In the News—Week of September 14, 2026
Deal of the Week
Thomas Title & Escrow successfully closed a $9,601,978 commercial refinance for Summit Center Market Place II, LLC in Oconomowoc, WI, highlighting continued investment in the commercial real estate market. The transaction was handled by Thomas Title & Escrow, LLC, led by Business Development Officer Jacob Wilson and Escrow Officer Paige Garcia. Financing was provided through Tri City National Bank, with Luke Baryenbruch representing the lender. This successful closing reflects the strong collaboration, expertise, and attention to detail required to bring a significant commercial transaction smoothly to completion. Congratulations to Paige, Jacob, and the entire Thomas Title team on another outstanding closing!
National
Last tower of World Trade Center campus rebuild is under construction
Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, developer Larry Silverstein is watching the final piece of the rebuilt World Trade Center campus take shape, the New York Post reports. Ground was broken in July for 2 World Trade Center, a 55-story tower. It will serve as American Express’s global headquarters when it’s completed in 2031. The project was delayed for decades by a lengthy insurance dispute Silverstein, now 95, waged after purchasing the Twin Towers lease for $3.2 billion a few weeks before the attacks in 2001. The project also was slowed because of a need to comply with oversight from at least 19 government agencies tied to the Port Authority-owned site. Funds recovered from that insurance fight, along with federal Liberty Bonds, were funneled first into rebuilding other towers on the campus to demonstrate its viability before financing could be secured for a speculative new building. The project finally advanced this year after American Express committed to anchoring — and fully owning — the roughly 2-million-square-foot tower.
National
Plans call for Atlantic City Race Course to be redeveloped as a mixed-use project
The long-dormant Atlantic City Race Course in Mays Landing, New Jersey, is set for redevelopment, The Real Deal reports. Wayne-based Patriot Equities purchased 110 acres of the property from Greenwood ACRA, with a neighboring 145-acre section sold separately to Amazon for a planned 1.2-million-square-foot warehouse. Patriot CEO Erik Kolar says the company had initially considered acquiring the entire site before Amazon’s interest emerged, ultimately shaping how the two parcels would complement each other. Patriot intends to build a mixed-use development combining commercial and residential elements on land currently zoned for residential use, and is exploring whether to preserve historic features of the track — including its infield pond and grandstands — which opened in 1946 with backing from Olympic rower John B. Kelly and early investors Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra. The racetrack closed permanently in 2015 and has remained vacant since, with no redevelopment timeline yet announced.
National
Apartment rents in San Francisco soar; mayor proposes making evictions harder
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie declared a “rent emergency,” unveiling a package of proposed measures aimed at curbing evictions as one-bedroom apartment rents in the city have surged past $5,000, the New York Post reports. The plan includes legislation to delay evictions by an extra month, cap annual rent increases, boost displacement payments to tenants by 25%, and expand funding for eviction legal defense, alongside a $1 million “Know Your Rights” education campaign. The declaration carries no legal authority to override existing rules but is intended to direct resources toward struggling renters, according to the mayor’s office. City officials point to data showing San Francisco’s rents climbing 26% over the past year — the fastest pace in the nation — as vacancy rates dropped to just 2%, a spike largely linked to the wealth generated by the city’s booming AI industry. While tenant advocates and several city supervisors praised the urgency of Lurie’s response, some landlord representatives, including Oz Erickson of the San Francisco Apartment Association, argue the rent increases simply reflect a rebound from pandemic-era lows and that the true crisis lies in the high cost of building affordable housing.
National
United States outpaces all nations for hotel construction projects in pipeline
The global hotel construction pipeline hit a record 15,976 projects — about 2.4 million rooms — in the second quarter of 2026, marking a roughly 0.7% year-over-year increase, hoteldive.com reports. Figures from Lodging Econometrics show the United States topped all countries with 5,975 projects, or 37% of the global total, even as its pipeline shrank year over year in both project and room counts. China ranked second with 3,588 projects. High-end hotel segments drove much of the momentum, with luxury and upper upscale pipelines each climbing 8% year over year to record highs, upscale projects reaching a record peak, and brand conversions surging 12% to a record 2,927 projects.
Arizona
Two industrial buildings in Glendale fetch record-setting $170.25 million
A global investment manager has purchased the two remaining buildings at Lincoln Property Company’s Park303 industrial park in Glendale, paying $170.25 million, AZ Big Media reports. The deal now is the largest two-building industrial sale ever recorded in the state. The buildings — leased in full to DHL and Logisticus Group and totaling more than 1.1 million square feet combined — round out the sale of all four properties within the 210-acre, LEED-certified logistics campus along Loop 303. Lincoln executives credited the project’s location, amenities and flexible ownership structure for drawing strong institutional interest despite launching amid pandemic-era uncertainty. The sale follows Dollar Tree’s $147 million purchase of a third Park303 building in October 2025 and BentallGreenOak’s record-setting $186 million acquisition of the campus’ first building, a Walmart-leased facility, in 2021.
Arizona
Tale of two cities: Gilbert project draws opposition from residents of Chandler
A proposed 121-unit apartment complex near Gilbert and Germann roads is facing a delayed decision, the Gilbert Sun News reports. The Gilbert Town Council postponed a vote until this week, following a request from the developer’s attorney citing two council members’ absence at the Sept. 1 meeting. Orsett Properties is seeking a General Plan amendment and rezoning to convert a long-vacant 4.9-acre office parcel within The Reserve at San Tan business park into multifamily housing, arguing that years of failed attempts to fill nearby office space make residential development the more viable option. The plan has drawn strong opposition from neighboring Chandler residents, particularly those in the roughly 220-home Peterson Farms community, who cite concerns over density, traffic, noise and lost privacy, sentiments echoed by both a homeowners association attorney and the Chandler City Council. Despite staff support for the project, Gilbert’s Planning Commission voted in June to recommend denial, and a legal protest from nearby property owners narrowly missed the threshold needed to trigger a supermajority vote requirement. To ease residents’ concerns, the developer has proposed design changes while also requesting two zoning deviations related to setbacks and open space.
