Robert Khodadadian – The Real Deal

As Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton faces the most serious political threat of his career due to bombshell allegations about his relationship with real estate investor Nate Paul, some of the biggest names in the industry skipped his most recent round of fundraising.

In the weeks after his May impeachment, Paxton raised $1.7 million, a sum he calls a personal record, according to a campaign finance disclosure. 

In May, Paxton was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives, charged with bribery and abuse of power on behalf of Austin real estate investor Nate Paul, among other misdeeds.

While the most recent report covers the year through July 15, Texas legislators cannot raise money when they are in session. That means Paxton, whose impeachment came at the tail end of the legislature’s regular biennial session, officially raised the money within the handful of weeks since members of his own party moved against him. 

Paxton’s single largest real estate donor was Dallas magnate Monty Bennett, who contributed $100,000 in late June. The Ashford Hospitality Trust executive has given vast sums to Paxton before, including $50,000 donations in 2022 and 2016.

Only three individuals gave more than Bennett. Gary Heavin, founder of gym chain Curves, donated $500,000, making him Paxton’s top individual supporter. The second and third biggest benefactors were oil and gas executives. 

Bobby Bowling, co-owner of Tropicana Properties, an El Paso-based homebuilder, gave Paxton $10,000. While Bowling is a prolific donor to members of both parties, his June 30 donation appears to be his first to the attorney general, according to records from campaign finance database OpenSecrets.

Some prominent real estate donors in past cycles skipped this round of fundraising. Jerry Jones, who gave Paxton $200,000 last year, does not appear in the latest filing. Neither does H. Ross Perot of Hillwood, who gave the attorney general $25,000 in each of the past two years.

Of course, Paxton faced a tough reelection fight in 2022, which helps explain the timing of Jones’ and Perot’s donations. Paxton won’t appear on a ballot again until 2026, so if they are just election-season donors, it makes sense they skipped this year. But Paxton has been fundraising heavily off of the impeachment proceedings, and no doubt sought to make a show of force with the most recent report. 

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As some bigwigs stepped off the field, a handful of smaller real estate professionals made first-time donations. Jay Hester, the Fort Worth-based owner of Hester Investments who listed his occupation as “Realtor” on his donation, gave $5,000 on June 24. James Mabrey, a Dallas developer specializing in large tract assemblage and lot entitlement, gave $2,900 to Paxton’s campaign. 

Scott Rohrman, the CEO of 42 Real Estate, and whom D Magazine called “the man who bought Deep Ellum,” pitched in $2,500. He has donated that much to Paxton two other times in the past. 

The post Jones, Perot avoid Paxton after impeachment appeared first on The Real Deal.

 As Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton faces the most serious political threat of his career due to bombshell allegations about his relationship with real estate investor Nate Paul, some of the biggest names in the industry skipped his most recent round of fundraising. In the weeks after his May impeachment, Paxton raised $1.7 million, a
The post Jones, Perot avoid Paxton after impeachment appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized, Development, impeachment, Ken Paxton, Nate Paul, Politics The Real Deal 

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Robert Khodadadian – The Real Deal

Industrial giant Prologis posted record profits and revenue in the second quarter, and the company expects even better prospects in the future.

The San Francisco-based REIT reported second-quarter revenue of $2.45 billion, or nearly double the $1.25 billion from the same quarter a year ago. Net earnings came to almost $1.22 billion ($1.31 per share), compared to $610 million (82 cents) in the second quarter of 2022. Core funds from operations, a standard metric for real estate investment trusts, totaled $1.74 billion, or $1.83 per share.

Prologis is the world’s largest industrial property investor, and owns or has stakes in properties and development projects with approximately 1.2 billion square feet in 19 countries. The average occupancy for the company’s owned and operated portfolio stood at 97.5 percent in the second quarter.

The increase in revenue and net earnings stems largely from acquisitions. Last year, Prologis acquired Indianapolis-based rival Duke Realty in an all-stock deal for $26 billion. The company absorbed 153 million square feet of industrial space in 19 markets when the deal closed in the fourth quarter. 

During the second quarter, the company issued $7 billion in new debt, a central element in its strategy of growth by acquisition. The debt carried an average interest rate of 4.9 percent and a maturity horizon of 8.4 years, according to the company.

“Our balance sheet has given us unparalleled access to debt markets around the globe, providing us with the ability to fund our ongoing development platform, as well as make accretive investments in a market where most players are stretched,” Timothy Arndt, CFO at Prologis, said in a statement. 

