Happy Monday All!

The FDIC selects Blackstone and Related-backed bids as winners for the two Signature loan portfolios. Lennar puts up a massive portfolio for sale. And the sun belt is now to be known as the Battery Belt. Busy week for homebuilder and inflation data. Citi employees get to work from home, potentially permanently, and for free. Various U.S. ports get funding to upgrade infrastructure. And Anheuser-Busch could be the next company to be impacted by strikes.

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Merch Spotlight

Capital Markets

Market News

• PCE, Homebuilder Data, Consumer Sentiment All Due this Week

  Lots of new data this week following last week’s Fed announcement. All eyes will be on the PCE index to confirm a falling inflation trends

  • Monday: Homebuilder confidence index (December)

  • Tuesday: Housing starts and Building permits (November)

  • Wednesday: Existing home sales (November)

  • Thursday: Initial jobless claims (Week of Dec. 16), Gross domestic product revision (Third quarter). Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey (December), U.S. leading economic indicators (November)

  • Friday: Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index (November), Durable goods orders (November), New home sales (November), Consumer sentiment (December)

• U.S. Ports Receiving Grants for Multimillion Dollar Cargo Upgrades

  The grants are part of the current administration’s $21bn push to modernize port infrastructure in the U.S. Ports in Baltimore, Tacoma, Long Beach, and Wilmington will each receive roughly $50mm in grants to improve, expand, or repair infrastructure. The full list of grants can be found here

• Citi Employees Told They Can Work Remote Through End of Year

  Citigroup told most of its 240,000 employees they can work remotely the final two weeks of December. Despite the news, employees are not celebrating as CEO Jane Fraser leads a reorganization of the bank, leading some to express concern over whether their jobs will still exist next year. Citi has said Fraser’s review will be complete by the end of March

• Strike Authorized at Anheuser-Busch

  Roughly 5,000 Teamsters at Anheuser-Busch voted to authorize a strike if a new contract cannot be reached before the current one expires on February 29. 99% of members voted to authorize the strike, according to the union. Data compiled by Cornell University shows in 2023 there have been 70 strikes by 100 or more workers lasting more than a week, which is up 59% from 2022

CRE Headlines

• Lennar Puts $4.5bn Multifamily Portfolio Up For Sale

  Lennar is working with JLL on the potential sale of more than 11,000 multifamily units operated through a subsidiary, Quarterra. The company is open to breaking down the portfolio into smaller parts according to sources

• Blackstone-Led JV Wins Stake in Signature Bank Commercial Real Estate Loan Portfolio

  The FDIC selected a JV between Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies. Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, a CPPIB investment subsidiary, and funds affiliated with Rialto Capital will take a 20% stake in the $16.8B Signature Bank loan portfolio. The FDIC will keep the remaining 80% ownership stake. The loan portfolio consists of roughly 2,600 mortgages in the New York metro area across office, multifamily, and retail. Blackstone will act as the portfolio’s lead asset manager. Rialto will take on the role of loan servicer and operating partner. Roughly 90% of the loans are fixed-rate and performing

• FDIC Selects Winning Bids for Signature Bank’s Rent-Stabilized Multifamily Loan Portfolio

  The FDIC selected a bid from a partnership backed by Related, The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), and Neighborhood Restore HDFC to acquired a 5% equity interest in $5.8bn of Signature Bank loans. CPC is leading the venture as managing partner. The portfolio includes 868 permanent loans secured by properties that have nearly 35,000 units, with 80% of those being rent-regulated. The pool makes up a large part of the roughly $15bn Signature Bank had tied to rent-stabilized or rent-controlled assets

• The Southeast Is Now the Battery Belt

  Since the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed in August 2022, 77 electric vehicle (EV) projects were announced in the U.S., totaling more than $80bn in investments, with roughly half concentrated in the southeast. The region has become a hotbed for EV projects thanks to ease of access to lithium deposits (particularly in Kings Mountain, NC), port connectivity, business-friendly laws, tax incentives, and lower labor costs

Deals Deals Deals

Sales

• Office: Crescent Real Estate real estate acquires 1700 Platte in Denver, CO, a 214k sf office asset from Lionstone Investments and CalSTRS for $129mm

• Industrial: GLP Capital Partners sells a 1mm sf industrial facility in Manchester, PA for $110mm. The asset was fully leased at the time of sale. Completed in 2019, the asset last traded in 2020 for $85mm.

