Today's Real Estate Pulse
Berkshire Hathaway to Acquire U.S. Homebuilder in $6.8B Deal
Berkshire Hathaway, now led by CEO Greg Abel, announced a $6.8 billion acquisition of a U.S. homebuilder, marking the conglomerate’s first major entry into residential construction. The purchase is intended to add stable, long‑term cash flow from the housing sector to Berkshire’s portfolio.
Also developing:
ICE Spends $350 M+ Buying Warehouses to Convert Into Detention Centers
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has purchased at least 11 massive industrial warehouses in eight states for a total exceeding $350 million, converting them into detention facilities under a $38.3 billion overhaul. The acquisitions, ranging from $35 million in San Antonio to $145 million in Salt Lake City, raise zoning, community‑impact and oversight questions.
H‑E‑B Opens 25‑Acre Store in Royse City, Challenging Walmart’s Grocery Share
H‑E‑B disclosed plans for a 25‑acre supermarket in Royse City, Texas, with construction to begin early next year and an opening targeted for 2028. The move adds to the chain’s 440‑plus locations and pits the discount‑focused grocer against Walmart, Kroger...
KnitWell Group to Shut Additional Ann Taylor, LOFT, Talbots Stores in 2026
KnitWell Group, the owner of Ann Taylor, LOFT, Talbots and other women’s brands, confirmed the closure of four more stores in 2026, adding to a broader strategy of trimming its physical footprint. The moves reflect persistent pressure on legacy retailers...
Renters Buy LA Skyscrapers as NYC Office-to-Home Conversions Double
Capital Group agreed to purchase the 55‑story Bank of America Plaza in downtown Los Angeles for about $210 million, while New York City’s office‑to‑apartment conversion pipeline has surged to 16,358 projects—almost twice last year’s total. The twin trends signal a rapid...
AFIRE’s Gunnar Branson: U.S. CRE Continues to Be Seen as Safest Investment (VIDEO)
Gunnar Branson, CEO of Afire, told Connect CRE’s new podcast that U.S. commercial real estate (CRE) remains the safest global investment despite rising geopolitical tensions. European investors, while frustrated by recent tariffs, continue to allocate capital to the United States....
Innolabs in LIC Reaches Full Occupancy with Rover Diagnostics Lease
Innolabs in Long Island City reached full occupancy after signing a 15,763‑square‑foot lease with Rover Diagnostics, a point‑of‑care PCR diagnostics company focused on women’s health. The lease secures a ground‑floor, pre‑built lab suite within the 267,000‑square‑foot facility. King Street Properties...
RPG Sells Rivian-Leased Industrial in Vista
RAF Pacifica Group (RPG) has completed the sale of a 59,828‑square‑foot industrial building in Vista that is fully leased to electric‑vehicle maker Rivian Automotive. The transaction, brokered by Cushman & Wakefield and partnered with CenterSquare Investment Management, disclosed no price terms. RPG...
Cushman & Wakefield Tapped to Market Large-Scale Site on Yonkers Waterfront
Cushman & Wakefield has been hired by American Sugar Refining to market the sale of The Refinery District, a 33‑acre waterfront site at 1 Federal Street in Yonkers. The parcel offers up to 2,650 residential units and roughly 2.6 million square feet...
Merrimack Premium Outlets Adds Three New Tenants
Simon’s Merrimack Premium Outlets in New Hampshire announced three new tenants: Feng’s Chopsticks, which has already opened, Naughty Waffle, slated for later this month, and Hyperclaw Arena, set to debut on Memorial Day weekend. The additions expand the center’s dining...
Colliers Team Brings Sacramento Deal Across the Finish Line
Colliers' Sacramento Multifamily Team closed a $16 million sale of the 100‑unit 2850 Cottage Way apartment complex. The deal was priced at a 6.53% cap rate and involved a buyer executing a 1031 exchange. The team navigated hurdles including the seller’s...
