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Subtext, Larson Capital Management to Develop 1,738-Bed Student Housing Project Near Texas A&M University

by John Nelson

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — Subtext, a student housing and multifamily owner-operator based in St. Louis, has partnered with Larson Capital Management for a two-phase student housing development near Texas A&M University in College Station. The project will include EVER College Station (176 units, 545 beds) and VERVE College Station (382 units, 1,193 beds), which will be situated across the street from one another in the city’s Northgate Entertainment District, less than two blocks from campus. EVER will rise seven stories at 401 Stasney St. and include 420 parking spaces, while VERVE will rise 21 stories at 311 Stasney St. and feature 882 parking spaces. The properties will feature layouts ranging from studios to five-bedroom apartments, as well as a combined 55,000 square feet of amenity space (29,000 square feet of indoor and 26,000 square feet of outdoor). The specific amenity offerings will include open lounges, study rooms, a coffee bar, mini market, fitness center, sauna, meditation rooms, outdoor fitness spaces, multi-sport simulator, indoor/outdoor bar and kitchen. Other amenities will include a resort-style pool with poolside cabanas, a jumbotron TV and a sky lounge with a spa, as well as outdoor grilling stations, fire pits, a dog run and a game …

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CaliforniaCompany NewsRetailTop StoriesWestern

Forever 21 Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Will Close All U.S. Stores

by Taylor Williams

LOS ANGELES — Forever 21 has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will begin the process of closing all its U.S. stores. According to Reuters, the U.S. store count is about 350. The Los Angeles-based apparel retailer filed over the weekend in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Forever 21 has entered into a plan support agreement with its lenders to begin the voluntary closure process while continuing to look for sales opportunities of existing U.S. assets. Forever 21 was founded in 1984 and had a footprint of more than 800 stores worldwide at the height of its operation. The company also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2019, which led to the company closing 350 stores across the United States and other countries. International stores are not impacted by the 2025 filing. As a relative staple within American mall tenancy, Forever 21 faced new challenges in its post-2019 bankruptcy filing stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and elevated competition from e-commerce brands and platforms. According to CNBC, the company has been hit especially hard by competition from Chinese platforms Shein and Temu. The company’s ownership structure underwent a series of changes between 2021 and 2023, and …

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MultifamilyNew YorkNortheastTop Stories

Walker & Dunlop Arranges Recapitalization for $420M Multifamily Tower in Brooklyn

by Hayden Spiess

NEW YORK CITY — Walker & Dunlop has arranged the recapitalization of Hub, a 55-story multifamily tower located at 333 Schermerhorn St. in downtown Brooklyn. The borrower, Steiner NYC, bought out a majority stake in the high-rise from its equity partner, J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM), giving the company full ownership. The sales price was not released, but Walker & Dunlop disclosed the transaction was done at a valuation of $420 million for the tower. Developed by locally based Steiner, the building totals 750 units, with studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans. Upon its completion in 2018, Hub was the tallest building in Brooklyn.  Walker & Dunlop advised Steiner on the recapitalization and secured $62.5 million in preferred equity from Meadow Partners to facilitate the purchase. Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Keith Kurland, Adam Schwartz, Michael Ianno and Christopher de Raet of Walker & Dunlop represented Steiner NYC in the financing.  “This deal stands apart from traditional financings due to its complex structure, which involved an equity buyout and the sourcing of preferred equity to help capitalize the transaction,” says Appel.  Walker & Dunlop previously arranged construction financing, JPAMM’s equity investment and institutional permanent financing for Hub back in 2019 for …

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DevelopmentIndustrialTexasTop Stories

