Month: July 2020

Calpers CEO Marcie Frost, CommonWealth CEO Brett Munger and City National Plaza (Google Maps) City National Plaza office complex in Downtown Los Angeles received a $550 million refinancing from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs in late March, just as the CMBS market seized up in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Two months later, as the…

Starwood Capital Group CEO Barry Sternlicht (Getty) Barry Sternlicht is putting his money where his mouth is. The Starwood Capital Group CEO last month quipped, “when it’s really ugly, it’s a good time to invest.” Now, the company is looking to raise $11 billion for real estate and distressed bets. The firm’s Starwood Global Opportunity…

From left: 799 Broadway, Columbia Property Trust CEO Nelson Mills and 149 Madison Avenue (Image by 799 Broadway; Mills and 149 Madison Avenue via Columbia Property Trust) Looking at the latest quarterly financials from Columbia Property Trust, you might forget that we’re in the middle of a pandemic. The office REIT leased more square footage…

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos with (clockwise from top left: 1055 Bronx River Ave. in Bronx, NY; 3507 W. 51st St. in Chicago; 13200 Southwest 272nd St. in South Miami-Dade, Florida; 28820 Chase Place in Valencia, California (1055 Bronx River Ave via Google Maps; 3507 W. 51st St. via 42 Floors; 13200 Southwest 272nd St. via…

Porch CEO Matt Ehrlichman, with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority veterans Thomas Hennessey (inset left) and Joseph Beck (inset right) (Ehrlichman via Porch,  Hennessey and Beck via LinkedIn) Porch.com, a VC-backed home services marketplace, is going public with a blank-check company, one of the first such deals in the proptech world. The Seattle-based firm said Friday…

(Realtor.com) The coronavirus pandemic has created opportunity in Los Angeles’ luxury housing market. Properties are selling, but usually for far less than original asking. The latest examples are a pair of modern-style spec mansions that sold in Beverly Hills and Beverly Park last week, but whose owners accepted significant price chops. A 16,450-square-foot home in…

Jose Huizar (Getty) A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted once-influential Los Angeles Councilmember Jose Huizar on 34 charges related to a $1.5 million bribery and corruption scheme he allegedly ran through his office at City Hall. The indictment alleges “402 overt acts that Huizar and his co-conspirators committed to further their criminal enterprise…” according…

Hudson Pacific Properties CEO Victor Coleman (Illustration of Victor Coleman by The Real Deal; iStock; Coleman via Hudson Pacific) Hudson Pacific Properties reported a dip in second quarter net income, attributing it to retail tenants that deferred their rent payments because of the coronavirus. But taking into account the massive impact the pandemic has had…

Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman (iStock, Redfin) Redfin’s second quarter wasn’t quite as terrible as the national brokerage and listings site had projected. The Seattle-based residential firm logged a net loss of $6.6 million in the second quarter of 2020 instead of the $21 to $26 million in losses it anticipated. Redfin also reported $214 million…

Realogy CEO Ryan Schneider (iStock) Realogy’s profits plunged during the second quarter, after coronavirus slowed home sales across the country, the brokerage giant said Thursday. Realogy reported a $14 million loss during the quarter — a huge drop from $69 million in profits during the same period last year. Citing a “massive drop-off” in transactions,…