A report from the Miami Herald. "About two years ago, Janet LeGrand — also known by her maiden name, Janet Garcia — used what Homestead police called a fake engineering firm and a falsified résumé to try to dupe the city into awarding her firm a $33.3 million construction contract. LeGrand was arrested on a charge of scheming to defraud, and then again for wage theft after failing to pay dozens of employees a total of hundreds of thousands of dollars. She eventually posted bail and relocated."

"The Miami-Dade charges — set for trial next month — didn’t stop LeGrand from setting up shop again, this time in greater Las Vegas. LeGrand is spearheading a project that’s vastly larger than Homestead’s.
The company says the mixed-use development — including workforce housing, offices, retail space, luxury residential units, a hotel and entertainment space — will be like a 'mini city.'"

"Law enforcement records allege that LeGrand lied by claiming she had access to billions of dollars in investment capital. Cops also said she pretended to be a financial partner in a $942 million Port of Miami Tunnel project as well as a $483 million development project in Ohio. Lisa Hauger, a Realtor based in Nevada, told the Herald Monday she remembers when Janet LeGrand contacted her in 2018. She was looking to lease office space in Las Vegas. Hauger didn’t like the looks of it. 'That’s when I Googled her. I called police down in Florida and they told me to run, so I did,' Hauger said."

The Palm Beach Daily News in Florida. "A federal court has ruled against former Palm Beach developer and convicted felon Robert V. Matthews in a civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which claimed he had defrauded foreign investors who put money into his never-completed Palm House hotel-redevelopment project in Palm Beach."

"Prosecutors in Connecticut say Matthews and others took part in a criminal scheme to defraud foreigners who put money into the Palm House project under the federal EB-5 program, which offered investors the opportunity to get expedited immigration papers, commonly known as green cards. Most of the investors were Chinese and were told the Palm House would be developed and opened as an ultra-luxury hotel-condominium, according to court filings."

The Houston Chronicle in Texas. "International homebuyers are pumping the brakes on purchases in Texas and across the nation, according to Texas Realtors. Foreign spending on Texas homes fell 28 percent to $7.8 billion in the 12 months ended March 30, down from $10.9 billion in the same period a year ago. In the 12 months ended March 2018, international buyers spent $18.7 billion on 34,135 Texas homes."

"Spending by buyers from China, Canada, India, the United Kingdom and Mexico, the five countries that spend the most on U.S. homes, fell across the nation. Chinese buyers cut their spending by more than half, purchasing $13.4 billion worth of homes, compared to $30.4 billion in the year-ago period. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, called the magnitude of the decline 'quite striking, implying less confidence in owning a property in the U.S.'"

The Star Tribune in Minnesota. "A nearly $190 million financing package will pave the way for construction to begin early next month on the tallest — and most expensive — condominium building in the state, but it will scuttle plans for a competing condo tower just a few blocks away. Bob Lux of Twin Cities-based Alatus said that after three years of planning, he is now considering other options for a site where he planned to develop Alia. The proposed 40-story tower would have had 214 units, including nearly 50 that would have been priced at more than $1 million."

"'We’ve been waiting to make sure that the Eleven was going to close, but now that it has we will transition our project,' Lux said. 'It would not be a smart decision for ourselves or our buyers or the marketplace to flood the market.'"

The Real Deal on New York. "First, it offered up to 10 years of free common charges. Now, Extell Development is launching a 'rent-to-buy' program to spur deals at One Manhattan Square. In an email announcing the incentive, the developer said renters will be able to apply a 'full year’s rent' to their purchase of a unit. But the developer’s perk is also clearly the latest sign of Manhattan’s slow condo market. After initially marketing OMS to Asian buyers, Extell has offered several perks to entice buyers."

But foreign investment has dried up, and sources said renters are more likely to move to tertiary neighborhoods than buyers. 'The model of ‘If you build it, they will come’ is over,' said Bold New York’s Jordan Sachs, citing low buyer sentiment overall. 'People aren’t believers now,' he said. 'There’s a lot of talk about a recession on its way.'"

From Mansion Global on New York. "A custom-built, 32-acre estate in Durango, Colorado, will go to auction without reserve on Oct. 12 with Platinum Luxury Auctions. The records show that it was previously listed twice. The first in 2015 for $11.75 million and again earlier this year for $10.75 million."

From Mansion Global on California. "A Los Angeles megamansion in the gated community of Wallingford Estates that claims to have the largest zero-edge pool in Beverly Hills got a $25 million cut from its price last week. Now asking $110 million, the estate has 12 bedrooms, 24 bathrooms and an indoor sports complex complete with a basketball court, a gym, a boxing ring and a sports lounge and bar. In Los Angeles, a city home to a glut of high-priced megamansions, big-ticket discounts have become de rigueur."

"A Bel Air estate dubbed Chartwell—the most expensive home on the market in the U.S.—also got far less expensive in June after cutting $50 million from its price tag, taking its asking price down to $195 million from $245 million. And a 12-bedroom Bel Air mansion with its own helipad and a candy wall is currently asking $150 million, far below the $250 million it was first being shopped for in 2017."