Looking to the future, core funds from operations are expected to be $5.56 to $5.60 a share for the full year, up from prior projections of $5.42 to $5.50 a share. Prologis expects same-property net operating income to rise 9.5 to 10 percent, also up from prior projections. Net earnings for shareholders is forecast to rise 5.5 percent, according to the company. 

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The industrial powerhouse posted strong earnings in spite of a cooling national industrial market. The vacancy rate stands at 4.1 percent, which is the first time it has gone above 4 percent in two years, according to a second-quarter report by brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. ​​Net absorption registered at 45 million square feet, down from 71 million in the previous quarter and down from 126 million square feet a year prior.  

Prologis continues to acquire large assets from its competitors. Last month it struck a multi-billion dollar deal with the Blackstone Group to buy a portfolio of nearly 14 million square feet of industrial space from Stephen Schwarzman’s firm for $3.1 billion. The portfolio consists of about 70 properties in major markets, including Dallas, South Florida and the New York City metro area.

The post Prologis doubles revenue and earnings in second quarter appeared first on The Real Deal.

 Industrial giant Prologis posted record profits and revenue in the second quarter, and the company expects even better prospects in the future. The San Francisco-based REIT reported second-quarter revenue of $2.45 billion, or nearly double the $1.25 billion from the same quarter a year ago. Net earnings came to almost $1.22 billion ($1.31 per share),
The post Prologis doubles revenue and earnings in second quarter appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized, Blackstone, Duke Realty, Hamid Moghadam, Industrial, Prologis, San Francisco The Real Deal 

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Robert Khodadadian – The Real Deal

Former watch retailers Shlomi and Lior Ben-Shmuel sold a waterfront teardown mansion on Miami Beach’s Allison Island for $17.6 million.

Records show the brothers sold the house at 6640 Allison Road to a trust named for the address, with Philadelphia-based estate attorney Lester E. Lipschutz signing on behalf of the buyer. The true buyer is unknown.

Shlomi Ben-Shmuel’s wife, Cristina Ben-Shmuel of Rusty Stein & Company, had the listing. Jonathan Bigelman of One Sotheby’s International Realty brought the buyer. Bigelman declined to comment on the identity of the buyer.

The Ben-Shmuel brothers founded Hollywood-based Swiss Watch International, which was acquired by Santa Monica, California-based Clearlake Capital Group in 2012. Swiss Watch shut down in 2017, according to the South Florida Business Journal. 

The brothers bought the Allison Road mansion for $14.5 million in 2021, with plans to renovate the property, which they ultimately did not do.

Built in 1992, the two-story home spans 8,900 square feet, with eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms and one half-bathroom, records show. The property includes 170 feet of water frontage, a dock and a pool. It was advertised as an opportunity to “build your dream house” or renovate the existing mansion.

Bigelman confirmed the buyers intend to tear down the mansion and build a new home on the property, and that they have already contacted architects for the project.

“There’s not going to be a budget,” he said of forthcoming construction.

Bigelman said the buyers, like many South Florida luxury real estate shoppers, spent a year looking for a turnkey home. New construction dominates South Florida’s luxury market, with buyers wanting to move in as soon as possible and avoid the headache of managing construction of a new home.

“If we’re not going to find anything turnkey, we might as well find an awesome property and make it our own,” Bigelman said of their decision to pivot. “It’s a lot to take on. Most people don’t want to take on architects, contractors, permits –– all that jazz.”

Allison Island, a gated waterfront enclave within Miami Beach, has attracted some big name buyers in recent years who arrived with the pandemic-induced influx of wealthy residents to the region. 

In February, rapper Lil Wayne sold his waterfront Allison Island home for $22.6 million. The mansion was listed for $28 million, up from the $17 million the music star paid for it in 2018. Another rapper, Grammy-winner Future bought a waterfront house on Allison Island for $16.3 million in December. That same month, a hedge funder’s wife sold her waterfront home for $13.3 million. 

The post Tick tock: Former watch retailers sell Allison Island teardown for $18M appeared first on The Real Deal.

 Former watch retailers Shlomi and Lior Ben-Shmuel sold a waterfront teardown mansion on Miami Beach’s Allison Island for $17.6 million. Records show the brothers sold the house at 6640 Allison Road to a trust named for the address, with Philadelphia-based estate attorney Lester E. Lipschutz signing on behalf of the buyer. The true buyer is
The post Tick tock: Former watch retailers sell Allison Island teardown for $18M appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized, Allison Island, Home Sales, Luxury Real Estate, Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County, Waterfront Properties The Real Deal 

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Robert Khodadadian – The Real Deal

A golf club in New Jersey’s Monmouth County could soon be welcoming seniors to the course — just not the senior golf tour.

