The Promote Podcast
Your Commercial Real Estate Insider guide. From profiles of the biggest dealmakers to skyline-shaping transactions, we bring you the deals, breakdowns and war stories that move the market — for insiders, by insiders. From bad-boy guarantees to CMBS tranche warfare to syndicator sins, we cover it all. Each week, The Promote Podcast explores three of the most interesting and consequential stories in CRE, taking you well beyond the headlines and into the heart of the action. Hosted by the award-winning “Bard of CRE,” Hiten Samtani, founder of ten31 media and author of The Promote newsletter, along with no-BS institutional insider Will Krasne...
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Aman’s Dirty Laundry & Atlanta’s Phantom Megaproject
<p>This week, we have the this-is-too-weird-to-be-real tale of Forge Atlanta, a $3.8 billion megaproject with the most bizarro development team and history we’ve ever come across for a project of this scale. We know ground-up is smoke and mirrors even on a good day, but this is NEXT LEVEL. We then slip into linen trousers and head to the embattled sun-kissed shores of hospitality giant Aman, where the involvement of a mysterious international fugitive has caused all sorts of drama between Aman and key partners Cain International and PIF. And finally, a quick wardrobe change into earnings-call appropriate attire, as...
The Frum Fraudfather & Pied à Terre Purgatory
<p>This week, we finally tackle the story of Mark Nussbaum – the real estate attorney who became the nexus of the underground Orthodox CRE dealmaking world, facilitating hundreds of millions of dollars in deals and "show capital" before it all collapsed spectacularly in a wave of lawsuits, criminal fraud allegations, and even the suicide of a close collaborator, Mendy Steiner. Nussbaum's tale is a lens into the gray economy of the frum, where huge deals are often done on a handshake and under the aegis of a close-knit community. We also explore New York's new push for a pied-a-terre tax, wh...
Multifamily's Icarus: Alan Stalcup On the Record
<p>"Property management companies made my spreadsheets lie."<br> "We're gonna move the pref to a 17. Okay, okay, Tom. You're fucking me right now. You know that, right?"</p><p>This week, we break protocol to bring you a no-holds-barred interview with the poster child of the Sunbelt syndicator boom/bust, Alan Stalcup of GVA Management. Fueled by OPM, ZIRP, and an insatiable appetite for deals, Stalcup rode to the very top of the multifamily mountaintop, amassing 30,000 units in an acquisition spree for the ages. When rates turned, however, his firm became one of the highest-profile casualties, setting off a w...
Mass Alt-luence & There's Something About Rabsky
<p>This week, we chop it up on how God is Smiling Upon Alts: The federal govt has put forward much-anticipated regulation that creates a smorgasbord of investment options for retirees – with major implications for CRE. Next, we discuss how Manhattan office has broken the $300 a foot barrier – twice in a month! And finally, we bust out our Marley Slims and head to Brooklyn, where Orthodox dealmaker Simon Dushinsky's unorthodox playbook at the Rabsky Group is dominating the development landscape.</p><p>Plus, our "Punch List" rundown of the newsiest industry happenings: New York real estate succession with Andrew Chung comi...
From BSDs to DSTs & a Lakewood Lad's SNF Summit
<p>This week, we talk some takeaways from institutional real estate’s March Madness, the PREA conference – we’ve got the latest on what the industry's biggest allocators & fund managers are thinking about. Then, we SNF around that quirky asset class’ latest megadeal - Chuny Herzka’s $1.7B acquisition of the Centers healthcare portfolio. And finally, the changing of the guard at Camden Property Trust and BGO's takeover of Bell Partners are great excuses to discuss 2 of our favorite themes – AUM Gobbling & the private-leaning shift in the capital markets. </p><p>Plus, our "Punch List" rundown of the newsiest industry happenings: A...
Reubens on Rye and Apollo's Divine NNNtervention
<p>This week, we dive into the life & times of two quintessential Men with Deep Pockets: Billionaire British Brothers David & Simon Reuben have become some of the most aggressive buyers of trophy hotel and retail assets across the country – many of them in various states of undress & distress. We then look at Apollo’s new NNN partnership with Realty Income - an alliance that says much about how both AUM Gobblers and vanilla REITs are saying they’ve got what the other needs. And finally, failed mega-retailer JCPenney is now the scene of a bruising battle with a jilted would-be buyer...
Savills Gobbles Eastdil & Ray Washburne's Second Helpings
<p>This week, we dive deep into the M&A deal that's all anyone in institutional CRE can talk about. Savills – yes Savills! – is buying Eastdil Secured for $1.1B. That gives the Brits some serious capital-markets firepower stateside, but the devil lies in the details of the golden handcuffs. Next, we strap on our Lucchese boots and head to Dallas, where legendary dealmaker Ray Washburne has grand plans for a convention center. We discuss his HoF deal for Highland Park Village and how he's part of a dying breed of CRE cowboy we’re obsessed with.</p><p> Plus, our "Punch...
Wartime Allocators & Rialto's Double Agent
<p>This week, we have no choice but to tackle the topic of war. The conflict with Iran continues to roil markets and CRE's biggest allocators are in sixes and sevens. Fewer young people are going to college, which puts a big question mark on what's historically been one of the biggest drivers of real estate activity. And finally, with special servicers like Rialto continuing to play an outsized role in the market, some of their more exotic strategies are coming under a pretty harsh spotlight.</p><p>Sponsors:</p><p>1) This episode is supported by LoanBoss, the industry-leading debt...
Larry's White Whale & Jamestown Puckers Up
<p>In Ep. 50 (!), we trace Larry Silverstein's odyssey with the World Trade Center redevelopment, analyzing the new blockbuster Amex deal and the insurance, legal and financing battles that the developer has fought since 9/11. Next, we jump on our Zambonis and check out Jamestown’s push for a hockey team in Atlanta. And finally, Blackstone has a data center offering that it wants to share with the universe - of retail investors, that is. </p><p>We also do a "Punch List" rundown of the newsiest industry happenings: CRE players' outsized roles in the Iran attacks; Hudson Pacific's billion-dollar losing streak; th...
Times Square Trainwreck, Royal Renters and Blue Owl Bytes the Dust
<p>This week, we look at the tragicomedy that is TSX Broadway, the Maefield/L&L/Fortress Times Square megadevelopment that came undone and left hundreds of foreign investors in the lurch. We discuss how complex ground-up projects can lay waste to capital stacks, and what can happen between partners under pressure. We then look at the latest alarm bells ringing in the high-octane world of data center development – Blue Owl is staring down a multibillion-dollar void, and OpenAI’s marquee Stargate project has had major challenges powering up. Finally, we explore the rise of the rich renter – a trend that’s...
