We have a stark example of how the May decision to kill Traveling HFCs (if you’re not up to speed on this, do you even read The Promote? Here, here, & on the pod w/ our Lone Star sherpa Barrett Linburg here) w/ extreme prejudice is playing out on the ground in Texas. Earlier this month, the Dallas Central Appraisal District threw ≈ $3B back on the county’s tax rolls, by rejecting 120 (!) requests for tax exemptions. About $2.2B of that is in the city of Dallas, per the Lab Report, representing ≈ $50M in annual property taxes. Spare a thought for the sponsors (and the consultants, debt brokers, lawyers natch) that depended on the tax freebies to make the deals work. Industry players told The Promote in May that they expect a wave of foreclosures, as lenders (agency, CMBS) on these deals will have to work through a pile of suddenly-underwater deals. There are recourse guarantee implications here, too. We’ve previously described Traveling HFCs as a “summer camp romance” - players were there for a good time, not a long time. But this is like a fling in which your lover sets the tent on 🔥 on the way out.

“It's the worst performing lab deal since Wuhan.”
“What's the universe of brokers who hustle the stuff? Who are the Roy Marches and Adam Spies of the ✈ world?”

This week on the pod, we’re talking exotic alts – the far-flung corners of CRE that are starting to catch serious institutional interest. Think car washes, aviation hangars and the like. We're joined by Ian Ross, principal at SomeraRoad, to talk through the fascinating niche of aviation infrastructure and how it's been supercharged by the Big Beautiful Bill. Then, we analyze Taconic Partners' failed grand experiment with life science real estate in NYC – $2B deployed, a quantum nothing to show for it 🧪
Listen on Spotify here, YouTube here or Apple Podcasts here. Brands: To get in front of our obsessed audience of CRE insiders, reach out here.

In our premium subscribers-only Wed. edition, Promote Insiders got the skinny on the rising trend of lender-driven sales (2 GCT, 780 Third, Tower 56 etc.) and their below-market debt accoutrements. We also dove into an equity matchmaker w/ Wasatch blue blood. Why feel Market FOMO? Sign up now w/ a risk-free fortnight & check it out.

Ask, and it shall be given you. But ask after your high-jinks have thrown your REIT into scandal and prompted an SEC investigation, and perhaps shareholders won’t be as accommodating. Paramount Group shareholders have approved the firm’s $1.6B sale to Rithm Capital, after rejecting a higher bid from a Dubai firm (Saray Capital) for being less solid. However, shareholders rejected a $34M golden 🪂 for Paramount CEO Albert Behler, per Crain’s, saying that the hefty payments “warrant scrutiny, particularly given the company’s track record of disconnects between pay and performance.” (Basically, GTFOH.) The irony is this may all be performative; the shareholder vote was nonbinding, and Paramount, which controls 13M+ sf of office space x NYC + SF, has said it intends to grant Behler his prize “regardless of the outcome” – provided the sale is approved.

PS: Crain’s described Rithm as a “little-known” firm. Perhaps sensing this lack of street cred, Rithm boss Michael Nierenberg sat down this month w/ CO for one of those captain-of-the-universe interviews, posing in front of a Thomas Schütte sculpture, Old Friends Revisited - est. price $200-300K

PPS: We did a dramatic read of texts between Behler & his fmr. shorty

Moshe “if there’s no price anywhere it’s good” Silber, a key player in CRE’s ongoing mortgage-fraud scandal, is home – though the exact circumstances are fuzzy to us. According to a Yiddish announcement put out by CBN (IYKYK 🤌) Thurs, Silber was released as part of a criminal justice reform act called First Step, which expands earned time credits for prisoners who participate in rehab/vocational activities etc. while incarcerated. The Promote hit up our Yiddish-speaking sources; here’s what the announcement says (rough translation, don’t @us )
In these days and these times
Mazel Tov to the charitable community leader Moshe Silber
He's freed today, heading to Monsey to light the candle with his family & friends
Left no stone unturned
The miracle of Hanukkah
We should spread good tidings

He’s still technically a guest of the Bureau of Prisons, which notes his change of status to a halfway house. But given this rapid trajectory, just a few months into a 30-month sentence (his official release date is Jan. 2027), it’s not a stretch to see this, as CBN put it, as a “miracle of Hanukkah.”

After Joel Landau was foiled in his insider takeover attempt of SNF giant Genesis last week, a rival entity led by Jacob Sod is now poised to be the new stalking-horse bidder for Take 2 of the bankruptcy auction. Sod-controlled Genie 3 (also includes Rowan Farber & Sod frontman Ari Schwartz) will now set the floor price for the new round of bidding, per court docs. Isaac Perlstein’s Olumie Capital will also be in the mix, after being DQ’d in round 1. Things are already pretty 🌶 ; Genie’s lawyers allege that Landau threatened one of its equity partners to “stand down” from the pursuit. A new auction’s tentatively set for 1/14 🍿

The remains of Sonder, the short-term rental co. that committed hara-kiri last month after being dumped by Marriott, are now being peddled on the open market. A buyer can choose to bite off a selection or gobble up the whole portfolio. The offering describes them as “highly sought after hospitality accommodations,” but are they really? We turned to hotel exec @somehotelguy (vetted, legit), part of The Promote Insider’s cabal of expert contributors, to get his take. Enjoy, and remember: Not all who Sonder are lost! - HS