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Gary Barnett has, yet again, landed a billion-dollar plus financing package for yet another outlandishly ambitious project. An unnamed bank is stepping up to give Extell up to $1.3B in sr. & mezz debt to fund the construction of “The Torch,” a supertall mixed-use hotel in New York’s Theater District ??? Barnett is also working on a deal w/ a hotel operator (has a ?? LOI) that would backstop the construction & thus allow Extell to score another $150M in mezz.

Pretty tasty bit of business for Meridian/Barings: Acquired Barings Multifamily Capital for the low $100 millions, per deal insiders. Launched NewPoint, beefed it up by acquiring Housing & Healthcare Finance, giving it more juice in healthcare & sr. housing deals as well as a bigger loan-servicing book. It also had to build out its origination & servicing team, stand up various funds (bridge etc.) and other ?? & whistles. All told, ownership’s investment in NewPoint was in the low $200 millions, sources said. It’s now exiting at $425M to Benefit Street Partners – meaning ownership will be nearly doubling its money in just a 4Y period!

Ever since The Promote took off, the most-demanded addition has been a podcast: something CRE junkies can kick back with, rich w/ unfiltered behind-the-scenes commentary on market-moving deals. No fluff, no bloat – just our signature spice ??? We’re thrilled to share our pilot episode w/ you: Hiten & no-BS institutional insider Will Krasne ?? break down 3 stories capturing the market’s attention: Bad Boy Guarantees, a Skyscraper Ransom in Midtown (14:20) & why “Aura is the lowest cost of capital.” ?? (21:27) Can promise you that though we have a LOT to learn about podcasting – and your feedback is deeply appreciated – the level of detail & candor you’ll hear here is radically different from anything in the space. Spotify: https://lnkd.in/dQ3qhpT7 Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/dftFFsJg

In ‘22, Misra set up his own fund,?One Investment Management, w/ backing from the?Abu Dhabi royal family????? & Emirati SWF?Mubadala,?and last year?upped its AUM?to?$8B. Now, OneIM has emerged as a backer of?Savanna?(Chris Schlank, Nick Bienstock) on its luxe resi project in?West Palm Beach, part of a consortium that kicked in?$380M. Other lenders in the mix include the?Zeckendorf Bros. of New York,?Octo Capital?(Fred Bronstein, alum of Elliott Management), &?Sculptor Capital.?Newmark?(Spies, Adam Doneger, Nick Scribani) brokered the financing on the 2-tower project, which will include 287 condos ($2M-$10M), 170 rentals, and a José Andrés eatery. One Investment Management | Savanna

The concentration of power & riches on Wall Street has shifted so much that there’s a new ruling class of firms that deserve their own bucket. They’re already beginning to shape-shift the office market, and in time will play an even bigger role. The main reason: they make such an obscene amount of money. The secretive trading firm Jane Street has an avg. pay of $900K/employee ?? compared to Goldman Sachs’ $340K, per an analysis. The firm generated net trading revenues of $10B+ 4Y in a row, and its profit margin is 70%. When you have numbers like that, you can get pretty much any office space you want, incl. the landlord’s: Jane St. expanded last month to nearly 1M sf at Brookfield’s 250 Vesey, in a deal that will see Brookfield’s parent company BAM skedaddle out of its own space to accommodate. Or take XTX, the algorithmic trading firm founded by Alex Gerko that’s been dubbed the “kings of the geek world.” The UK-based firm handles $250B in daily trading volume, and set up shop at 50 Hudson Yards in ‘23: Its space there is small – just 13K sf – but pricey: per CompStak data, it’s paying in the low $170s a foot. It’s best to think of these transactions as harbingers of these firms’ future footprints: as they continue to eat the big banks’ lunch, they’ll want their offices to reflect their place in the pecking order. Financial Times | XTX Markets | Jane Street

The biggest winners in finance aren’t who they used to be. Quant trading giants like Jane Street, XTX Markets, and Susquehanna International Group are posting margins that would make even the most aggressive investment bankers blush. And with their dominance growing, their real estate footprints are following suit. Jane Street’s expansion at Brookfield Place forced its own landlord out. XTX is paying sky-high rents at Hudson Yards New York without hesitation. Susquehanna is locking in long-term deals that signal even bigger ambitions ahead. With near-unlimited budgets and a relentless growth trajectory, they’re reshaping the office market – and they’re just getting started. Hiten Samtani Tim Reynolds Alexander Gerko

Charles Cohen played hardball with Fortress. Now, it’s payback time. Now, with his assets seized and legal options exhausted, he’s asking the court for time to settle. Fortress? It’s done talking. The lender has already moved across the Atlantic, pushing French courts to take Cohen’s chateau. When a $187M personal guarantee is on the line, there’s no such thing as off-limits. Hiten Samtani Fortress Investment Group

New York Community Bank (NYCB)’s long-standing capital-markets partnership with Meridian Capital Group has frayed in the wake of leadership changes. For years, Meridian Capital, under Ralph Herzka, dominated NYCB’s multifamily pipeline, brokering 75% of its deals across NY, NJ, and PA. But post-Mnuchin recapitalization, that dynamic has shifted. The bank has distanced itself from Herzka, and questions are mounting over a nine-figure corporate loan NYCB extended to Meridian in 2021. With market conditions shifting and stricter oversight in play, covenant breaches and cash-flow concerns could be on the table. Meridian’s best hope for stability now? Brian Brooks – the CEO tasked with keeping the firm in the game. Hiten Samtani

The power behind AI isn't just chips anymore – it's real estate. With demand outpacing supply, capital markets are stepping in to fund the next generation of data infrastructure. Alternative lenders are taking the lead, and the biggest players in private credit are structuring deals at a scale few imagined possible. A decade ago, data centers were a niche asset class. Today, they’re the new battleground for capital. Hiten Samtani Meta Apollo Global Management, Inc. Microsoft BlackRock Blackstone Microsoft AI

When does loan servicing turn into power brokering? Jeff Krasnoff – fast becoming the Keyser S?ze of NYC real estate – is at the center of a legal battle as Rialto Capital’s aggressive play on Signature Bank’s loan book sparks a lawsuit from Midtown Equities' Joseph Cayre and a potential class-action suit from 40+ borrowers. Here's how it all went down. Hiten Samtani