GSN Roundup: Government Shutdown, Freddie/Fannie Layoffs, and Record Industrial Prices

Top stories in US CRE News this week:

Asset Backed Alert 11.07.25 
Govt. Shutdown Freezes SEC’s Tricolor Probe 

The U.S. government shutdown has all but frozen SEC investigations, including early efforts to unpack the sudden closure and bankruptcy of bond issuer Tricolor Auto. 

With its staffing depleted by the Trump Administration, the SEC’s enforcement unit already was struggling with the loss of experienced investigators, with roughly 150 accepting buyouts or delayed resignation offers earlier this year.  

But following the shutdown on Oct. 1, the SEC furloughed 91% of its remaining employees, leaving just a skeleton crew to oversee operations — including enforcement. 

“Due to a lapse in appropriations, the SEC is currently operating in accordance with the agency’s plan for operating during a shutdown,” a spokesperson said. That plan includes continuing to run some SEC systems, including its EDGAR document filing repository, as well as responding to emergency situations that one source said are focused on market integrity and investor protection. But investigations have been put on the back burner, which is problematic for the widening Tricolor investigation. 

The Irving, Texas-based auto lender originated subprime loans to a mostly Hispanic clientele, including undocumented immigrants. It filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 10 amid allegations that it double-pledged thousands of loans in its warehouse lines and securitization pools. 

Moody’s Ratings, S&P and KBRA have downgraded their ratings on Tricolor securitizations. Investors, who have not received payments since the bankruptcy filing, are planning lawsuits. 

The U.S. attorney’s office in New York is leading a criminal investigation into Tricolor while the SEC has begun a probe into potential securities fraud. But the shutdown has forced the agency to virtually pause that investigation. 

“When you stop an investigation just as it started it will take a while to get up to speed again,” a source said. “Whatever action the agency will eventually take is delayed by months, maybe longer.”    

Commercial Mortgage Alert 11.07.25 
Freddie, Fannie Layoffs Shock Industry Pros 

Freddie Mac laid off its head of capital markets in multifamily last week, shocking agency lenders and capital-markets professionals. 

Robert Koontz, a senior vice president, was let go after 17 years at the agency. The move is the latest in a dizzying spate of layoffs that have reshaped the leadership teams of Freddie and Fannie Mae as the Trump Administration appears headed toward some type of public offering. 

Layoffs rippled through Fannie last week, as well. Bill Pulte, director of regulator Federal Housing Finance Agency, posted on social media that 62 Fannie employees were let go. Sources said Patrick Murcia, a senior director and co-head of multifamily affordable housing, was caught up in the layoffs after nearly two decades at the company. 

Koontz’s departure surprised agency traders and institutional investors as he had become the face of Freddie’s capital-markets business. He joined the agency in 2008 amid the global financial crisis and was instrumental in creating the hugely successful K-Deal program. He had prior CMBS-related roles at Wachovia and Bank of America. 

“He was a great steward of capital. I think it’s a big shame,” one agency lender said. “Everyone likes him.” 

“I don’t think I’ve met a single person that doesn’t like him and respect him. He knew his stuff, that’s for sure,” a second capital-markets professional said. 

Pulte framed the Fannie layoffs on social as trimming operations and technology staff, as well as that “DEI is DEAD” at the agency. But sources said some rank-and-file capital-markets employees were affected, and Murcia’s role focused on closing loans. The Wall Street Journal reported that up to a dozen employees in Fannie’s ethics and internal investigations unit were laid off, including chief ethics officer Suzanne Libby. 

Prior to Fannie, Murcia had roles at Enterprise Community Partners and First Union National Bank. Agency lenders were also disappointed to hear the news. “He was very well liked and very respected,” another agency lender said. 

The layoffs are the latest in a string of shake-ups at the agencies. Both chief executives have been forced out since Pulte took office, and the multifamily leadership teams have shrunk. At the start of the year, Freddie’s multifamily leadership team comprised 25 people with the rank of vice president or above. Following Koontz’s exit, there are 18. 

