Commercial Observer

Two commercial real estate investment forces — Starwood Property Trust and Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. Holdings — detailed their latest numbers this week. Read on for analyses of each.

Brooklyn commercial real estate is back in vogue, with interest being driven by ambitious, adaptive reuse projects like the 1.2 million-square-foot office campus at Dumbo Heights, the Brooklyn Navy Yards, and all 6 million square feet of Industry City in Sunset Park. Earlier this week, several leading Brooklyn real estate professionals and politicians held court at Commercial Observer’s 2025 Brooklyn Market Forum. Hosted at the 25,000-square-foot penthouse office at Dumbo Heights, a building managed by Kushner and RFR Holding LLC, the speakers all touched on not just why Brooklyn real estate is still so valuable, but also on what needs to be done to improve living standards for residents and businesses in the borough. Read a full recap of the event here: https://lnkd.in/emk3s47x Pictured: Office of the Brooklyn Borough President, Antonio Reynoso Photo: Greg Morris

Meta is in talks to secure a roughly $35 billion financing package from an investor group led by Apollo Global Management, Inc. Management for a major data center project in the U.S. The news comes after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) has been mulling plans to build a roughly $200 billion data center campus for Meta’s artificial intelligence projects. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eiqgUTHT

A $2.8 billion CMBS deal is slated to hit the market soon that will finance the bulk of Blackstone's $4 billion acquisition of Retail Opportunity Investments Corporation. Pictured: Blackstone's Kathleen McCarthy Baldwin and Nadeem Meghji Read more: https://lnkd.in/eD2vrA7y

Los Angeles is set to gain some much-needed new mixed-income housing with the closing of real estate firm Primestor Development’s nine-figure development fund. The Culver City, Calif.-based firm’s Urban Vision Fund I closed after raising $215 million over the previous two years for transit-oriented multifamily projects. Pictured: Primestor CEO Arturo Sneider Read more: https://lnkd.in/eu4DkF2h

Kristen Pash is taking her expertise — and retail tenants — across the pond from London to New York City in her new role as vice president at TSCG — tasked with helping take the retail brokerage national. ⁠⁠ Read the feature: https://lnkd.in/e4h-Sqgp ⁠ Photo: Paul C. Quitoriano for CO

The National Urban League is pushing to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with the proceeds from privatization possibly used to fund the construction of homes for working-class families. Pictured: MARC MORIAL, President and CEO at National Urban League Read more: https://lnkd.in/eRAY4ynY

Starwood Property Trust ended 2024 with increased income and distributed earnings compared to 2023, announcing a full-year net income of $359.9 million, an increase of 6 percent from its 2023 reported net income. The firm originated or acquired $1.6 billion in assets in the fourth quarter of 2024. Pictured: Barry Sternlicht, Chairman & CEO of Starwood Capital Group Read more: https://lnkd.in/eRXYXJhi

Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. boasted strong earnings at the end of 2024, as the commercial real estate giant faces a possible acquisition by William Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P. In 2024, HHH reported a net income of $285.2 million, driven by higher revenue from residential land sales, and completed $862 million of financings, including $680 million of construction loans for condo projects and $168 million of refinancings. Pictured: Howard Hughes CEO David O'Reilly Read more: https://lnkd.in/eJrpvhb9

Doug Levine (pictured), the founder of Crunch Fitness, has sold the office component of a mixed-use building in Wynwood for $23.5 million. Family office G Wealth Management acquired The Wynwood Sky, which features 43,559 square feet of rentable office space on the top two floors at 1900 Northeast Miami Court. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eqhAVK7p