The Promote Podcast

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

This special episode dives deep into the story of the Reichmanns, an extraordinary family that probably contributed more to the financialization of CRE than anyone else. It’s a tale of survival, grit, chutzpah, genius (on many fronts), generosity, unchecked ambition, heart-stopping leverage, and eventually, ruin. We follow the family's incredible journey from the Orthodox synagogues of prewar Beled, Hungary to the international free zone of Tangier, to the North American base in Toronto, and eventually, the apex predator of Manhattan. We discuss the tragedies that shaped the Reichmanns and their approaches to both commerce and philanthropy, the deals that set up the juggernaut in Toronto, and the characters at the heart of one of the world's richest, most powerful, and most secretive clans.
Sponsors:
1) 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!
2) 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.
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 expert CRE content. 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

The Reichmanns: Family, Faith, Fortune, and the Empire of Olympia & York
Towers of Debt: The Rise and Fall of the Reichmanns
Zeckendorf: The autobiograpy of the man who played a real-life game of Monopoly
Faith And Fortune
Letters from Esther #14: What Death Can Teach Us About Life

This week, it’s time for some California dreamin': We ascend Orange County’s Ziggurat, a stairway to heaven or SoCal’s biggest development clusterfuck, depending on your flavor. The hulking structure and the quest to sell it showcase government incompetence at its most extreme. We then head up to San Francisco, where a whirlwind of fascinating dealmaking has gone down at the city's largest rental complex, Parkmerced – New York-based Yellowstone has just taken over the development portion of the property, ending a long quest by Robert Rosania to hold on.

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 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.
3) 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 expert CRE content. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link: 

In our second mailbag episode, co-host Will Krasne tackles your most unhinged CRE questions: self-managing vs. 3rd party, nightmare tenant interactions, his CRE Mt. Rushmore and many more.

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 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.
3) 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 expert CRE content. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link: https://www.thepromote.com/upgrade?offer_id=b700858f-21e0-47a2-9695-a93055d3ed15

Further Reading/Listening

Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s
Ross takes his talents to [West Palm] Beach
Unto the Sons: King of Prussia Passes the Crown
Gary Barnett: The Father of Billionaires' Row

This week, we ride up a rickety construction elevator to the 21st floor of the Pfizer Building, where a major scare threatens to consume New York’s signature office-resi conversion project. We do a 360-degree analysis, from the bricks n’ sticks to the financials and the all-important narrative, looking at the stakes for developers Nathan Berman & David Werner, lender Madison Realty Capital and city & state stakeholders. Then, we check in on a battle of hearts and minds in Virginia, where Blackstone has walked away from a data-center megaproject. The behemoth and many of its peers are grappling with a growing national discontent that has to be putting some investment question marks on this emerging asset class. Plus, our Punch List rundown of the newsiest industry happenings: Airbnb's NYC buy; Norges' retail JV'; SF developers walk; Charles Cohen gets off the mat.

Sponsors:
1) 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.
2) 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.
3) 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!

Further Reading/Listening

Aby & Sons
Charles Cohen revives West Palm office project  
Dead mall back on market: Buyers walk away from distressed sale of San Francisco Centre
In San Francisco’s hot-again office market, you need a glow-up to succeed

Anatomy of a Buckle
Pfizer’s Bitter Pill
Apartments for Rent in a Former Office, but You Have to Live in Midtown
Developer of Troubled Midtown High-Rise Had Tried to Avoid the Spotlight

Blackstone’s QTS Abandons Massive Data Center in Virginia
Brookfield Bets on AI at Scale Never Tested Before in $50 Billion Push
Brookfield’s Compass Bails on Massive Virginia Data Center
AI’s Unlikely Benefactor: Blackstone’s 77-Year-Old CEO Steve Schwarzman
Jon and Mindy Gray Bet on AI Science Research to Prevent Cancer

This week, we wade into the underbelly of big-ticket restructuring, looking at Pimco’s $1.8B lifeline on its disastrous bet on the Columbia Property Trust office portfolio, and how the lenders that stepped in after the default have set themselves up for a massive payday. The whole journey is a valuable lens into the opportunities available deep in the nethers of the capstack. Next, we have to revisit the saga of S2 Capital's Scott Everett, the GP who’s now declared that his $400M multifamily fund is a total loss– we sensed this was coming, but it still hits. We dive into both the business and reputational aspects of the wipeout. Plus, our Punch List rundown of the newsiest industry happenings: RFR Realty succession; Sergey Brin's NYC rent-stabilized misadventure; Miami condo buyout aces; Kayne Anderson gobbled up.

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!

Further Reading/Listening

Aby & Sons
Sergey Brin’s Steep Loss Highlights New York Landlords’ Pain
Kayne Anderson’s New Chief Says Real Estate in ‘Supercycle’ as Unit Is Sold
The Terminator of Miami

Reset Basis
FiDi Telenovela Set For Happy Ending

S2’s Reit Reckoning 
Great Scott! S2 Wipes Out on $400M Fund

This week, we take stock of the legacy of Alan Greenspan, the long-serving Fed Chair who has died at the ripe old age of 100. Greenspan’s moves, for better and for worse, shaped the CRE market as we know it today. Next, we visit the rapidly gentrifying swamp that is Gowanus, where Sam Charney is remaking the neighborhood with a little help from his friends. And finally, we dive back into one of The Promote’s pet topics – the fallout from the end of the Traveling HFC property-tax loophole in Texas. Plus, our Punch List rundown of the newsiest industry happenings: Charles Cohen v Fortress; BTR-killer bill; NYC freezes rent; World Cup takeaways.

Sponsors:
1) 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.

2) 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.
3) 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!

Further Reading/Listening

Trump Cancels Plan To Sign Bipartisan Housing Bill, Demanding Voter ID Law
Cohen's Fortress of Pain

The Man Who Knew: The Life and Times of Alan Greenspan

The Flying Walentases
Brooklyn Billionaire: How One Man Made A Fortune Rebuilding Dumbo

The Closing: Sam Charney
Meet CRE Finance’s Most Eccentric Investor
Gaffers of Gowanus 

The Traveling HFC Hangover

This week, we load up on chips n' vinegar and take you with us on an extraordinary journey into British caravan country. Embattled mobile-home king Robert Bull's tale brings together gypsies, Norwegian beauty queens and New York financiers – and yes, it is very much a CRE story. Next, we slip into Dolce & Gabbana and ride to the branded-condo epicenter of Miami, where JDS’ Michael Stern is prepping a rescue recap of his latest development – Stern is a first-draft pick for a real estate pirate, and we get into the backstory. And finally, a strong example of returns not mattering in institutional CRE – Nuveen has disclosed a string of meaty losses on its investing bets. Plus, our Punch List rundown of the newsiest industry happenings: a $1.3 billion arbitration award in an OC real estate dispute; Ken Griffin's empire-building; and Monty Bennett's pillaging of hotel REIT Braemar.

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.

Further Reading/Listening

Michael Stern: the highs and lows of a New York skyscraper king
The Closing: Michael Stern
An Insider’s Guide to the Miami Branded Condo Game
Soffer to the rescue?
A Miami Kingpin's Epic Aventura
Nuveen's Loss Factor
Carl Icahn settles the Texaco/Getty Oil lawsuit
The Bankrupting of a Mobile Home Billionaire