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Clelia Peters, founder and managing partner of Era Ventures, which is based in New York but does not have an official headquarters, has been watching real estate change for over a decade. Now as the one allocating the capital from her post at the top of her first fund, she is seeking to push the industry forward by investing in tech-enabled ideas and supporting founders with even more disruptive plans.

“We are in a period of evolution for the world’s largest asset class,” she said. “This is really figuring out how we build a new and different built environment.”

Crains New York ➞

In conjunction with the funding, Clelia Warburg Peters, managing partner at Era Ventures, will join Welcome Homes’ board of directors.

“Today, the total US single-family homebuilding market value stands between $250 billion and $400 billion annually, and we believe that this number could grow with Welcome Homes’ unique ‘lot-by-lot’ approach focusing on urban infill — this sits between production homebuilding, which generally focuses on master build communities and custom homebuilding, which is inaccessible to most consumers because of price and timeline,” Peters wrote.

Tech Crunch ➞

Vanessa Gelado (Hines) explains what the new Skypark Valdebebas development will be like, which will have 495 new construction units for rent.

Hines has been operating in Spain for 27 years and we are invested in all classes of real estate assets. We continue to see investor appetite for some key segments, such as last-mile and first-crown logistics and housing, for example, in the student housing and building-for-rental (BTR) subsectors.

Brainsre.news ➞

More than 1,300 apartments will fill an empty office building in Lower Manhattan, making it the biggest residential conversion project in the country, its owners say.

“The expectation is that there certainly will be younger single folks who are just sort of starting out in New York, up to families with children that will be looking for these larger units,” Steinwurtzel said. “It’ll help to continue the transition of the financial district into a 24/7 mixed-use neighborhood."

Gothamist ➞

At 25 Water St. in Manhattan’s Financial District, GFP Real Estate, Metro Loft Management and Rockwood Capital are turning the 1.1M SF 1960s office building formerly known as 4 New York Plaza into 1,300 apartments. Last month, the team scored a $536M loan from MSD Partners and Apollo for the purchase and redevelopment of the building, the largest transaction of its kind in U.S. history.

Brian Steinwurtzel, co-CEO of GFP Real Estate, spoke to Bisnow […] to discuss the physical changes the development team is planning to make at 25 Water, detail what made the lenders feel comfortable enough to finance the development, and offer some practical changes the government could make to enable other companies to take a similar path.

BisNow ➞

Brett Rosenberg has made crises her friend at JLL. 

In her nearly two decades at the brokerage, Rosenberg has navigated loan sales during the Global Financial Crisis, managed Uniform Commercial Code foreclosures during the pandemic and, just this year, watched one of New York’s key regional banks get taken over by federal regulators. 

Throughout the tumult, she’s always come out ahead. 

In 2021 alone, Rosenberg handled $2 billion worth of foreclosure transactions — one of the few finance professionals to reach that volume, according to JLL, and one of the few women to do so, period.

Commercial Observer ➞

Ronald Dickerman, founder and president of Madison International Realty, discusses the weight of relationships in private equity and foreign markets. Hosted by Nancy Lashine.

Real Estate Capital ➞

Cushman & Wakefield and CBRE announced today that the real estate services firms have arranged the $420 million sale of Harborside complex, a 2,010,201-square-foot mixed-use portfolio located at 150 Hudson (Harborside 1), 200 Hudson (Harborside 2) and 210 Hudson Street (Harborside 3) in Jersey City. This monumental transaction, the largest office sale year-to-date in the United States (by nearly $150M) and the largest multitenant office sale in the history of New Jersey, is remarkable given the capital market challenges facing office buildings and the increase in interest rates since Q3 2022.

CBRE’s Jeffrey Dunne, Bill Shanahan, and Roland Merchant, along with Cushman & Wakefield’s Andy Merin, David Bernhaut and Frank DiTommaso, co-arranged the transaction.

Real Estate Weekly ➞

“The Collection at Mercedes House features access to the state-of-the-art Mercedes Club and its extensive amenities, along with breathtaking views of the Hudson River and the New York City skyline,” said Gil. “Despite the challenging market, we have seen a sustained demand for high-quality residential properties in New York City and this transaction is a testament to the resiliency of the Manhattan luxury multifamily market.” 

Connect CRE ➞

CISION PR Newswire ➞

Simon, a real estate investment trust engaged in the ownership of premier shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use destinations, announced today that its majority-owned operating partnership subsidiary, Simon Property Group, L.P. (the "Operating Partnership"), has closed on a new $5.0 billion multi-currency unsecured revolving credit facility, which replaces the Operating Partnership's existing $4.0 billion senior unsecured revolving credit facility.

"The closing of this facility is a continued endorsement of the strength of our Company. The new $5.0 billion credit facility enhances our already strong financial flexibility, and when combined with our existing $3.5 billion senior unsecured credit facility provides us with $8.5 billion of total revolving credit capacity. We appreciate the long-standing support from our lender group," said David Simon, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President.

CISION PR Newswire ➞

Lately, the real estate market has been a sensitive topic for buyers who are navigating extremely high housing prices and volatile mortgage rates.

CEO of the real estate developer Howard Hughes Corp. David O'Reilly, recently provided a promising prediction for the housing market, as reported by CNN. "Sure, home prices are down but we're just giving back some of the gains we saw in 2020," he explains. "We're still making an outsized profit relative to historical norms. When you hear about homebuilders buying down mortgage rates [contributing part of the purchase price upfront], they're doing the things that they should do to help move inventory and they're doing it very profitably."