A developer proposed turning the 94-year-old golf course at 54 Monmouth Road in Eatontown into a senior housing community with commercial buildings, NJ.com reported. Mayor Anthony Talerico Jr. said at a meeting earlier this month he was in talks with an attorney for the developer.

It’s not clear who owns the golf course and would be the developer for the project. The mayor did not immediately return a request for comment from The Real Deal, which could not independently determine ownership of the property.

The plan calls for up to 145 single-family homes for seniors, as well as amenities including a pool and a clubhouse. Part of the site, which runs along Route 36, would also be used to create a commercial area.

The nearly century-old golf course was designed by Warren Tillinghast and opened on the site of an old apple orchard in 1929. It spans 136 acres.

An attempt to redevelop the golf course unfolded a decade ago, when an affiliate of National Realty and Development Corporation proposed a 175-townhome, 450,000-square-foot-commercial development. A lawsuit challenged the borough’s rejection of an amendment that would’ve allowed for the commercial aspect of the development. The lawsuit was ultimately tossed and no development took place.

It’s unclear if NRDC would be involved in the discussed development this time, but the country club is not listed on the company’s website as part of its portfolio. The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Real Deal.

The site is already zoned to allow for single-family development. A variance would be needed to permit the proposed commercial development on Route 36.

The golf course and country club remain open for the time being. General manager Robert Sheerin did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TRD.

— Holden Walter-Warner

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The post New Jersey golf course could give way to 145 senior housing units appeared first on The Real Deal.

 A golf club in New Jersey’s Monmouth County could soon be welcoming seniors to the course — just not the senior golf tour. A developer proposed turning the 94-year-old golf course at 54 Monmouth Road in Eatontown into a senior housing community with commercial buildings, NJ.com reported. Mayor Anthony Talerico Jr. said at a meeting
The post New Jersey golf course could give way to 145 senior housing units appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized, Golf Courses, New Jersey, Senior Housing The Real Deal 

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Robert Khodadadian – The Real Deal

A 3-acre compound in the Malibu Hills that once housed a luxury detox center that sobered up the likes of Britney Spears, Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan has listed for $19.5 million.

The mostly Mediterranean-style campus where Promises Malibu pioneered its “Malibu Model” for treating alcohol and drug addiction is up for sale at 20725 Rockcroft Drive, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The detox campus is where real estate developer Richard Rogg launched Promises Malibu in 1989 as the area’s first luxury treatment center. By 2018, new owners filed for bankruptcy and Promises eventually closed. 

The hilltop estate, now run by an unidentified rehab facility, has sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean.

“It was a combo of serious treatment and health spa,” Sean Landon of Douglas Elliman, who holds the listing with Jennifer Johnson, told the Times. The listing doesn’t appear on their websites.

The compound includes three single-family homes containing 12 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms across 9,300 square feet. There are three entrances and a huge parking lot for guests.

The homes, revamped numerous times, contain bleach-white interiors, wood-beam ceilings, hardwood floors and fireplaces, according to listing photos. Outside, two swimming pools and a tennis court are surrounded by oak and fruit trees. 

A buyer would have to honor the unspecified lease of the current rehab facility, Landon said. After that, he sees a tech or foreign buyer redeveloping the site into a hilltop oasis. A developer could also turn it into a luxury assisted-living facility.

“It’s a rare opportunity with three combined lots, so it has the feel of a compound,” Landon told the Times. “There’s a multitude of structures, but also a feeling of privacy.”

Promises Malibu, which had operated as a for-profit business, set the stage for a string of other luxury Malibu rehabs by permitting cell phones, trips to an off-site gym and appointments between meals of chef-prepared lobster and osso buco.

— Dana Bartholomew

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The post Pioneering Malibu luxury detox compound lists for $20M appeared first on The Real Deal.

 A 3-acre compound in the Malibu Hills that once housed a luxury detox center that sobered up the likes of Britney Spears, Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan has listed for $19.5 million. The mostly Mediterranean-style campus where Promises Malibu pioneered its “Malibu Model” for treating alcohol and drug addiction is up for sale at 20725
The post Pioneering Malibu luxury detox compound lists for $20M appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized The Real Deal 

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Robert Khodadadian – The Real Deal

When a hardball lender took an ex-con landlord to court, it became known as the “battle of the baddies.”

