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- The Thesis Driven TL;DR | Week of August 4th
The Thesis Driven TL;DR | Week of August 4th
Everything you need to know about real estate in one little email

🛍️ Onyx drops $1B on JCPenney assets for reinvention (TRD)
☀️ America’s turning warehouses into power plants (WSJ)
🏨 Cain nears $175M deal for iconic Dominick Hotel (TRD)
📚 September courses & workshops announced!
Data Viz of the Week: NYC's New Subway Line
New York is getting a new subway line.
This week, Governor Hochul announced that the Interborough Express (IBX) was moving out of the design phase. The new line will connect Brooklyn and Queens, spanning from Bay Ridge to Roosevelt Avenue. The new line is expected to have 160,000 passengers per day, making it the most-used light rail line in the US.
Critically, the IBX makes use of existing track and right-of-way, so the line could be operational as soon as 2030.
Upcoming Thesis Driven Courses & Classes
August 18: Fundamentals of Capital Raising (💻 Online): An insider’s guide to raising capital for real estate projects from individuals, family offices and institutional investors - Sign up
September 1: Selling Into Real Estate Owners (💻 Online): A bootcamp for people selling technology and products into the real estate industry - Sign up
September 3-4: Workshop: Raising Capital from Family Offices (💻 Online): A two-day interactive workshop for real estate sponsors, entrepreneurs & capital raisers looking to raise capital from family offices - Sign up
September 10-11: Workshop: AI in Real Estate (💻 Online): A two-day interactive workshop for real estate owners, operators, and developers exploring how to use AI in the sector - Sign up
Three Articles We Loved from Last Week
It’s not easy keeping up with everything. Here are three articles we loved from the past week that you may have missed:
(The Real Deal) Onyx Partners pays $947M for JCPenney portfolio
Onyx Partners bought 119 former JCPenney retail properties spread over 30 U.S. states for $947 million—averaging nearly $8M per asset. This ranks among the largest retail portfolio acquisitions in recent CRE history.
(WSJ) Warehouse rooftops seen as solution to U.S. power shortage
Commercial rooftops across U.S. warehouses are being eyed for solar installations to meet surging energy demand. Over 500 sites targeting 630 MW capacity could generate 16% of household electricity. Policy uncertainty weighs on future expansion.
(The Real Deal) CIM near $175M sale of Dominick hotel
CIM Group is in advanced talks to sell the 391-key Dominick Hotel (formerly Trump Soho) to Cain International for more than $175 million. The deal reflects renewed interest in prime urban hotel repositioning.
Developer of the Week: Fulton Street
You're probably familiar with office-to-resi conversions, but this week's developer of the week is doing something far more contrarian: a resi-to-office conversion.
Chicago-based Fulton Street will be converting the city's long-vacant Lake Street Lofts into 92,000 square feet of office space and 14,000 square feet of ground floor retail. A different developer had previously considered a hotel conversion before abandoning those plans last year.
You can read more about Fulton Street on the Thesis Driven GP database here.

901 W Lake St via CoStar
Know about a developer doing something cool? Reach out to [email protected] with the tip!
—Brad and Paul