Deconstruct The Real Deal

Last week, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said it would move toward reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug — Schedule III instead of Schedule I. The move has big implications for the intersection of cannabis and real estate. Founder and CEO of cannabis REIT NewLake Capital Partners Anthony Coniglio talks tax relief and opportunity for state-licensed operators and capital providers like NewLake.

It's not just tax credits. It's not just zoning by right. To make office-to-residential conversion projects work, developers need all of the above, says Bobby Fijan of Philadelphia-based Form Developers. TRD's Deconstruct chatted with Fijan about some of the legislation, policies, subsidies and programs across the country that have helped push these conversions forward.

Note: This episode was recorded before the state finalized a housing deal. For a detailed break down of what passed check out Senior Reporter Kathryn Brenzel's story here:


After years of negotiations, Albany has finally fleshed out the framework for a housing deal. Tenants call it a give away to developers. Landlords have their own gripes with an intended boon for rent-stabilized owners. Deconstruct sits down with The Real Deal's Kathryn Brenzel to talk Gov. Kathy Hochul’s “parameters of a conceptual agreement.”

Lew Horne thought he was going to run a pet store business. Then, he thought he’d sell computerized systems to wholesale grocers. Neither panned out. Instead, Horne runs CBRE’s operations across Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire, leading advisory services, property and project management and capital markets teams.


And in L.A., developers, brokers and brokerage heads have no shortage of hurdles — a stagnant office market, new transfer taxes on sales over $5 million, homelessness and bureaucratic permitting processes. Horne chatted about it all.


“Let’s get some of these barriers out of the way,” Horne said. “Let’s start taking a look at what we need to do to regain the trust of the development community. Let’s not restrict them on what to build.”


The Real Deal sat down with Horne for The Closing, The Real Deal's signature monthly magazine interview series. Deconstruct is airing an extended version of this interview. To read it, head to TheRealDeal.com.

The foretold wall of CMBS maturities has hit and early data on office loans signals the fears around repayments — that troubled owners won't be able to swing it — are being realized. Deconstruct talks with Moody's Analytics Senior Director and Head of CRE Economic Analysis Kevin Fagan and Director of CRE Economics Matt Reidy.

For the most part, construction lending has dried up across the country, with more and more regional banks pulling back from financing ground-up real estate projects. But Kennedy Wilson, a lender based out of Los Angeles, sees opportunity in that. With more lenders on the sidelines, Kennedy Wilson can take advantage of lending to what it determines are the best borrowers and the best projects. And by being active, it can help take some construction loans off regional banks' balance sheets.


The Real Deal's Deconstruct chatted with Thomas Whitesell, Kennedy Wilson's head of debt originations, about how the firm is choosing what to lend on, its optimism for multifamily and the difficulties with office-to-resi conversions.