Christmas Lights Helped Bring About the Age of Electrification

• Deck the grid: A Christmas light display on a cold New Jersey night helped convince New York’s power brokers to bet on electricity.

• Capital to the north: Canada is exploring changes to its foreign buyer ban with an eye toward attracting more foreign capital to housing.

• Rekeyed: A shuttered Manhattan hotel near Penn Station is being reborn as 575 permanently affordable apartments.

• Multifamily outlook 2026: Demand will be steady in 2026, but margins are thinner and execution matters more than ever. Sign up for the webinar

Technology

Christmas Lights Helped Bring About the Age of Electrification

On a freezing December night in 1880, a private train cut through rural New Jersey carrying New York City’s most powerful utility decision-makers. They weren’t heading to a gala or a vote. They were on their way to see something no one had ever seen before.

What awaited them at Menlo Park was less a holiday spectacle than a calculated demonstration. Thomas Edison understood that his electric light would never change the world unless governments were willing to build the infrastructure to support it. So he staged a moment—equal parts science, theater, and persuasion—designed to make electrification feel inevitable.

That brief stop outside the Meadowlands helped tip New York toward becoming the first city with a municipal electric grid, setting off a chain reaction that reshaped modern life. The story of Christmas lights, it turns out, is also the story of how big ideas win power.

Overheard

A New Take on Foreign Capital in Canadian Housing Policy

Canada is weighing adjustments to its foreign homebuyer ban starting in 2027, reopening the door to outside investment if certain conditions are met. The government’s housing minister has signaled a desire to balance protection of local buyers with the potential for foreign capital to support housing supply in key segments such as new construction and rental property. Critics of the current ban argue that offshore capital was never large in the overall market but has been politically charged and may have contributed to supply constraints by limiting development financing and investment flows.

When the ban was introduced, it followed years of skyrocketing prices and public outcry about affordability, even though foreign buyers historically accounted for a small share of total transactions. Data shows non-resident ownership nationally was in the low single digits, and the vast majority of price growth was driven by domestic demand, underbuilding and demographic shifts. Still, major cities saw higher concentrations of foreign ownership in luxury and downtown areas before the restrictions took effect. In recent months some voices within the development community and policy circles have pushed for a calibrated reopening that would attract foreign capital to new builds or rental projects while protecting existing-home markets from speculative pressure.

For real estate investors and developers, the prospect of more foreign capital comes with both opportunity and risk. On one hand, foreign investment could bring fresh liquidity to new housing projects and rental assets that have struggled to move forward amid tight credit and elevated costs, creating momentum in supply-constrained markets. On the other hand, any loosening of bans will have to be carefully designed to avoid reintroducing pressure on prices, especially in cities where affordability remains fragile. How the policy unfolds could influence allocations by global institutional investors and private capital that have been sitting on the sidelines, and it may affect portfolio strategies for cross-border capital flows between the U.S. and Canada. The debate underscores a persistent tension in housing policy between restricting capital to protect local buyers and embracing external investment to fuel development and rental supply.

Midtown Manhattan Hotel Set for 575-Unit Affordable Housing Conversion

Slate Property Group and supportive housing nonprofit Breaking Ground have acquired the Stewart Hotel at 371 Seventh Ave. near Penn Station, with plans to convert the former Midtown hotel into 575 permanently affordable apartments. Rents for low-income units are expected to range from roughly $1,385 to $1,731 per month. The partners paid $255 million for the property, and total development costs are estimated at $500 million. Slate will lead development and construction, while Breaking Ground will operate the building once complete.

The hotel, which closed in 2022 and later operated as a migrant shelter, is slated to begin construction in late 2027, with a roughly two-year buildout. The conversion will be supported by New York State’s Housing Our Neighbors With Dignity Act and the city’s NYC 15/15 Supportive Housing Initiative. Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase provided acquisition financing. The project replaces a previously proposed 625-unit market-oriented conversion and instead locks the building into long-term affordability under nonprofit stewardship.

For the commercial real estate industry, the deal underscores how distressed hotels and obsolete hospitality assets in high-density urban cores are increasingly being repositioned through public-private partnerships rather than pure market-rate redevelopment. In a city facing record-low residential vacancy and persistent affordability pressure, this project highlights the growing role of mission-driven capital, government subsidies, and nonprofit operators in absorbing transitional assets. For owners, lenders, and developers, it signals that in certain markets, the most viable exit or reuse strategy may hinge less on rent maximization and more on aligning with housing policy, public funding, and long-term operational stability.

Are You Enjoying This Newsletter?

Propmodo Daily is written and edited by Franco Faraudo with contributions from readers like you and the Propmodo team.

📧 Forward it to a friend and suggest they check it out.

🔗 Share a link to this post on social media.

🗣 Have ideas for future topics (or just want to say hello)? Share your feedback and tips at [email protected] or connect with us on X through @propmodo.

✅ Not subscribed yet? Sign up for this newsletter here.

📫️ Please add our newsletter email, [email protected], to your contacts to make sure you don’t miss any updates.

Enjoy reading about trends and innovation in commercial real estate? Subscribe to Propmodo.com for unrestricted access to reliable, data-driven journalism and exclusive insights available only to subscribers.