The Promote Podcast

This week, we dive into 2 operatic stories of ruin on different continents. We begin with the tale of Hui Ka Yan, a Chinese property tycoon who went from being a steelworker to one of the world’s richest men, before his firm Evergrande collapsed and sank the country’s real estate market with it. Hui has just been sentenced to life in prison. Then, we beam into a New York law firm boardroom, where one of CRE’s preeminent girthy lads, Meyer Chetrit, has given an extraordinary deposition as creditors pursue the Chetrit Group over hundreds of millions of dollars in personal guarantees. And finally, Blackstone’s finding the secular tailwinds in the marina business are strong enough to set sail.
Sponsors:
1) This episode is supported by Bravo Capital, a leading HUD and bridge lender. Check out their new SNF market ranking here.
2) This episode is supported by LoanBoss, the industry-leading debt management software. Featuring one-click covenant testing, instant cash flow forecasting, and our favorite nerdy delight: Live forward curves!
Partner Content:
"Inside the Capstack" with Gibson Dunn's Eric Meer. Meer breaks down an emerging trend of GPs setting captive title insurance joint ventures. 

Up your CRE game:  Consider becoming a premium subscriber to The Promote to unlock access to deep dives, bonus content and expert perspectives. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link:
For feedback: Write us at podcast@thepromote.com And please rate us and write a review on Apple 🙏
For brand partnerships: Reach out to partnerships@thepromote.com
Pod's on vacay: We're taking a fortnight off. Our next episode will drop 9/16. Arrivederci!
Further Reading/Listening
Heat on Chetrit
The Big Bank Battle of Chetritstan
Chetrits - Checkmated or playing possum?
The man from Morocco
Evergrande delisting marks end of era for China’s property sector
Chinese authorities accuse Evergrande of inflating revenues by $80bn
Limit-Up Hotel Kamikazes
MarineMax to Be Taken Private by Blackstone-Owned Safe Harbor for $1.5 Billion
Exotic Alts

This week, we put on our toques and head to the TSX, where Meyer Orbach and Josh Gotlib are on a fascinating multifamily caper with their REIT GO Residential. We then take a back door into a special-servicer war, with Greystone accusing rival CWCapital of stealing its trade secrets to poach its business and talent. Finally, we head to a palatial, soon-to-be-empty office at 125 Park, where we take stock of the legacy of longtime Newmark CEO Barry Gosin – and what exactly a new leader will be coming into. Plus, our Punch List rundown of key industry happenings: BREIT's exit from self-storage, 800 Fifth Ave's financing hunt, Ishbia's UWM mess, Canary Wharf
Sponsors:
1) This episode is supported by Bravo Capital, a leading HUD and bridge lender. See how their precision underwriting means quicker approvals and higher proceeds for sponsors.
2) This episode is supported by LoanBoss, the industry-leading debt management software. Featuring one-click covenant testing, instant cash flow forecasting, and our favorite nerdy delight: Live forward curves!
Up your CRE game:  Consider becoming a premium subscriber to The Promote to unlock access to deep dives, bonus content and expert perspectives. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link:
For feedback: Write us at podcast@thepromote.com And please rate us and write a review on Apple 🙏
For brand partnerships: Reach out to partnerships@thepromote.com
Further Reading/Listening
GO’s Multifamily AUM Gobbling ™
Loonie Tunes: Orbach, Gotlib Head to TSX
A Special Servicer Skirmish
Newmark’s Data Center Talent Shuffle
Ain’t No Party Like a Lutnick Party
Top Brokers Leave Newmark After Suing Firm, Boss
Howard Lutnick talks bank failures, Newmark’s competitors and more

In this bonus episode, we sit down with JDS Development Group boss Michael Stern, one of the builders synonymous with the luxury condo market in New York and more recently in Miami. Stern talks through home runs like Walker Tower in Chelsea, strikeouts (though he disagrees) like the Brooklyn Tower, and 11th-inning odysseys like the skinny Billionaires’ Row supertall 111 West 57th St. Outside of addressing specific litigation (there’s lots of it) and live deals, Michael got seriously candid about all the aspects of the development game that insiders care about, from lining up investors to construction intricacies to the risk-reward math. Plus, our favorite wildcard: how he turned journeyman architect Ralph Walker into a starchitect 💫 📕 .
Sponsors:
1) This episode is supported by Bravo Capital, a leading HUD and bridge lender. See how their precision underwriting means quicker approvals and higher proceeds for sponsors.
2) This episode is supported by LoanBoss, the industry-leading debt management software. Featuring one-click covenant testing, instant cash flow forecasting, and our favorite nerdy delight: Live forward curves!
Up your CRE game:  Consider becoming a premium subscriber to The Promote to unlock access to deep dives, bonus content and expert perspectives. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link:
For feedback: Write us at podcast@thepromote.com And please rate us and write a review on Apple 🙏
For brand partnerships: Reach out to partnerships@thepromote.com
Further Reading/Listening
The Promote: Stern Ambition
Stern, Soffer Near Record JPM Financing in Brickell
Michael Stern: the highs and lows of a New York skyscraper king
Michael Stern’s projects flash signs of distress, but risk-taking developer has come back from crises and chaos before
Ralph Walker: Architect of the Century
Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World

