Editors’ Weekly News Roundup April 22 – April 26
Chicago may be only the third-largest U.S. city, but it was number one among regional markets in the minds of Connect CRE readers this past week. Stories that originated in Chicago and also drew national attention represented two of the five most-read Connect CRE stories for the week ending April 27.
Leading the way, though, was a forecast from Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group which supported the increasingly prevalent view that we’ll be seeing fewer rate cuts from the Federal Reserve than was thought at the start of 2024. Fannie Mae Forecasts ‘Higher for Longer’ Interest Rates, Inflationalso summarized the ESR Group’s expectations for slowing employment and economic growth, along with progress toward the Fed’s target of 2% inflation.
Slowing economic growth notwithstanding, people will remain interested in having a state-of-the-art venue for watching pro football. That’s among the conclusions to be drawn from the strong national as well as regional interest in Chicago Bears’ New Stadium Plans Revealed, the week’s second most-read story.
Not unlike the forecast for reductions in the federal funds rate, the Bears’ plans for that venue have evolved. Initially set to depart their longtime home of Soldier Field for a to-be-built facility in suburban Arlington Heights, the Bears now intend to develop a fixed-roof stadium along the Chicago lakefront. It will be suitable for events year-round, with Soldier Field itself giving way to sports fields and gardens.
A retailing concept that began in Chicago will now end there too, it seems. Having merged just six months ago, grocery chains Foxtrot Market and Dom’s Kitchen & Market have now announced the cessation of operations.
Third among the week’s most-read stories was Chicago-Based Foxtrot, Dom’s to Close All Stores,a turn of events that evidently came as a surprise to many, including store employees. Foxtrot had begun expanding nationally after originating its model of what CEO Mike LaVitola called “the corner store with hospitality and a sense of place” in the late 2010s.
CoStar Group, which has made a number of entity-level acquisitions in the proptech space, announced another one this past week. Already a steady customer of Sunnyvale, CA-based Matterport, Washington, DC-based CoStar will now become its owner. CoStar to Acquire Digital Twin Platform Matterport for $1.6Bwas our fourth most-read story, leading our National newsletter last Tuesday and also taking a prominent position in that day’s California newsletter.
On the subject of mergers and acquisitions, asset management giant Blackstone, which made headlines earlier this month with a $10-billion deal to take Apartment Income REIT private, warranted another breaking news story this past week. This time, Blackstone was the seller and the property type was student housing.
Blackstone Trades Student Housing to KKR for $1.6B ranked as the week’s fifth most-read story. The sale involved 19 properties tied to 14 public universities, which Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust acquired in 2018 with joint venture partner Greystar.
“Student housing is a sector that we have long-term conviction in,” said KKR’s Justin Pattner. Blackstone would agree with the sentiment: it remains the nation’s largest owner of student housing properties.
Once regarded as an alternative property type and severely constrained during the pandemic, student housing has enjoyed a renaissance of investor interest. Another niche sector that has gotten more attention lately is golf courses, and last week saw a plum of an asset come to market: the Club at New Seaburyon Cape Cod.
The property has been owned by an affiliate of Carl Icahn’s company for more than 25 years. Last week also saw another regional listing story with a resort theme—a monastery near Aspen, CO, with an asking price of $150 million.