Deconstruct The Real Deal

Lew Horne thought he was going to run a pet store business. Then, he thought he’d sell computerized systems to wholesale grocers. Neither panned out. Instead, Horne runs CBRE’s operations across Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire, leading advisory services, property and project management and capital markets teams.


And in L.A., developers, brokers and brokerage heads have no shortage of hurdles — a stagnant office market, new transfer taxes on sales over $5 million, homelessness and bureaucratic permitting processes. Horne chatted about it all.


“Let’s get some of these barriers out of the way,” Horne said. “Let’s start taking a look at what we need to do to regain the trust of the development community. Let’s not restrict them on what to build.”


The Real Deal sat down with Horne for The Closing, The Real Deal's signature monthly magazine interview series. Deconstruct is airing an extended version of this interview. To read it, head to TheRealDeal.com.

The foretold wall of CMBS maturities has hit and early data on office loans signals the fears around repayments — that troubled owners won't be able to swing it — are being realized. Deconstruct talks with Moody's Analytics Senior Director and Head of CRE Economic Analysis Kevin Fagan and Director of CRE Economics Matt Reidy.

For the most part, construction lending has dried up across the country, with more and more regional banks pulling back from financing ground-up real estate projects. But Kennedy Wilson, a lender based out of Los Angeles, sees opportunity in that. With more lenders on the sidelines, Kennedy Wilson can take advantage of lending to what it determines are the best borrowers and the best projects. And by being active, it can help take some construction loans off regional banks' balance sheets.


The Real Deal's Deconstruct chatted with Thomas Whitesell, Kennedy Wilson's head of debt originations, about how the firm is choosing what to lend on, its optimism for multifamily and the difficulties with office-to-resi conversions.

When the National Association of Realtors announced it had proposed to settle a landmark antitrust suit over real estate agent commissions for $418 million, everyone had questions. The Real Deal's Deconstruct breaks down what is changing — and what is not.


TRD reporters Sheridan Wall and Harrison Connery discuss NAR's new rule prohibiting broker compensation offers on the MLS, or multiple listing service, and what this means for agents and homebuyers going forward. Deconstruct also chatted with Michael Nourmand, who runs Los Angeles-based brokerage Nourmand & Associates, about how he thinks not much is set to change — and noted that commissions have always been negotiable.

In December, Democrats in Congress introduced a bill that would put an end to hedge fund ownership of single-family homes. As demand for single-family rentals continues to grow, developers specializing in build-to-rent claim they'll get burnt. Deconstruct breaks down who's in the crosshairs and the likelihood that legislation can rein in the investment giants.

From Chicago to San Francisco, office buildings continue to trade at astonishing discounts and reappraisals show value declines as high as 80 percent. But is there further left to fall? The Real Deal's Chicago Bureau Chief Sam Lounsberry and West Coast Bureau Chief Isabella Farr weigh in.