🏛️ GSA to offload 500+ federal buildings
🗽 Blackstone’s $800mm bet on NYC real estate
📈 Panattoni goes big on AI & data centers
📚 Learn the basics of underwriting

Data Viz of the Week: Building More Housing is Popular… at Least in New York

A new poll released by the Manhattan Institute last week showed strong majorities supporting more housing development as one bedroom rents in Manhattan touch $5,000 per month.

While many local elected officials oppose broad-based rezonings—and significantly watered down last year’s City of Yes legislation—most New Yorkers have more positive views on the impact of more housing, with upwards of 65% supporting zoning code changes to allow more homes to be built.

Upcoming Thesis Driven Courses & Classes

Sharpen your real estate IQ on capital raising, selling into real estate owners, developing local real estate projects, and more.

Next Thesis Driven Class - Basics of Underwriting
This Wednesday (2/19) from 12-1pm EST ($39.00)

A 1-hour interactive tutorial teaching real estate beginners and aspiring sponsors the key concepts behind underwriting a real estate deal. Sign up

Students will learn:

• The inputs and outputs required to build any real estate underwriting model and what they mean

• How to set up a financial model in Excel or Google Sheets, including the necessary formulas to calculate key metrics like IRR

• Tips for manipulating the model to match the investment preferences of different audiences — from HNWIs to institutions

• Best practices for translating the key financial metrics from the model into a compelling investment narrative.

Students will also get access to a basic pro forma financial model that they can download for free and use to practice underwriting their own deals. Sign up 

Upcoming Courses

• February 24: Fundamentals of Capital Raising (💻 Online): Insider’s guide to raising capital for real estate projects & platforms–from individuals, family offices and institutional investors - Sign up

• February 24: Introduction to Development (💻 Online): A first-person POV simulation for aspiring developers to learn to source, underwrite and finance a local real estate project - Sign up

• February 24: Selling Into Real Estate Owners (💻 Online): A bootcamp for people selling technology and products into the real estate industry - Sign up

• March 4 & 5: Fundamentals of CRE (🗽Live in NYC): A bootcamp providing an insider’s view of “a day in the life” of key industry stakeholders, with real-world insights and applications - Sign up

• March 18 & 19: Fundamentals of Capital Raising (🗽Live in NYC): Insider’s guide to raising capital for real estate projects & platforms–from individuals, family offices and institutional investors - 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. (WIRED) The GSA Plans to Sell Hundreds of Its Federal Government Buildings

   The General Services Administration (GSA) has announced plans to sell over 500 federal government buildings across the United States. This initiative aims to reduce maintenance liabilities and modernize government office spaces by focusing on non-core assets that can be replaced with leased private market spaces. High-profile properties slated for sale include the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building in Chicago and the John F. Kennedy Federal Building in Boston. While the plan seeks to streamline operations, concerns have been raised about potential market instability and impacts on government employees reliant on these office spaces.

2. (WSJ) Warehouse Developer Panattoni Plans Data-Center Push, Sparked by AI Boom

   Panattoni Development, a prominent U.S. industrial real estate firm, is venturing into the data center market to capitalize on the surging demand driven by artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The company aims to develop one gigawatt of data-center capacity over the next five years, constructing facilities ranging from 100 to 500 megawatts. This strategic shift reflects the growing need for specialized infrastructure to support AI technologies.

3. (Reuters) Blackstone seeks $800 million loan to finance New York office purchase, sources say

   Blackstone is pursuing an $800 million loan to finance its acquisition of a significant stake in a 50-story office building at 1345 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. The property, co-owned by institutional investors advised by JPMorgan Global Alternatives and Fisher Brothers, has seen occupancy rise to 96% by the end of 2023, bolstered by long-term leases such as that of law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. This move aligns with Blackstone’s strategy to diversify its portfolio, with current office exposure constituting less than 2% of its real estate holdings.

Developer of the Week: Terra Group

South Florida developer Terra Group was selected to take point on one of the region’s largest new projects, Boca Raton’s new government campus. In the coming years, Terra and partner Frisbie Group are expected to build the 30-acre campus which will include over 1,100 residential units, a 150-key hotel, and 400,000 square feet of office and retail as well as several government buildings.

You can check out Terra Group on Thesis Driven’s developer database here.

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

—Brad and Paul