Free Republic

Twenty percent ($929 billion) of the $4.7 trillion of outstanding commercial mortgages held by lenders and investors will mature in 2024, a 28 percent increase from the $729 billion that matured in 2023 ... “The lack of transactions and other activity last year, coupled with built-in extension options and lender and servicer flexibility, has meant that many loans that were set to mature in 2023 have been extended or otherwise modified and will now mature in 2024, 2026, 2028 or in other coming years,” said Jamie Woodwell, Head of Commercial Real Estate Research at MBA. “These extensions and modifications have...

World's biggest private equity fund takes a $450million hit on prestigious New York landmark amid a collapse in the commercial property market Comes as landlords across the country write down their portfolios in the wake of high interest rates and an exodus of office workers The price of office space has fallen 35 percent since 2022 leaving US banks vulnerable to billions of dollars in shaky loans The world's biggest private equity fund has become the latest victim of America's hollowed out office culture after it marketed its landmark New York building for a quarter of what it paid. Blackstone...

Blackstone defaulted on the $308 million mortgage on a Manhattan office tower more than a year ago — and the debt is now up for sale at a discount of more than 50%. ... The skyscraper has been losing value since 2014, when the mortgage was originated and 1740 Broadway was appraised at $605 million, ... Blackstone ceased funding operating shortfalls at the building and stopped paying the mortgage as of March 2022,.. Midland, however, has yet to foreclose on the tower, though it’s unclear why. ... As of September 2023, the occupancy at 1740 Broadway was a mere 7.4%,...

Uptick in troubled office-building sales indicates more owners believe weak demand is here to stay ... Property owners are starting to unload troubled office buildings at fire-sale prices, a sign that the office market slump is moving into a new phase where more landlords are ready to capitulate. In recent weeks, Blackstone sold the Griffin Towers office complex in Santa Ana for $82 million, or about 36% less than the firm paid in 2014 ... Principal Financial Group sold a Parsippany, N.J., office building for $14.3 million, down from the $52 million it paid in 2008 .... The tower at...

Hunter Biden sent an email to the manager of his Washington, D.C. office building in September 2017 asking her to make keys for his “office mates” Joe Biden and Gongwen Dong, who he said was the “emissary” for the chairman of the Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC. Hunter Biden’s dealings with CEFC in 2017 were at the center of Tony Bobulinski’s October allegation that Joe Biden was “plainly familiar” with his family’s Chinese business dealings. Multiple news outlets have reported this week that a federal investigation into Hunter Biden’s “tax affairs” is focused on his foreign business activities, including with CEFC....

Steve Schwarzman, the billionaire businessman who's been a long time supporter of Donald Trump's, now says the election is over and the president needs to move on in a sign of dwindling support for Trump's doomed legal battle. In the immediate aftermath of the election Schwarzman, the CEO of the Blackstone Group, defended the president's right to pursue legal battles and told the business community Trump had the right to pursue all avenues. But now he's recognizing Joe Biden's victory. 'I'm a fan of good process,' Schwarzman told Axios. 'In my comments three days after the election, I was trying...

<p>"Blackstone Inc.’s $69 billion real estate fund for wealthy individuals said it will limit redemption requests, one of the most dramatic signs of a pullback at a top profit driver for the firm and a chilling indicator for the property industry. Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. has been facing withdrawal requests exceeding its quarterly limit, a major test for the one of the private equity firm’s most ambitious efforts to reach individual investors. The news, in a letter Thursday, sent Blackstone stock falling as much as 10%, the biggest drop since March. In the past year, rich individuals, family offices and financial advisers have become more cautious about tying up money in assets that are hard to trade and value. At UBS Group AG, some advisers have been reducing exposure to BREIT. A major chunk of redemptions for the fund has come out of Asia this year, said a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified citing private information.</p>

Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. has been facing withdrawal requests exceeding its quarterly limit, a major test for the one of the private equity firm’s most ambitious efforts to reach individual investors. The news, in a letter Thursday, sent Blackstone stock falling as much as 10%, the biggest drop since March. “Our business is built on performance, not fund flows, and performance is rock solid,” a Blackstone spokesperson said, adding that BREIT’s concentration in rental housing and logistics in the Sun Belt leaves it well positioned going forward. This year, the fund has piled into more than $20 billion...

The world is facing a “real shortage of energy” that could lead to social unrest, according to Blackstone Inc. co-founder Stephen Schwarzman. “We’re going to end up with a real shortage of energy,” he said at the fifth edition of the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported. “And when you have a shortage it’s just going to cost more and it’s probably going to cost a lot more. And when that happens you’re going to get very unhappy people around the world, in the emerging markets in particular,” he added. Schwarzman’s warning was echoed by...

(Reuters) - Beleaguered casino operator Crown Resorts Ltd said on Monday it received a buyout offer from private equity company Blackstone Group Inc that values the company at A$8.02 billion ($6.19 billion). The offer was priced at A$11.85 per share, a premium of 20.2% to Crown's closing price of A$9.86 on Friday. Blackstone currently has a 10% stake in Crown which it bought from Macau's Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd in April last year, making it the second-largest holder in Crown after the company's billionaire founder James Packer.

