Good Morning!

We’re back, and so is former WeWork CEO as he attempts to buy back WeWork through his new company. AI startups made up nearly a third of all office leasing activity in 2023, 66 current and former NYC Housing Authority employees were arrested yesterday, and Blackstone is looking to buy an Irish data center developer. The Super Bowl is expected to be the largest sports gambling event in U.S. history, a cosmetics brand is laying off up to 5% of its global workforce, the man behind Litquidity is revealed, and Ford is rethinking its EV strategy

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Capital Markets

Market News

• Super Bowl Expected To Be Largest Sports Betting Event In History

  Its estimated 67.8M will be betting a total of $23.1B on the Super Bowl this weekend. Roughly 43M are expected to place bets online, 41% higher than last year, while another 36.5M are expected to make wagers with friends. The market’s growth has coincided with a spike in gambling addiction cases

• Ford Rethinking Electric Vehicle Plans

  Ford is rethinking its EV strategy, which includes its vertical intergration of batteries. The company had previously revealed plans to delay or cut $12B in EV spending after sales grew at a slower than expected rate. The companies EV business lost nearly $5B last year

• Estee Lauder To Layoff Up To 3,000 Employees

  The 62,000 person company is expected to layoff up 5% of its global workforce as part of a restructuring plan. The restructuring is projected to bring savings of up to $500M range for the cosmetics company.

• Meme Lord, Litquidity Identity Revealed

  The creator behind the viral finance meme account, Litquidity, on Instagram reveals his identity

CRE Headlines

• AI Reviving San Francisco’s Office Market

  Generative AI startups are surged by 46% in 2023, leasing 3.6M sf in San Francisco. JLL predicts the number could rise to 12.5M sf by 2030. AI companies made up 28% of all office leasing activity in 2023. The San Francisco Bay Area is home to roughly 20% of U.S. AI talent, with various AI companies like Andi, Cohere, and Netradyne opening offices in the city in 2023

  AI Companies’ Office Footprint In San Francisco 

  

• 70 Current And Former NYC Housing Authority Employees Charged With Bribery And Extortion

  The DOJ announced the unsealing of bribery and extortion charges against 70 current and former employees of the New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”).  66 of the 70 defendants were arrested Tuesday morning in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and North Carolina. The 70 defendants are accused of demanding kickbacks and bribes for access to no-bid contracts and lucrative, under-the-table deals. The schemes allegedly wasted millions of dollars and impacted over 200,000 residents

• WeWork Co-Founder Trying To Buy Company Back

  WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann, who was ousted as CEO of the the now-bankrupt company, is trying to buy back the company via his new company, Flow Global Holdings. A letter from an attorney representing Neumann and Flow said they were partnering with Dan Loeb’s Third Point to try and acquire the company. Third Point said they were only in early talks and WeWork said they regularly receive indications of interest

• Blackstone In Talks To Acquire Irish Data Center Solutions Company For $878M

  Blackstone is the frontrunner to acquire Winthrop Technologies, a company based out of Ireland that designs and builds data centers in various European countries. The exact size of the stake in the Winthrop is unclear, but it would be a controlling interest. Rothschild is advising Winthrop

Deals Deals Deals

Sales

• Multifamily: Gotham Organization and Carlyle Group acquire a 43-story, 310-unit multifamily high-rise in New York, NY for $265M from A&R Kalimian Realty 

• Medical Office: Remedy Medical Properties and its partner, Kayne Anderson Real Estate acquire a four-building, 181K sf, medical office portfolio across Chicago, Arizona, and Florida for $86M from Flagler Healthcare Investments 

• Industrial: A JV between Stockbridge Capital Group and Dedeaux Properties sold a three-building, 1M sf, 23-acre, industrial outdoor storage portfolio in Southern California

• Industrial: Sealy & Co. acquire a 501K sf distribution center in Houston, TX from Pagewood. Sealy made use of a $50M line of credit from KeyBank to acquire the asset

• Industrial: Walter E. Nelson Co., a cleaning supplies and equipment manufacturer, acquires a 184K sf industrial warehouse from Teeter for $41M in Bonney Lake, WA. the deal was financed with a $27M loan from Wells Fargo

• Multifamily: Keelon Development Inc. sells a 96-unit multifamily community in Madison, AL for $22M

Debt

• Multifamily: Mast Capital secures a $600M loan for a 80 story, 397-unit condo development in Miami, FL

• Student Housing: HH Fund secures a $65M loan to refinance Nine East 33rd, a 568-bed student housing community near John Hopkins University, in Baltimore, MD. Lument facilitated the five-year, fixed-rate, interest-only mortgage

• Multifamily: Barrington Brothers secures a two-year, floating-rate, $61M construction loan from Värde Partners for a 282-unit multifamily building in Miami, FL

Developments

• Multifamily: Merrimac Ventures and Aria Development Group secure a $95M construction loan from Banco Inbursa to develop a 32-story condo tower in Miami, FL. The asset is expected to be completed by 2026

• Multifamily: Bolour Associates Inc. entitled land to develop a 30-unit multifamily building in Los Angeles, CA

Distress

• Multifamily: Brookfield and Ballast paid $615M for $915M in troubled mortgages secured by 76 properties or 2,150 multifamily units in San Francisco, CA that were previously owned by Veritas. The acquisition was financed with a $410M loan from Apollo Global Management

Leasing

• Industrial: WebstaurantStore, an online equipment supply company signed a 1.2M sf lease at Currwood Logistics Park in Hagerstown, MD owned by a JV composed of MCB Real Estate, Invesco Real Estate, Curated Development Group, Birchwood Capital Partners, and Artemis Real Estate Partners

• Office: Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, renew its 160K sf lease at Rockefeller Group’s 1221 Avenue of Americas in New York, NY

• Life Sciences: Mercalis, a life sciences and pharmaceutical commercialization service provider, renews its 79K sf lease at Mapletree’s 2250 Perimeter Park Drive outside of Raleigh, NC

Meme Summary

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