Inventory Is Up, Prices Are Down—So Why Are Home Sales Muted?
U.S. home sales remain muted despite a sharp rise in inventory and a 2.2% drop in median prices, now at $415,450, the lowest since 2022. Mortgage rates have jumped to 6.46%, the highest in seven months, adding roughly $117 to...
Brokers Keep Proving My Point.
The author argues that many commercial brokers withhold lease agreements until escrow, despite the lease being the core document that defines an income property's cash flow. This practice forces serious buyers—who typically move millions of dollars—into blind offers, causing deals...
Greater Palm Beach Area Home Sales Climb as Tight Supply Fuels Prices
February 2026 saw Palm Beach County home sales rise 9% year‑over‑year to 1,847 transactions, driven by strong demand in both single‑family and condo segments. The median price for single‑family homes climbed 4.3% to $675,000, while condo values dipped 0.6% to...
Negotiated Garage Reduction Restores Blocked Alley Access
Once built a 4plex where the design required parking access through an alley like this. The problem was that the neighbor on the other side of the alley had illegally expanded his garage to annex like ~50% of the width of...
Ryanair Co-Founder Restored An 18th Century Village In Ireland And Now It’s Up For Sale For $23 Million
The Village at Lyons, a 20‑acre 18th‑century Irish estate restored by Ryanair co‑founder Tony Ryan, is now on the market for $23,078,698. The property features 47 bedrooms, a caretaker house, carriage house, guest house, fitness and yoga spaces, lake and...
Fixed Summit Unveils 2026 Lineup of Speakers & Events
Fixed Summit announced its 2026 lineup, scheduled for April 27‑29 at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort near Austin, Texas. The event, focused on multifamily maintenance professionals, will feature OSHA‑certified safety training, live equipment demos, peer‑led breakout sessions, and the...
Housing Node Rises up Along Avondale Estates' Main Thoroughfare
Atlanta developer TBG Residential is building The Overlook at Avondale Estates, the city’s first new senior housing project, featuring 66 affordable units for residents 55 and older. The 2741 E. College Ave. site, formerly an auto‑service lot, is about 40% complete...
Redfin Shows Home Prices Cooling as Mortgage Rates Near 6.5%
Redfin’s latest weekly data show median new‑listing prices edging up 2.47% to $424,975 and median sales rising 2% to $391,000, even as the national 30‑year mortgage rate nudged higher to 6.46%. The mixed signals highlight a market where price growth...
HMC StratCap’s Monterey Park Data Center Hits Community Wall, Stalling California’s Building Boom
Australian developer HMC StratCap’s $‑tens‑of‑millions Monterey Park data center project ran into a hostile crowd at city hall, underscoring a growing backlash against AI‑driven data facilities in California. The opposition reflects a wider shift as developers and investors look elsewhere...
FIRE Firms Dominate Preleases as Office Construction Cools
A Cooling Cycle: Office Construction Declines in Major U.S. Cities As of the start of 2026, 14 of the country's leading office markets had more than 17.5M SF actively under construction or renovation, with 42.5% of the space preleased. Overall, 30%...
California Bill Could Require Apartment Developers to Fund Grocery Construction
California’s AB 1674 would force developers of new apartments, townhomes, condos and mobile home parks to preserve or fund grocery‑store space when projects threaten food‑desert areas. The bill requires local governments to assess a development’s impact on grocery‑store capacity within a...
Housing Crisis Needs Collective Action, Not Solo Hero
One of the things that bug me about how he uses language is this insistence that *he* is going to build all the homes. In fact, if we are going to build hundreds of thousands or millions of new homes in...
Several Chinatown Buildings Find a Single Buyer for $21M
An unidentified investor, operating through the LLC 99‑91 Canal Project, purchased a cluster of commercial buildings at 99‑105, 95‑97 and 91 Canal Street in Manhattan’s Chinatown for $21.14 million. The properties, registered as office buildings with ground‑floor storefronts, include the artist‑run...