Now, Maverick Real Estate Partners can move ahead with foreclosure on a Kips Bay portfolio owned by Steve Croman, a judge has ruled.

Croman’s attorney, Terrence Oved, said that he intends to appeal the decision. Attorneys for Maverick declined to comment.

The judgment against Croman follows a failed bankruptcy and nearly three years of litigation over money owed to Maverick after the distressed-debt investor bought a $25 million mortgage note secured by four Croman buildings on East 25th Street.

Maverick has rejected the characterization of its strategy as “loan-to-own,” but it was quite aggressive in going after Croman’s buildings. The month after Croman missed a loan payment in July 2021, Maverick bought the debt from Miami-based BankUnited and, one day later, sued to foreclose on the portfolio of more than 80 apartments.

Croman, who once served time on Rikers Island for defrauding tenants, called Maverick’s move “unconscionable” and said the size of the default — two months of nonpayment in July and August which were later rectified — were minimal compared to the severity of the consequences.

In the decision, the judge noted that “when a mortgagor defaults on loan payments, even if only for a day,” a lender may accelerate the loan, and require that the balance be paid and start foreclosure proceedings. Croman’s claim that he did not default and that Maverick acted in bad faith “are entirely belied by the facts,” the judge wrote.

Croman acquired the Kips Bay apartments in 2001, records show. The BankUnited mortgage, issued in 2016, consolidated 10 loans into a single $25 million debt.

In a similar case in 2021, Maverick lost in its effort to foreclose on Andreas Steiner, the owner of a five-story rental building on West 25th Street, partly because it failed to provide Steiner with 30 days to cure the default.

In Croman’s case, although he paid the arrears, more than a month had passed since the default. However, the similarity of the cases may give Croman’s attorney, who also represented Steiner, some fodder for an appeal.

In a recent LinkedIn post, Maverick co-founder David Aviram commented on how far banks may be willing to go to protect their borrowers from firms like his.
“If a borrower maintains a healthy relationship with a bank, it’s rare that the bank will sell their debt,” Aviram wrote. “But in times like these, banks want cash infusions. So borrowers should listen to their lenders, and find the cash to pay down their loans.”

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The post Maverick can foreclose on Steve Croman, judge rules appeared first on The Real Deal.

 When a hardball lender took an ex-con landlord to court, it became known as the “battle of the baddies.” Now, Maverick Real Estate Partners can move ahead with foreclosure on a Kips Bay portfolio owned by Steve Croman, a judge has ruled. Croman’s attorney, Terrence Oved, said that he intends to appeal the decision. Attorneys
The post Maverick can foreclose on Steve Croman, judge rules appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized, Breaking, Real Estate Finance, Real Estate Lawsuits The Real Deal 

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Robert Khodadadian – The Real Deal

Is Lionel Messi living in Sea Ranch Lakes, a small village in Broward County, not far from Drive Pink Stadium in Fort Lauderdale?

Prior to Messi’s official debut as an InterMiami CF player on Sunday, photographs of him shopping at a South Florida Publix were plastered all over social media. The photos served as a reminder that even one of the greatest soccer stars of all time goes grocery shopping. 

A sign in the background of one image shows that he was with his family at the Publix in Sea Ranch Lakes. The town is about 5 miles away from the stadium where InterMiami plays. The team trains at the adjacent Florida Blue Training Center.

Sea Ranch Lakes is also private and much of it is waterfront. Messi could be renting a home in the community.

The village, home to more than 500 residents, is just north of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, and near Fort Lauderdale. The majority of it is a gated community, which makes it appealing for someone like Messi.  

Messi will be paid between $50 million and $60 million per year for the two and a half seasons he’s expected to play for Inter Miami, a relatively new soccer team owned by Miami businessmen Jorge and Jose Mas, David Beckham and other partners. Messi’s deal also includes equity in the team, as well as revenue-sharing agreements with Adidas, Apple and others. 

Messi’s first home game is expected to be this Friday against Cruz Azul. 

Messi is looking to purchase a home in Broward County, sources told The Real Deal. Though he owns at least three condos in Sunny Isles Beach, including a unit at Porsche Design Tower, he is likely not living there. If he wants to be near the ocean, he could also be looking in a handful of high-end Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods, like Bay Colony. 

