Sunday Summary: Let the Sunshine In!

For those of you who have been drenched by the dreaded nor’easter and are looking for a little relief, the best cure is sunshine.

Specifically, Corcoran Sunshine.

Last week, Commercial Observer sat down with Kelly Kennedy Mack, who has headed Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group since 2006, and we talked about the luxury condo market — where, guess what, the forecast is actually pretty good! — as well as how she went from a kid living in Chinatown and going to a G&T program, to working for industry legend Louise Sunshine, to turning Corcoran Sunshine into the behemoth it currently is.

“There’s always somebody chomping at our heels, somebody who’s trying to win business or steal our clients,” Mack said. “Being No. 1 doesn’t take priority over the actual work, which is doing the right thing by properties and clients. But being steadfast and relentless in that pursuit is probably what continues to make us No. 1. We certainly don’t take it for granted. We don’t have any level of complacency, ever.”

We’ve been talking about condos — and multifamily in general — a lot lately. (We’d gently encourage you to sign up for our residential newsletter. We have been putting in a number of new weekly features like data stories, Q&As with residential brokers, reported profiles and columns from industry machers.)

Beyond the deep dives and features, there’s been a seemingly endless stream of residential news — be it Legion Investment Group and SMA Equities’s $99 million construction loan for their 300,000-square-foot development on the Upper East Side, to the flood of Florida deals like TA Realty’s $105.5 million buy of the 366-unit Polo Lakes community, to the refinancing of housing near college campuses like Texas A&M, to Part II of the President Trump/Mayor Mamdani bromance blossoming this time over Queens’ Sunnyside Yard.

Calm down and have some coffee

Despite the fact that retail has been enjoying something of a comeback, not all retailers have been doing equally well.

Or, sometimes they’ve been doing well in part and badly at the same time.

For instance, Starbucks announced Thursday that it will close 250 stores across North America — making it the second time in two years that the java giant has had to resort to such a bitter tactic.

While this could signal that Starbucks is in trouble, the company said that these were underperforming branches and, amidst a company-wide revamp, the brand is actually going to be opening more stores in the coming months. “While most are benefiting from this overall momentum, some coffeehouses continue to underperform despite the hard work and commitment of all of you,” said Mike Grams, Starbucks’ chief operating officer, in a letter to employees.

Maybe this speaks to the general state of weirdness in the American retail landscape — and real estate in general.

One could point to the fact that interest rates are climbing, inflation and tariffs have been taking a huge toll on everybody, and that the war with Iran has sent the price of oil up, and yet… investment doesn’t seem to be affected.

If anything, it’s been on the rise. (For now.)

According to a recent report from Avison Young there was a total $233.6 billion invested in U.S. real estate in the first half of the year — a 14.7 percent increase from the same period last year, making it the “strongest first half of the year since 2022.” How do you like them apples!

Power play

Speaking of retail, last week the Real Estate Board of New York named the best deals of last year with Cushman & Wakefield’s Sean Moran, Patrick O’Rourke, Catherine Merck and Steven Soutendijk scoring Most Ingenious Retail Deal of the Year for Urban Outfitters’ 15,345-square-foot lease at 575 Fifth Avenue, and Newmark’s Jeffrey Roseman and Drew Weiss nabbing Most Impactful Retail Deal of the Year for bringing Audemars Piguet to 785 Fifth Avenue for its new flagship.

Just the night before REBNY’s event was Commercial Observer’s 19th annual Power Gala at Silverstein Properties’ 7 World Trade Center.

Much food, drink and music was enjoyed by a primo selection of the city’s best and brightest — but we won’t say anything more. To really find out who was spotted in the crowd, who won Investment Deal of the Year, and Finance Deal of the Year, and Urban Developer of the Year, and Office Deal of the Year, and the Executive Leadership Award, you’ll just have to read our coverage here.

Stay dry — see you next week!