Editors’ Weekly News Roundup January 20 – January 24
It comes as no surprise that the newly inaugurated President Trump is back in the headlines, and that includes headlines on Connect CRE. The real estate scion turned Commander in Chief figured in the most read Connect CRE story of the past week with news of one of his senior-level appointments—but it’s likely that the appointee was less of a draw than the implication in the headline.
Trump to Nominate Bill Pulte as FHFA Head; Ending GSE Conservatorship a Priority reported that the new administration will seek to move Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of direct government control. As head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Pulte would oversee winding down a conservatorship that began at the outset of the global financial crisis in 2008.
Although 18 months is a shorter interval than 16 years and counting, it’s a long time to have vacant space on a landlord’s books. In our second most-read story of the past week, Armada Hoffler closed the loop on a big-box vacancy that has existed since housewares chain Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy and closed all its stores.
Readers learned in Two Major Retail Leases Executed in Virginia Beachthat two credit tenants—a prominent grocer and a national sporting goods retailer—backfilled the 33,000 square feet of space at Columbus Village. Armada Hoffler has now re-leased two former Bed Bath & Beyond locations in this East Coast resort community.
The past week’s third most-read story shifted the action back to Washington, DC, where the National Multifamily Housing Council is headquartered, and back to the residential sector. Here, the news was less positive, as NMHC reported that all four of the indices in its Quarterly Survey of Apartment Market Conditions came in below the break-even level of 50.
As reported in NMHC Apartment Market Survey Shows Declining Conditions, the indices collectively signaled less favorable outlooks for market tightness, sales volume, equity financing and debt financing as the first quarter of 2025 gets underway. Although not noted in the story, the debt financing index experienced the steepest reversal from October 2024’s survey, dropping from 77 to 32.
That being the case, high-profile multifamily projects with high-quality sponsors continue to garner financing, notably in South Florida. A case in point is the Perigon Miami Beach, which Mast Capital is developing in a joint venture with Starwood Capital.
Mast Obtains $390M Construction Loan for Miami Condosinformed Connect CRE readers that the lender was Eldridge Real Estate Credit and that the project features 73 for-sale residences priced at $10 million and above. It’s slated for delivery in 2027. The story ranked fourth among the past week’s top stories.
The weekly countdown began with plans to make an exit (from government conservatorship) and ended with an actual one (from ownership of a property). DJM Capital Partners has sold its minority stake in a venerable and popular Orange County, CA retail center, which we reported in DJM Exits Stake in Huntington Beach’s Bella Terra; PGIM Now Sole Owner.
During its 20-year involvement with Bella Terra, DJM transformed it from an indoor mall to an outdoor lifestyle center. Now, said DJM president Lindsay Parton, “We leave its incredible tenants and guests in PGIM’s very capable hands.”