“[Sea Ranch Lakes] makes sense for him because it is private and guard-gated, and in close proximity to [good] schools and the stadium,” said Chad Carroll, a top Compass broker. Carroll is listing the second most expensive property in the village. 

If Messi and his family are living in Sea Ranch Lakes and looking to stay there, they could be eyeing these homes, the most expensive waterfront properties in the village:

5 Saranac Road, asking $12.9 million

The five-bedroom, six-and-a-half-bathroom house sits on a 0.3-acre lot. It spans 6,600 square feet. The property hit the market in January. The listing describes it as “minutes to elite private schools” with private beach access, 112 feet of deep water frontage, a home gym, theater, pool and cabanas. The house was built in 2017. 

The property was listed with Zorka Dobreva of One Sotheby’s International Realty. Dobreva declined to comment and then could not be reached for comment. 

5 Saranac Road (One Sotheby’s International Realty, Getty)

12 Minnetonka Road, asking nearly $11 million

The 6,215-square-foot, five-bedroom home at 28 Minnetonka Road offers a $500,000 saltwater infinity pool with a custom waterfall, 112 feet of water frontage on the Intracoastal Waterway, and a sunken fire pit. Caroll and Spencer Zorn have the listing. 

The house was built in 2015 on a 0.4-acre lot. 

28 Minnetonka Road (The Carroll Group, Getty)

7 Seneca Road, asking nearly $9 million 

The third most-expensive home on the market for sale in Sea Ranch Lakes is the 7,100-square-foot, seven-bedroom house at 7 Seneca Road. The 0.3-acre property was nearly completed or is about to be, according to the listing. It’s on the market with Coldwell Banker’s Veroushka Volkert. Volkert did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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The post Here’s where Lionel Messi may be living in South Florida  appeared first on The Real Deal.

 Is Lionel Messi living in Sea Ranch Lakes, a small village in Broward County, not far from Drive Pink Stadium in Fort Lauderdale? Prior to Messi’s official debut as an InterMiami CF player on Sunday, photographs of him shopping at a South Florida Publix were plastered all over social media. The photos served as a
The post Here’s where Lionel Messi may be living in South Florida  appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized, Broward County, Celebrity Real Estate, David Beckham, Home Sales, Lionel Messi, Sea Ranch Lakes The Real Deal 

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Robert Khodadadian – The Real Deal

Austin officials are taking matters into their own hands to redevelop an old hospital downtown after its deal with Aspen Heights Partners expired.

Austin City Council will discuss the future of the city-owned HealthSouth rehabilitation hospital  site at 1215 Red River and 606 East 12th streets during a July 20 meeting, and council members could vote on a resolution to nail down a development plan, Austin Business Journal reported. 

The proposed resolution would give city staffers roughly 60 days to create a “comprehensive report” regarding the feasibility of the downtown project. The city would need to lock down the next steps, possibly letting the Austin Economic Development Corp. or Austin Housing Finance Corp. lead the redevelopment.

Aspen Heights, an Austin-based firm led by Greg Henry, was poised to take over the site, but its negotiating agreement with the city expired at the end of June, and officials were ready to move on.

Aspen’s proposal included two apartment towers totalling 921 units, with about 25 percent of them reserved as low-income housing. The affordable units were later reduced to 7 percent as market conditions worsened. 

Aspen was trying to keep the project financially feasible, but its proposal was hurt by the sudden increase in projected costs, according to Hexah CEO Fayez Kazi, whose firm worked with Aspen Heights on the HealthSouth financial model.

“Changing financial markets pushed the strained model over the edge into non-viability,”  Kazi told the outlet. “Aspen Heights tried to make it work under much worse capital markets than existed during the original proposal, but ultimately not in a way or a timeframe that worked for the city.”

—Quinn Donoghue 

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The post Aspen Heights out of downtown Austin deal appeared first on The Real Deal.

 Austin officials are taking matters into their own hands to redevelop an old hospital downtown after its deal with Aspen Heights Partners expired. Austin City Council will discuss the future of the city-owned HealthSouth rehabilitation hospital  site at 1215 Red River and 606 East 12th streets during a July 20 meeting, and council members could
The post Aspen Heights out of downtown Austin deal appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized, Multifamily, Redevelopment, Residential The Real Deal 

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Robert Khodadadian – The Real Deal

A Lake Bluff Mansion that’s endured a series of price cuts after years on and off the market is getting a massive price increase and is adding more land to sweeten the deal.

