Sunday Summary: Savills Makes Its Big, Big Move

Nothing excites the real estate industry like a large, high-dollar sale, and Savills left many industry observers pretty darn animated last week.

The Britain-based real estate firm announced during its Wednesday earnings call that it was buying Roy March’s Eastdil Secured real estate investment bank for $1.2 billion, instantly raising Savills’ already formidable U.S. profile.

When the deal is complete (it still needs regulatory approval) Savills will have completely bought out Guggenheim Investments, Temasek Holdings and Wells Fargo. March will become executive chairman, D. Michael Van Konynenburg (currently president at Eastdil) will become CEO, and James McCaffrey will assume the role of president.

Word of a sale had been rumored for about a year, but news had broken the previous day, and concerns that the company might be getting a little too much exposure amid weak markets led to a pre-announcement selloff of the stock.

No matter. Savills CEO Simon Shaw was bullish.

“Today’s announcement … delivers the one thing that a candid number of people in this room have been crying out for for years, which is a pre-eminent capital markets business in the United States, the biggest capital pool [and] capital market for real estate in the world.”

Yes, when it comes to capital markets, there are very few outfits that can compete alongside Eastdil. Its New York City superbroker team of Will Silverman and Gary Phillips have had their names on some of the very biggest deals in the last few years.

It’s mall good

Beyond Eastdil, big deals came in the form of companies buying other companies, like private equity shop Audax Private Equity purchasing property management firms Akam and Orsid New York, and Tilman Fertitta’s Landry’s making a $7 billion bid to acquire casinos giant Caesars Entertainment. But big deals also came in the form of good, old-fashioned property-for-cash trades.

Most notably, there was the $530 million sale of the 1.2 million-square-foot shopping center Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., from Brookfield Properties and Queensland Investment Corporation to Redwood West, Panattoni, Prime Finance and Prism Places — making it one of the largest-ever retail sales in Southern California. (Oh, and guess who brokered the deal? If you said “Eastdil,” maybe you can understand why Savills is so keen on the place.)

Indeed, despite some notable exceptions, foot traffic is up in malls so far this year. In February, it grew annually a healthy 7.3 percent in outdoor malls, 7.2 percent in outlet malls, and 5 percent at indoor malls.

“The increase in mall visits during the first two months of 2026 signals continued consumer resilience and demand for discretionary categories,” said Placer.ai’s Elizabeth Lafontaine. “It also signals the return of malls as a third place for consumers, even during these last couple of winter months as we’ve experienced winter storms and colder weather.”

And it’s not just malls, either — retail leasing has been on the rise, particularly in Midtown South.

“There’s been a shift on an overall macro cycle in the local economy toward these more experiential businesses: food, drinks, entertainment, and other forms of experience,” said Chris Bradicich of Live XYZ, which just produced a report on retail leasing in the area.

Beyond Midtown South, we’ve observed escape rooms, doggy day cares and yoga studios all signing deals throughout Manhattan. (Some deals were even in Brooklyn!)

Smells like Green spirit

Nationally, there’s still a lot of distress in the office market. Just last week in Chicago, Simon Singer’s FTK Capital purchased the 560,000-square-foot office tower at 111 West Jackson Boulevard for $25 million — which is about $110 million less than the seller, Melohn Group, purchased the same Chicago property for back in 2014.

But if you looked only at New York City leasing last week, you’d never know anything was wrong — at least not if you’re looking at the office stock owned by SL Green Realty.

Harvey AI Corporation doubled its space from 92,663 square feet to 185,326 square feet at the REIT’s One Madison Avenue. Just down the block at 11 Madison Square (also owned by SL Green), another AI firm — Clay — took 163,095 square feet.

Uptown at SL Green’s 1185 Avenue of the Americas, the consumer loan company OneMain General Services took 38,037 square feet, and the accounting firm UHY Advisors Northeast grabbed 27,508 square feet at the same address.

Oh, and TD Securities upped their footprint at SLG’s 125 Park Avenue to 181,447 square feet.

You’d think they’d be done. But noooo. Carlyle Group also took 150,036 square feet at SL Green’s 245 Park Avenue (along with another 52,121 square feet that Carlyle snagged at Irvine Company‘s 200 Park Avenue).

Yes, there were other deals with other landlords. Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management took 59,746 square feet at Tishman Speyer’s The Spiral in Hudson Yards. But, zowie, Marc Holliday! That’s a week.

Should we panic yet?

We’re not going to say that we’re not a wee bit worried about the wider world and its many, many conflicts currently raging.

But, on a more self-interested level, something caught our eye last week that has big political implications for real estate.

In a rare display of bipartisanship, the U.S. Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act by an 89-10 margin. The bill attempts to cut regulations on housing development and hand out grants for affordable housing — which, sure, everyone should be able to get behind.

But one of the 40 provisions in the bill is giving the real estate business serious pause; namely, the fact that owners and operators of more than 350 single-family rentals would be forced to divest themselves of their properties over the course of the seven years after the law takes effect. (The bill also gives the Treasury Department wide latitude in drafting rules around sales. “Imagine how a Democratic administration will exploit this sweeping power,” the Wall Street Journal editorial page opined. “How about a nationwide eviction moratorium or rent control?” Hey, they might not even need to do it nationally if every city in the country follows Mayor Mamdani’s lead.)

The Journal is not the only one with the vapors. The Mortgage Bankers Association, the Real Estate Roundtable, the National Apartment Association, the National Multifamily Housing Council and 38 other industry groups demanded changes to the language on single-family home ownership.

And the winner is … New Jersey?

Tonight is the Oscars. It is Tinseltown’s most glamorous, dazzling night. There’s haute fashion, red carpet interviews and self-righteous speeches galore.

But we have to wonder if a few years hence the festivities will take place on, say, the Jersey Shore rather than the Dolby Theater — because it certainly looks like the studios won’t be operating in Hollywood much longer.

Need proof?

Well, Netflix is building a $1 billion studio complex in Fort Monmouth. Oh, and Great Point Studios is building a 270,000-square-foot TV production studio in Newark. And don’t forget the 1.6 million-square-foot 1888 Studios that Paramount is building in Bayonne. There are others.

Before you tune in to Conan tonight, check out CO’s story here.

Actually, the winner is Florida

While you’re in the awards frame of mind, take time to check out Commercial Observer’s 2026 Power South Florida list — the most powerful names in South Florida real estate.

We always view these lists as a snapshot of the market and who’s been most active. But with the pace of things happening in Miami it’s nearly impossible to keep up. Just last week we learned about Fouquet’s new hotel in the Design District, Mast Capital’s proposed 25-story high-rise condo in West Palm Beach, and the crazy amount of growth in South Florida office rents.

While you’re at it, you can also read our interview with developer Sam Nazarian, and our story about how some of the product that has been churned out in the last few years has less-than-ideal construction work.

All of which will make for some excellent Sunday reading.

See you next week!