DAILY READS: Feb. 18, 2020

Never Mind the Internet. Here’s What’s Killing Malls.

“Despite a strong consumer economy, physical retailers closed more than 9,000 stores in 2019—more than the total in 2018, which surpassed the record of 2017. Already this year, retailers have announced more than 1,200 more intended closings, including 125 Macy’s stores.” Read more
New York Times

More Seniors Are Living Alone. Stop Blaming Them for the Housing Crisis.

“There are many reasons for the housing shortage. Home builders haven’t been able to build at a pace that keeps up with demand. Major cities lack enough land to build on. People who already own homes aren’t upsizing or downsizing, which limits the circulation of homes on the market.  But at a time when intergenerational rivalry has become a viral meme, it’s been easier for many to blame one particular punching bag: baby boomers.” Read more
Curbed

Jonathan Gray, President & COO, Blackstone

How Blackstone Became the World’s Biggest Corporate Landlord

“Over the past decade, Blackstone has relentlessly expanded its reach in real estate. Since going public in 2007, Blackstone has multiplied eightfold the equity capital it devotes to real estate, to $163 billion. Blackstone leverages that capital by taking out mortgages, so the total value of the property it owns “in the ground” is around $325 billion. By these measures it ranks, by Fortune’s estimates, as the world’s largest commercial real estate company.” Read more
Fortune

Tesla Ordered to Halt Work on German Factory Amid Anger Over Chopping Down Trees

“The company does not yet have planning permission to build its new so-called Gigafactory, but the state environmental agency had given it a green light to clear 92 hectares of forest land.” Read more
CNBC

Galleria Towers Sale Comes With Potential for Another High-Rise

“The purchase of the three office high-rises at LBJ Freeway and Noel Road by Piedmont Office Realty Trust was one of the largest real estate investments in North Texas in recent years.  And the acquisition includes an almost 2-acre building site on the northeast corner of the Galleria property that had been planned for another high-rise.” Read more
Dallas Morning News