Rent Caps Are Shifting From Policy to Political Platform

• Cap and frown: As Massachusetts pushes a sweeping rent-control ballot, the fight shows regulation becoming a core political tool.

• Silicon shovels: Despite talks of an AI bubble, Brookfield is launching a $10 billion fund to build infrastructure needed for the technology.

• The Madoff of landlords: Mounting loan defaults and foreclosure threats are squeezing even New York City’s most notorious landlords.

• Smart building trends webinar: Smart buildings are evolving as AI and connected systems redefine how properties think, adapt, and perform. Sign up

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Rent Caps Are Shifting From Policy to Political Platform

In Massachusetts, advocates have secured enough signatures to move forward with a ballot initiative that would impose one of the strictest rent-control regimes in the country, limiting annual rent increases to either 5 percent or the rise in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. This marks a dramatic political turn, given that statewide rent control was banned in 1994. The drive is being backed not just by tenant groups but powerful labor unions, including teachers and service workers, who see rising rents as a major economic burden.

This isn’t an isolated moment. In Los Angeles, the city council recently approved its strongest rent-stabilization overhaul in four decades, capping rent increases for stabilized units at a maximum of 4 percent per year, down from 8 percent or more under the old rules. City leaders framed it as a necessary correction to runaway rent hikes and rising displacement. Meanwhile, in New York City, housing costs were a defining issue in the mayoral race, with the winning candidate building momentum around promises to “freeze the rent” — making regulation not just an economic tool, but a campaign centerpiece.

Taken together, these movements suggest rent control is no longer just a housing policy — it’s becoming a political lever. Activists are leveraging ballot initiatives and city council votes, while unions and progressive politicians make it central to their platforms. The Massachusetts initiative, if passed, would cast a wide net across the state, far beyond dense urban cores, illustrating how deeply cost-of-living politics now penetrate.

But there’s real tension under the surface. Opponents argue strict rent control could stifle new housing construction and heighten maintenance burdens for landlords. Some local leaders, including Boston’s mayor, have expressed curiosity but also concern that a one-size-fits-all cap could hurt market dynamics in certain municipalities. These critiques highlight what many fear: that political rent control may fix affordability in the short term, but could choke off supply over time.

This political resurgence must be taken seriously. Rent control is no longer a niche policy left to academic debates, it’s now a front-line battleground. Whether ballot measures or city ordinances, the new wave of regulation reflects broader social and political pressures, and could reshape investor expectations, development strategies, and even municipal budgeting in the years ahead.

Overheard

Despite Bubble Talk, Brookfield’s $10B Bet Shows AI Infrastructure Spending Is Heating Up

Brookfield Asset Management is raising $10 billion to launch a dedicated AI infrastructure fund, with backing from heavyweights including Nvidia and the Kuwait Investment Authority. The strategy goes well beyond simply buying data centers: Brookfield plans to build or acquire up to $100 billion in assets ranging from semiconductor manufacturing facilities to power providers.

Skeptics are warning about an AI bubble. Valuations remain lofty, especially for “digitally native” companies. Still, Brookfield is echoing a far deeper conviction, one also voiced by Nvidia: that the world needs a multi-trillion dollar build-out of compute infrastructure. The firm estimates as much as $7 trillion will be needed in the next decade to support AI expansion. That number isn’t pulled from thin air: Nvidia’s CEO has pitched a $3–4 trillion build-out for “AI factories” alone.

What this means for real-asset investors is profound. Far from being a frothy tech fad, AI infrastructure is increasingly being framed as a core investment arena—like electricity or telecom in previous eras. By anchoring capital into land, power, and chips, Brookfield and its partners are laying down bets on a real-world, long-horizon use case. If they’re right, the next wave of digital infrastructure may be baked into the very geography of global economies.

Leverage Catches Up to NYC’s Most Notorious Landlord

Steven Croman — the landlord long branded the “Bernie Madoff of landlords” — is once again in legal trouble after allegedly defaulting on nearly $170 million in loans tied to about 35 Manhattan buildings. Court filings show that Flagstar Bank, which acquired his loans through a merger, claims he has repeatedly missed payments across numerous properties, triggering a wave of civil suits in Manhattan Supreme Court. The defaults span buildings in Kips Bay, Gramercy Park, and the West Village, with individual arrears in the hundreds of thousands and one portfolio default exceeding $21 million.

Croman’s history makes the escalation even more striking. Once controlling a 140-building portfolio, he served a year on Rikers after pleading guilty to mortgage fraud and was accused by prosecutors of using aggressive tactics to force out rent-stabilized tenants. Now, years after that criminal case, the financial pressure appears to be mounting again: the initial $71.5 million default cited earlier this month has ballooned to roughly $168 million across 20 lawsuits, with additional foreclosure actions already underway.

For New York City’s real estate market, the episode underscores how even long-entrenched landlords are feeling the strain of higher rates, tighter lending standards, and slower rent growth in parts of the multifamily sector. Croman’s troubles may be uniquely colorful, but the broader takeaway is not: leverage is unforgiving in this environment, and operators who stretched too far during the easy-money years are increasingly running out of room to maneuver.

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