The Promote Podcast – Episode Summary

Podcast: The Promote Podcast
Host: ten31 Media (Hiten Samtani & Will Krasne)
Episode: The Skyscraper That Broke America
Date: October 22, 2025

Episode Overview

This week, The Promote Podcast delivers a deep-dive into three stories capturing all the drama of the Commercial Real Estate (CRE) world:

• The wild, spectacular saga of Manhattan’s 666 Fifth Avenue, including its record-setting purchase, financial woes, and political intrigue.
• The high-stakes—and sometimes explosive—game of bulk condo buyouts in Miami.
• Banco Santander’s aggressive moves with distressed rent-stabilized portfolios in New York.

With their signature wit and insider perspective, hosts Hiten Samtani and Will Krasne dissect headline-grabbing deals, sharp-elbowed negotiations, and the characters who shape today’s real estate market.

1. 666 Fifth Avenue: America’s Most Controversial Skyscraper

The Ultimate CRE Cautionary Tale
[02:09] – [22:28]

The Kushner Era: Ambition, Overreach, and Dominoes Falling

• 2007: The Record-Breaking Purchase

  • Jared Kushner leads the Kushner Companies’ $1.8 billion acquisition of 666 Fifth, a sum “gargantuan” even for overheated times.
  • Quote:
    • “They just go balls out ... sent him a one page offer and it had a number on it ... $1.8 billion.” – Hiten [05:41]
  • The deal was financed with a mere $50 million in equity and $1.75 billion in debt from UBS and Barclays—a typical leverage for the era.

• The Backstory: Family Drama & Reputation

  • The deal followed patriarch Charlie Kushner’s scandal and prison stint—a “really dark scheme” involving hiring a prostitute to entrap his brother-in-law.
  • Quote:
    • "There's been a lot of lying in this family and a lot of love. More lies. Incredible upheaval." – Hiten [04:07]

• Red Flags from the Start

  • Even before any leases were signed, the building’s office component was appraised at $2 billion, more than the Kushners paid for the entire property.
  • Quote:
    • “How do you get an appraisal like this? What the hell is going on?” – Hiten [07:54]
  • The structure of CRE deals was exposed:
    • “When the ducks are quacking, you gotta feed them. Everyone's incentivized to have these deals close. Everyone eats. And that includes the appraisers.” – Will [07:57]

Crisis & Rescue: Sharks Circling

• Financial Trouble Hits

  • The global financial crisis leaves the Kushners hemorrhaging—losing $3.5 million per month.
  • With reserves dwindling, the flagship property threatened the entire family business.
  • Quote:
    • “If you get foreclosed on a building like this ... it's really hard to get debt if you've just got foreclosed on a $1.8 billion acquisition.” – Will [09:55]

• The Vornado Bailout

  • Steve Roth (Vornado Realty Trust) offers a lifeline—but at “11% interest on the money they actually invested as pref ... take it or leave it, son.” – Will & Hiten [10:24–10:51]
  • Sharp-elbowed negotiations and even attempted newsroom hit pieces on rival investors highlight the cutthroat atmosphere:
    • “Jared Kushner tried to run a hit piece in his publication ... known colloquially in the newsroom as the Big Dick Mack story.” – Hiten [12:06]

• Selling Off the Crown Jewels

  • To stay afloat, the Kushners sell off the prized ground-floor retail to Crown Acquisitions and Carlisle ($525M), then later to Vornado ($700M).
  • Amid all this, the property continues to bleed cash and can’t regain its footing post-recap.

Political Intrigue & the Art of Inscrutability

• Enter: The Trump Era

  • After Trump's 2016 win, Jared’s family standing changes overnight. The once-doomed building now belongs to the President’s son-in-law.
  • Global players—Anbang (China) and then Qatari investors—circle the asset.
  • Quote:
    • “All of a sudden, instead of just having a hemorrhaging building on 5th Ave, he has a hemorrhaging building on 5th Ave. And he's the President's son-in-law.” – Will [13:58]

• Anbang’s Wild Proposals & Downfall

  • Anbang proposes a $4B recap and envisions $7B luxury condos, with fantastical projections.
  • “You'd have to basically underwrite the condos at ... $9,000 or $10,000 a square foot.” – Hiten [15:23]
  • Anbang collapses in scandal, the CEO sentenced to 18 years in Chinese prison.
    • "If you choose to stay in rural villages, you can only meet common village girls ... If you come to Paris, you'll have the chance to lay your eyes on the Mona Lisa." – Wu Xiaohui (Anbang CEO) [16:03]

• Failed Qatari Bailout

  • Charlie Kushner’s direct negotiations with the Qatari finance minister draw scrutiny.
  • Epic Charlie Kushner interview:
    • “Are you guys going to be assholes today or are you going to give us a fair shake? ... Do you want me to throw you out of here right now? Because I will.” – Charlie Kushner (quoting from The Real Deal interview) [17:39]

