ep. 9
This week, we chat about a fascinating hospitality deal, Newbond swooping in to buy almost 9% of San Francisco's hotel stock in one megadeal. It’s one of the city's biggest hospitality real estate plays in a decade. We look at the aftermath of Carl Icahn's failed big short on malls, and his vendetta against special servicer Rialto. We then dive into a supertall capital stack – 125 Greenwich Street has seen New York's most famous and infamous names pile in. A big thank you to our sponsor for this...
Apr 30, 2025•26 min•Ep. 8
This week, The Promote dives into the proliferation of preferred-equity deals in the CRE market – why are they suddenly everywhere, and what investors need to think about before doing them. We then dive into Meridian Capital Group being cleared for business by Fannie Mae, ending a year-plus period on the ice with the agency. Where does the brokerage go from here? And finally, we look at the walloping the tariffs have given the formerly exuberant CMBS market.
Apr 23, 2025•27 min•Ep. 7
This week, we discuss the fear & loathing set off in the CRE markets by the Trump tariffs, looking at the impact both on fund managers and on developers – construction costs are "completely a swag" as co-host Will puts it. We then look at Miki Naftali's megabet on a Fifth Avenue condo site where he believes he can set a new high-water mark – $11,000 per square foot – on pricing. We touch upon Floyd Mayweather's shady Upper Manhattan deal, and finally, we chop it up on Starwood's latest land ...
Apr 16, 2025•27 min•Ep. 6
