Nothing this good comes easy.

After striking a marquee deal in the spring of ‘24 to step into a site on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, Jonathan Landau went on the hunt for a debt package that would allow him to build the tony neighborhood’s tallest condo. Landau envisioned a 47-story tower rising nearly 700 feet tall at the site, which has been poised for a serious project ever since ‘10, when Midtown Equities – led by SY royalty Joe Cayre – bought the dirt.

What followed, though, was a series of events that would test the mettle of even the most seasoned dealmakers. 👇

First, Landau’s deal was endangered by the site’s existing capstack: Rialto, which had taken over the $45M note on the property when it bought a 🍕 of Signature Bank’s loan book, allegedly refused to grant Midtown Equities a contractually agreed-upon extension – a foreclosure would, of course, end Landau’s condo dreams. But unlike some meeker Signature borrowers, Cayre had both the resources and will to fight back: In Feb., he sued Rialto for allegedly “manufacturing defaults” on the loan, claiming that the lender “embarked on a campaign of deception” as part of its “sinister pocket veto scheme” that jeopardized his in-contract deal w/ Landau. Soon after, the parties settled, and Midtown got its 1Y loan extension. Landau now had runway to proceed, and went to work landing his money: According to sources familiar w/ the matter, he convinced Bank OZK to come on board as the sr. lender, while 80 Clarkson co-developer Atlas Capital Group (Jeffrey Goldberger, Andrew Cohen) agreed to step up with pref. But then, after months of discussions, OZK got cold feet: the construction lending powerhouse pulled out, leaving Landau scrambling for another source of financing.

Now, he has found it, albeit a pricier source: Northwind Group, the debt fund led by Ran Eliasaf, has just signed a contract to provide Landau a land & predevelopment loan, sources confirmed to The Promote. The exact amt. of the financing couldn’t be ascertained, but sources put it in the low $100M range. And it’s a family affair of sorts: Landau’s brother Raffi Landau, a debt broker at Estreich & Co., is arranging the Northwind debt. Atlas is said to still be in the mix, and it’s possible that Cayre is staying in the action as a silent partner; one source described the whole situation as “real-time conversations.” Both Northwind and Landau declined to comment.

The exact configuration of the project could not be determined; initial permits called for a 410K sf tower at 205 Montague St. w/ 136 units, w/ the possibility of upsizing to 525K sf if adjacent 197 Montague is thrown in. Though this is likely to be primarily a condo building given the unit sizes and how hot the area is, there’s a possibility that some units might go the rental route.

Landau, a gregarious dealmaker w/ the mane of an aging rockstar, cut his teeth as a former CRE tax guy for DLA Piper. He jumped over to the principal side in the early aughts when he met Louis Kestenbaum, the founder of Fortis Property Group; Landau repped him on a hairy deal at Williamsburg’s 184 Kent Ave, and then joined Kestenbaum at Fortis, going on to lead the firm as CEO. In late ‘22, he left Fortis to start his namesake firm along w/ his daughter Yaeli and son-in-law, DC Lowinger. Landau Properties kicked off w/ a boutique condo project in Miami’s Bay Harbolr Islands, and late last year landed $74M in financing for a nearby boutique office project slated to boast an outpost for chic Japanese eatery BondST 🍣 But the Brooklyn Heights project is the clear headliner. “It’s a damn good time to be building in New York City,” Landau said this spring. Now, he finally has the funds to do it. 👨‍🎤

The afternoon after the NYC mayoral election, JLL NY prez Peter Riguardi tried to strike an optimistic tone about the winning candidate, Zohran Mamdani. Though CRE players had tried everything they could to displace Mamdani – the nightmare candidate for them on so many levels – he had prevailed, and so Riguardi searched for positives: Mamdani’s youth and ambition, and his inability to raise taxes w/o Gov. Hochul’s support. It was the kind of “chin up, troops” message that’s probably going around much of corporate New York at the moment.

Scott Panzer, a longtime office leasing rainmaker and vice-chair (an honorary title for top producers, no management responsibilities) at the firm, wasn’t having it. “Is it just me,” he wrote, and then went completely off the rails, adding, “or does this sound eerily similar to what much of Germany and Europe said about you know who back in 1938? “We all know how that worked out for them — and for the world.” This was, of course, a reference to Hitler. Panzer wasn’t done though – keep in mind this is on an office-wide email at a publicly traded co. He added: “While in Istanbul on holiday I didn't mind hearing the adhan five times a day....I would not want that to be a 365 day event." The Promote reviewed this exchange, and soon after reaching out to JLL for comment saw in TRD that JLL had fired Panzer.

New York real estate has always been a hotbed of controversial comments. But this one – about the incoming mayor no less – went way, way too far, and JLL likely had no choice. Panzer is also a principal at smart-buildings consultancy Digital Building Solutions (slogan: “Hunt As A Pack”); we’ll see if any big shop is willing to pick him up after this.

Deutsche Bank execs are exploring ways to manage its multibillion-dollar exposure to data centers, the rapidly growing asset class w/ seemingly limitless capital needs. Options could include shorting a basket of AI stocks, per the FT, and buying default protection on its debt through maneuvers known as synthetic risk transfers. DB, like many other fat-cat lenders, has built up a huge data center loan book. But w/ all that action comes concerns of a bubble.

It’s estimated that new data center activity between now and 2030 will require $3T in capital. Every single major player and lender you can think of (plus some randos) is trying to muscle its way into the action. We recommend reading this on the Blue Owl-Pimco mega-financing of Meta’s Hyperion, this on the latest industry nuggets, this on the people you need to know in the space, and listening to us break down creative financing in the space w/ DigitalBridge’s Marc Ganzi on the pod.