The final part of our special trilogy on the Reichmanns traces how the mother of all megaprojects became a siren song for Olympia & York. Everything that had brought them to these heights – the creative financing, the cinematic self-belief, the ability to convince others and themselves they could pull it all off – worked against them at London's Canary Wharf, and we talk through the aftermath of the collapse and the legacy they left behind. Featuring all-time characters like Kentucky hustler G. Ware Travelstead, Canadian pirate Robert Campeau and the Iron Lady herself, this is the climax of one of the most epic journeys in all business.
Sponsors:
1) This episode is supported by Bravo Capital, a leading HUD and bridge lender. See how their precision underwriting means quicker approvals and higher proceeds for sponsors.
2) This episode is supported by LoanBoss, the industry-leading debt management software. Featuring one-click covenant testing, instant cash flow forecasting, and our favorite nerdy delight: Live forward curves!
3) This episode is supported by Real Property Captive, the first group captive insurance for mid-market owners. Check out their platform to tap into the same insurance framework used by the market’s biggest players and get dividends from unused premiums.
Up your CRE game:  Consider becoming a premium subscriber to The Promote to unlock access to deep dives, bonus content and expert perspectives. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link:
For feedback: Write us at podcast@thepromote.com And please rate us and write a review on Apple 🙏
For brand partnerships: Reach out to partnerships@thepromote.com
Further Reading/Listening
 Men of Destiny: The Reichmanns, Pt. I (Start Here)
Apex Predators: The Reichmanns, Pt. II
The Reichmanns: Family, Faith, Fortune, and the Empire of Olympia & York
Towers of Debt: The Rise and Fall of the Reichmanns
In Britain, A Struggle To Stay Afloat
The Collapse of a Master Builder
Margaret Thatcher's Speech Inaugurating Canary Wharf
Secretive tycoon is key to unlocking gem of a deal
Building for Eternity, R' Moshe Reichmann Biography

Pt. II of our special episode on the Reichmanns takes us to the ultimate proving ground of Manhattan. We do a tick-tock of how Olympia & York pulled off the CRE deal of the century, buying 10 million square feet of prime office space for just $33 a square foot and beating up some of the city's blue bloods along the way. Then, they go even bigger: the development of the World Financial Center in Battery Park City is a showcase of all their talents – risk appetite, design, salesmanship, negotiating, creative leverage – coming together at scale. We also look at their legendary alliance with the Bronfman family and their adventures in corporate raiding.   

Sponsors:
1) This episode is supported by Bravo Capital, a leading HUD and bridge lender. See how their precision underwriting means quicker approvals and higher proceeds for sponsors.
2) This episode is supported by LoanBoss, the industry-leading debt management software. Featuring one-click covenant testing, instant cash flow forecasting, and our favorite nerdy delight: Live forward curves!
3) This episode is supported by Real Property Captive, the first group captive insurance for mid-market owners. Check out their platform to tap into the same insurance framework used by the market’s biggest players and get dividends from unused premiums.
Up your CRE game:  Consider becoming a premium subscriber to The Promote to unlock access to deep dives, bonus content and expert perspectives. Take 10% off annual subscriptions by using this link:
For feedback: Write us at podcast@thepromote.com And please rate us and write a review on Apple 🙏
For brand partnerships: Reach out to partnerships@thepromote.com
Further Reading/Listening

Men of Destiny: The Reichmanns, Pt. I (Start Here)
The Reichmanns: Family, Faith, Fortune, and the Empire of Olympia & York
Towers of Debt: The Rise and Fall of the Reichmanns
Inside CRE’s Deal of the Century
Canadian Company Becomes a Big City Landlord
The Bronfmans' Leveraged Leviathan