Some of Wall Street's most prominent names have donated thousands of dollars to Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez's opponent in the upcoming Democratic primary in New York, data from the FEC shows. Federal Election Commission data shows that donors including Goldman Sachs' CEO David Solomon, Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman, and hedge fund behemoth Paul Tudor Jones have given to the campaign of Michelle Caruso-Cabrera. Caruso-Cabrera, a former CNBC reporter, is going up against Ocasio-Cortez to secure the Democratic nomination for New York's 14th congressional district on June 23. **SNIP** Caruso-Cabrera has raised just over $2 million so far, while Ocasio-Cortez's campaign has received more...

U.S. private equity firm Blackstone and Saudi Arabia's main sovereign wealth fund said on Saturday they planned to create a $40 billion vehicle to invest in infrastructure projects, mainly in the United States. Blackstone and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding for the project, which will depend on further negotiations. The proposed venture was announced during the visit to Riyadh of President Donald Trump, who has said he wants to rebuild crumbling U.S. infrastructure....

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae is getting into the single-family rental business in a big way. The government-backed agency said it is going into business with private equity giant and major housing player Blackstone by backing $1 billion in debt. Blackstone's Invitation Homes filed for an initial public offering this week, and the Fannie Mae relationship was disclosed afterward. Blackstone is looking to raise $1.6 billion by selling shares to the public. Fannie Mae, currently under government conservatorship, will back $1 billion in debt collateralized by rental homes owned by Blackstone. Invitation Homes currently has a portfolio of about 50,000 single...

Blackstone has defaulted on a $562 million bond backed by Finnish landlord Sponda Oy, which it acquired in 2018, something Blackstone said was exacerbated by Russia’s war against Ukraine. Blackstone had sought an extension from holders of the notes to allow for time to liquidate assets in the Sponda Oy’s retail and office portfolio to pay back the debt — which Blackstone bought for $1.9 billion in 2018 — but with ongoing warfare disrupting market conditions and sales, bondholders voted against the investment firm’s bid for more time, Bloomberg first reported. Loan servicer Mountstreet said the debt would be transferred...

Blackstone Group Inc BX.N said on Wednesday it agreed to acquire genealogy provider Ancestry.com Inc from private equity rivals for $4.7 billion, including debt, placing a big bet on family-tree chasing as well as personalized medicine. Ancestry.com is the world’s largest provider of DNA services, allowing customers to trace their genealogy and identify genetic health risks with tests sent to their home. Blackstone is hoping that more consumers staying at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic will turn to Ancestry.com for its services. “We believe Ancestry has significant runway for further growth as people of all ages and backgrounds become increasingly...

The investment giant Blackstone has increased its eviction filings in the South and the West. One of the country's biggest landlords, Blackstone provided aid to tenants for much of the pandemic. The investment firm Blackstone has filed hundreds of eviction cases against its tenants in Georgia and Florida, the Financial Times reported on Monday. Data compiled by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a nonprofit advocacy group that tracks private-equity investment in housing and other sectors, shows that Blackstone's eviction filings significantly increased since July. In Florida, Blackstone has filed 382 evictions since July. It's filed another 311 cases in Georgia....

As The Federal Reserve continues its assault on inflation by raising their target rate, Blackstone Inc.’s $69 billion real estate fund for wealthy individuals said it will limit redemption requests, one of the most dramatic signs of a pullback at a top profit driver for the firm and a chilling indicator for the property industry. Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. has been facing withdrawal requests exceeding its quarterly limit, a major test for the one of the private equity firm’s most ambitious efforts to reach individual investors. The news, in a letter Thursday, sent Blackstone stock falling as much...

The asset managers have imposed limits on withdrawals as pension funds seek to reduce exposure to real estate BlackRock, Columbia Threadneedle and Schroders have put limits on the amount large investors can withdraw from their UK property funds, as pension clients look to cash in their holdings in less-liquid assets. The move means pension funds — many of them having requested to pull their money from these property funds months ago in the wake of volatile markets and rising interest rates — will have to wait longer to be paid. Columbia...(paywall)

At this point in the vaccine rollout, most believe that there’s nothing that can be done to convince those who refuse to get vaccinated to change their minds. President Biden’s attempts to force a federal mandate on workers via OSHA was blocked by the courts. But that hasn’t stopped Wall Street from barring the unvaccinated from its facilities, even though vaccinated employees are just as likely to spread the virus. Not long after Citi became the first megabank to announce plans to fire workers who refused to comply with vaccination policies, private equity giant Blackstone will now prohibit any workers...

NEW YORK, NY, CHICAGO, IL, AND MONTRÉAL, QC – JANUARY 7, 2022 – Today, Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX) announced that funds managed by Blackstone Infrastructure Partners have entered into a definitive agreement with Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Invenergy for an approximately $3 billion equity investment in Invenergy Renewables Holdings LLC (“Invenergy Renewables” or “the company”), the largest private renewable energy company in North America. Blackstone’s investment will provide capital to accelerate Invenergy’s renewables development activities. CDPQ and Invenergy management remain the majority owners of the company and Invenergy will continue as managing member.