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Rather than protecting communities and making it easy for homeowners to restructure bad mortgages or repair their credit after succumbing to predatory loans, the government facilitated the transfer of wealth from people to private-equity firms. — The New York Times
A compelling long-read from Francesca Mari in T Magazine highlights the incredible transformation taking place within single-family housing market, where large investment firms like Blackstone Group have created a new investment vehicle by turning detached homes into rental properties. ... View full entry
MIT will create a new college that combines AI, machine learning, and data science with other academic disciplines. It is the largest financial investment in AI by any US academic institution to date. — MIT Technology Review
MIT’s new artificial intelligence-focused Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing will "create 50 new faculty positions and numerous fellowships for graduate students," according to the MIT Technology Review. The school is set to debut in September 2020, first in existing buildings... View full entry
Blackstone Group is cashing in on its bet on the suburban rental class.
The private-equity firm late Tuesday sold more than $1 billion of shares of Invitation Homes Inc., the giant single-family home landlord it launched following the financial crisis in a wager that many Americans would be willing to rent the suburban lifestyle they could no longer afford to own.
— Wall Street Journal
In the two years since private-equity firm Blackstone Group launched its suburban home management service, Invitation Homes, the company's stock has gone up by over 26%. During that same time, homeownership has fallen to its lowest levels since the mid-1990s, rents have edged upward in the... View full entry
Skyscraper owner Blackstone hopes Catalog, the centerpiece of the building's ongoing $668 million renovation, will set off a rush of foot traffic in the southwest corner of the Loop. [...]
Anchoring Catalog will be Willis Tower's first food hall, a 14,000-square-foot location run by London-based food hall operator Urbanspace, as well as dining options Shake Shack, Sweetgreen, Luke's Lobster and Taylor Gourmet.
— Crain's Chicago Business
Not for the faint of heart, the Blackstone Group is planning on expanding the Skydeck, the popular observatory on the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower, according to Chicago Business. The skyscraper, still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower, was the tallest building in the world for nearly... View full entry
Blackstone Group LP agreed to buy Chicago’s Willis Tower, the second-tallest building in the U.S., and plans to upgrade the retail and observatory space in a bet on growth in the city. [...]
On a per-square-foot basis, the valuation for the more than 40-year-old Willis Tower is lower than deals for newer buildings. The Blackstone price is about $342 a square foot, based on about 3.8 million square feet (353,000 square meters) of rentable space.
— bloomberg.com
Previously: Need a skyscraper? Chicago’s Willis Tower just hit the market. View full entry
