- Big Banks Settle Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Bond Rigging Litigation in U.S. “Thirteen prominent banks and financial services companies agreed to pay $337 million to resolve claims by investors that they conspired to rig prices of bonds issued by mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for a decade. The preliminary settlements, filed late Monday night in federal court in Manhattan, require a judge’s approval and would conclude private nationwide antitrust litigation brought against 16 defendants, with settlements totaling $386.5 million.” (Reuters)
- Fannie Mae Boosts 2020 Housing Forecast ‘Significantly’ “Strong reads on the economy have researchers at mortgage giant Fannie Mae revising their 2020 housing forecast much higher. Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group predicts builders will expand production more than previously expected, due to a strong labor market and robust consumer spending. Low mortgage rates will also help.” (CNBC)
- Landlord Group Releases 2020 Legislative Wishlist “The rent reforms passed this year seem to have blindsided many property owners—but one of their top lobbying groups has 2020 foresight. The Community Housing Improvement Program, an alliance that claims to represent some 4,000 landlords and some 40% of the city's 1 million regulated spaces, released a suite of proposals Tuesday that it hopes will prevent its members and their buildings from coming apart.” (Crain’s New York Business)
- What Do Gen Z Shoppers Want? A Cute, Cheap Outfit That Looks Great on Instagram “For every Greta Thunberg and school-skipping climate change protester, there is another member of Generation Z buying inexpensive clothes on a smartphone. Their purchasing choices — fueled by influencer culture and catered to by a new wave of ultra-fast-fashion retailers such as Fashion Nova, PrettyLittleThing and Missguided (responsible for a £1 bikini that sold out in Britain) — are as much about how an outfit will look on social media as in the real world.” (The New York Times)
- These 13 Cities, States and Countries Will Pay You to Move There “You might not be in Kansas anymore — if you ever lived to begin with — but the city of Topeka wants to change that. Local officials in Kansas’s capital city have approved a measure that would pay people up to $10,000 to move to the city and rent, and $15,000 to move there and purchase a home, the Kansas City Star reported. The ‘Choose Topeka’ program is a match of public funds and employer money. It’s meant to cover moving costs and make the idea of putting down roots more appealing in the city, population 125,904.” (MarketWatch)
- Pittsburgh Airport Ramps Up a Side Business—Real Estate Developer “Pittsburgh International Airport is developing a manufacturing hub on land near the terminal, part of a more than $1 billion expansion and modernization plan that could serve as a model for other airports. In the first phase of development starting next year, airport officials are planning a campus for companies that use 3-D printing in manufacturing. The airport has already signed an anchor tenant, Arencibia, a Coopersburg, Pa.-based company that supplies and recycles gases for 3-D printing.” (Wall Street Journal, subscription required)
- The ‘WeWork of China,’ Which Was Last Valued at $2.6 Billion, Is Preparing to Go Public—And the Way It Says It Will Become Profitable Was Lifted Almost Word for Word from WeWork’s Filing “After raising millions from early investors, a massive office-sharing startup is preparing a public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, despite the fact that it still isn't profitable. Sound familiar? Ucommune, the Beijing-based flexible office startup known as the ‘WeWork of China,’ has filed plans for an IPO — the first major office-sharing startup to attempt to go public since WeWork's failed IPO attempt earlier this year.” (Business Insider)
- Store Closings: Who are the Biggest Victims of the Retail Apocalypse? “Rona McClaughlin gets emotional when she talks about the closure of Payless stores in June. After 20 years with the discount shoe retailer, she was a store manager and had grown friendly with many of her Chicago-area customers. ‘I saw their kids growing up,’ she recalls, starting to cry. ‘You see them every back-to-school, every Easter.’” (USA Today)
- Erica Tishman Death: Building Owners Knew of Façade Issue for Over a Year “A prominent Manhattan architect was killed Tuesday by a chunk of facade that fell from a building whose owners knew for more than a year that the structure was crumbling — but did nothing to fix it. Erica Tishman, 60, of the Upper East Side, was hit with the debris around 10:45 a.m. on 49th Street near Seventh Avenue. Police said she was pronounced dead at the scene.” (New York Post)
- Italian Marketplace Eataly to Debut its First Bay Area Store “Pasta lovers, rejoice. The popular Italian marketplace that weds the words “eat” and ‘Italy’ has plans for the Bay Area. Eataly announced plans to open a 51,000 square foot store in San Jose's Westfield Valley Fair Mall by 2021. The forthcoming store will be the first in the Bay Area. ‘At Eataly, we encourage our customers to shop what they eat and eat what they shop – it is the best way to immerse yourself in our eat, shop, learn philosophy,’ Nicola Farinetti, Global CEO of Eataly said in a statement.” (SF Gate)
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