Landlords in progressively governed cities across the nation are having their property rights systematically stripped away in favor of their tenants. We warned of this a decade ago.
Not anticipating things would improve given the nations increasing cultural and economic bifurcation, we suggested CRE owners consider using DSTs as an avenue to more conservative, landlord friendly environments, too whit south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
We also asked where all this was leading. With blue state governments making it so hard for the private sector to provide “affordable housing,” where would it come from?
We posited government itself wants to be in the housing business.
Despite the costly and conspicuous failure of public housing everywhere it has been tried, our government overlords still believe they can deliver it more efficiently and fairly than the private sector.
They want to be imperators of housing.
This was dismissed as little more than idle speculation at the time. Sadly, our prediction is now borne out.
NYC Mayor Mamdani and his housing Czar Cea Weaver just announced their plan to end private housing as we know it. In so doing, they will make New York City’s housing market uninvestible, according to the WSJ.
As mentioned in a previous blog, draconian rent restrictions have already driven many NYC apartment buildings into disrepair and to the brink of bankruptcy.
As taxes and costs continue to grow with no ability to offset this with increased rents, a cascade of foreclosures is threatened.
By further tightening rent control screws, comrades Mamdani and Weaver may erode profits further, eventually driving private investors from the marketplace.
This could provide government the cover it needs to seize these buildings and hand them over to “tenant collectives and nonprofits to manage under communal ownership.” (WSJ 01/10/2026)
Like newly elected Seattle Mayor, Katie Wilson, Cea Weaver has spent her entire adult life as an ‘activist.’ Specifically, a ‘tenant organizer.’
She recently led the groups Housing Justice For All and New York State Tenant Bloc. Their stated goals: “to take back power from the real estate industry over our homes, expand rent control to every renter and build social housing that is protected from market forces.” (WSJ 01/10/2026)
This forced collectivization of housing in NYC may become the accepted playbook for other progressively governed cities across the nation.
By decoupling housing from “market forces” three things will likely happen:
- There will be less of it.
- The quality of what already exists will further deteriorate.
- Values will go down.
The red wave currently washing over progressively governed cities is committed to driving private investors out of the real estate business by making it increasingly uninvestible, per the WSJ, from both a regulatory and economic standpoint.
CRE investors must understand the less desirable something becomes from an investment standpoint, the lower prices usually go.
On a firsthand basis, the refrain in Portland is, “If I had sold 10 years ago, I would have made more.”
Instead of suffering even greater loss, CRE owners should consider using DSTs as their own “Underground Railroad” to escape the bondage socialist governments wish to place you in.
They are “advocating government seizure of properties that are in distress or foreclosure so that they can become socialized housing.” (WSJ 01/10/2026)
They intend to accomplish this by making private ownership uneconomic.
In November, Portland “formed a new City Council, and elected four members of the Democratic Socialists of America. They dominate the 12 person council, with the help of two other members, they are driving the city in a dangerous direction.” (WSJ 01/17/2026)
Do you really want to wait around and let these socialists potentially strip you of what is left? If not, please consider DSTs as part of your exit strategy.
