The engine driving the multifamily syndicator machine; NYC’s next generation of top office brokers … and more

THE RUNDOWN:

🐍 In the world of multifamily syndicators, MDs can be more common than MBAs. White collar professionals like doctors, engineers and pilots have found success raising money from colleagues for real estate deals. But churches and other community groups are also getting in on the action. However, the gold rush is becoming increasingly less lucrative.

👑 Many of New York’s top office leasing brokers have been at the top for decades. But there’s a new generation of dealmakers on the rise. 

🥇 With almost three decades in the Malibu market, Chris Cortazzo has come to dominate the city, closing more than $8 billion in residentia. sales. The star broker sat down with The Real Deal to discuss his success.

🌴 For about a decade, South Florida’s developers have been slapping luxury brand names on condo projects (think Bentley or Dolce & Gabbana). Now, the trend has landed in West Palm Beach.

🏗️ 2023 was a rough year for New York’s general contractors. But the industry’s best continued to press ahead, and now they’re plotting a comeback in 2024. 

🤠 Down in Texas, two separate investors have made a killing by investing in an asset class that many in the industry wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole: Class B offices.  

THE DETAILS:

🐍 Behind the syndicator machine targeting new investors for multifamily feeder funds

Multifamily syndicators like Ascent Equity, which is led by a team of three doctors, have also tailored their sales pitch to doctors, who have become the main source of capital for the firm. It’s a business model all too familiar in the multifamily industry.

• Other investment firms are led by dentists, lawyers, engineers or community groups like churches, and focus their fundraising efforts within their peer groups.
• These investment firms boomed in 2020 and 2021, when interest rates were low and rent growth was fast. Now, some have seen their investments nearly bottom out.

👑 Meet NYC’s next generation of top office brokers

For several decades, a small handful of household names have dominated New York’s office leasing landscape. A few younger brokers want to change that.  

• Top dealmakers from Cushman, CBRE and Newmark told TRD how they’ve been able to stand out in an industry that has become increasingly diluted. 
• It’s just the names that have begun to shift in recent years. Insiders say the leasing process has become more complicated, shifting from a focus on wooing clients to one built around data. 

🥇How Chris Cortazzo became the biggest broker in Malibu

Malibu is one of the nation’s top luxury markets. And, if you want in, you might have to go through Chris Cortazzo, the Compass agent who has come to dominate the toney town’s market. 

• Cortazzo has had a storied three-decade career in the town, including losing more than $8 billion in sales and selling his first home to Richard Gere. 
• He also isn’t shy about his position in Malibu. “I’m the luckiest human to have such control of this market,” Cortazzo said. 

🌴 South Florida’s branded condo boom arrives in West Palm Beach

Palm Beach is known for old money style and private mansions. But, across the water, on West Palm Beach, high-end condo towers are beginning to rise. 

• The coastal town has seen a boom in luxury-branded condo towers in recent years, a marked change from the area’s reputation as a less flashy destination for the ultra-wealthy.
• Developer David Martin is helping to lead the charge, with his 25-story Mr. C Hotel & Residences West Palm Beach. “The time for West Palm Beach is now,” Martin said. 

🏗️ Builders plot comeback after brutal year

New York may be several years out from the depths of Covid, but the pandemic’s impact on development is still being felt by some general contractors. Still, a handful of megaprojects laid the groundwork for the industry’s top performers to survive in a down year. 

• Even as some GCs land megaprojects like JPMorgan’s 2.5-million-square-foot headquarters and the $19 billion redevelopment of JFK, 2024 looks to be another challenging year. 
• Check out TRD’s rankings of the top general contractors in NYC. 

More Rankings: Chicago’s top construction firms adapt to low volume 

🤠 How a pair of Texas investors have turned Class B offices into gold

Class B office may be the commercial industry’s least favorite asset these days. But a pair of players in Texas have separately built their businesses by digging in the office bargain bin. 

• Ken Good Jr. has spent most of his career in Dallas, where he’s perfected the art of reinvigorating aging office properties. His strategy: by low, fix up and lease out.
• Doug Agarwal’s Capital Commercial also loves to buy low. Since 2020, the firm has paid $650 million on more than 5.5 million square feet of office properties across the Sun Belt

THE CLOSE: 

What’s next for the world of multifamily syndicators? Keep reading TheRealDeal.com to find out.