National Cheat Sheet: Developers could make bank from Dodd-Frank rollback, Blackstone bids $4.8B for LaSalle Hotel Properties … & more

Developers could make bank from rollback of Dodd-Frank
New legislation passed by the House of Representatives would relax restrictions on thousands of smaller lenders, potentially opening up the spigot for developers seeking commercial loans. The bill, which is awaiting President Trump’s signature, would remove provisions of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act that many community and regional banks had deemed too costly and unfairly burdensome. [TRD]

Blackstone bids $4.8B to buy LaSalle Hotel Properties
Just days after Blackstone Group sold off its remaining shares in Hilton Hotels, the private equity firm outmaneuvered Pebblebrook Hotel Trust to purchase LaSalle Hotel Properties for $4.8 billion. Blackstone agreed to buy LaSalle at $33.50 per share, or a premium of almost 35 percent above the company’s share price on March 27, Bloomberg reported. The all-cash offer, which includes debt, will deliver “a significant premium with immediate and certain cash value,” LaSalle chairman Stuart Scott said. LaSalle’s portfolio includes four hotels in Manhattan. [TRD]

Jared Kushner-backed Cadre seeks $100M from Softbank
Cadre, the real estate crowdfunding platform co-founded by Jared Kushner, is in discussions to secure at least $100 million from Softbank Group. The SoftBank Vision Fund receives billions of dollars from the Saudi Arabian government and the United Arab Emirates, which could raise conflict-of-interest issues for Kushner, who is a senior advisor to President Trump and has a stake in Cadre valued at between $5 million and $25 million. Additionally complicating matters is SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son’s desire to merge the company’s subsidiary Sprint with T-Mobile US — a move that federal regulators would have to green light. [TRD]

EXp Realty debuts on Nasdaq, surpasses Re/Max’s market cap on first day of trading
EXp Realty crossed a $1 billion market cap the first day it began trading on Nasdaq. The cloud-based brokerage had a market cap of $1.044 billion by the end of Monday, more than brokerage Re/Max’s market cap of $944 million but less than Redfin’s cap of $1.83 billion and Realogy’s cap of $3 billion. [TRD]

REIT that sold industrial warehouses to Facebook raked in around $300M
Real estate investment trust Prologis booked around $300 million in profits when it sold a 21-building industrial campus to Facebook, a recent interview revealed. Prologis bought the warehouses in Menlo Park, California for $100 million and sold it to the tech behemoth for roughly $400 million in 2015, cashing in on the tight market in urban areas. Facebook plans to tear down the warehouses to make room for housing and offices, Bloomberg reported. [TRD]

Fed minutes indicate interest rate hike in the offing
The Federal Reserve is likely to increase interest rates in June, according to newly released minutes from their meeting earlier this month. Fed officials at the meeting also discussed how to portray the policy shift as they move away from a strategy designed to stimulate economic growth, the Wall Street Journal reported. [WSJ]

MAJOR MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

Elon Musk wants to build a high-speed tunnel system to rid LA of traffic woes
Billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wants to build a high-speed tunnel system in Los Angeles that he hopes will help residents avoid traffic akin to the “seventh and eighth rungs of Hell” — a proposal that some commercial real estate executives say could be a boon for property values in the area. The Loop, as Musk calls it, would be able to transport cars in pods, and commuters would pay around $1 per ride. [TRD]

Owner of Manchester United and Tampa Bay Buccaneers hit with lawsuit over Palm Beach abode
Contractor Benitz Building has sued Manchester United and Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Avram “Avie” Glazer and his wife, claiming they failed to pay more than $570,000 for labor and construction costs involved in improving their $9.3 million house in Palm Beach. The Glazers bought the four-bedroom house on Via Marina Avenue in 2007. Benitz is seeking $572,950 in damages. [TRD]

Chicago’s last Sears stores are slated for redevelopment
The last two Sears department stores in Chicago will become mixed-use properties housing retail and residential space. The redevelopment is being carried out by a joint venture between Tucker Development and Seritage Growth Properties, an offshoot of Sears. One of the Sears stores is already closed, and the second is slated to close in July. [TRD]

Dozens of Dunkin’ Donuts heading to Manhattan as part of a plan to win over millennials
Sixty new or relocated Dunkin’ Donuts are expected to open in Manhattan over the next three years, sources told The Real Deal. The rollout is part of a plan the chain calls “Next Generation,” which aims to attract new customers and millennials. The stores will have new layouts and are expected to serve up coffee brews on tap. [TRD]

Facebook signs largest office lease in San Francisco history
Facebook is expanding its footprint in the Bay Area with the signing of a long-term lease for 755,900 square feet of space in Park Tower, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The deal marks “the biggest San Francisco office lease deal in history,” and brings the amount of square footage Facebook has in San Francisco up to 1.18 million. [SFBT]