REIT CEOs make much more than their employees, a new report finds
The CEOs of the top 100 real estate investment trusts make 77 times more than a median employee on average, according to a report released by FPL Associates first published in the Wall Street Journal. And in general, REIT CEOs make 57 times more than their median employees on average, the report said. FPL senior managing director Jeremy Banoff, however, noted that the ratios “have been viewed skeptically as they don’t really tell the entire story.” Park Hotels & Resorts, for example, where the chief executive was found to make 567 times more than the company’s median workers, would actually have a much lower ratio if the report only included its full-time employees. [TRD]
Zillow rep fired after telling Premier Agent user who quit that he should ‘take up yoga’
A Zillow advertising representative who told a broker who canceled his Premiere Agent contract that he should “take up yoga, and breathe a bit” was fired for acting contrary to the real estate marketplace’s “culture [and] values,” Inman first reported. In an email, the Zillow representative, Jessica Robinson, told the agent, Tony Traynor, he was a “risk” to the company. “Didn’t want to believe you’d fall, but again, no surprise,” she wrote. “Zillow is most definitely not your platform. Disappointed. May I suggest you take up yoga and breath a bit?” Robinson later apologized for the email, noting that she had “learned a big lesson.” [TRD]
Canada’s InnVest Hotels wants to break into the US market
Canadian hotel company InnVest Hotels LP is looking for opportunities to enter U.S. market, its senior vice president of asset management Jeff Hyslop told Bloomberg. The company is setting its sights on Seattle, Boston and Chicago, Hyslop said. “We’ll be cautious in our first foray into the U.S. to make sure it’s the right market, right asset, right partner,” he told the outlet. InnVest currently owns 80 hotels in Canada, including the Toronto Trump International Hotel & Tower, which it bought last year and will rebrand as a St. Regis. [TRD]
Listings startup Nestio gets $4.5M in investments from NY-based developers
Nestio, a startup that claims to offer “the most complete marketing and leasing management solution for residential landlords and brokers,” has raised $4.5 million from investors in its latest round of funding. A bevy of New York-based developers — including Rudin Ventures, the Durst Organization and LeFrak Ventures — contributed to the round, according to the startup’s CEO and co-founder Caren Maio. The $4.5 million brings the total that Nestio has raised up to $16.35 million, Maio said. The investments come as more and more companies have begun to throw financial support behind new real estate technology. [TRD]
MAJOR MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
Compass snaps up San Francisco real estate brokerage Paragon
Compass has acquired real estate brokerage Paragon as it continues to expand nationally and in the Bay Area. Last year, Paragon, which has 225 agents and eight offices, closed $2.3 billion in sales. The two companies had a combined $4.5 billion in sales volume last year, Compass representatives said. “[Our market is] becoming more of an international and tech-centric market, so partnering with Compass and responding to the market in the proper way, together we’ll have a very dynamic company through which to do that,” Paragon CEO Bob Dadurka said. [TRD]
Chinese buyers prefer Los Angeles to any other city in the world, survey finds
Chinese buyers looking to invest in real estate prefer Los Angeles to any other city in the world, a new survey found. New York, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle rounded out the top five places where the 224 people polled said they were interested in snapping up real estate, according to Mansion Global. The report pinpointed the U.S. education system as the main draw for investors, with London taking the sixth spot on the list. [TRD]
National Association of Realtors expanding and renovating its Chicago headquarters
The National Association of Realtors plans to expand and renovate its headquarters at the Realtor Building in Chicago — a project that will cost approximately $45 million. Upgrades will include new elevators, a new lobby and updated infrastructure, Crain’s first reported. The renovation will also add a 18,000-square-foot glass-enclosed office and conference center to the top of the building. GNP Realty Partners’ design and development arm, One Development, is overseeing the project. [TRD]
Ritz-Carlton Residences Miami Beach will offer medical concierge service to residents
The Ritz-Carlton Residences Miami Beach is planning to offer buyers access to a medical concierge service. The developer of the luxury condo development, which is rising where the Miami Heart Center once stood, will offer buyers a yearlong membership to a service run by South Beach Diet founder Dr. Arthur Agatston. It’s an amenity with an estimated value of $12,000 per year. “For people coming to the Ritz, a big insecurity is health care,” Agatston said. “This is the best they can find here.” [TRD]
Founders of NYC-based Silvershore Properties going their separate ways
A New York City-based multifamily investment firm, founded in 2008, has sold dozens of its holdings and is closing its headquarters. Silvershore Properties founders Jason Silverstein and David Shorenstein are parting ways as Silverstein moves to start a new firm in Los Angeles. It’s not clear yet what Shorenstein plans to do. “We built a company together over 10 years and it’s inevitable in any partnership that, at some point, you may want a fresh outlook and to do your own thing,” Silverstein told The Real Deal, noting that it was “a matter of a different vision for the future.” [TRD]