| | At Killington Ski Resort in Vermont, Great Gulf plans a $3B project featuring 2,300 residential units, retail and dining. Nordic Valley in Utah is moving forward with a $121M infrastructure upgrade, including new housing and hotel rooms. Alterra Mountain Co. is expanding in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, adding a 204-unit condo complex, a hotel and commercial space. All told, there are billions of dollars of investment in mixed-use projects planned that could change the face of many of America's favorite winter destinations. Get Bisnow’s ski report: Ski Resort Owners Pursue Huge Mixed-Use Projects As Demand Grows — Jay Rickey, Catie Dixon, Kayla Carmicheal and Mark F. Bonner Not getting The First Draft in your inbox? Click here to sign up. Got any feedback or want to send us a mailbag letter? Email first...@bisnow.com. CRE News Quiz This iconic property is the birthplace of room service and eggs Benedict and is finally wrapping up a surprisingly lengthy renovation and partial condo conversion. What is it? (Answer at the bottom.) On Our Radar Scott Turner was confirmed at HUD; Howard Lutnick advances toward Commerce. Turner’s confirmation signals potential policy shifts toward relaxed standards and expanded opportunity zones. Privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be a priority, he said. Meanwhile, Lutnick, Trump’s pick for commerce secretary, advanced to a full Senate vote. Lutnick, who has deep connections with Cantor Fitzgerald, BGC Group and Newmark, is facing scrutiny over cryptocurrency ties but has bipartisan backing for semiconductor investment. His role in Trump’s tariff-heavy trade agenda remains controversial. He would also be pivotal to another agenda item that could benefit CRE: creating America’s inaugural sovereign wealth fund. The Bank of England cut rates. UK CRE isn’t particularly chuffed. The BoE lowered its key interest rate by 0.25 points to 4.5%, its third cut in six months as economic growth slows. Policymakers expect inflation to rise to 3.7% by Q3, citing energy costs, but do not foresee deeper price pressures. The bank also halved its 2025 growth forecast to 0.75% as concerns linger over wage strength, tax hikes and global trade tensions. The FTSE 350 Real Estate Index of UK property stocks was flat on the news. That could be because rate cuts are generally good for CRE investment, but the slow economic growth causing the cuts is bad for CRE leasing volumes and rent rises. 60% of U.S. workers expect more RTO mandates in 2025. A LiveCareer survey of 1,000 workers released this morning also found that 86% saw consequences for resisting, including firings (63%) and reprimands (23%). Remote work remains highly valued: Two-thirds wouldn’t trade it for a 15% pay raise, and mentions of “remote work” on résumés have nearly tripled since 2018. However, Bisnow’s CRE career website, SelectLeaders, reports a 35% drop in fully remote work from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024 — with 76.3% of CRE employers now requiring full-time in-office attendance. Speaking of RTO … nearly 2 million federal employees face a deadline tonight to either return to the office or accept a buyout offer from the Trump administration. So far, the offer has attracted about 40,000 sign-ups, which is about 2% of the federal civilian workforce. That’s far below the White House’s 10% target, but the day is young. Don’t look now, but the cubicle homecoming is getting the Hallmark treatment. The saccharine channel is releasing Return to Office on Feb. 15 about two people, Ms. Monday and Mr. Tuesday, who fall in love by being forced to share a desk on a hybrid schedule. The tagline: “Finding a Work-Love Balance.”
This Morning’s News OFFICE — Trump, Musk Push To Terminate 7,500 Federal Office Leases (AP and Bisnow): Donald Trump and Elon Musk are calling for the immediate termination of all 7,500 federal office leases managed by the GSA nationwide, according to an email a GSA employee shared with The Associated Press. Earlier this week, Bisnow reported that DOGE terminated 22 leases, equating to $45M in cost savings. Read more here and here.
OFFICE — TF Cornerstone Targeting Distress As It Deploys $1B Conversion Fund (Bisnow): TF Cornerstone and Dune Real Estate Partners are two months into their $1B office-to-residential conversion venture, Alta Residential, but they have already identified three projects. The fund is targeting 20-25 conversions total. Read more here.
OFFICE — REIT Has Tips For DOGE On Federal Footprint (Easterly Government Properties): Easterly’s portfolio includes 9.3M SF leased to the government including ICE, Customs, DOD, DEA, FBI and the VA. Darrell Crate, its president and CEO, is the former chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party. Easterly said it supports GSA reform and offered suggestions on how. Read more here.
LA FIRES — $985M In Securitized CRE Loans Sitting In Impacted Areas (Bisnow): The Palisades and Eaton wildfires exposed properties tied to $985M in securitized CRE loans, with 45 multifamily loans leading the list. Though no loans are delinquent, 28.7% ($283M) are on watchlists. Read more here.
