The Brick Brief Wednesday January 7, 2026 

Hello Brick Brief readers, 

Thank you for your continued support! Today we’re seeing U.S. home price growth slow, utilities curb speculative data center demand, and TPG acquire Lennar’s Quarterra platform.

🏠 Housing Price Growth Hits A Floor
According to Cotality, U.S. home price growth slowed to just 1.0% YoY in November, marking a 14-year low as demand concentrated in Northeast and Midwest metros. Florida and Texas led price depreciation as higher inventory and stretched affordability continued to pressure higher-supply Sun Belt markets.

⚡ Utilities Clamp Down On Speculative Data Centers
Utilities are moving to curb speculative data center development to limit future cost burdens on existing customers. Commonwealth Edison will require firm financial commitments and 10-year letters of credit from 50MW+ data center projects, shifting grid upgrade risk away from Chicago households and businesses that could otherwise see higher electricity bills.

🏗️ TPG Takes Control Of Quarterra
TPG agreed to acquire a majority stake in Lennar’s multifamily development and investment platform Quarterra and committed $1B of capital. The deal allows TPG to build multifamily assets internally and choose whether to hold stabilized properties or sell them, unlike Lennar’s traditional merchant development model that sells projects to recycle capital quickly and limit balance sheet exposure.

Fed’s Miran says more than 100bps of rate cuts are needed in 2026 – Other Fed officials say rates are near neutral and project just one cut next year (Bloomberg)

Fed’s Barkin says policy sits in a delicate balance – Rising unemployment and still-elevated inflation are pulling policy in opposite directions as officials debate whether to pause further rate cuts (Bloomberg)

U.S. CRE debt reaches $4.8T as banks remain dominant lenders – Banks and thrifts hold 38% or $1.83T of outstanding CRE debt as securitized lending rose 3.6% YoY in 2025 (TheRealDeal)

California waives competitive bidding to speed rebuilding of state park businesses – Gov. Gavin Newsom is planning an executive order allowing 30 year leases in Topanga State Park to accelerate post fire recovery (WSJ)

US home price growth slowed to just 1.0% YoY in November – Cotality said national appreciation fell to a 14-year low as demand concentrated in Northeast and Midwest metros (Cotality)

Florida and Texas metros led home price depreciation – Cotality data showed the steepest declines concentrated in higher-supply Sun Belt markets as affordability pressures persisted (Cotality)

Rising home insurance costs pressure housing affordability into 2026 – Premiums are up 24% since 2021, and insurance is now a key factor in homebuying decisions (HousingWire)

Los Angeles office leasing ticked up in 2025 but remains far below pre-pandemic levels – Leasing reached 14.3M SF, up 4% YoY; availability remained elevated at 27.6% as renewals continued to dominate tenant activity (CommercialObserver)

Natixis relocates NYC office with 203K SF lease at 1633 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, NY – Rithm Capital signed the financial services firm to a long-term deal (CommercialObserver)

Microsoft renews 396K SF of office space at Redmond Town Center in Redmond, WA – The long-term renewal keeps the tech giant anchored near its headquarters as employees return to the office at least three days a week (ConnectCRE)

Mexico freight may stabilize US trucking markets in 2026 – Uber Freight said cross-border demand from Mexico remained resilient, helping offset tight capacity and tariff-driven uncertainty (FreightWaves)

Discretionary retail spending grew more selective in 2025 – Placer.ai finds consumers prioritized essentials and small indulgences as economic pressure drove faster pullbacks in discretionary categories (Placerai)

Retail winners leaned into identity while middle brands struggled – Clear brand positioning and core strengths helped retailers like Gap, Nordstrom, and Barnes & Noble outperform as aspirational shoppers pulled back and spending polarized between value and premium experiences (Placerai)

Commonwealth Edison will require firm financial commitments and 10-year letters of credit from 50MW+ data center projects to protect Chicago ratepayers – The move shifts transmission risk away from local households and businesses as speculative AI-driven power demand accelerates (Bloomberg)

There are some parallels with Dominion’s GS-5, which imposes minimum demand charge requirements of 85% for transmission and distribution and 60% for generation, while in this case ComEd’s policy requires firm financial commitments and 10-year letters of credit to prevent speculative projects from burdening ratepayers.

ComEd’s approach is more focused on reducing speculation, while Dominion’s is designed to reduce both speculation and long-term cost recovery risk in case data center demand fails to fully materialize.

Batteries and on site power plants emerge as fastest path for new data centers – JLL says developers are bypassing multi year grid delays by securing power on site as AI driven demand strains utilities (CoStar)

TPG buys majority stake in homebuilder Lennar’s Quarterra multifamily development and investment platform and commits $1B – The deal expands capital for attainable suburban apartment development through Quarterra’s Emblem program (Reuters)

This acquisition allows TPG to build multifamily assets internally and choose to either hold the stabilized assets long term or sell the projects. This structure is superior to Lennar’s approach, which typically sells projects quickly because homebuilders are designed to recycle capital, limit interest rate and operating risk, and avoid tying up balance sheets in long-term rental inventory.

Marvell Technology agrees to buy networking equipment firm XConn Technologies for $540M – The deal expands Marvell’s data center networking portfolio as AI infrastructure spending accelerates (Reuters)

Silverstone Partners and JSB Capital Group launch residential JV and buy West Texas BTR portfolio – The venture was seeded with a four property BTR acquisition in Midland, Texas (IREI)

NYC moves to delay $451M bankruptcy sale of rent stabilized apartments – City officials want more time to assess buyer viability and building repairs as Mayor Zohran Mamdani signals a tougher stance on tenant protections (Bloomberg)

Mamdani is intervening because the city doubts whether the proposed buyer can both sustain the economics of rent-stabilized buildings and fund the repairs needed to improve living conditions, and wants time to explore alternatives that better protect tenants.

The issue here, however, is that when you cap rents, you remove the incentive to invest in repairs. Apartments slowly fall into disrepair as the incentive structure breaks down; owners often choose to hold units offline rather than allocate capital to repairs that the capped rents cannot justify.

Elliott Investment Management, Probis Strategic Solutions, and Callahan Capital Partners acquire 210K SF office building at 101 Mission Street in San Francisco, CA via deed-in-lieu valued at $82M – The buyers are planning capital upgrades after purchasing distressed debt from ING (ConnectCRE)

Global hospitality group Convene Hospitality Group buys private coworking club NeueHouse out of bankruptcy – The acquisition includes the brand and its 115K SF Madison Square location, bringing the members-only concept back after a Chapter 7 shutdown (Bisnow)

Compass Coffee files for Chapter 11 and seeks to terminate 10 leases – The 25-store chain across D.C., Maryland and Virginia is downsizing amid weaker office foot traffic (Bisnow)

The business has been struggling since the pandemic, so its challenges appear to be more structural than driven by federal layoffs last year. Weak performance in D.C.’s CBD retail is tied to persistently low office attendance driven by remote and hybrid work.