A report from Bisnow on Texas. "Real estate investors and developers surveyed for a PwC and Urban Land Institute study still view Dallas-Fort Worth as a Top 10 U.S. real estate investment market even though the region plummeted from the No.1 spot last year to No. 6 on shrinking yields, oversaturation fears and memories of former boom-bust cycles in the Big D. 'There is a rising sentiment that Dallas could have some potential oversupply if there is a downturn,' PwC U.S. Real Estate Practice leader Byron Carlock said. 'With the investor market, you always have to prove that a Texas deal is not going to be subject to past boom-bust cycles that [investors] may have experienced in a Texas market before.'"

"While Carlock does not see a boom-bust cycle in DFW at this time, the latest PwC survey — although favorable in terms of the Metroplex's overall strength — does report an 'abundance of capital' targeting the market, which has the effect of pushing yields to 'very thin margins,' while property taxes may 'face upward pressure to sustain infrastructure growth.' It has become more difficult to find cost-effective DFW development sites in top submarkets like Uptown Dallas, Frisco and Legacy Town Center, which may have driven investor sentiment down, Carlock said."

From Bakersfield.com in California. "Hopes for a quick resolution of Sundale Country Club's fate faded Monday after a scheduled auction of the financially troubled Bakersfield golf course was again postponed, this time because one of its minority owners has filed for personal bankruptcy protection. The auction was rescheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, though the auctioneer said the sale will probably be delayed further by the bankruptcy filing. Facing foreclosure for more than a year, the group had been negotiating to sell the property to a group of investors led by Bakersfield businessman Randeep Dhillon."

"But when successive appraisals estimated the club's value at far less than the purchase price of $4.4 million, Dhillon's group sued Ohr and his partners. Ohr and his partners countersued. Both suits are pending in Kern County Superior Court."

From KPBS in California. "California Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) said Monday she would take a more active role in reviving one of the most closely watched and controversial housing bills that stalled earlier this year. Senate Bill 50, authored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), would require cities and counties to allow denser and taller apartment buildings in areas with access to good public transit, jobs and schools. It was shelved in May. Home construction, meanwhile, is experiencing a slump. The Real Estate Research Council of Southern California recently found home building in San Diego County was down 43% in the first half of 2019 compared to the same time period in 2018."

From KGUN 9 in Arizona. "The Tucson City Council just approved tax incentives for a very big change for 4th avenue. There's a 13 story apartment tower going in on the South end of 4th. The site is in Councilmember Kozachik's Ward 6: 'You know, so we were kind of played out with a student housing with the district and the other one that just opened up across the street. And frankly, there is a saturation issue with respect to student housing.' The city still has to approve construction details of the project. What it did do is approve five and a half million dollars in tax incentives to encourage the developer to invest."

The Technician on North Carolina. "Coming to NC State, I expected tuition to be the greatest expense. To my astonishment, housing is a remarkably close second. Construction is characteristic of Raleigh and other booming cities alike, and with every new apartment complex, hope for affordability is created only to ultimately disappoint. That's because although Raleigh — and noticeably Hillsborough — are seeing new apartments pop up frequently, most of these newly constructed apartments around college campuses are advertised as luxurious. The demand for student housing goes without being said, but the ever-growing supply of luxury student apartments doesn’t really match our desires or our needs."

"Instead, there are limited options and we have to settle, but instead of settling for something that doesn’t reach our expectations, we are left with such little choice but to settle for unnecessary luxuries that used to be uncharacteristic of college life if we want to be fully immersed and live away from home. There is no excuse to neglect the real problem of the cost of housing; the fact is that expensive student housing cannot be sustained and must be stopped."

The Naples Daily News in Florida. "Construction began last week of the first phase of Siena Lakes, a senior living community near St. Katherine's Greek Church. Even though Siena is not expected to open until 2021, more than 70% of the initial 175 apartments have been reserved said Fred Moschetta, its sales director. Baltimore-based Erickson Living intended to begin construction once a 50% pre-sales threshold had been achieved. 'Demand for the lifestyle has exceeded our expectations,' Moschetta said."

"After a little bit of drilling, here's what In the Know found for the minimum a resident will pay for a starter one-bedroom ad. The monthly service package begins at $3,400 monthly for utilities, a meal plan and other services. But first one must pay an 'entrance' fee of $352,000 or elect to go with an 80% refundable deposit. For the latter, $541,000 gets you in the door. Should you decide to leave Siena or spend the rest of your life there, 80% will be returned to you or your heirs."

"In the three counties of Collier, Lee and Charlotte, 10 communities catering to folks age 55 and over were completed between 2000 and 2014. The pace has quickened dramatically. From 2015 through 2017, 21 senior housing projects including Siena were either delivered, under construction or proposed, according to CRE Consultants."