Resolution: Brookfield’s Subtle Save

• Brookfield Arrives
  • Through complex ground lease structuring, Brookfield (backed in-part by Qatari money) effectively rescues the Kushners from ruin, solving massive tax problems.
  • The property is rebranded, receives major capital investment (~$400M+), and lands major tenants (Citadel, Scotiabank, Viking Global).
  • Recent $1.3B refinancing closes the story, appraising the tower at $2B—bringing values full circle.
  • Takeaway Quotes:
    • “This isn’t a real estate asset. It is a like global trading sardine.” – Will [21:30]
    • “When you play Uno or Monopoly, you have the get out of jail free card or the wild draw 4. This felt like that.” – Hiten [21:48]
    • “Yeah, it's Chinatown, Jake.” – Will [22:24]

2. Miami Bulk Condo Buyouts: High-Wire Acts & Holdout Showdowns

[23:15] – [29:10]

Aging Buildings, New Ambitions

• Developers pursue bulk condo buyouts in Miami, aiming to redevelop aging waterfront buildings after Surfside’s collapse heightened safety concerns.
  • “If you bought a condo in 1984 ... needs the entire foundation to be retrofitted ... the assessments just creep up on you and suddenly this doesn't make any sense anymore.” – Hiten [24:00]
• Developers like Two Roads perform strategic bulk purchases, aiming to reduce required owner approval for terminating condos, then redevelop into luxury.

Legal Battles & Leverage

• In one case, Two Roads amends condo bylaws to drop termination threshold to 80%, then sues holdout owners.

  • Florida Supreme Court declines to hear the case, blocking developers' plans unless they massively sweeten buyout offers to holdouts.
  • “There's nothing else for Two Roads to do ... interest is piling up. Right. So Ozk wants their money. Fisher Brothers, once they're good, definitely wants their money.” – Hiten [27:18]

• Parallel to legendary NYC battles (“15 Central Park West holdout guys”):

  • “At the end ... the last couple of holdouts got I think sums of like $15 million to leave.” – A [26:52]

• Memorable (and shocking) quote from a Miami condo holdout:

  • “I'm happy in the way a rape victim might feel happy when the jury comes back with a guilty verdict ... you still live with the rape.” – Robert Murphy [28:46]

• Takeaway: "It's a game of people. It's not just spreadsheets... You have your right to your own property. And if someone comes in, just because the pro forma says they need these things to work doesn't mean the people are going to want to leave." – Will [27:43]

3. Banco Santander & NYC’s Rent Regulated Reckoning

[30:00] – [35:32]

The Signature Fallout & Hardball Lending

• After Signature Bank’s collapse, Banco Santander acquires a large rent-stabilized multifamily loan book ($1.1B stake) and signals tough enforcement.
• Major institutional landlords (L+M, A&E) default; Santander refuses to accept “deed in lieu,” bucking CRE norms.
  • “It's kind of understood that if we default, you, lender, you must take it back. And Santander is like, no, it's not.” – Hiten [31:40]
• Lawsuits fly, with Santander even seeking receivership by highlighting alleged property mismanagement.
• Loans in default accrue default interest at an “involuntary rate”—as high as 24%.
  • “Interest ... shall accrue at the involuntary rate. This rate, by the way, [is] specified in loan docs at 24%.” – Hiten [34:10]

The New Normal: No More Soft Landings

• The willingness of Santander—a traditional bank—to play as hard as private credit signals a new era of lender aggression in distressed multifamily.
• “If you are not this size, you should be a little bit afraid.” – Will [35:04]
• Poignant moment: Santander served a Valentine’s Day default notice—“It's a Valentine's Day massacre.” – Will [35:24]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• CRE as High Drama:
  • “I think if you had to pick one single skyscraper to capture both the financial and political kind of mood of the country. 666 would be my pick. It's got everything.” – Hiten [02:22]
• On The Madness of 2007:
  • “There was unlimited financing for anything ... crazy high loan to values.” – Will [06:33]
• On Betting Big:
  • “If you are buying a deal this size, you are making so many different macroeconomic bets without even really realizing it.” – Will [21:03]
• On Retail Highs:
  • “At the time, like Fifth Avenue high street retail was seen as sort of like as gold plated in asset class as you could have in New York.” – Will [12:57]
• On Law, Leverage, and Human Stakes:
  • “People are fucking with people's homes, you know, and right or wrong, like, you have your right to your own property.” – Will [27:43]

Key Segment Timestamps

• 666 Fifth Deep-Dive: [02:09] – [22:28]
• Miami Condo Buyout Saga: [23:15] – [29:10]
• Santander’s Multifamily Maneuvers: [30:00] – [35:32]

Takeaways

• Markets are more than numbers: At the top, every deal becomes a global power play.
• Humans drive—and disrupt—deals: Condo buyouts and landlord-lender battles hinge on both law and emotion.
• **CRE remains a game of outsized egos, risky bets, and the occasional get-out-of-jail-free-card—if your surname happens to be Kushner.

For More

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End of Summary