The Promote Podcast

This week, we need to dive into the real estate deal of the year – arguably, of any year: Ken Griffin is bringing Carnegie Mellon to Miami, a transformative gift for the 305 in so many ways. We focus primarily on 2 guys – Paul Darrah, who's responsible for making it happen for Griffin, and Moishe Mana, the idiosyncratic mogul who’s just pulled off the most spectacular assemblage exit in the history of that town. Next, we travel to another port city: Bain Capital is in talks to do a rescue recap of a Hong Kong development dynasty, New World. And finally, we consult the French dictionary as Force Majeure surfaces its ugly head in the capital-intensive world of data centers- Oracle is telling Blue Owl it doesn’t really feel like making rent. Plus, our Punch List rundown of the newsiest industry happenings: Interest rate volatility; Hines co-CEOs; Manhattan record office rent; GGP refi; the AI buildout equation. 

Sponsors:
1) H Equities, your mid-market go-to on both sides of the capstack.
2) Pensford, the only interest-rate advisory focused exclusively on CRE
3) Bravo Capital, a leading HUD and bridge lender. Sign up for their upcoming HUD market-rate webinar here.

NYC Live POD: Nov. 5, 2026 - by invitation only. Inquire about sponsorships here.

Up your CRE game:  Consider becoming a premium subscriber to The Promote to unlock access to deep dives, bonus content and expert perspectives. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link:

For feedback: Write us at [email protected] And please rate us and write a review on Apple 🙏
For brand partnerships: Reach out to [email protected]

This week, it’s time to address the unrealized elephant in the room that is the biggest pain point in institutional CRE: Carry, or more precisely the lack of it. Thousands of the smartest guys and girls in the business have spent the last few years preparing for an outcome that never came. Grappling with that reality is shaping everything from talent moves to firm restructurings. Plus, our Punch List rundown of the newsiest industry happenings: Floyd Mayweather v Jona Rechnitz; Barry Diller-MGM; Gary Barnett's $3.8B financing; LA office market; RIP Nanobanc.

Sponsors:
1) LoanBoss, the industry-leading debt management software, now supercharged by AI.
2) Bravo Capital, a leading HUD and bridge lender. Join our upcoming HUD webinar on Oct. 14 here
3) H Equities, your mid-market go-to on both sides of the capstack. Hit them up for bridge loans of up to $50M, or if you need a co-GP partner for that last 10-20% of equity.

Partner Content:
"Inside the Capstack" with Gibson Dunn's Jennifer Yashar. Yashar talks through structuring leases on ground-up towers from a tenant's perspective.

Up your CRE game:  Consider becoming a premium subscriber to The Promote to unlock access to deep dives, bonus content and expert perspectives. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link:

For feedback: Write us at [email protected] And please rate us and write a review on Apple 🙏
For brand partnerships: Reach out to [email protected]

Further Reading/Listening
Confessions of a Battle-Scarred GP
Paycheck Confidential: A GP Reveals Real Coin
Key Blackstone Cub Leaving Lair
Private Equity’s Path to Riches Is Getting Harder to Follow

In this bonus episode, we sit down with Presidio Bay’s Cyrus Sanandaji. Cyrus is at the vanguard of the comeback in America’s most important boom-and-bust town – San Francisco. His firm made prescient bets on SF’s recovery as the city began to emerge from the black hole of Covid, while also expanding a national development portfolio that today spans close to 6M square feet and is valued by the firm at $5.4B. We talk through doom loops and boom loops, capstack-sniping and how you cater to an AI industry defined by hypergrowth and extreme volatility.

Sponsors:
1) This episode is supported by Bravo Capital, a leading HUD and bridge lender. See how their precision underwriting means quicker approvals and higher proceeds for sponsors.
2) This episode is supported by LoanBoss, the industry-leading debt management software. Featuring one-click covenant testing, instant cash flow forecasting, and our favorite nerdy delight: Live forward curves!
3) H Equities, your mid-market go-to on both sides of the capstack. Hit them up for bridge loans of up to $50M, or if you need a co-GP partner for that last 10-20% of equity.