The Wall Street Journal. "Property owners have long worried that short-term rentals bring noise, crime and regulatory risks to their buildings. But some real-estate firms are starting to embrace the presence of itinerant guests. In downtown Nashville, Tenn., developers of a new 77-unit condominium project are explicitly marketing their building to owners interested in renting out their apartments via short-term listing sites. Florida-based property developer Newgard Development Group is expanding a similar model it started two years ago. It is collaborating with home-sharing company AirBnB."

"Iconiq Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, is also teaming up with a management firm to help tenants in its apartment buildings sublet their units. These developers are hoping that promoting short-term rentals could make their projects more appealing to buyers and renters and lead to higher profits. Heather Gustafson, a managing director at Compass Development who is overseeing sales at Bradley’s property in Nashville, said the project appeals to potential buyers who don’t plan to occupy their units year-round. Ms. Gustafson expects more developers to follow suit. 'I think we’re on the front end of this wave,' she said."

"While Illume is merely allowing residents to sublet their units as short-term rentals, other projects are going a step further. Newgard’s coming Natiivo buildings, including a 249-unit condo and hotel planned for Austin, will have in-house staff to manage short-term renting for each unit owner, for a fee. The company plans another Natiivo property for Miami, a 604-unit condo and hotel with for-sale units starting at $300,000."

The Brooklyn Eagle in New York. "Mega-developer Toll Brothers admitted to the state’s ethical oversight commission in July that the company had illegally donated $25,000 to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s not-for-profit 'Campaign for One New York' at a time when the developer was working to develop a hotel and condo in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The NYS Joint Commission on Public Ethics fined Toll Brothers $15,000 for the donation at the time the city was overseeing approvals for the 1 Hotel and Pierhouse complex. Toll Brothers has agreed to the fine and has waived its right to appeal."

"The donation was just one of what appears to be a pattern of solicitations by de Blasio from real estate developers seeking to do business in the city. Another developer, an affiliate of Park Tower Group Ltd. also agreed in July to pay penalties for illegal donations to the mayor’s Campaign for One New York, as did Brookfield Properties. According to its settlement agreement, Park Tower Group was seeking to develop Greenpoint Landing in 2015 when a senior executive of the company was asked to meet de Blasio and one of his campaign officials, Russ Offinger."

"Brookfield Properties, which has developed many Brooklyn sites including MetroTech Center, was found to have donated $50,000 to the mayor’s not-for-profit, at a time when it needed city permits to develop Manhattan West in the Hudson Yards. The company was fined $30,000."

"'My first thought was corruption pays: Toll Brothers make an illegal contribution, gets fined $15k and is allowed to double the size of the building,' Save the View President Steven Guterman told the Eagle. 'They likely made an addition $300 million in profits while stealing the view of the Brooklyn Bridge from the tourists and residents who walk along the promenade. The fine is a joke relative to the benefit they received. Furthermore, why wasn’t our mayor charged with anything? He was on the receiving side.'"

From The Week. "WeWork is not feeling great about its chief executive officer these days. The company, which rents out workspaces with an urban-chic vibe to individuals and companies, is run by CEO Adam Neumann. He's garnered a reputation for questionable leadership, an ostentatious company culture, and a general penchant for grandiosity over substance. According to reports, some of WeWork's big investors and board members are now quietly discussing ways to, if not oust Neumann, at least cut his power down to size."

"Unfortunately, it may not be enough. WeWork's problems likely go beyond the qualities of its CEO, to the basic nature of its business model. WeWork lost $1.6 billion last year, and $1.37 billion in just the first half of this year, even as its spending for the two time periods was $2 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively. The last big previous investment in the company valued WeWork at roughly $47 billion. Yet the latest assessments suggest a more accurate market value may be less than one-third of that; even efforts to rejigger the IPO to value the company at a mere $15 billion failed to bring investors back on board."

"After going through WeWork's IPO documentation, the Times couldn't really make heads or tails of the numbers. When you combine that with the company's massive — and growing — losses, the fact that it only has $2.5 billion of excess cash on hand, and the growing expenses associated with marketing itself and keeping up its not-exactly-spartan amenities, WeWork begins to look more and more unstable; a company that could be knocked down by one strong gust of recessionary wind."

"Granted, WeWork does have a few potential routes out of this mess. It's trying to get more long-term commitments from bigger corporate customers. WeWork could yet evolve into a business model that makes sense over the long haul. The difficulty is that such a business would be inherently modest. In other words, WeWork is either a sensible or an exciting investment, but at a basic structural level it can't really be both."

"Nor is the company alone in this. As far as their concrete business models go, a lot of the Silicon Valley titans, from Facebook to Uber, suffer from a similar problem: They can certainly work as normal meat-and-potatoes enterprises, but they can't do that while also justifying the absolutely insane market valuations they're garnering. Those valuations can only be justified by less-reputable long-term outcomes, such as the companies bigfooting their way into permanent monopoly positions, through a combination of anti-competitive behavior and gaming regulations."

"It's actually weirdly appropriate that WeWork's CEO is a carnival-esque figure who comes off like he's selling snake oil. The thing to remember is that the snake oil doesn't magically turn into anything else when the salesman gets demoted."