Name: Life Time CEO Bahram Akradi on his athletic country clubs, nixxing sales staff & more | Coffee Talk
Uploaded: 2025-04-08T18:57:25Z
Description: Even as revenue dropped to zero during the pandemic, Life Time CEO Bahram Akradi kept the "athletic country club" concept growing. Life Time now employs 44,000 people and has become a lifeline for developers looking for anchor tenants. Akradi explains why he nixed his sales staff and his approach to innovation and AI to TRD's Amir Korangy in the latest episode of Coffee Talk.

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Since the 1960s, 25 Water Street has housed offices for companies like JPMorgan Chase and the New York Daily News. Now, it'll house renters as one of the largest office-to-residential conversions in the country.

Inside the largest office to resi conversion in the country, 25 Water Street

David Werner, the press-shy real estate investor known as NYC's king of quick flips, has been on an office shopping spree as of late. Watch as we break down his recent deals.

NYC flip king David Werner's buying spree

Even as revenue dropped to zero during the pandemic, Life Time CEO Bahram Akradi kept the "athletic country club" concept growing. Life Time now employs 44,000 people and has become a lifeline for developers looking for anchor tenants. Akradi explains why he nixed his sales staff and his approach to innovation and AI to TRD's Amir Korangy in the latest episode of Coffee Talk.

Life Time CEO Bahram Akradi on his athletic country clubs, nixxing sales staff & more | Coffee Talk

What car enthusiast wouldn't want a luxury condo next to a private race track? Join us to explore The Motor Enclave in Tampa, FL, where Gaggenau appliances and exotic cars collide: https://therealdeal.com/sponsored/bsh/gaggenau-upstairs-lambo-downstairs-meet-the-luxury-car-condos-at-the-motor-enclave/?utm_source=linkedin&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=bsh&amp;tpcc=tbs-campaign

Lambo Downstairs, Gaggenau Upstairs: Meet the Luxury Car Condos at The Motor Enclave | Brand Studio

In a matter of two decades, Sam Nazarian went from Los Angeles nightclub king to luxury hotel mogul to ghost kitchen entrepreneur to wellness proselyte. Nazarian is the founder, chairman and CEO of SBE Entertainment Group, one of the most influential companies in the lifestyle hospitality space. After selling his stake in the hotel business in 2020 and following a years-long health journey that look him to luxury longevity retreats around the globe, Nazarian has pivoted into the luxury wellness arena, teaming with Tony Robbins and Marc Anthony on The Estate by SBE. 

SBE's hospitality king Sam Nazarian on his prolific portfolio, next business boom & more

Former HFZ Capital Group executive Nir Meir is out of jail after spending more than a year detained on Riker’s Island. Watch above to catch up on the embattled exec's legal saga.

Neir Meir is out of jail, released from Rikers Island on bail

Just a few years ago, real estate firms were pledging diversity, equity, and inclusion and adding new cultural initiatives. Now, many of them are scrubbing DEI from their reports entirely. 

Real estate reacts to Trump's anti–DEI push

A New York City real estate agent who built a sizable YouTube following with luxury home tours was charged with attempted murder after allegedly striking a police officer with his car. 

Erik Conover, NYC agent and YouTuber, charged with attempted murder #shorts

Fallout from a strip mall mogul’s scheme to manipulate WeWork stock, an agent ensnared in a plot to steal homes and more updates from the mortgage fraud scam rocking commercial lending, these are the real estate crime stories dominating industry headlines this week.
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Strip mall mogul sentenced in WeWork options scheme… | Real Estate Crime Round-Up

In honor of the Best in Business award received by TRD’s Sheridan Wall, Katherine Kallergis and Ellen Cranley for their reporting on the allegations against and fallout around the Alexander brothers, The Real Deal’s Amir Korangy put on his chef had to cook a celebratory lunch for the whole office at our Hudson Yards HQ. Check it out!
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A celebratory lunch hosted by Chef Amir Korangy at TRD HQ

What is the American dream, anyway? The answer is in a mall in New Jersey. Our latest cover story looks at the Ghermezians, the developers of North America’s largest shopping centers, including the massive American Dream mall in New Jersey.

How the Ghermezian family, owners of the biggest malls in the US, made good on the American Dream

With the industry’s future under a microscope, consumers are raising concerns about the value of agents — prompting brokers to examine their roles, their brokerages and the process of getting paid. Add in sweeping rule changes, lawsuit settlements and a slow housing market, and the uncertainty is threatening to push some agents away from real estate altogether.

Brokers' breaking point | Inside the Mag - March 2025

As LA begins its rebuilding efforts, Angelenos are squaring off over affordable housing, eviction moratoriums and an effort to oust Mayor Karen Bass.

The long road to recovery for Los Angeles' property market

Wheels up! The Real Deal and our partners at Bosch, Thermador and Gaggenau hosted a crew of top developers for a private flight down to our #FutureCity conference in Kiawah Island. These VIPs, including Metro Loft's Nathan Berman, KAR Properties' Shahab Karmely and more joined the conference to gain insights into the future of real estate and development. Stay tuned for more peeks into this off-the-record event.

Flying high with a VIP crew to The Real Deal’s Future City

Getting tenants back into New York's devastated office properties has pushed office owners to search for any and all solutions. Even at well-located 10 Grand Central, developers opted to pump "a lot" of cash into new amenities to try and compete with the allure of hybrid work. TRD checked out the office building's upgrades – which include a screening room, podcasting studios, outdoor space and more – and talked to tenants to see if it'll be enough get existing workers back through the door and new lessees up to the signing table.

Can luxury amenities lure tenants back to the office?

From office to retail and resi, third-generation developer, CEO Alex Mehran Jr. walks TRD through all the major transformation underway at 585-acre Bishop Ranch in San Ramon

TRD Walkthrough with Sunset Development CEO Alex Mehran Jr.

Eleonora Srugo, top Douglas Elliman agent and star of Netflix's "Selling the City," opens up about the Alexander brothers and her time overlapping with them at Elliman and in NYC's social circles. 

'Selling the City' start Eleonora Srugo on the Alexander brothers

As Elie Schwartz awaits sentencing for his role in a $63 million crowdfunding scheme, a bankruptcy judge ordered the exec to vacate his Manhattan penthouse.

Nightingale CEO Elie Schwartz ordered to vacate NYC PH as he awaits sentencing #shorts

Reality star Eleonora Srugo is a real-life rainmaker. The broker's turn on ‘Selling the City,' the New York spin-off of top Netflix show 'Selling Sunset,' brought viewers back to the world of luxury brokerage. But the top Douglas Elliman told TRD about her off-screen sales career, as well as her on-screen fashion, her relationship with Howard Lorber, overlapping at Elliman with the notorious Alexander Brothers and much more in the latest episode of #CoffeeTalk with TRD’s Amir Korangy.