Up your CRE game:  Consider becoming a premium subscriber to The Promote to unlock access to deep dives, bonus content and expert perspectives. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link:

For feedback: Write us at [email protected] And please rate us and write a review on Apple 🙏
For brand partnerships: Reach out to [email protected]

Further reading
Inside CXP's Bruising Restructuring
The shadow landlords secretly controlling SF’s distressed office towers
Inside the Hotel Heist of the Year

This week, we take stock of the tale of Lurin Capital, a multifamily syndicator that's now in the FBI's crosshairs. Jon Venetos was cut from very different cloth than the rest of the Sunbelt Dreamers, and his rise and fall are arguably even more cinematic. Next, it's a classic Manhattan tale of capstack sniping. With 245 Park ready to be graced by a $2 billion Refi, we look back at SL Green's Tranche Warfare with HNA at the Skyscraper, and what is already likely a monster payoff.

Plus, our Punch List rundown of the newsiest CRE happenings:  Benefit Street Partners Leadership Shakeup, 485x's perverse incentives, Pontegadea's latest acquisition, Jeff Greene-Fort Partners, CBRE-Tenet deal

Sponsors:
1) Pensford, the only interest-rate advisory focused exclusively on CRE
2) Bravo Capital, a leading HUD and bridge lender. Check out their new SNF market ranking here.
3) H Equities, your mid-market go-to on both sides of the capstack. Hit them up for bridge loans of up to $50M, or if you need a co-GP partner for that last 10-20% of equity.

Up your CRE game:  Consider becoming a premium subscriber to The Promote to unlock access to deep dives, bonus content and expert perspectives. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link:

For feedback: Write us at [email protected] And please rate us and write a review on Apple 🙏
For brand partnerships: Reach out to [email protected]

Further Reading/Listening
Inside the SL Green Playbook
Not Easy Being [SL] Green
China’s HNA Found to Owe $185 Million Over Bankrupt Manhattan Skyscraper

A hedge funder’s syndication mess

This week, we visit CRE’s alpha lair, Blackstone HQ, where one of the industry’s top execs, global head of real estate Nadeem Meghji, is set to exit. His perch was among the best risk-adjusted seats in all business, but what does someone in that position do for their next act? And why is there so much churn atop the pyramid at BX? Next, we take stock of the most scrutinized real estate project in modern American history, the World Trade Center complex. Twenty-five years after 9/11, Larry Silverstein's final tower is set to rise, and the neighborhood it will serve is dramatically different from the one that existed at the time of the attack. Plus, our Punch List rundown of the newsiest industry happenings: Barnett's $1.3B Torch financing; Steve Ross strikes big in Boca; MF1 sale; Centerspace merger; Kroenke's Angels play.

Sponsors:
1) This episode is supported by Bravo Capital, a leading HUD and bridge lender. Check out their new SNF market ranking here.
2) This episode is supported by LoanBoss, the industry-leading debt management software. Featuring one-click covenant testing, instant cash flow forecasting, and our favorite nerdy delight: Live forward curves!
3) This episode is supported by H Equities, your mid-market go-to on both sides of the capstack. Hit them up for bridge loans of up to $50M, or if you need a co-GP partner for that last 10-20% of equity.

Partner Content:
"Inside the Capstack" with Gibson Dunn's Harry Silvera. Silvera talks through structuring the modern-day capital stack for a trophy office project.

Up your CRE game:  Consider becoming a premium subscriber to The Promote to unlock access to deep dives, bonus content and expert perspectives. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link:

For feedback: Write us at [email protected] And please rate us and write a review on Apple 🙏
For brand partnerships: Reach out to [email protected]

Further Reading/Listening
Power at Ground Zero: Politics, Money, and the Remaking of Lower Manhattan
Larry’s White Whale: More Deets on 2 WTC Deal
Lower Manhattan, 25 Years After 9/11
One Attack or Two? Jury to Get Trade Center Insurance Claim

Key Blackstone Cub Leaving Lair
UC Regents' Trophy Deal Tarnished
At Blackstone’s $339 Billion Property Arm, the Honeymoon Is Over

Stan Kroenke’s Angels Purchase Puts Angel Stadium Redevelopment Back in Play

This week, we dive into 2 operatic stories of ruin on different continents. We begin with the tale of Hui Ka Yan, a Chinese property tycoon who went from being a steelworker to one of the world’s richest men, before his firm Evergrande collapsed and sank the country’s real estate market with it. Hui has just been sentenced to life in prison. Then, we beam into a New York law firm boardroom, where one of CRE’s preeminent girthy lads, Meyer Chetrit, has given an extraordinary deposition as creditors pursue the Chetrit Group over hundreds of millions of dollars in personal guarantees. And finally, Blackstone’s finding the secular tailwinds in the marina business are strong enough to set sail.