The home at 700 Crab Tree Lane is now seeking just under $23 million. It had previously been listed as a 12-acre estate asking $12.9 million — a price increase of more than 75 percent. The offering now has been bumped up to 30 acres and includes a 13-stall horse stable. 

James Zenni, president and CEO of Z Capital Management, and his wife, Lisa, previously owned the home. The couple has been divorced for several years and Lisa is selling the home. She originally listed the mansion at $19.5 million in 2018, making it the third-priciest residential listing in the Chicago area at the time and the recent price cut a 33 percent decrease from the initial ask.

Andra O’Neill with @properties Christie’s International Real Estate is representing the property and declined to comment beyond confirming the new price. 

The listing is now the second highest in the Chicago area. It’s only beaten by a 25,000-square-foot Lincoln Park mansion that has long reigned as the city’s most expensive listing, now asking $30 million. 

It was  re-listed on Tuesday after its previous listing was removed three days prior. In April the seller had cut the price from $14 million to $13 million, one of a series of cuts the seller has made in hopes of closing a deal during its years of dancing between on and off the market.

The 10,000-square-foot home has six bedrooms and eight bathrooms and was built in 1994. The property includes a tennis court, a pool and even its own vineyard. The estate also includes a rare 700 feet of private beach on Lake Michigan.

The price hike bucks recent trends across the North Shore, where many luxury homes have taken steep price cuts to get deals across the finish line. The number of sales at or above the luxury threshold through June this year was down by half from last year’s record figure.

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The post Lake Bluff mansion relisted for $23 million, now Chicago’s second priciest listing appeared first on The Real Deal.

 A Lake Bluff Mansion that’s endured a series of price cuts after years on and off the market is getting a massive price increase and is adding more land to sweeten the deal. The home at 700 Crab Tree Lane is now seeking just under $23 million. It had previously been listed as a 12-acre
The post Lake Bluff mansion relisted for $23 million, now Chicago’s second priciest listing appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized The Real Deal 

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.

Robert Khodadadian – The Real Deal

The offices in Greater Oakland just grew emptier.

Office vacancy in the core business district of Downtown Oakland, Uptown and Lake Merritt hit 35.7 percent in the second quarter, rising 1 percent from the previous quarter, the San Francisco Business Times reported, citing figures from Cushman & Wakefield.

The climb in empty cubicles marks the fourth quarter for rising office vacancies within the 6.3 million-square-foot submarket. 

The hollowing out of Oakland’s core office towers comes from death by a thousand cuts, real estate experts say, rather than the loss of major leases. The trend began in 2019, then grew worse during the pandemic.

The increase was largely driven by what John Dolby of Cushman & Wakefield calls “dinks and dunks,” or small swaths of space that were either put up for sublease or let go by office tenants whose leases expired. 

“It’s 5,000 square feet here, 10,000 square feet in another building,” the Oakland-based Dolby told the Business Times.

He said he doesn’t expect the core business district’s vacancy rate to climb much further. 

A decrease in vacancy would require office tenants to make major expansions or out-of-market tenants to begin moving into Oakland, he said.

Both events helped crowd the Oakland commercial leasing scene in the 2010s, turning the city’s office market into one of the tightest in the nation.

“Most of those deals — in 2016, 2017, 2018 — were all new start-ups and tenants coming from outside the market,” Dolby told the newspaper.

That’s less likely now. While a third of San Francisco’s offices are empty, leasing rates there have dropped, making the local market more favorable to tenants. 

“As increases in affordability in San Francisco allow people to remain in San Francisco, it means less opportunities for Oakland,” Alexander Quinn, who leads research in Northern California for JLL, told the Business Times.

— Dana Bartholomew

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The post Office vacancy in Greater Downtown Oakland climbs to 36% appeared first on The Real Deal.

 The offices in Greater Oakland just grew emptier. Office vacancy in the core business district of Downtown Oakland, Uptown and Lake Merritt hit 35.7 percent in the second quarter, rising 1 percent from the previous quarter, the San Francisco Business Times reported, citing figures from Cushman & Wakefield. The climb in empty cubicles marks the
The post Office vacancy in Greater Downtown Oakland climbs to 36% appeared first on The Real Deal.  Uncategorized, core business district, Office Market The Real Deal 

Robert Khodadadian has long had a simple philosophy about selling real estate. There are approximately a million buildings in the city, and the broker that gets to sell any one among the multitude that will hit the auctioning block at a given moment is, sometimes, simply the person who happens to pitch their services to the right seller.