SpaceX to Invest $280M for Expansion of Starlink Semiconductor R&D Facility in Bastrop, Texas

by John Nelson

BASTROP, TEXAS — Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) plans to invest $280 million for the expansion of its semiconductor research-and-development (R&D) and advanced packaging facility in Bastrop, about 33 miles southeast of Austin. The company received its fifth Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund grant, totaling $17.3 million, from the State of Texas to help fund the expansion. Over the next three years, SpaceX plans to expand the square footage of its Bastrop facility by 1 million square feet to produce Starlink kits and their adjacent parts, as well as advanced silicon products. The facility expansion will focus on developing printed circuit boards (PCBs), a semiconductor failure analysis lab and advanced packaging for panel level packaging (PLP). Starlink is an international satellite internet provider owned and operated by SpaceX. Upon completion of the project, the Bastrop facility will be the largest PCB and PLP facility in North America. “This grant will help continue to expand Bastrop’s manufacturing for Starlink to help connect even more people across the state and around the world with high-speed, low-latency internet,” says Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX. Texas’ Semiconductor Innovation Fund was assembled in 2023 through the Texas CHIPS Act, which developed a …

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DevelopmentLeasing ActivityMultifamilyNew YorkNortheastRetailTop Stories

Life Time to Open 80,000 SF Athletic Club at Brooklyn Tower  

by Kristin Harlow

NEW YORK CITY — Life Time (NYSE: LTH) has announced an agreement with Silverstein Properties to open an athletic country club at Brooklyn Tower, a 74-story residential skyscraper located at 9 Dekalb Ave. in downtown Brooklyn. The health and wellness experience will mark Life Time’s largest location in Brooklyn at approximately 80,000 square feet. Life Time Brooklyn Tower will span seven floors throughout the 1,066-foot-tall building. Life Time’s programming will include studio classes, personal training, strength and fitness offerings and amenities. Highlights of the new club will include: Life Time Brooklyn Tower is expected to open in the second half of 2026. Additional information will be provided as the project progresses, and a waitlist for members has been established. Brooklyn Tower integrates the historic Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn into its design and features 143 luxury condominiums and 398 rental units. Silverstein gained full control of the project in a $672 million deal last year and is expected to relaunch condo sales in April, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, which reports that only 20 of the tower’s condos have sold since its 2022 launch. “As the new owner of Brooklyn Tower, Silverstein Properties is committed to a successful completion …

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AcquisitionsAffordable HousingCompany NewsLoansMultifamilyNew YorkNortheastSeniors HousingTexasTop Stories

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Agrees to Acquire Multifamily Mortgage Originator NewPoint Holdings

by John Nelson

NEW YORK CITY AND PLANO, TEXAS — Franklin BSP Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: FBRT), a REIT based in New York City, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire NewPoint Holdings JV LLC, a multifamily loan originator headquartered in Plano. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. Terms of the transaction were not released. Launched in 2021, NewPoint has an existing servicing portfolio of $54.7 billion, including mortgages for market-rate multifamily, affordable housing, seniors housing, healthcare and manufactured housing properties nationwide. The company operates as both a direct lender and third-party placement provider. NewPoint, through its wholly owned subsidiary NewPoint Real Estate Capital LLC, is one of 19 multifamily originators and servicers approved to make loans on behalf of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The acquisition will now allow Franklin BSP Realty Trust to originate agency mortgage loans. “For years we have been looking to add agency capabilities to the platform,” says Michael Comparato, president of Franklin BSP Realty Trust. “We believe this transaction is the final piece to complete our ‘one stop shop’ puzzle.” The acquisition will …

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Data CentersDevelopmentIndustrialTop StoriesUtahWestern

J.P. Morgan, Starwood Provide $2B in Financing for Data Center Project Near Salt Lake City

by Taylor Williams

WEST JORDAN, UTAH — J.P. Morgan and Starwood Property Trust have provided $2 billion in financing for a data center project in West Jordan, located just south of Salt Lake City. The borrower, a partnership between Los Angeles-based investment firm CIM Group and regional operator Novva Data Centers, will use the proceeds to complete construction of the second and third phases of the latter entity’s 100-acre flagship Salt Lake City campus. At full build-out, the campus will span approximately 1 million square feet and have a total power capacity of 175 megawatts (MW). According to The Wall Street Journal, that is enough electricity to power about 175,000 U.S. homes of average size. Development of the campus began several years ago, with the first phase coming on line in 2023, the same year in which ownership secured a full-campus lease with an undisclosed global tech company. Construction of Phase II of the project began in December 2023 and will feature a 318,000-square-foot data center building that will have the capacity to produce 72 MW of power. Construction of Phase III commenced in January 2024 and will also feature a 318,000-square-foot data center with a 72-MW capacity. Completion of both facilities is …

