A pair of unexpected housing policy proposals, an unfair accusation against a hotel chain, and an unlikely new theme park. From the wild and wooly world of real estate, here are our Hits and Misses for the week of Jan. 5-9.
Hit: Who Saw That Coming? The biggest surprises of the week were President Trump’s unexpected announcements that he would seek to ban institutional investors and corporate acquisitions in the single-family housing market and that he would direct his “representatives” to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds as a strategy for driving down mortgage rates. Trump offered no details on either plan, but most likely we’ll learn more about them in the coming days. However, considering these announcements came in the midst of ongoing controversies involving Venezuela and Minnesota, it clearly shows that Trump is not putting housing policy on the back burner while other volatile issues bubble up around him.
Hit: Who Saw This Coming, Part 2? Only Trump could use a real estate development to bring peace to a war-ravaged region. According to the Jerusalem Post, Trump’s foreign policy team is negotiating a long-elusive peace between Syria and Israel by having the two countries share the responsibilities on a new ski resort at Mount Hernon, a snowy peak separating the longtime enemies. The resort would be operated by the religious minority Druze communities on both sides of the border. Tom Barrack, the president’s special envoy to Syria, observed, “Under the leadership and inspiration of Trump, prioritizing economic opportunity, prosperity, and open dialogue consistently leads to meaningful and long-term cooperation.” Seriously, if this takes root then Trump deserves the Nobel Prize – and perhaps an honorary gold medal from the Winter Olympics!
Miss: Not Getting Your Facts Straight. Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused Hilton Hotels Corp. of running a “coordinated campaign in Minneapolis” that denied lodging accommodations to ICE agents. However, the company never coordinated any such campaign. Instead, an independent Hilton franchise owner in suburban Minneapolis refused to accept reservations from ICE agents, and the company quickly dropped that venue from its system upon learning what happened. Unfortunately, DHS did not acknowledge it made a mistake with its provocative accusation against Hilton, which sparked boycott calls by several major conservative influencers. Mercifully, hedge fund executive Bill Ackman used his online prominence to quickly defend Hilton and point out the truth. The rogue franchise owner deserves a Miss, but DHS gets a bigger miss for making a false accusation against Hilton and not retracting it.
Miss: Say What? Cea Weaver, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s newly appointed tenant advocate, generated media attention this week thanks to the rediscovery of her old social media posts where she equated homeownership with “white supremacy,” supported the government seizure of private property, called on voters to “elect more communists,” and declared police officers were “people the state sanctions to murder with immunity.” In a city with a population of 8.8 million, is she the very best that the new mayor could come up with for his new administration?
Miss: Where’s the Progress? As we observe the first anniversary of the Los Angeles County wildfires, it is impossible not to notice a conspicuous lack of progress in the rebuilding efforts. There’s plenty of blame to go around on why the impacted areas are mostly in ruins, but we’re not getting into that now. One year after the inferno’s destruction, it wouldn’t be a bad idea if more emphasis was put on achieving measurable progress and prioritizing the efforts to ensure we don’t return in January 2027 lamenting about the continued absence of results.
Hit: Time for a Coffin Break. If Mickey Mouse and Harry Potter can have their own theme parks, why can’t Count Dracula? The world’s most famous vampire is the subject of “Dracula Land,” a $1.2 billion entertainment development being built outside of the Romanian capital of Bucharest. The 8.3-million-square-foot theme park will encompass six lands inspired by the Dracula legend, along with more than 40 attractions including a Transylvanian Railway, a Family Kingdom that pays tribute to “supernatural beings,” and the Dracula Castle. But wouldn’t it be funny if Dracula Land was only open after dark and closes with the sunrise? And on that vampiric note, we end the week with a tribute to the ultimate Dracula:
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].
Photo courtesy of Cinema Crazed
