Meet the real estate players staying afloat in the wreckage; how the broker commissions battle blew up ... and more

The best national real estate stories from The Real Deal. Dec 09, 2023 [View in Browser]( | [$1 for 1 Month]( [The Real Deal Logo](   [The National Logo](   In today’s newsletter, we look at the people who [best exemplified the world of real estate]( this year. Plus, SL Green [ends a dramatic chapter with a big win](, multifamily syndicators [play their own version of “Survivor,”]( and a timeline of the [battle for broker commissions](. These and more stories below.   [Meet the real estate players staying afloat in the wreckage]( This has been a year where simply surviving has been a challenge for many in the industry. For a handful of players, their stories of struggles and success exemplify the effort it takes to navigate the chaos. Take Robert Reffkin, CEO of Compass. Reffkin led the brokerage to its first cash-flow positive quarter in the company’s history. The achievement took some drastic measures, including cutting $500 million in expenses. But that didn’t signal the end of his battles. With the residential market struggling to recover and a host of earthshaking lawsuits looming over the entire industry, [Reffkin’s work is just beginning](. Then, there’s those who embrace the chaos, rather than fighting against it, like Jeff Krasnoff, head of special servicer Rialto. Krasnoff spent decades [learning how to operate in down markets](, and he’s leveraged that into an $11 billion business. Similarly, Adam Plotch built a business around the chaos, searching for [distressed co-ops to buy at foreclosure auctions](. It’s a high risk, high reward business, and Plotch and his competitors can’t get enough of it. Then, there are those whose biggest achievement was simply making it through the year, like CA Ventures CEO Tom Scott. CA Ventures have spent the year fighting lawsuits and broken deals. But [Scott insists he’s up for the fight](. Finally, it’s not just people who tell the stories in real estate. It’s also the buildings. In New York, [Fortis’ leaning tower of FiDi]( tells a story that began with an ambitious vision, but has devolved into mayhem and, perhaps, foreclosure.   Together with Masterworks Painting sold for $8 million, these investors profited [Capital Funding Group]( When the painting by master Claude Monet (you may have heard of him) was bought for $6.8 million and sold for a cool $8 million [just 631 days later](, investors in shares of the offering received their share of the net proceeds. All thanks to Masterworks, the award-winning platform for investing in blue-chip art. To date, every one of Masterworks’ 16 sales out of its portfolio has returned a profit to investors. With 3 recent sales, investors realized net annualized [returns of 17.6%, 21.5% and 35%](. How does it work? Simple, Masterworks files each offering with the SEC so that nearly anyone can invest in highly coveted artworks for just a fraction of the price of the entire piece. Shares of every offering are limited, but The National readers can [skip the waitlist with this exclusive link.]( Investing involves risk and past performance is not indicative of future returns. See important Reg A disclosures and aggregate advisory performance masterworks.com/cd   [I'm an image]( [Timeline: How the broker commissions battle blew up]( It’s been more than a month since the Sitzer/Burnett verdict rocked the residential industry. The ruling may have marked the end of the trial, but it signaled the beginning of a frenzy for the residential industry. Copycat lawsuits emerged. NAR vowed to fight the verdict. Executives at traditional brokerages downplayed concerns. As the industry continues to watch the results unfold, TRD charted all that has happened thus far. [I'm an image]( [Syndicators are sinking. Who’ll make it out alive?]( From the surface, multifamily syndicators are facing the same problems that so many industry players face. They took out floating-rate debt when interest rates were low, and now they’re paying for it, literally. But they have another problem, and it could accelerate their fall to the bottom. Case in point: syndicator GVA recently [defaulted on $125 million in loans]( tied to buildings in Austin. [I'm an image]( [SL Green closes 625 Madison Ave saga with $630M sale to Related]( New York’s commercial market has been starved of big-time deals this year, but SL Green has been the exception. This week, it closed a deal to sell 625 Madison to Related for $633 million. The deal is huge for the firm, and not just because of the price tag.   Advertisement   [I'm an image]( [Brand Studio Dynamic Build takes construction management to the next level]( [I'm an image]( [Ranking the top resi brokers in Palm Beach County]( Palm Beach County may lack the glitz and glamor of nearby Miami-Dade, but it makes up for it with a more subtle — read: private — luxury. The county managed reasonably well considering the challenges in the market, with multiple deals of over $100 million this year. The top-25 brokers in the area did $4.4 billion in on-market deals, and hundreds of millions more off-market. Check out TRD’s list of the top brokers in Palm Beach County. [I'm an image]( [Ranking Houston’s top resi brokers in 2023]( Houston has felt the pain that is dominating so much of the residential industry. The metro area has now seen 19 straight months of declining home sales. But, while the slow market pulled down most resi agents, it had little impact on those at the top. TRD ranked the top 20 agents in the Houston area. [I'm an image]( [Shangri-La Industries sued after defaulting on Project Homekey loan]( The state of California gave Shangri-La Industries over $120 million to convert hotels into housing for the homeless. Three years later, the projects are unfinished, and [Shangri-La is racking up defaults](. Now, one of the lenders is bringing in the lawyers. [I'm an image]( [Brand Studio Prospect Acquisitions Hunt for Deals]( [I'm an image]( [Naftali wins approval for 936-unit apartment project in Fort Lauderdale]( New York’s Naftali Group secured site plan approval for a residential project featuring two Fort Lauderdale towers totaling 936 units. As the project presses forward, at least one neighbor is unhappy with the decision. The owner of a neighboring hotel, the Dalmar, expresses concerns that the project, whose towers will be 45 and 47 stories tall, would obstruct views of the downtown skyline. [I'm an image]( [Inside Brookfield’s $190M refi of SF’s Stonestown Galleria]( Brookfield successfully secured a $190 million refinancing deal for its Stonestown Galleria mall in San Francisco. The move comes shortly after the company relinquished control of its Westfield mall in the same city and defaulted on various retail-backed loans around the country.     [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](