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JDS Development

Michael Stern's supertall shop, now staking its future on Brickell

Promote stories29
Podcast episodes7
Last coveredOct 26, 2026
On file sinceFeb 2024

Who it is

JDS Development Group is the vehicle Michael Stern used to build some of the most audacious towers of the last cycle. The best-known is Walker Tower, the Chelsea condo conversion. The firm also built 111 West 57th St., the skinny Billionaires' Row supertall it did with PMG, whose debt ended up in the loan book Apollo's ARI sold to Athene. There's also Brooklyn Tower at 9 DeKalb, the borough's first supertall, and the American Copper Buildings in Murray Hill. The last of these JDS and Baupost sold to Black Spruce's Meyer Orbach and Josh Gotlib for roughly $837M-$850M.

The capital stacks tell the story. Brooklyn Tower's lender, Silverstein, bought out the senior debt and held the mezz. After JDS defaulted in 2024, the two struck a restructuring that left Silverstein in charge. An arbitrator later reportedly ordered Stern and JDS to pay Silverstein $47M over loan advances. JDS has also leaned on private credit: G4 Capital, a repeat lender, and Maxim, which made an $86M loan in 2022 on what became Mercedes-Benz Places.

Today the platform is effectively a Miami story. At Mercedes-Benz Places, an 800-unit, 67-story tower, Cottonwood bought the Maxim note and filed to foreclose, and JDS countersued. Jeff Soffer's Fontainebleau then came in as co-GP, and a JPMorgan-led package of more than $1B in debt (including C-PACE from Nuveen) was being finalized as of August 2026. At 888 Brickell, the planned 259-condo Dolce & Gabbana supertall, Newmark is marketing the project to an equity partner. The aim is to unlock $600M-plus in construction financing. Meanwhile the senior note has passed to a Reuben Brothers-linked entity. JDS dropped the Alexander brothers' Official brokerage from that project in 2024. It has also exited 1250 West to Terra. In New York, its Two Bridges parcel at 247 Cherry remains tied up in litigation, with no immediate plans to build.

The Promote's coverage29 stories, newest first

2026
  1. Oct 26
    Lower Manhattan’s Heimish Era
    InsiderIn: Lower Manhattan's Heimish Era & Apollo's Fortress of Credit
  2. Oct 9
    Miami’s D&G Supertall Site in Play
    InsiderIn: Miami’s D&G Supertall Site in Play & Living to Tell the TASE
  3. Sep 30
  4. Sep 23
    The Promote Insider: Getting Granular on a Ground-Up Moonshot
    InsiderMichael Stern walks us through the economics and engineering of Walker Tower, and other adventures in development
  5. Aug 17
    Man on Wire: Michael Stern On the Record 🎙️
    InsiderIn: Stern On the Record, an HFC Tally and S2's Spin Doctoring
  6. Aug 17
    Unquotable Quotes
    InsiderIn: Stern On the Record, an HFC Tally and S2's Spin Doctoring
  7. Aug 7
    Clarification: Mercedes-Benz Places Capstack
    InsiderIn: Ain’t No Party Like a Lutnick Party
  8. Aug 3
    JPM Backing Stern, Soffer on Record Miami Financing
    InsiderIn: Stern, Soffer Near Record JPM Financing in Brickell
  9. Jun 17
    This week on the pod, we load up on chips n' vinegar and take you on an extraordinary journey into British caravan country. Embattled mobile-home…
    Insider🎙️ Stern Ambition, Nuveen's Belly Flop & Private Credit's Gypsy King · MONY MONY Money
  10. Jun 12
    Jeff Soffer circling rescue recap of JDS’ Mercedes-Benz Miami tower 🛟
    InsiderQuickies · OC Fear & Loathing & Hard Money Miller Hits Riverside
  11. Jun 5
    Unquotable Quotes
    InsiderIn: Mad(ison) Men & Shakeup at Green
  12. May 11
    Construction Lenders – Conc. (Insiders-Only 🔒)
    InsiderIn: Debt Fund Whac-A-Mole & A Fortress Founder Sextorted
  13. Apr 24
  14. Apr 10
  15. Jan 30
    Me, Myself & Apollo
    In: Me, Myself & Apollo And Newmark Takes the Crown
2025
  1. Oct 17
  2. Sep 12
    From Trucks to Bucks: G4 Ramps Up
    In: G4's Trucks to Bucks & Weinberg's Meridian Win
  3. Aug 27
    Terra steps into JDS’ South Beach condo project
    Quickies · Tessler Tapes & Drillman's Sweet 16
  4. Aug 18
    Orbach/Gotlib land $525M Arbor Refi on American Copper
    In: No Yield on This Street & Arbor's Copper Coin
  5. Jul 25
    Views from the 6: Gotlib & Orbach Pull it Off
    In: Orbach/Gotlib Pull it Off & Signature Vet Gets Salty
  6. Jun 25
    Loonie Tunes: Orbach, Gotlib Head to TSX
    In: Orbach & Gotlib's Loonie Tunes & Mamdani's Comrade Capitalism
2024
  1. Nov 25
    Mayweather – Again!
    In: Ackman's Brookfield Bromance & Newmark's Life After Lutnick
  2. Aug 23
    Thank You for Smoking: Vector’s $2.4B M&A
    In: RealPage's Judgment Day & Korean Skyline Sins Pt. II
  3. Jul 3
    What Really Happened at Brooklyn Tower?
    In: What Really Happened at Brooklyn Tower
  4. Jun 19
    An Official Dilemma
    In: Mortgage Fraud Szn & Branding Turns Radioactive
  5. Jun 14
    JDS drops Alexander bros from D&G tower after rape allegations
    Quickies · Shvo Business & A Record Condo Financing
  6. Jun 12
    Stays of Execution
    In: Billionaire and the Great Neck Strivers
  7. Mar 29
    A Stern Awakening in Brooklyn
    In: Sutton in his Fifth Element & Syndicators in Default City
  8. Feb 28

On The Promote Podcast7 episodes

  1. Oct 29
    2026
    The Apollo Program & Dirty Ground Games
    PodcastEp. 81 · Discussed at 08:34
  2. Aug 19
    2026
    CW's Inside Man & Newmark's Weekend at Bernie's
    PodcastEp. 73 · Discussed at 01:01, 09:41
  3. Aug 17
    2026
  4. Jun 17
    2026
    Stern Ambition, Nuveen's Belly Flop & Private Credit's Gypsy King
    PodcastEp. 65 · Discussed at 00:52, 12:14, 13:46, 14:14 and 5 more
  5. Feb 4
    2026
  6. Jul 2
    2025
  7. Apr 23
    2025
    The Rise of Pref & Meridian Out of Agency Jail
    PodcastEp. 7 · Discussed at 0:00