Zoe Hughes

Rules governing foreign investment in US property are outdated, argue opponents. Capitol Hill may finally be listening.

David Hodes and Doug Weill have left the investment bank's real estate placement group to create their own firm, Hodes Weill & Associates. The pair co-founded the real estate placement agent in 2000 with Bill Thompson, who remains at Credit Suisse along with other senior management.

PERE looks at three deals - one good, one bad and one that has the potential to be both - and the reasons for their divergent turns of fate. When it was agreed in 2007, the $5.4bn acquisition of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village brought a high-powered beauty contest to a close. Now that Tishman Speyer and BlackRock own it, over-leverage, declining real estate values and legal action are combining to make this a particularly ugly deal. PERE July/August 2009

Fresh from acquiring the landmark John Hancock Tower out of foreclosure, the private equity real estate firm has appointed Mark Roopenian to manage it and other properties in Boston. Roopenian was previously with former Hancock Tower owners Broadway Partners.

Normandy Real Estate Partners’ David Welsh admitted the firm was not prepared for ‘everything’ as it positioned itself to take over the Boston skyscraper. More than $600m of equity and debt was wiped out on the deal after Normandy and Five Mile Capital Partners won the foreclosure auction for the landmark tower.

The Boston skyscraper was sold for a reported $20.1m, plus the assumption of a $640.5m mortgage, after Broadway Partners defaulted on a loan. Broadway paid $1.3bn for the skyscraper and two other buildings in 2006.

The private equity firm has hired the former Cohen & Steers chief investment officer James Corl to led its foray into real estate. The firm said it would look to create a real estate vehicle to target distressed investments.

A departure, an administrative leave of absence and an investigation in China have brought uncertainty to the giant investment firm. PERE Magazine March 2009 issue

The firm failed to deliver on the terms of its employment offer to Gary Stevens, the suit alleges

When Barack Obama is sworn into the White House in 2009, private equity firms can expect some changes, among them likely increases to capital gains and carried interest taxation. However, his election also could prompt a greater willingness by overseas investors to invest in the US.