Meridian Layoffs, Silverstein Capital Says Aloha to $528M Honolulu Deal and Moody's Analytics' Chief Economist Discusses Fed on CO Podcast

This week, the nonperforming loan on Soho Properties’ luxury condo tower at 45 Park Place in Tribeca is being marketed for sale; billionaires Vlad Doronin and Len Blavatnik score a $243M loan for Aman in Miami Beach; and we bring you the latest on the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council (CREFC) conference in Miami. This week, economic distress hit Meridian Capital Group with the brokerage firm laying off 5 percent of its staff; Silverstein Capital supplies a $528 million construction loan on Honolulu mixed-use project; and Moody's Analytics' Tom LaSalvia joins Commercial Observer podcast to break down next Federal Reserve meeting. Meridian Lays Off 5 Percent of Its Staff Meridian Capital Group laid off “approximately 5 percent” of its staff on Wednesday, including its senior managing director of public relations, according to a source. [Read More](   Top Deals Of The Week   - Silverstein Capital Partners Provides [$528M]( Construction Loan for Honolulu Towers - SL Green Lands [$500M Refi]( for 919 Third Avenue - BMO Lead $280M [Acquisition Loan]( on Jersey City Office Buy - Stonehenge NYC [Lands]( $80M for UES Apartment Building Purchase - Arden Group Lands [$150M]( Loan to Build Inwood Residential Building - US Bank Leads $32M Financing for [Miami Education Center](     Guest Column   Lenders, Beware: Damages Provisions May Be Declared an Unlawful Penalty A lender seeking to exercise remedies should carefully look at any remedy provisions within their loan documents, write Alex Grigorians, the Los Angeles-based chair of Hanson Bridgett’s Real Estate Finance practice, and Max Martinez, an associate based in Hanson Bridgett’s San Francisco office. [Read More](   People Moves   Madison International Hires Mark Schein as COO, General Counsel Madison International Realty has hired Mark Schein from Värde Partners to be its new chief operating officer and general counsel. [Read More](   Other Stories From This Week   Podcast: Fed’s Impact on Commercial Real Estate and the Future of Office With Moody’s Analytics’ Tom LaSalvia In our latest Commercial Observer podcast, Tom LaSalvia, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics, joins Andrew Coen, finance reporter at CO, to discuss the impact of rising interest rates on commercial real estate and what the industry is looking for from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in the central bank’s next meeting on May 2. [Read More]( CBRE Sees Revenue Drops and Cash Flow Declines in First Quarter Executives at CBRE put a positive spin on disappointing first-quarter financial results Thursday morning, arguing during an earnings call that the firm exceeded expectations in a challenging economic environment despite the brokerage having an annual decline in net revenue, cash flow and earnings per share. [Read More]( Brookfield’s Gas Company Tower Moves to Receivership After Default The Gas Company Tower, one of Brookfield’s major properties in Downtown Los Angeles, was put into receivership more than a month after Brookfield defaulted on a loan tied to it. [Read More]( New Blackstone Fund Ready to Capitalize on CRE Market Dislocation On the heels of raising money for the $30.4 billion global real estate fund Blackstone Real Estate Partners X (BREP X), the property giant is moving full steam ahead ready to seize opportunities in a choppy market. [Read More]( LA’s Redcar Secures $418M for Office Conversion Fund Redcar Fund Management announced it has closed on $418 million in equity commitments, which will be used to expand its warehouse-to-office conversion strategy in Los Angeles and into Texas. [Read More]( Velocis Closes Third Secondary Fund by Raising $170 Million Velocis, a private equity real estate fund, blew past its third-round fundraising goal by raising $170 million in capital commitments [Read More]( CMBS Loan Maturity Defaults, Concerns on the Rise The industry continues to publicly back New York's governor and New York City's mayor as each tackles issues such as affordable housing and return to office. [Read More]( CMBS Realized Losses Dip in March as Loan Workouts Continue The oft-publicized wall of CMBS maturities is at the forefront of concerns for the commercial real estate industry. [Read More](     What We're Reading This Week   - Commercial real estate woes run [deeper]( than in past downturns [WSJ] - [Hybrid work]( Is getting a little better for women [Bloomberg] - Mortgage demand [rebounds](, even as interest rates hit the highest level in over a month [CNBC.com]   --------------------------------------------------------------- [View in Browser]( | [Advertise]( | [Forward to a Friend]( [Manage your email preferences or unsubscribe]( [Commercial Observer]( © Copyright 2023 [Observer Media]( 1 Whitehall Street, Floor 7, New York, NY 10004 This newsletter was published 04/27/2023