Cracks show in the multifamily market; NAR’s big, bad year ... and more

The best national real estate stories from The Real Deal. Oct 28, 2023 [View in Browser]( | [$1 for 1 Month]( [The Real Deal Logo](   [The National Logo](   In today’s newsletter, we look at Blackstone’s wild week, as the firm acknowledged some [significant losses]( shortly after [buying a massive industrial portfolio](. Plus, Anywhere [notches a big victory](, a South Florida player [launches an ambitious distressed fund](, and some of real estate’s [most powerful families]( [plan for succession](. These and more stories below.   [Blackstone buys in Chicago](, [surrenders in San Francisco](, and [writes off LA’s Playa District]( It’s been a busy week for Blackstone. The investment behemoth made a series of moves across the country, which shed some light on the current state of the real estate market. First, in LA, it [“completely” wrote off its Playa District office campus](. The firm paid $583 million for the 1.4-million-square-foot complex in 2016. It purchased the property as part of an office portfolio sold by Hines, which was liquidating its REIT at the time. Blackstone quickly offloaded the rest of the office properties in the portfolio. Blackstone has been bearish on office for a long time. Earlier this month, it sold a Washington, D.C., office building for $305 million. The asset class makes up just 2 percent of the firm’s real estate portfolio. But it held onto Playa District, and now it’s poised to pay the price. It’s not entirely clear what that will mean for the property, but a source close to the matter said the company still has no plans to sell. Blackstone isn’t only trying to get out of the office space. It’s also looking to [surrender four Club Quarters hotels]( after defaulting on $274 million of debt tied to properties in San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston. It’s looking at handing the hotels to its special servicer CWCapital in a possible deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure action. As bad as it looks to give up on almost $1 billion of distressed real estate, the losses are little more than a speed bump for a company of Blackstone’s size. The company took the opportunity to move into one of its favorite asset classes: industrial. It [bought four industrial properties in Chicago]( from CenterPoint for $137 million. The deal is a resounding double-down on the city. Blackstone had purchased at least $550 million worth of Chicago-area industrial properties from CenterPoint in 2020 and 2021.   Advertisement   [I'm an image]( Succession Stories: [Burger out as Silverstein’s CEO](; [Rudin succession plan takes shape]( A younger generation of leaders is emerging within the prestigious real estate families of New York. At Silverstein Properties, family heiress and former vice chairman Lisa Silverstein is in as CEO, with Marty Burger heading for the door. Meanwhile, developer Bill Rudin revealed plans to hand his firm to two of his children, Samantha Rudin Earls and Michael Rudin. [I'm an image]( [Highline launches $350M distressed commercial real estate fund]( In Miami, Highline Real Estate Capital launched a $350 million distressed commercial real estate fund. The firm’s principal told TRD that the fund will help address bid-ask spread that has helped grind the commercial sales market to a halt. [I'm an image]( [Anywhere reports second straight profitable quarter]( Anywhere is officially on a winning streak. The firm, which owns some of the country’s biggest residential brands, posted a third-quarter profit of $129 million, a jump of over $100 million of the previous quarter. But it’s not all good news. The firm’s revenue declined by 12 percent due to a drop in transactions.   Advertisement   [I'm an image]( [Brand Studio Luxury Kitchen Design and Inspiration at The Rockwell: A Conversation with Orlando Rodriguez of Whitehall]( [I'm an image]( [Brodsky to convert Flatiron Building to condos]( The Flatiron Building will be converted to high-end condos, the Brodsky Organization announced earlier this week. The move ends months of speculation about what would happen to the long-troubled but iconic New York building. [I'm an image]( [QuadReal accuses CA Ventures’ Tom Scott of self-dealing in River North]( CA Venture’s biggest backer, QuadReal, accused CEO Tom Scott of self-dealing at the company’s expense: allegedly, Scott pushed entities tied to his firm to sign leases at a building that Scott partially owned. The accusation is the latest in a long string of alleged misdeeds by Scott and CA Ventures this year. [I'm an image]( [432 Park Ave unit, once priced at $135M, sells for $65M]( A 79th-floor apartment on New York’s Billionaire’s Row sold for $65 million. The stratospheric price may have been a disappointment for the sellers, who initially listed it at $135 million. [I'm an image]( [CMBS piece of Fortis’ $223M for Colonnade sent to special servicing]( Fortis Property Group, a prominent New York developer, has run into trouble on some of its office holdings in Dallas. A $223 million pile of debt tied to three office buildings has been sent to special servicing. [I'm an image]( [Remote work is impacting more than the office market]( Everyone knows that the shift to remote work has ravaged office valuations. But, it’s also a drag on the residential market, especially in San Francisco.     [The Real Deal Logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( [YouTube]( [Manage Newsletters]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Subscribe]( | [Advertise]( The Real Deal 450 West 31st Street, New York, NY 10001 ©2023 TheRealDeal. All rights reserved. [View Online](