There’s a saying in business that goes something like: “You can’t beat those in it purely for the love of the game.” And if that holds true, the motley crew at BridgeCity Capital have a serious competitive advantage.

There are bigger lenders out there, of course. And there are far more institutional lenders. But in terms of pure ubiquity – both from a deal flow and industry pop culture standpoint – BridgeCity is way up on the leaderboard. The shop, less than a decade old, has put out $4B+ of capital and claims to so far have an unblemished track record – “incurred zero realized losses” is how they put it. They’ve become a go-to mid-market lender for the Brooklyn hustle set, though last summer they & DB provided a massive $320M office-resi loan for Joseph Hoffman’s Bushburg Cos. And by making an early bet on CRE’s favorite new-age marketing platform, they achieved one of the hardest things for a lender in an era of plentiful capital to achieve: instant name & face recognition. (Insiders: Read the full story at the end of this email 👇 🔒 )

This week on the pod, we take stock of the legacy of Alan Greenspan, the long-serving Fed Chair who has died at 100. Greenspan’s moves, for better and for worse, shaped the CRE market as we know it today. We then head to the rapidly gentrifying swamp of Gowanus, where Sam Charney is remaking the neighborhood with a little help from his friends - Charney is suddenly everywhere, from cooking in TRD’s kitchen to accepting bizarro RED awards in Romania, and we dive into the backstory. And finally, we revisit one of The Promote’s pet topics – the fallout from the end of Texas’ Traveling HFC property-tax loophole. Plus, our Punch List rundown of the newsiest industry happenings: Charles Cohen v Fortress; BTR-killer bill; NYC freezes rent; World Cup.

💗 to our sponsors:
1) Real Property Captive, the first group captive insurance for mid-market GPs. See how you can earn dividends on unused premiums like the biggest players do.
2) Bravo Capital, a leading HUD & bridge lender that lives & breathes capstacks.
3) LoanBoss, the industry-leading debt management software. Featuring one-click covenant testing, instant cash flow forecasting, and live forward curves!

Listen on Spotify here, YouTube here or Apple Podcasts here. Brands: Get in front of our obsessed audience of CRE insiders by reaching out here.

“And if this is all for naught, then so is everything out there. It's just money; it's made up.” - John Tuld, Margin Call

Luxury hotel REIT Braemar, on the hook for a fantastical $480M breakup fee to Monty Bennett as part of its move to become self-managed, has scrounged up some of the cash through 2 more hotel sales: Hong Kong-based Sun Hung Kai (in partnership w/ London’s Spartan Advisors) is paying $413M (≈$2M/ 🗝), for the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale, per REA. Meanwhile, AUM Gobbler ™ Sixth Street and Riller Capital are paying $190M (≈1.3M / 🗝 ) for Pier House Resort & Spa in Key West; this is their 2nd acquisition from Braemar in recent months. (Eastdil brokering the Four Seasons deal; Plasencia the Pier House). When these deals close, Braemar would have collected ≈ $1.2B from its sales flurry. About 40% of that tally would go right to Monty. Despite all the thinkpieces to the contrary, REIT exec comp (see: Coleman, Victor) and external management fees remain among the uncanniest valleys in all CRE; Monty-controlled asset managers have already received $1.9B in payments from Braemar and his other REIT Ashford over the years 😲

The Reuben Bros., among the hungriest hospitality investors up and down the capstack, have taken over the WeHo Edition from a Steve Witkoff-led group. The billionaire Brits took control of the 190-key hotel via a deed-in-lieu, per TRD, w/ the unpaid debt at $211M. Witkoff and its partner New Valley (Howard Lorber’s holdco.) developed the property and opened it in ‘19, w/ the Reubens kicking in mezz. In summer ‘21, the Reubens had moved to foreclose, but the sponsors held them off by landing a $230M refi from Mack & JPM. The Reubens kept calm and carried on, eventually buying the JPM 🍕 , per TRD.

The City of Angels hasn’t been too kind to Witkoff. In late ‘25, a Witkoff-Pimco JV defaulted on a $400M+ note on a luxury rental complex in Santa Monica; it was primarily Pimco (98.5% of the equity) that got wiped there, tho.

We took a look last month at the massive losses that Nuveen ate on its national office bets – it was a rare lens into exactly who ends up holding the bag when things go south. We now have another fascinating perspective on another deeply troubled asset class – NYC rent-stabilized apartments. Google co-founder Sergey Brin sold his stake in a fund targeting such units back to the sponsor – A&E Real Estate (Douglas Eisenberg & John Arrillaga Jr.) – for just 6¢/dollar, per Bloomberg. A&E has been struggling through its massive RS portfolio ever since the state’s tenant-friendly reforms kicked in in ‘19, facing severe pressure from CMBS bondholders. And the election of Zohran “Freeze the Rent” Mamdani certainly didn’t help matters.

On this week’s pod, we were discussing how investing in today’s RS market w/ the extreme regulatory uncertainty is akin to options trading (h/t @goodguyguaranty). Co-host Krasne said those making the bets (like Peter Hungerford, Summit) are likely “underwriting maybe a mid-to-high teens return, where all of the return is in year 14 of a 15-year-hold.”

Programming note: We’re off this Friday for the holiday. Happy birthday, America! A week on the road for the World Cup solidified just how lucky we are to have you. 🫡 🇺🇸