Freddie’s business model also has changed recently. The trademark K-Deal program that Koontz helped design is no longer offering a first-loss piece to private investors, focusing instead on fully guaranteed deals. Freddie has been moving volume away from K-Deals and toward Multi PCs, single-loan securities that are fully guaranteed, over the last four years. 

Sources said the reasoning for the layoffs was not clear. While some pointed to the White House’s clearly stated desire to pursue a public offering of the agencies, others were not as sure. 

It’s particularly murky at Fannie, which recently hired Wayne Ip, a seasoned capital-markets professional, from Mizuho (see The Grapevine). Last year, Fannie hired Paul Tietz from Mizuho to work in single-family capital markets. Sources said Tietz recently has been working on multifamily deals as well, suggesting a potentially new approach to capital markets. 

Further, Fannie’s new head of multifamily, Kelly Follain, joined the firm in March, and sources said some of this year’s leadership changes appeared to be driven by Follain’s vision, not a White House directive. 

Pulte and President Donald Trump have remained steadfast that they would pursue a public offering of the agencies. Lobbyists said the administration appears focused on setting a record for the largest public offering, a bar set by Saudi Aramco’s $29.4 billion initial public offering in 2019. 

The administration also appears set on introducing a new stock ticker with Trump’s “MAGA” campaign motto. That led to some speculation that Fannie and Freddie would be combined, but agency lenders said they’ve been assured Fannie and Freddie would remain separate entities. 

At the same time, lenders said anything seems possible given the recent chaos.  

“Most people were skeptical about their seriousness about doing an IPO quickly, but these continued surprises point toward their unpredictability,” a third agency lender said. “People are not as willing to make predictions about what they will and won’t do.” 

Real Estate Alert 11.11.25 
Record Price Eyed for South Florida Industrial 

A South Florida industrial park worth $290 million is up for grabs, setting the stage for a record warehouse trade in the Fort Lauderdale market. 

Hillsboro Technology Center comprises six multi-tenant buildings totaling 832,000 sq ft in Deerfield Beach. Bids are expected to come in around $349/sq ft. JLL has the marketing assignment for a venture between San Francisco-based Bristol Group and Butters, a construction and development firm in Coconut Creek, Fla. The duo developed the property from 2017 to 2022. 

The Class-A park is 94% leased with a weighted average remaining term of 2.2 years. In-place rents average 35% below market, and leases on 84% of the space mature within three years. The pitch is that will put a buyer in a strong position to raise rates upon rollover. 

Hillsboro Technology Center is at 350 Hillsboro Technology Drive, near Interstate 95 where 217,000 vehicles pass each day. The property is close to the Palm Beach County line. The sellers also are touting its proximity to Port Everglades and Fort Lauderdale’s central business district, 14 miles south. 

The seller is emphasizing the quality and recent vintage of the warehouses. Clearance heights range from 25 to 34 feet, while truck-court depths range from 175 to 185 feet. The buildings are in a master-planned mixed-use park with multiple hotels, on-site childcare and car-charging stations. 

The sales campaign is touting the property as a “best-in-class industrial logistics park of scale.” A Class-A industrial property of its size hasn’t traded in South Florida in nearly a decade, according to marketing materials. 

A trade at the estimated value would set a new high-water mark for a Fort Lauderdale-area industrial sale, according to Green Street’s Sales Comps Database. The current record was set in December when Elion Partners paid Blackstone’s Link Logistics $205.4 million, or $260/sq ft, for a 792,000 sq ft portfolio. 

Sales of Fort Lauderdale-area industrial properties have nearly doubled this year, according to the Sales Comps Database. Through the third quarter, sales volume totaled $592.7 million, up from $298.1 million during the same period last year. 

Broward County’s industrial market was 95.5% leased at the end of the third quarter, according to a JLL report. The report said the market benefits from “strong fundamentals that stem from its strategic location, scarce development-ready land, and limited inventory.” The firm projects occupancy will remain high.