• Multifamily: Bar Invest Group acquires Pinebrook Pointe, a 394-unit, multifamily community in Margate, FL for $93mm from Livcor. BankUnited provided a $50mm mortgage. The property last traded for $70mm in 2017

• Retail: Brookwood Financial Partners acquires Melbourne Shopping Center, a 211k sf Publix-anchored retail center in Melbourne, FL from SITE Centers. The asset last traded in 2002 for $10mm

• Multifamily: Sherman Residential acquired Water Oak, a 292-unit luxury multifamily community in Austin, TX, from JCI Residential. Nationwide Life Insurance Co. provided a $29mm acquisition loan which matures in January 2029

• Multifamily: S2 Capital acquires a 352-unit multifamily asset in Charlotte, NC for $49mm

• Student Housing: A JV between Coastline Management Group and RWW Gainesville, LLC acquire a 312-unit student housing community near the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL for $35mm

• Multifamily: Newgard Development Group acquires a $31mm development site in Fort Lauderdale, FL from Aimco and Kushner Companies. The site had previously secured approvals for a 381-unit residential tower

• Student Housing: Harrison Street and Core Spaces acquire a 209-unit, 686-bed student housing community in Eugene, OR. The two firms acquired Identity Eugene from an undisclosed seller and secured financing from KKR

Debt

• Multifamily: EJS Group and Hope Street Capital secured a $108mm construction financing package for their 240-unit residential project in Brooklyn, NY. Bank OZK provided a $83mm senior loan and CanAM Enterprises provided a $25mm mezz loan

• Multifamily: Grand Peaks Properties Inc. obtained $17mm loan for the refinancing of Edge DTC, a 204-unit garden-style apartment community in Denver, CO. KeyBank Real Estate Capital arranged the five-year, Fannie Mae loan, with a 5.61% interest rate

Developments

• Mixed-Use: Caribou Industries has spent $6mm in building permits and executed a disposition and development agreement with the city of Santa Ana in Orange County, CA. The company plans to build a mixed-use project that will include a 171-unit multifamily asset, a 10-story hotel, an event center, and more

• Multifamily: StarPoint Properties announces construction began on Lotus Point, a $79mm, 245-unit multifamily opportunity zone development in Mesa, AZ. The project will benefit from a tax abatement agreement for eight years post-construction

• Senior Housing: The NHP Foundation broke ground on Park Heights Senior Apartments, a 100-unit affordable senior housing community in Baltimore, MD. The $52mm project is expected to be completed in mid-2025. Financing for the project was reported as follows:

  • $22.5mm from the sale of tax credits to R4 Capital in conjunction with Aetna

  • $13.3mm provided by the city of Baltimore

  • $8.7mm from HUD

  • $5.4mm from Maryland CDA

  • $2.1mm in deferred developer fee

• Industrial: StarPoint Properties announces construction began on Point Central, a $37mm, 157k sf, two-building industrial opportunity zone development in Denver, CO

• Manufactured Housing: Empower Communities is building 100-acre manufactured housing development in San Antonio, TX. The project is estimated to include 547 mobile home pads on 95 acres and a five-acre lot with amenities

Distress

• Office: SageView Partners acquired McAllister Plaza, a 192k sf office in San Antonio, TX from RBL Real Estate. RBL had defaulted on the $15mm loan in October

Capital Raising

• Multifamily: FCP provides $22mm in preferred equity for the development of a 276-unit multifamily development with Arris in Charlotte, NC and for a recap of a 215-unit multifamily asset with Grubb Properties in Greenville, SC

Leasing

• Office: Acrisure signs a 29k sf lease at Federal Realty Investment Trust’s One Santana West, a new 375k sf office development in San Jose, CA

• Office: Valon Technologies signs a 14k sf lease at 860 Broadway in Manhattan, NY with owner Gordon Property Group  

• Life Sciences: CARGO Therapeutics signs a 100k sf lease at Alexandria Real Estate Equities’ Building 2 of The Alexandria Center for Life Science – San Carlos campus, a 277k sf lab and office facility in San Carlos, CA

Meme Summary

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