🗞️ Sam Zell's dealmaking legacy, multifamily mourns First Republic, and more | Inside the June 2023 Issue

Inside the latest issue of The Real Deal JUNE 2023 ISSUE [Magazine Cover Image]( EDITOR'S NOTE Real estate is setting itself up for some real-life “Succession” sequels. As more property moguls from the Baby Boomer generation (or the Silent Generation before it) step down, questions about who will inherit their thrones loom large. Some transitions have been surprisingly drama free — and not necessarily about the kids. Our cover story this month focuses on [the legacy of Sam Zell](, the contrarian billionaire investor who died last month at 81. Zell was as brash as Logan Roy — known for his audacious deals and irreverent persona, which included his love of motorcycles. He was a pioneer in taking real estate companies public through REITs, championing the sector and contributing to its growth into a trillion-dollar business. And he earned the nickname “the grave dancer” for his love of snapping up distressed deals. Given all that, the successors at his two biggest REITs — longtime execs from outside his family — were named the day after he died, with little fanfare. Stock prices budged only slightly. Sometimes Frank and Gerri end up with the top job. The Dursts, the Tishmans, the Rudins, the Roses, the Zeckendorfs, the Fishers, the LeFraks — throw a dart in New York City and you’ll hit a building owned by a family empire. If you take a look at recent headlines, you can spot the changing of the guard, and how these transitions seem to be coming more frequently. The industry lost [John Cushman III]( and [Steven Fisher]( last month, both scions of leading real estate families. And billionaire Richard LeFrak, who at 77 years old is facing Parkison’s Disease, announced at a Jersey City event that he is [passing the baton]( at his family firm. As if to demonstrate that real estate is often a multigenerational affair, LeFrak initially estimated that his massive development project in Jersey City’s Newport area would take two decades. Now, with nearly two dozen sites left to develop, he thinks it will take another 50 years. His sons, who will take over the company, estimate as much as 60. That’s a way longer time horizon than figuring out what happens to ATN after a Waystar Royco-GoJo merger. One person less preoccupied with succession is [Ari Rastegar](, the Texas developer who says he is going to live forever. In this month’s Closing interview, Rastegar, who has $1 billion of projects in the pipeline including a 318-acre “miniature society” outside Austin, says he spends much of his free time focusing on longevity. He has blood drawn every 60 to 90 days, which allows his doctor to synthesize an ideal blend of the more than 100 supplements he takes each morning. Immortality would definitely lessen the drama over who’s next in line. [See the interview here](. And check out our recap of our [big NYC event]( last month. The highlight was a [sit-down interview]( with real estate scion Stefan Soloviev, who inherited a billion-dollar portfolio from his father but intends to outdo him by building, of all things, a grain empire in the Midwest. (Hello, Hollywood! There are some great plot lines just sitting here for you.) Elsewhere in the issue, we have rankings of the top residential brokerages in [Miami](, [Los Angeles]( and [San Francisco](. It’s now been more than a decade since Compass began upending (and upsetting) the industry. Initially seen as a pretender to the throne, it now reigns supreme as the top-selling brokerage in all three of those markets. [Enjoy the issue](. Editor's Note Stuart Elliott Editor-in-Chief & CEO   If you’re interested in receiving future magazine issues in print, sign up for our [annual subscription](. Save $20 OFF your first year with promo code: MAG20 [SUBSCRIBE NOW](   [Zell’s angels: How the brash tycoon changed the real estate game forever]( In the final analysis of Sam Zell, who died in May aged 81, what it comes down to is fun. There are a handful of figures in the real estate pantheon who made more money. Others who left behind a bigger impact on their local skylines, or amassed more political power. But no one — and in all our conversations and accounts of fellow investors, developers and industry leaders, this was unanimous — had more fun. Read our special report on how Zell changed the real estate industry forever – and had a blast doing it. [READ MORE](   [Image]( [With dealmaking in the dumps, CRE brokers adjust]( The market slowdown has many brokers trying to figure out where the next commission check will come from. The cliché about brokerage, after all, is it’s an “eat-what-you-kill business,” and the prey seems to be getting scarcer. [Image]( [Multifamily players mourn for First Republic]( Prior to its collapse, First Republic was the nation’s fourth-largest multifamily lender, according to RealPage, active in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York City and Boston. But its heart — and the heart of its lending business — was in California. With the collapse of one of the West Coast’s most popular real estate lenders, multifamily players saw their worlds capsize. [Image]( [Homebuilding startup Cover: Big dreams, small realities]( When Alexis Rivas, co-founder and CEO of homebuilding startup Cover, talks about his firm on social media, he’s liable to place it in exalted company. Cover is the Tesla of homebuilding, the Apple of homes, and Rivas is Henry Ford, or maybe Ray and Charles Eames. His vision: build high-end, thoughtfully designed, panelized homes, fabricating and assembling Lego-like pieces in a factory. [Image]( [No-buy zone: Florida’s ban on some foreign buyers has industry scrambling for response]( Gov. Ron DeSantis’ crackdown on foreign investment is having ripple effects on Florida real estate. Senate Bill 264 bans nearly all purchases by Chinese nationals and China-based companies. The effect that the legislation has on how South Florida is perceived to foreign investors could be greater than the effect it will have on actual real estate sales. [Image]( [Kings of the hills: LA’s top brokerages by sales volume]( From Malibu to Long Beach — and virtually everywhere in between — there’s no question as to which brokerage rules Los Angeles County. National giant Compass, which arrived on the West Coast less than a decade ago, brokered more than $18 billion worth of home sales in the nation’s most populous county over the past year — almost triple the output of its closest rival.   [THE CLOSING]( INTERVIEWS WITH REAL ESTATE TITANTS   [Image]( The Austin developer on finding the divine in design and his quest to live forever As a child, Ari Rastegar, the developer and founder of Rastegar Property Company would visit the library almost weekly with his father, sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the replica Oval Office on the 10th floor. His ambitions aren’t political, at least not yet, but he has been taking steps to evolve beyond just brick and mortar. [Read full story here →]( [FULL ISSUE HERE]( [More Newsletters]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Subscribe]( The Real Deal 450 West 31st Street, New York, NY 10001 ©2023 TheRealDeal. All rights reserved. [View Online](