Clockwise from top left: Re/Max launches a new tech platform, Jared Kushner asked Observer staff to delete articles about friends, SoftBank’s initial public offering could end up being the largest one ever, and Zillow stock plunges, but its CEO says the company’s ‘long-term story is intact.’
Zillow stock plunges 15% but its CEO says the company’s ‘long-term story is intact’
It wasn’t the best week for Zillow Group, which saw its stock plunge around 15 percent on Tuesday. The dip came a day after the listings giant announced that it would be getting into home-buying and mortgage origination — a move that may have worried investors, experts said. The company also lowered its revenue projection for the year. Despite Tuesday’s woes, Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff said the company’s “long-term story is intact,” adding that “anytime the stock price declines like this, it’s painful in the short term.” [TRD]
SoftBank’s initial public offering could end up being the largest one ever
SoftBank is gearing up for an initial public offering that could end up being the largest IPO ever. While the value of the planned IPO for Softbank’s Japanese wireless business hasn’t yet been finalized, it may be around $30 billion — a figure that would surpass Alibaba Group’s $25 billion offering in 2014, Bloomberg reported. SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son hopes to debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and the IPO — which would see the company sell approximately a third of its business — could happen this year. [TRD]
Re/Max follows Compass, Keller Williams’ lead by launching a new tech platform
Re/Max is jumping on the tech platform bandwagon, Inman reported. The residential brokerage is launching a new online platform that will feature “CRM [customer relationship management software], integrated with agent office and team websites, lead cultivation tools, marketing resources, social integration and more,” its CEO Adam Contos said. A startup Re/Max snapped up in February, booj — as in “be original or be jealous” — is building the platform, and its launch will follow the launches of similar products from brokerages like Keller Williams and Compass, which use their own tech platforms instead of utilizing third-party tech. [TRD]
Google has been renaming neighborhoods on its maps, and emotions are mixed
Google has been renaming neighborhoods, the New York Times reported. New names — like “Midtown South Central” in Manhattan and “the East Cut” for the area south of downtown San Francisco along the bay — have been popping up on Google Maps, and it’s not exactly clear how it’s happened. Google “declined to detail how some places names came about, though some appear to have resulted from mistakes by researchers, rebrandings by real estate agents — or just outright fiction,” according to the Times. Some residents affected by the changes are livid about the new monikers, but others feel validated after finally seeing the names they use for their neighborhoods on the map. [TRD]
National mall owner and operator Macerich partnering with coworking company to utilize vacant space
Macerich is planning to convert empty retail space at the shopping centers into flexible offices. The company is partnering with coworking firm Industrious to carry out the endeavor, CNBC reported. The first mall that will get a coworking space is in Arizona. “We feel very confident that integrating coworking into retail will be a slam dunk in urban areas,” Industrious CEO Jamie Hodari said. [TRD]
MAJOR MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
Jared Kushner asked Observer staff to delete articles about his friends
Candlebrook Properties CEO Neil Rubler was among the friends Jared Kushner tried to protect by demanding that certain articles be deleted while he was the publisher of the New York Observer, Buzzfeed reported. In 2012, Kushner asked a staffer to take down an article about Rubler — whose real estate investment firm was called Vantage Properties at the time — because the article mentioned that Rubler was on a list of the “10 worst landlords,” according to the outlet. Kushner also asked staff to remove a story about NBA Commissioner Adam Silver buying a $6.75 million apartment on the Upper West Side. Kushner also tried to get a reporter to write a hit piece on a rival, real estate investor Richard Mack. [TRD]
Pinterest is moving to a larger office space in Chicago’s West Loop
Pinterest is moving from its current office in Chicago to a larger, 30,000-square-foot office space in the West Loop, Crain’s reported. Companies like Facebook and Google have also been looking to expand their footprints in Chicago. When Pinterest expanded to Chicago, it only had one employee, but now, the social media sharing site has more than 115 employees there. “Chicago is an important and growing office for Pinterest,” spokesman Mike Mayzel told the outlet. [TRD]
Miami’s Starwood Property Trust plans to acquire GE energy-finance business in move to diversify
Miami-based Starwood Property Trust plans to shell out $2.56 billion for a GE energy-finance business. The acquisition would allow the real estate investment trust to diversify and “expand beyond real estate holdings,” according to Bloomberg. “Obviously, we want to be involved in businesses that share the characteristics of real estate such as earning the vast majority of cash flows from creditworthy entities and using real assets as collateral,” Starwood Capital Group chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht told the outlet. The move comes as the trust looks to avoid the pitfalls some REITs faced during the 2008 financial crisis. [TRD]
HGTV outbids Lance Bass for “Brady Bunch” home in LA
HGTV owner Discovery beat out Lance Bass in a bidding war for the “Brady Bunch” home in Studio City. The 2,500-square-foot home hit the market for $1.89 million, but it’s not clear how much HGTV bid for it. While Bass initially said that he was “heartbroken” about the loss, he later congratulated HGTV, saying that he “[knew HGTV would] do the right thing with the house.” HGTV plans to restore the home to its former 1970s glory and use it on its shows in the future. [TRD]
Newark approves pricey proposal meant to draw Amazon HQ2 to the city
Newark officials say New Jersey’s largest city will offer up to $1 billion in tax breaks to any company that invests $3 billion in the city and creates 30,000 jobs over the next two decades — a clear effort to entice Amazon to build its second headquarters there, Bloomberg reported. If Amazon doesn’t end up choosing Newark, however, the offer could draw other companies to the city. “This is not Amazon legislation,” Newark Community Economic Development Corp. President Aisha Glover noted. “This is for transformative projects.” [TRD]
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