Deconstruct

In early November, the Deconstruct team flew to Miami for The Real Deal's annual showcase and forum. We're bringing you two interviews we recorded on site at the event. First, you'll hear from Miami star broker Dora Puig about the state of the residential market. After that, Edgardo Defortuna and Ana Christina Defortuna at Fortune International Group talk about the hotel-branded residence market, new development in South Florida and why there are so many New York restaurants in Miami.

On the last day of October, a jury found the National Association of Realtors and two brokerages — HomeServices of America and Keller Williams Realty — guilty of conspiring to artificially inflate broker commissions. The verdict immediately spurred a copycat suit and could inspire dozens more. The Department of Justice is eyeing its own case and policy changes could be on the table. The Real Deal's Sheridan Wall and Harrison Connery break down the case and its aftermath.

Fredrik Eklund, star broker and partner John Gomes, have launched Maya, an AI tool for real estate. They discuss Maya's capabilities, the landmark lawsuit against major brokerages, occupancy rates, and the potential of AI technology in real estate.

Two years back, when money was still cheap, a new crop of investors was getting in on the red-hot multifamily market. Syndicators — investors who pool money to buy properties — turned to floating-rate debt to quickly close on deals when demand was at its peak. After a year and a half of rate hikes, many of those fledgling investors are now grappling with distress. Nuvo Capital Partners' Brian Underdahl discusses the catalysts behind that boom and how his firm is working with borrowers to save troubled deals.

"A slow-moving train wreck." That's what Daniel McNamara, the founder of Polpo Capital, calls the upcoming wall of maturities — the massive amount of commercial mortgage-backed securities coming due in the next year or two. Many, especially those who used floating-rate debt are facing a triple threat: the triple whammy of higher interest rates, lower valuations and more conservative lending. All of that is making it difficult for commercial landlords to refinance and leaving CMBS investors at risk.

In the early '90s, Ethan Penner pioneered the commercial mortgage-backed security. Thirty years later, the father of CMBS breaks down the investment product's origin story, the writing on the wall before the Great Recession and the CRE downturn of today.

Tighter lending conditions have proved a thorn in the side of many Miami developers. But not Swire Properties. Henry Bott, the new president of the firm's American arm, discusses development plans for the last piece of land on Brickell Key, plus the mainland office supertall it's building with Related.

As the market for traditional lending, through regional banks or commercial mortgage-backed securities, has dried up, more private credit lenders and financiers have hopped into the real estate space. And Arkhouse, a private equity firm focused on deals to privatize public real estate investment trusts, sees opportunity in that. The Real Deal's Deconstruct chats with Arkhouse managing partners Gavriel Kahane and Jon Blackwell about why they think the public markets undervalue real estate and why this boom in private credit is good for their business.

Mauricio Umansky is a busy guy. His brokerage The Agency opened a New York office last year, then a Hamptons outpost early this summer. His firm and family star in the Netflix series Buying Beverly Hills. Season 2 wrapped filming in July. And this spring the broker released his first book — The Dealmaker. It's a guide to success in business and in life. In Fresh Air's 'How Parking Explains The World' host Terry Gross interviews author Henry Grabar on how parking codes, lots and garages limit the creation of affordable housing. Listen here.

Related Companies is building offices in Chicago, Austin and West Palm Beach. That's right — offices. At a time when so many firms are pausing office development, citing a lack of tenant demand and the shift towards remote work, Related is plowing ahead with developments. The Real Deal's Deconstruct chatted with Related's head of office development, Philippe Visser, about why the firm is still building new office stock, despite market headwinds.