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| | REITs — Simon Aims To Drive Rent Growth With Mall Upgrades (CoStar): Simon Property Group’s CEO David Simon said the REIT is targeting its Class-B properties for upgrades after a longtime focus on its biggest properties. Read more here.
REITs — Brandywine Sees Q4 Occupancy Gains (CoStar): Brandywine's CEO described tour activity as "well above pre-pandemic levels," saying 60% of its leases in Q4 were tenants upgrading their office space. Read more here.
EARNINGS — AvalonBay Q4 Profits Miss (Seeking Alpha): AvalonBay Communities reported lower-than-expected Q4 earnings but maintained 2024 guidance in line with analysts’ projections. AvalonBay completed the development of four communities in Q4 with 1,451 apartment units. It also started construction on two new apartment communities. Read more here.
EARNINGS — Mid-America Apartment Communities Reports Q4 Miss (Seeking Alpha): MAA posted $549.8M in revenue, missing estimates by $2.22M. MAA's portfolio has an average occupancy of 95.6%. Read more here.
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| | HOTELS — Hilton Gains In Q4 Earnings And Robust Pipeline (Seeking Alpha): Hilton approved 34,200 new rooms for development in Q4, bringing its development pipeline to 498,600 rooms, representing 8% year-over-year growth. Read more here.
REITs — First Industrial Realty Trust Tops Q4 Expectations (Seeking Alpha): The industrial REIT posted FFO of $0.71, beating estimates by $0.02, with revenue surpassing projections at $176M. Read more here.
SPORTS — Workspace Property Trust, RAJ Sports Plan Women’s Performance Center (Workspace Property Trust): Workspace collaborated with RAJ Sports on a development plan to repurpose 100K SF of building area over 12 acres into two full-sized soccer pitches, two full-sized basketball courts, two dedicated dressing rooms, facilities dedicated to strength training, as well as office spaces and family rooms for its NWSL and WNBA pro sports teams. Read more here.
OFFICE — Realtor.com Relocates HQ To Texas (Bloomberg): The real estate listings platform operated by News Corp. subsidiary Move Inc. is moving its headquarters from California to Austin. Read more here.
HOUSING — RTO Orders Create 'Accidental Landlords' (BI): Homeowners in some of the prime destinations for pandemic-era movers are now looking to rent the properties they acquired. Read more here.
PEOPLE — Gilbane Development Names James Patchett As President And CEO (Commercial Observer): The former NYC EDC head also previously worked at McKinsey and Goldman Sachs. Read more here.
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| | PEOPLE — Colliers Taps Brian Hilger As Philadelphia Brokerage Market Leader (Bisnow): Hilger is the brokerage’s new executive managing director. He most recently worked at KBC Advisors. Before that, he spent nearly two decades at Cushman & Wakefield. Read more here.
MULTIFAMILY — 5 Takeaways From NMHC’s Annual Meeting (Real Page): Risks in the market are not deterring optimism for the sector’s long-term investment theses, according to RealPage Economist Carl Whitaker. Read more here.
POLITICS — Congressman Introduces Bill To Abolish OSHA (HIPPA Journal): The legislation, dubbed the NOSHA Act, aims to dismantle the agency charged with workplace safety regulations. Read more here.
HOUSING — Owning A Home Now More Affordable Than Renting (ATTOM): Major ownership expenses on typical single-family homes require a smaller portion of average wages than renting three-bedroom residences in close to 60% of the 341 county-level markets with enough data to analyze. Read more here.
HOUSING — New Home Listings Surge (Redfin): There's an uptick in new listings but sales are slow, creating a growing pool of supply for homebuyers. The typical home is now selling for 2% under asking price, the biggest discount in two years. Read more here.
RETAIL — Big Retailers Scale Back DEI (NYT): As companies like Target, Amazon, Walmart and Meta dial back diversity initiatives, emerging Black entrepreneurs working with the companies are in an awkward spot. Read more here. *** So You've Come For An Answer The Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue. The iconic NYC hotel is finally gearing up to reopen after eight years. The hotel’s renovation is taking it from more than 1,400 hotel rooms to 375 condos atop 375 hotel rooms. It has taken far more time and money than expected. Do you think you have a harder CRE news question? Email us. Take your best shot and we may feature you and your question in this space. *** The First Draft is produced by Director of Newsletters Jay Rickey, Managing Editor Catie Dixon, Editor-in-Chief Mark F. Bonner and Deputy Newsletter Editor Kayla Carmicheal, with an assist from AI. We’d love your feedback! Email us at first...@bisnow.com. | |
