The Promote Podcast

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, w...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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. H...

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 a...

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...

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...

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 s...

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 an...

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...

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 wallop...

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...

In this special edition of the Promote Podcast, we dive into the singular career of Gary Barnett, the diamond trader who birthed Manhattan's Billionaires' Row and has consistently pulled off the most audacious high-wire acts in the real estate development game. We trace Barnett's origins, from his days as a diamond dealer in Belgium to his early days in New York real estate. We then dive into 2 of...

This week, we break down CrowdStreet playing the victim card in CRE's biggest-ever crowdfunding scam, perpetrated by Elie Schwartz. We riff on why CMBS is rearing its head in development deals, and how private equity reimagined life insurance as a perpetual source of capital for its private-credit bets. Plus: A Manhattan REIT's nepotism playbook.  Further reading:  https://ten31.beehiiv.com/p/crow...

This week, we discuss the rivalry between two mighty CRE brokerages, Eastdil Secured and Newmark, polar opposites in terms of culture and compensation model. We break down the bombshell lawsuit filed by Wells Fargo against JPMorgan, accusing the bank of financial chicanery in a mega-loan for the Chetrit Group. And we dive into Related's "heist" of Signature Bank's rent-stabilized loan portfolio, d...

This week on The Promote Podcast, we discuss cracks in the  property empire of the mighty Chetrit family, the merchant princes of New York real estate. We barrel down Powder Mountain to understand Netflix billionaire Reed Hastings' vision for a private ski haven, and we head to court to understand the mother of all Personal Guarantees in a case pitting scion Charles Cohen against the mighty debt f...

In the first episode of The Promote Podcast, we’ve got quite the docket: Bad Boy Guarantees, which are suddenly everywhere in CRE loan disputes with multifamily syndicators. We have a classic Manhattan phallic skyscraper battle, pitting titan against titan at Worldwide Plaza. And we look at the loss of mojo at mighty investment manager PIMCO, which is suddenly finding itself a laggard in the cutth...