House Digest ➞

Green building technology startup BlocPower has raised nearly $25 million in equity funding and $130 million in debt financing to retrofit tens of thousands of apartments and other dwellings with climate-friendly appliances. 

Donnel Baird, BlocPower’s founder and chief executive, said the money will allow the New York-based company to expand the reach of its software platform, BlocMaps, which identifies buildings in need of retrofits and recommends the best technologies to lower greenhouse gas emissions. 

Bloomberg ➞

On February 22, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams announced the appointments of three new commissioners to the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the selection of the Mayor’s representative for the Public Design Commission. The Landmarks Preservation Commission is the largest municipal preservation agency in the United States, responsible for the designation and protection of landmarks and historic districts in the city. 

Angie Master will join the Landmarks Preservation Commission at the next meeting following their previous approval from the City Council.

City Land ➞

Adam Gallistel is Head of Real Estate Equity and Debt investment activities in the Americas for GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. He is also a member of GIC RE’s Global Investment Committee, is Head of GIC’s New York office, is on the Executive Committee of the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and is a PREA board member. He talked with Lionstone’s Hans Nordby about GIC’s real estate portfolio.

PREA Quarterly ➞

Jim Farris, the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Offer of Mosser Capital. Mosser Capital provides institutional and high-net-worth investors the ability to partner with Mosser Companies, a leader with more than 65 years of experience in urban workforce housing communities in West Coast gateway markets.

With nearly two decades of experience in real estate investment, finance, and property operations, Jim leads all facets of Mosser’s fully integrated real estate investment management business as well as the broader strategic development and leadership of the firm. 

Read full interview below.

Valiant CEO ➞

Backed by SunLife, BGO's commercial real estate lending team is headed by Abbe Franchot Borok, managing director and head of US debt. The New York-based investment manager sees the current volatility as an opportunity to sharpen its lending focus and widen BGO's stateside presence further.

"BGO identified US lending early on as a strategy [in which] we as a firm had expertise and an existing foundation in place and wanted to grow," Franchot Borok says, noting the firm's foundation started with its management of the SunLife general account.

Real Estate Capital USA ➞

SII, headed by Managing Director Bakari Adams and a dedicated team, is designed to identify and capitalize on promising opportunities in the commercial real estate sector. In addition to working with senior investment and operating professionals within Starwood Capital, SII will also establish impactful partnerships with organizations focused on educational and talent development. 

"I am honored to lead Starwood Impact Investors and to collaborate with the broader Starwood Capital team and our partners on this important initiative," said Mr. Adams. "Together, we will work to address the systemic barriers in our industry by providing investment capital and expanding the talent pool."

CISION PR Newswire ➞

Blair C. Smith is a Senior Director at Milken Institute. Mr. Smith was previously the Founder and CEO of Promethean AB Strategies LLC, a strategic consultancy focused on helping diverse led Asset Management firms achieve their goals. Mr. Smith is the former Chief Investment Officer for the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation, a CDFI. Mr. Smith was responsible for co-managing a $5.2 billion Emerging Manager investment portfolio, within the State of New York Common Retirement Fund. The program has both traditional and alternative asset class strategies including: real estate, private equity, public equity, hedge funds and opportunistic. What drives Mr. Smith? "Creating equity and jobs, and driving inclusive economic growth that benefits ALL communities."

Mind Global ➞

This is the fourth article in a series on building diverse and inclusive institutional investment portfolios. The series draws from a guide for asset owners that Blair Smith and Troy Duffie of Milken Institute and I co-authored with input from the Milken Institute’s DEI in Asset Management Executive Council, Institutional Allocators for Diversity Equity and Inclusion and its cousin organizations, including Intentional Endowments Network, Diverse Asset Managers' Initiative, National Association of Investment Companies, Association of Asian American Investment Managers, and IDiF.

Forbes ➞

Local leaders and new residents joined the development team of PTM Partners (PTM) and The IDI Group Companies (IDI) on January 25 to celebrate the completion of Viridium, a new 318-unit luxury apartment building with unrivaled amenities on the Occoquan River in Woodbridge, Va.  

“We are proud that our development vision has resulted in a lovely, state-of-the-art community to live in for hundreds of people,” said Scott Meyer, chief financial officer at PTM.

Prince William Chamber of Commerce ➞

Tommy Craig, the co-head of Hines’ New York office, stepped down from his post on Jan. 1 after 40 years at the company, Commercial Observer has learned.

“It has been a supreme privilege to be a part of the Hines New York office for the last 41 years, including 26 years of running the office, working hard on work worth doing, and contributing to the built environment in New York City with so many wonderful projects,” Craig said. 

Craig will continue to advise Hines on its East Coast projects, according to Hines.

Commercial Observer ➞

"This acquisition represents an excellent opportunity to add well-located assets to Highgate's platform and achieve immediate scale in a region that's experiencing exceptionally strong secular growth," said Nicholas Mellis, Vice President of Acquisitions and Development at Highgate. "We look forward to bringing to bear the capabilities and insights from Highgate's approximately 500-hotel management platform to launch this dedicated Portugal operating platform, and to continuing to scale across Europe."

CISION PR Newswire ➞

Adam Gallistel, GIC’s Head of Americas, Real Estate, discusses approaching risks and challenges in real estate investing. Hosted by Nancy Lashine.

Real Estate Capital Podcast ➞