Sponsors:
1) This episode is supported by Bravo Capital, a leading HUD and bridge lender. Check out their new SNF market ranking here.
2) This episode is supported by LoanBoss, the industry-leading debt management software. Featuring one-click covenant testing, instant cash flow forecasting, and our favorite nerdy delight: Live forward curves!

Partner Content:
"Inside the Capstack" with Gibson Dunn's Eric Meer. Meer breaks down an emerging trend of GPs setting captive title insurance joint ventures. 

Up your CRE game:  Consider becoming a premium subscriber to The Promote to unlock access to deep dives, bonus content and expert perspectives. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link:

For feedback: Write us at [email protected] And please rate us and write a review on Apple 🙏
For brand partnerships: Reach out to [email protected]

Pod's on vacay: We're taking a fortnight off. Our next episode will drop 9/16. Arrivederci!

Further Reading/Listening

Heat on Chetrit
The Big Bank Battle of Chetritstan
Chetrits - Checkmated or playing possum?
The man from Morocco

Evergrande delisting marks end of era for China’s property sector
Chinese authorities accuse Evergrande of inflating revenues by $80bn
Limit-Up Hotel Kamikazes

MarineMax to Be Taken Private by Blackstone-Owned Safe Harbor for $1.5 Billion
Exotic Alts

This week, we put on our toques and head to the TSX, where Meyer Orbach and Josh Gotlib are on a fascinating multifamily caper with their REIT GO Residential. We then take a back door into a special-servicer war, with Greystone accusing rival CWCapital of stealing its trade secrets to poach its business and talent. Finally, we head to a palatial, soon-to-be-empty office at 125 Park, where we take stock of the legacy of longtime Newmark CEO Barry Gosin – and what exactly a new leader will be coming into. Plus, our Punch List rundown of key industry happenings: BREIT's exit from self-storage, 800 Fifth Ave's financing hunt, Ishbia's UWM mess, Canary Wharf

Sponsors:
1) This episode is supported by Bravo Capital, a leading HUD and bridge lender. See how their precision underwriting means quicker approvals and higher proceeds for sponsors.
2) This episode is supported by LoanBoss, the industry-leading debt management software. Featuring one-click covenant testing, instant cash flow forecasting, and our favorite nerdy delight: Live forward curves!

Up your CRE game:  Consider becoming a premium subscriber to The Promote to unlock access to deep dives, bonus content and expert perspectives. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link:

For feedback: Write us at [email protected] And please rate us and write a review on Apple 🙏
For brand partnerships: Reach out to [email protected]

Further Reading/Listening
GO’s Multifamily AUM Gobbling ™
Loonie Tunes: Orbach, Gotlib Head to TSX
A Special Servicer Skirmish
Newmark’s Data Center Talent Shuffle
Ain’t No Party Like a Lutnick Party
Top Brokers Leave Newmark After Suing Firm, Boss
Howard Lutnick talks bank failures, Newmark’s competitors and more

In this bonus episode, we sit down with JDS Development Group boss Michael Stern, one of the builders synonymous with the luxury condo market in New York and more recently in Miami. Stern talks through home runs like Walker Tower in Chelsea, strikeouts (though he disagrees) like the Brooklyn Tower, and 11th-inning odysseys like the skinny Billionaires’ Row supertall 111 West 57th St. Outside of addressing specific litigation (there’s lots of it) and live deals, Michael got seriously candid about all the aspects of the development game that insiders care about, from lining up investors to construction intricacies to the risk-reward math. Plus, our favorite wildcard: how he turned journeyman architect Ralph Walker into a starchitect 💫 📕 .

Sponsors:
1) This episode is supported by Bravo Capital, a leading HUD and bridge lender. See how their precision underwriting means quicker approvals and higher proceeds for sponsors.
2) This episode is supported by LoanBoss, the industry-leading debt management software. Featuring one-click covenant testing, instant cash flow forecasting, and our favorite nerdy delight: Live forward curves!

