⚓️ The last WTC tower finally gets its anchor
📉 CRE prices still well below the 2022 peak
🏢 SF’s most iconic tower hits the market—again
🔧 Upcoming Workshops: Building the Zero-Employee Property Manager, LinkedIn Strategy for GPs
📚 Upcoming Courses: Selling into Real Estate Owners, Capital Raising

Data Viz of the Week: Flight to Quality, Multifamily Edition

Much has been written about the flight to quality in the office market, with boutique / Class A/A+ assets thriving while lower-quality buildings lose tenants and value.

But the same phenomenon is happening in the apartment market. Class A buildings have experienced almost all the net absorption of the past 3 years, while lower tiers have seen net declines in absorption and smaller market shares. Will multifamily value-add plays return soon despite elevated interest rates?

Upcoming Thesis Driven Courses & Workshops

•  📣 LAST CALL - March 4-5: Workshop: Building the Zero-Employee Property Manager (💻 Online): A two-day interactive workshop for owners, operators, and asset managers exploring how close we really are to running multifamily properties with little—or no—full-time staff - $499

• March 10: Course: Selling into Real Estate Owners (💻 Online): A five-week ​bootcamp for people selling technology and products into the real estate industry to level up their sales game and build stronger relationships with buyers in the ecosystem - $1,299

• March 11: Workshop: LinkedIn Strategy for GPs (💻 Online):A live, practical workshop for real estate GPs, operators, and fund managers who want to use LinkedIn intentionally—as a capital formation tool, not a vanity channel - $299

• March 16: Course: Fundamentals of Capital Raising (💻 Online): A five-week ​bootcamp for raising capital for real estate projects from individuals, family offices and institutional investors - $1,299

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. (NY Post) American Express to Anchor Two World Trade Center Tower

   American Express announced plans to build its new global headquarters at Two World Trade Center, completing the final tower in the original post-9/11 master plan. The 55-story, nearly 2M-square-foot building will be designed by Foster + Partners and developed by Larry Silverstein, with construction expected to begin soon and finish around 2031. The project is projected to create roughly 3,200 jobs and contribute nearly $6B to New York City’s economy, marking a major symbolic and economic milestone for Lower Manhattan’s recovery.

2. (CoStar) Commercial Real Estate Prices Show Mixed Signals in Early 2026

   New data from CoStar’s Commercial Repeat Sale Index shows CRE pricing diverging across asset classes in early 2026. The national value-weighted price index slipped slightly month-to-month but remains up year-over-year, though still 17% below the peak reached in 2022. Smaller transactions and secondary-market deals have seen stronger pricing resilience, reflecting a shift in buyer activity toward smaller or less leveraged assets

3. (NY Post) San Francisco’s Iconic Transamerica Pyramid Heads for Sale Again 

   San Francisco’s landmark Transamerica Pyramid is poised to change hands again just six years after its last sale. Developer Michael Shvo and partner Deutsche Finance America reportedly spent nearly $1B renovating the tower, but tensions with investors and continued office market weakness have pushed the property back onto the market. The potential transaction highlights ongoing uncertainty in San Francisco’s office sector amid high vacancy and slow downtown recovery.

Developer of the Week: Minto Group

Florida developer Minto is taking on Dallas with a massive new master-planned project.

Minto Communities USA acquired 3,170 acres in Waxahachie, TX to develop a 13,270-home master-planned community, the region’s largest mixed-use residential project. Approximately 30 miles south of downtown Dallas, it will include an active adult section and a traditional neighborhood. Plans feature 140 acres of mixed-use space (750 multifamily units and 1.2 million square feet of commercial), a town center, 400 acres of parks, trails, greenways, and multiple schools. 

You can read more about Minto Group 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: Catalyst Opportunity Funds

Catalyst Opportunity Funds is a U.S. institutional real estate investment manager focused on impact-oriented strategies that combine competitive financial returns with measurable community outcomes. The firm manages approximately $350 million in AUM and has deployed capital into a portfolio of community-driven developments totaling roughly $1.3 billion in project value across 18 assets nationwide. Catalyst concentrates on high-growth but historically underserved U.S. markets, partnering with institutional-quality developers and utilizing public-private partnerships, creative capital stacks, and financial innovation to unlock projects that address housing and community infrastructure needs.

Within real estate, Catalyst focuses on workforce and affordable housing, mixed-use developments, and commercial spaces that provide essential services, particularly for households earning 60–80% of area median income (AMI). The firm’s flagship vehicle, Catalyst Opportunity Fund II LP, closed with $140 million in commitments and has deployed capital across eight strategic investments. A notable example is the firm’s investment in the Granary District in Salt Lake City, including a stake in the $93.5 million Reserve development, a 220-unit residential project within the broader $270 million Silos master plan expected to deliver in 2027. Since 2019, Catalyst and its partners have invested roughly $600 million in the district, positioning the firm as one of the area’s largest investors and supporting a pipeline expected to deliver ~1,000 residential units and ~900,000 square feet of commercial space. Catalyst’s strategy emphasizes long-term partnerships, capital preservation, and scalable development models that deliver both financial performance and tangible community impact.

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

—Brad and Paul