The Thesis Driven TL;DR | Week of November 3rd

Everything you need to know about real estate in one little email

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Brad Hargreaves & Paul Stanton
November 03, 2025

🗽 Real estate impacts of NYC mayor race
🏙️ JLL CEO on the office & city-center reset
⚰️ Office REIT with 17mm SF portfolio files for bankruptcy
📚 Workshops & courses: Selling Proptech, Pitching Family Offices & OpCo-PropCo Structuring

Data Viz of the Week: Who is Buying Multifamily?

Institutional buyers and REITs reached their highest market share since the pandemic thus far this year, taking responsibility for 37% of all multifamily acquisitions according to a recent Avison Young report.

Institutions continue re-allocating capital to multifamily, keeping cap rates for institutional-quality apartment assets in check.

Upcoming Thesis Driven Courses & Classes

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) Real estate impacts of NYC mayor race

    With the Zohran Mamdani-led race for NYC mayor heating up, real-estate players are bracing for major policy shifts. Mamdani’s platform includes a four-year rent freeze for stabilized apartments, 200,000 new affordable units over 10 years, bulk purchases of green tech for compliance with Local Law 97, and sweeping property-tax reform. Rival Andrew Cuomo emphasizes stabilizing housing production and preserving existing units, while Curtis Sliwa calls for major property-tax cuts. Investors are already eyeing exits: Miami brokers report an uptick in calls from North-East buyers considering relocation.

  2. (TIME) JLL CEO Christian Ulbrich on the Return to Offices and the Future of City Centers

    JLL’s CEO Christian Ulbrich discusses how hybrid work is here to stay, why companies are still targeting premium office space for top talent, and how underperforming central-business districts need to be reimagined as mixed-use hubs blending residential, retail, and office.

  3. (Bisnow) Office REIT With 17 M SF Portfolio Files For Bankruptcy

    OPI, a publicly traded office REIT controlling around 17 million sq ft of primarily Class-B properties, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The move follows a year of mounting difficulties: occupancy plunged, cash reserves dropped from $275 million to $90 million, and funds from operations collapsed from $259 million in Q2 2024 to just $5.6 million a year later. Its restructuring plan involves converting about $1 billion of debt into equity and securing a $125 million debtor-in-possession credit line.

Developer of the Week: Douglaston Development

New housing is coming to the Meatpacking District’s last meat plant.

New York City selected Douglaston Development and Kinwood Partners to build a 590-unit residential tower at the Gansevoort Meat Market site, with up to 55% of units designated as below-market rate housing.

The project will proceed under a 99-year ground lease with minimal land costs, and the developers plan to rely on market-rate units to cross-subsidize the below-market units rather than additional city subsidies. Kinwood, founded by former Jamestown COO David Himmel, joins as an “emerging developer” under the city’s RFP criteria. T

he broader Gansevoort Square redevelopment, which also includes expansion of the Whitney Museum, is projected to generate 3,700 construction jobs, 160 permanent roles, and a $1.1 billion economic impact. While praised for advancing mixed-income housing, the proposed tower has faced pushback from local Council member Erik Bottcher over its expected height as rezoning discussions loom for 2027.

You can read more about Douglaston Development on the Thesis Driven GP database here.

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

Proposed scale of the tower in NYC’s Meatpacking District

Investor of the Week: AGC Equity Partners

AGC Equity Partners is a London-based investment manager deploying over $6.5 billion across real assets, private equity, and alternative strategies throughout Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

Founded in 2009 by a team of veteran financiers and sovereign investors, AGC focuses on thematic, partnership-driven opportunities across sectors like logistics, student housing, and data infrastructure—assets that align with long-term structural growth and institutional demand. The firm’s approach blends flexible capital structures (discretionary funds and single-asset SPVs) with a hands-on investment style rooted in value creation and sustainability.

AGC’s portfolio includes institutional-grade properties in key U.S. and European markets—ranging from logistics hubs and student housing portfolios to landmark corporate headquarters. A UN PRI signatory, the firm integrates ESG across its investment process, positioning itself as a globally minded steward of long-duration capital.

With deep Middle Eastern ties and a proven track record of co-investing alongside sovereign and ultra-high-net-worth partners, AGC represents a new breed of global allocator bridging capital from the Gulf to Western markets—where patient, flexible, and impact-aligned investment is increasingly in demand.

Get more details on AGC Equity Partners, including executive contacts, deal activity, and investment preferences, on the CapitalStack database here.

—Brad and Paul