Up your CRE game:  Consider becoming a premium subscriber to The Promote to unlock access to deep dives, bonus content and expert perspectives. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link:

For feedback: Write us at [email protected] And please rate us and write a review on Apple 🙏
For brand partnerships: Reach out to [email protected]

Further Reading/Listening
The Promote: Stern Ambition
Stern, Soffer Near Record JPM Financing in Brickell
Michael Stern: the highs and lows of a New York skyscraper king
Michael Stern’s projects flash signs of distress, but risk-taking developer has come back from crises and chaos before
Ralph Walker: Architect of the Century
Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World

The final part of our special trilogy on the Reichmanns traces how the mother of all megaprojects became a siren song for Olympia & York. Everything that had brought them to these heights – the creative financing, the cinematic self-belief, the ability to convince others and themselves they could pull it all off – worked against them at London's Canary Wharf, and we talk through the aftermath of the collapse and the legacy they left behind. Featuring all-time characters like Kentucky hustler G. Ware Travelstead, Canadian pirate Robert Campeau and the Iron Lady herself, this is the climax of one of the most epic journeys in all business.

Sponsors:
1) This episode is supported by Bravo Capital, a leading HUD and bridge lender. See how their precision underwriting means quicker approvals and higher proceeds for sponsors.
2) This episode is supported by LoanBoss, the industry-leading debt management software. Featuring one-click covenant testing, instant cash flow forecasting, and our favorite nerdy delight: Live forward curves!
3) This episode is supported by Real Property Captive, the first group captive insurance for mid-market owners. Check out their platform to tap into the same insurance framework used by the market’s biggest players and get dividends from unused premiums.

Up your CRE game:  Consider becoming a premium subscriber to The Promote to unlock access to deep dives, bonus content and expert perspectives. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link:

For feedback: Write us at [email protected] And please rate us and write a review on Apple 🙏
For brand partnerships: Reach out to [email protected]

Further Reading/Listening
 Men of Destiny: The Reichmanns, Pt. I (Start Here)
Apex Predators: The Reichmanns, Pt. II

The Reichmanns: Family, Faith, Fortune, and the Empire of Olympia & York
Towers of Debt: The Rise and Fall of the Reichmanns
In Britain, A Struggle To Stay Afloat
The Collapse of a Master Builder
Margaret Thatcher's Speech Inaugurating Canary Wharf
Secretive tycoon is key to unlocking gem of a deal
Building for Eternity, R' Moshe Reichmann Biography

Pt. II of our special episode on the Reichmanns takes us to the ultimate proving ground of Manhattan. We do a tick-tock of how Olympia & York pulled off the CRE deal of the century, buying 10 million square feet of prime office space for just $33 a square foot and beating up some of the city's blue bloods along the way. Then, they go even bigger: the development of the World Financial Center in Battery Park City is a showcase of all their talents – risk appetite, design, salesmanship, negotiating, creative leverage – coming together at scale. We also look at their legendary alliance with the Bronfman family and their adventures in corporate raiding.   

Sponsors:
1) This episode is supported by Bravo Capital, a leading HUD and bridge lender. See how their precision underwriting means quicker approvals and higher proceeds for sponsors.
2) This episode is supported by LoanBoss, the industry-leading debt management software. Featuring one-click covenant testing, instant cash flow forecasting, and our favorite nerdy delight: Live forward curves!
3) This episode is supported by Real Property Captive, the first group captive insurance for mid-market owners. Check out their platform to tap into the same insurance framework used by the market’s biggest players and get dividends from unused premiums.

Up your CRE game:  Consider becoming a premium subscriber to The Promote to unlock access to deep dives, bonus content and expert perspectives. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link:

For feedback: Write us at [email protected] And please rate us and write a review on Apple 🙏
For brand partnerships: Reach out to [email protected]

Further Reading/Listening

Men of Destiny: The Reichmanns, Pt. I (Start Here)

The Reichmanns: Family, Faith, Fortune, and the Empire of Olympia & York
Towers of Debt: The Rise and Fall of the Reichmanns
Inside CRE’s Deal of the Century
Canadian Company Becomes a Big City Landlord
The Bronfmans' Leveraged Leviathan