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AcquisitionsCompany NewsIllinoisMidwestNew YorkNortheastTop Stories

Sycamore Partners Agrees to Acquire, Privatize Drugstore Giant Walgreens in Multibillion-Dollar Deal

by Channing Hamilton

DEERFIELD, ILL. AND NEW YORK CITY — Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity affiliated with private equity firm Sycamore Partners. The total value of the transaction is $23.7 billion, according to WBA, including an equity value of $10 billion, as well as debt, capital leases and potential future payouts from the opioid and Everly Health Solutions COVID-19 testing settlements. Upon completion of the transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, WBA common stock will be delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market. WBA will continue to operate as a private company under Walgreens, Boots and its portfolio of consumer brands, and also will maintain its headquarters in Deerfield.  The per-share price is valued at $11.45, which represents a premium of up to 63 percent over the WBA closing share price of $8.85 on Dec. 9, 2024, the day before reports came out about a potential sale. Under the terms of the agreement, WBA shareholders will also receive one non-transferable divested asset proceed right (i.e. DAP right) to receive up to $3.00 per WBA share from the future monetization of WBA’s debt and equity interests in …

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Panama-Canal
AcquisitionsCompany NewsNew YorkTop Stories

BlackRock to Acquire Two Panama Canal Ports for $23B

by Hayden Spiess

NEW YORK CITY — An investment group led by asset manager BlackRock has announced a deal to acquire two ports on either end of the Panama Canal for a total of $23 billion, including $5 billion of debt. Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holding, a global conglomerate of ports, infrastructure and telecommunications, is the seller.  The investment consortium, which is doing business as BlackRock-TiL Consortium and also includes BlackRock subsidiary Global Infrastructure Partners and Terminal Investment Limited, will purchase all of CK Hutchison Holding’s shares in Hutchison Port Holdings and Hutchison Port Group Holdings. The ports involved in the transaction include those of Balboa and Cristobal.  Hutchison Ports was recently awarded a 25-year, no-bid extension to operate the ports, according to AP News. However, an audit of the extension was already underway at the time of the deal.  Upon completion of the acquisition, which must be approved by Panama’s government, BlackRock will have consortium control of 43 ports across 23 countries.  This news follows expressions of concern from U.S. government officials that Chinese influence could affect dealings in the canal. The United States controlled the Panama Canal, as well as surrounding land called the “canal zone,” between 1903 and 1999. The canal took …

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DevelopmentMixed-UseSouth CarolinaSoutheastTop Stories

Highland Resources Breaks Ground on 192-Acre Magnolia Landing Mixed-Use Project in Charleston

by Kristin Harlow

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Highland Resources Inc. has broken ground on Magnolia Landing, a planned mixed-use community located along the Ashley River in Charleston. Spanning 192 acres, the project will offer a blend of parks, residences, hospitality options, offices, shops, restaurants, waterfront docks, a marina and entertainment options. Full build-out of the multi-phase project is anticipated by 2040. The first residents are expected to take occupancy in 2027. Plans for the first phase include a high-rise waterfront residential community and a mid-rise property both developed by Charleston-based Woodfield Development, offering a total of 600 rental residences, including affordable housing. The first phase will also feature 158 luxury townhomes developed by an undisclosed national developer. Plans also call for multiple office and retail buildings. The first phase will include a waterfront, Class A office building totaling 100,000 square feet in addition to 75,000 square feet of street-level retail, gourmet restaurants and commercial space. Magnolia Landing will also offer a range of hospitality options designed to cater to both short-term visitors and extended stays. The first phase will include a 125-room boutique hotel. The project will incorporate a marina featuring day-dock options, four waterfront restaurants with direct day-dock access, a boat club, monthly …

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