🤑 Luxury hotels keep deals rolling as 2025 winds down
🍋 House flippers are feeling the squeeze right now
👩‍⚖️ Landmark real-estate data antitrust battle—big implications for CRE tech.
📚 Workshops: Real Estate Finance 101

Data Viz of the Week: The Kids Aren’t Okay

According to a recent analysis by the Financial Times, the number of young people who are disconnecting from society—not working, looking for work, in school, or raising children—is rising and now close to 10% of all 20-24 year olds.

While it remains to be seen what impact this will have on real estate, it's clearly a worrying signal for society writ large.

Upcoming Thesis Driven Courses & Classes

•  📣 LAST CALL - December 16-17: Workshop: Real Estate Finance 101 (💻 Online): ​​A two-day interactive workshop designed for founders, operators, and professionals who want to finally understand how real estate finance actually works—and learn to speak the language of developers, investors, and property owners. - 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:

1. (The Real Deal) Luxury Hotels Close 2025 in Full Stride

   High-end hotel deals are bucking the year-end slowdown in CRE, with nine-figure transactions closing even as overall volume softens. Highlights include Highgate, Gencom and Argent’s $230M purchase of the InterContinental Times Square, alongside continued hotel consolidation against a backdrop of low new-room construction and rising occupancies. The Federal Reserve’s latest rate cut adds mild tailwinds to investor confidence going into 2026. Other notable items include Mark Nussbaum’s debt disclosures and bargain office acquisitions as the market resets. 

2. (WSJ) Why It’s a Tough Time for House-Flippers

   House-flipping isn’t the quick profit engine it once was. Recent data and operator anecdotes show shrinking margins and rising carrying costs making flips harder to pencil—especially in markets with slower price growth and elevated entry prices. Investors who jumped in during the boom years are finding that holding costs, labor and financing costs bite into a strategy that depends on tight spreads between buy, rehab, and resale values.

3. (Reuters) CoStar Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Real-Estate Antitrust Case

   CoStar Group has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review a contentious antitrust fight with rival Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc. (CREXi). After a Ninth Circuit appeals court revived CREXi’s claims that CoStar unlawfully limited broker access to its market data and tools, CoStar says the case raises critical competition issues that could affect how digital platforms in real estate operate. CoStar argues that broadening liability could chill innovation and unfairly tack on litigation risk, while CREXi sees the appeal as delaying accountability for alleged monopolistic behavior.

Developer of the Week: Pinnacle International

Canada has a new tallest tower.

Pinnacle International's SkyTower has reached its 100th story, making it the first building in Canada to hit that mark. 

The supertall tower will ultimately rise to 106 stories and about 352 meters (1155 ft), surpassing the CN Tower’s main observation deck and becoming the tallest building in the country. Located on Toronto’s eastern waterfront, SkyTower is the centerpiece of Pinnacle International’s One Yonge mixed-use community. 

Construction began in 2020 and has accelerated in recent years as the tower became visible across the city. Once complete, the project will include nearly 1,000 residential units, a Le Méridien hotel, retail space, and extensive amenities.

You can read more about Pinnacle International on the Thesis Driven GP database here.

Know about a developer doing something cool? Reach out to [email protected] with the tip!

Investor of the Week: AMKM

AMKM Investments is a Dubai-based single-family office managing the private capital of Sheikh Mana Al Maktoum and family , with a growing global footprint across the GCC, Europe, and North America. The firm operates as a diversified, long-term investor, allocating across venture capital, private equity, public markets, and real assets on behalf of the family.

Within real assets, AMKM maintains a flexible mandate spanning hospitality, residential, retail, office, and mixed-use real estate, typically investing through direct deals or strategic co-investments with trusted operators. While the family office is discreet about individual transactions, real estate is a stated core focus, with an emphasis on asset quality, location, and long-duration value creation rather than financial engineering alone.

AMKM’s broader investment approach reflects its position at the intersection of GCC family capital and global opportunity. The platform combines patient balance-sheet capital with a strong international network, allowing it to participate in cross-border deals, emerging platforms, and operator-led strategies that benefit from both strategic alignment and long-term partnership.

As global family offices continue to expand their reach into private markets and real assets, AMKM stands out as a sophisticated allocator blending regional insight with global ambition.

Get more details on AMKM, including team contacts, deal activity, and investment preferences, inside the CapitalStack database.

—Brad and Paul