Buyers Finally Have Leverage in the Housing Market. Here Are 3 Smart Ways...
U.S. homebuyers are regaining leverage as the market cools, prompting sellers to offer concessions rather than price cuts. In Charlotte, agents report $5,000 closing‑cost credits on $355,000 listings, and nationwide data show 67% of sellers covered buyer closing costs in...
Home Values Rise Every Decade—Don
Home values have increased every single decade since the 1940s. Every. Single. One. But sure, wait for the perfect time to buy.
Infinity Funds Refis Midtown East Apartments With $38M Loan
Infinity Funds has provided a $37.5 million loan to refinance Dalan Real Estate’s 164‑unit Midtown East multifamily building, The Centra, at 230 East 44th Street. The 14‑story, 135,315‑square‑foot property sits on a 91‑year ground lease and includes about 5,000 sq ft of commercial space leased to...
Prairie Style: Modern Living Beyond Grandma’s House
Be honest: when you hear ‘prairie style’ do you picture your grandmother’s house or something you’d actually want to live in? Because I just revealed a project that might change your mind.
Mortgage Defaults Return to Pre‑pandemic Levels, Boosting Inventory
Mortgage defaults in the U.S. are now back to pre-pandemic levels. In Q4 2025, 4.3% of mortgage holders were in default, a level slightly higher than 2019 figures. This return to normalcy in mortgage defaults is actually good news, as it means...
Miami Worldcenter Retail Property Sells for $210M
Jamestown and partners purchased the 272,966‑square‑foot retail portion of Miami Worldcenter for $210 million, including the 80,000‑sq‑ft Jewel Box building. The asset, now 97% leased, hosts marquee tenants such as Apple, Lululemon and Lucid Motors. It forms part of the $6 billion,...
NJ Investor Mordechai Weiss Charged in $13.3M Mortgage Fraud Probe Over East Orange Complex
Mordechai Weiss, a New York‑based real‑estate investor, was indicted on conspiracy to commit wire fraud for allegedly securing a $13.3 million loan on a 44‑unit East Orange building worth far less. The case deepens a federal crackdown on commercial mortgage fraud...
Target 150bp Yield Spread Over Market Cap
How private equity firms analyze deals: Most important metrics: 1. Stabilized cap rate (yield): Since we focus on value add, the entry cap doesn’t matter much, as long as we can service our debt The stabilized yield matters because it shows the intrinsic...
Net Operating Income Depends on More Than Just Rent
NOI is what matters, and rent is obviously a big part of that but not the only part. Expenses, turnover, vacant days between leases, ancillary incomes, etc, all matter too.
Assignment and Subletting Clauses in Commercial Leases
Assignment and subletting clauses are often overlooked during lease negotiations, yet they dictate how a tenant can transfer or share lease rights. An assignment hands the entire lease to a new tenant, releasing the original party, while a sublease keeps...
2000sqft Homes for $250k Near Subway
Lots of very inexpensive homes in "walkable" neighborhoods 4 blocks from the subway Both of these 2000sf homes are $250,000 in West Philadelphia https://t.co/8qNyNE00gd
Oak Park, Sacramento Home Values Soar Over Time
The story of value over time in the Oak Park neighborhood in Sacramento. Something on my desk today. Thought I'd share. https://t.co/u432dCM38O
The Duration Trap
The article warns that real‑estate investors repeatedly fall into a “duration trap” by financing long‑term assets with short‑term debt. When credit conditions shift—whether during the 1980s S&L crisis, Japan’s 1990s collapse, the 2008 CMBS freeze, or the recent bridge‑loan crunch—refinancing...
50‑Year‑Old 9 West 57th Commands Record
50+ yrs after it w/built, #9West57th still rakin' it in. Some int'l family firm, whose name w/bc known soon enough, pays record $327/sf to look down on #CentralPark. 'The price speaks for itself' #realestate #CRE #NYC #Soloviev #CBRE #mortgage ...
