🎰 RXR bets big on Midtown NYC, snapping up 590 Madison for $1.1B
🛶 Stamford’s quirky former Kayak HQ finds new owner aiming for single-tenant lease.🏭 Industrial sector cools as vacancies rise and rent growth slows.
📚 Upcoming courses for GPs: Raising Real Estate Capital & Developing a Local Project

Data Viz of the Week: IZ’s Impact on Housing Production

Inclusionary zoning policies require developers to set aside a certain percentage of new apartment units, keeping them at below-market rents for people with income below a certain threshold. While this may sound like a good idea, these policies tend to have terrible impacts on housing production—including the creation of the affordable housing they're designed to produce.

The latest data point comes from Portland, which has seen a severe drop in units delivered since the inclusionary zoning mandate was increased to 25% from 10% in 2022. While rising rates were certainly a confounding factor, Portland's drop in deliveries has been far more severe than in other cities.

Upcoming Thesis Driven Courses & Classes

Learn how to 💸 raise capital from family offices, high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors. Or dive into a 🗺️ first-person POV experience developing a local real project.

With Thesis Driven’s hands-on courses—Fundamentals of Capital Raising and Intro to Development—GPs get the tools, frameworks, and confidence to raise money and bring projects to life.

All Upcoming Courses

• June 2: 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

• June 9: 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

• June 16 & 17: 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 (+1 bonus) we loved from the past week that you may have missed:

1. (CRE Daily) RXR to Buy 590 Madison in First $1B NYC Office Deal Since 2022

   RXR Realty has finalized the acquisition of 590 Madison Avenue, a prominent Midtown Manhattan office tower, for $1.1 billion. The building, formerly occupied by IBM, is currently 77% leased, with RXR planning further renovations to enhance its appeal in the competitive office market.

2. (CT Insider) Stamford developer buys former Kayak HQ for $2.3M, with plans to lease to single tenant

   A Stamford-based investor group has acquired the former Kayak headquarters for $2.3 million. The unique 20,000-square-foot office space, featuring startup-inspired design elements, is slated for leasing to a single tenant, reflecting confidence in the local boutique office market.

3. (Plant Moran) Q1 2025 U.S. Industrial Real Estate Market Report

   The U.S. industrial real estate market is experiencing rising vacancy rates, reaching 9% for large logistics properties—the highest since 2012. This trend is attributed to slowing rent growth and an oversupply of speculative construction, with expectations of continued challenges into 2026.

Developer of the Week: 13th Floor Investments

13th Floor Investments, in a joint venture with Related Urban and Merrimac Ventures, is the sole bidder for Miami-Dade County’s $10 billion MetroCenter redevelopment, one of the biggest projects on the docket in South Florida. 

The proposal envisions transforming 17 acres of downtown government land into a mixed-use district with thousands of mixed-income housing units, a cultural campus, a new transit hub, and office and recreational facilities. 

You can read more about 13th Floor Investments on the Thesis Driven GP database here.

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

—Brad and Paul