NY Real Estate Rebounds as Talent Flows From Florida
The “@ZohranKMamdani effect”? Real estate prices back to pre-pandemic highs, office vacancies falling, and young talent still moving from Florida to New York.
Maersk Adds Major New Jersey Hub Near Port Newark-Elizabeth
Maersk has signed a lease for a 233,000‑square‑foot ground‑freight hub in Linden, New Jersey, adjacent to the Port Newark‑Elizabeth complex. The facility will handle both full‑truck‑load and less‑than‑truck‑load shipments, linking warehouse operations to inland delivery networks across the United States. Its...
Builders’ Rate Cuts Mask Deeper Housing Supply Misalignment
If it weren't the builders paying down rates, housing permits would be worse today. We will never build housing the way people want because we aren't a supply-first economy; the demand curve needs to align with it, and rental vacancies...
Dallas Rents Dip, Homes Stay Affordable—Perfect Buyer Window
I toured some Dallas buildings recently. Was *shocking* how nice of an apartment you can get for $1200-1300. Combine that with the fact that you can still buy a house in the suburbs for $400k, and you can see why so...
‘I Plan to Take Out a Mortgage’: My Father Died. Should I Buy the Family Home From My Mom at...
The Moneyist column addresses a reader whose father recently died and who wants to buy the family home from his mother at a 40% discount, using a mortgage to settle the existing loan and pay siblings. The mother inherited the...
FTC Seeks Public Input on Junk Fee Rule for Rental Housing
The Federal Trade Commission has issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to curb undisclosed "junk fees" in rental housing, seeking public comment by April 13. The agency’s focus follows high‑profile settlements—$48 million with Invitation Homes and $23 million with Greystar—highlighting deceptive rent...
Office Space Lease in Las Vegas, NV — Blue Heron Secures 48,195 SF at Town Square
Blue Heron, a Las Vegas‑based architecture and design firm, signed a 48,195 sq ft office lease at Town Square, a premier mixed‑use destination. The 10‑year lease, effective May 10 2024, was brokered by M Square Commercial on behalf of the tenant and SRMF Town...
Housing Surplus Exists, but Location and Type Limit Viability
There are millions of vacant or low cost houses in the US ... just not in places where people want to live Construction costs have same dynamic. It's regional & type dependent Some kinds of homes in some places make sense for...
Punch List: Turner Files $7M Lien, NYC Skyscrapers Are World’s Most Expensive
Turner Construction filed a $7 million lien on the $180 million Fairmont Heritage Place The Cedars condo project in Hendersonville, North Carolina, after stopping work and removing its crane. The lien reflects rising payment pressures in the multifamily sector, where delinquencies have...
Sacramento 2026 Home Sales Slightly Edge 2025
Closed home sales volume in 2026 is just ahead of 2025 in the Sacramento region so far. Not by much, but any growth feels like a win. I'll have visuals out next week to break down the trend.
2028 Olympics Hospitality Team Signs Big Office Lease in Downtown L.A.
On Location, the official hospitality provider for the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, signed a 108,272‑square‑foot lease at the 40‑story Union Bank Plaza, covering roughly 15 percent of the building’s rentable area. The lease terms were undisclosed, but the move...
How High-Performance Roofing Can Prepare Your Building for Extreme Weather
The piece explains how high‑performance roofing can shield commercial properties from extreme weather such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and severe hail. It identifies typical roof failure points—wind uplift, debris impact, and hail punctures—and stresses the value of regular inspections and maintenance....
NYC Multifamily Market Threatened by Overwhelming Regulations
Engquist: Is #NYC #realestate facing 'death by 1000 cuts?' There's a pile of regulatory mandates that may be taking a toll, particularly in #multifamily. #CRE #affordablehousing #rentstabilized #LocalLaw152 https://t.co/tXIsYHkWVe