yahoo news | U.S. senators who opposed housing bill got tens of thousands from Blackstone,...

Only ten U.S. senators voted against the bipartisan 21st Century Road to Housing Act, which would curb large institutional investors from buying single‑family homes and require build‑to‑rent properties to be sold within seven years. The lawmakers who opposed the bill—including Thom Tillis, Todd Young, Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Rick Scott, Brian Schatz, Rand Paul, Ted Budd, Ron Johnson and Tommy Tuberville—each received tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions during the 2024 election cycle from private‑equity firms, large institutional investors, and companies that develop or finance build‑to‑rent communities. Their top donors featured Blackstone Group, KKR, Koch Inc., Capital Group, and other entities that could see profits decline if the legislation becomes law.

Donor disclosures show that Tillis alone took nearly $470 K, primarily from Blackstone and other investors; Young received roughly $292 K from Capital Group, KKR and real‑estate‑investment‑trust advocates; Lee, Cruz, Scott, and the remaining senators each gathered between $80 K and $160 K from similar sources. While campaign‑finance rules prohibit corporations from giving directly to candidates, their political‑action committees and employees can contribute, and the article notes that such donations do not automatically prove a legislator will act in donors’ interests. Nonetheless, each senator’s public statements emphasized concerns about the bill’s restrictions on zoning, HUD program expansions, and the perceived overreach of federal authority rather than acknowledging donor influence.

The House of Representatives has not yet taken up the Senate‑passed measure, and preliminary comments from Representatives such as Bill Huizenga and French Hill suggest it will encounter resistance in the lower chamber. The report underscores the broader debate over how to increase housing supply while balancing the role of institutional investors, and it highlights the intersection of campaign finance, policy-making, and the political dynamics shaping the nation’s housing agenda.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/u-senators-opposed-housing-bill-121800290.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

#u.s.senators #blackstonegroup

#DataCentres to be expanded across #UK as concerns mount

Zoe Kleinman & Krystina Shveda, August 22, 2025

"The number of data centres in the UK is set to increase by almost a fifth, according to figures shared with BBC News.

"Data centres are giant warehouses full of powerful computers used to run digital services from #MovieStreaming to online banking - there are currently an estimated 477 of them in the UK.

"Construction researchers Barbour ABI have analysed planning documents and say that number is set to jump by almost 100, as the growth in artificial intelligence (AI) increases the need for processing power.

"The majority are due to be built in the next five years.

"However, there are concerns about the huge amount of energy and water the new data centres will consume.

"Some experts have warned it could drive up prices paid by consumers.

"More than half of the new data centres would be in #London and neighbouring counties.

"Many are privately funded by US #TechGiants such as #Google and #Microsoft and major investment firms.
A further nine are planned in #Wales, one in #Scotland, five in #GreaterManchester and a handful in other parts of the UK, the data shows.

"While the new data centres are mostly due for completion by 2030, the biggest single one planned would come later - a £10-billion AI data centre in #Blyth, near #Newcastle, for the American private #investment and wealth management company #BlackstoneGroup.

"It would involve building 10 giant buildings covering 540,000 square meters - the size of several large shopping centres - on the site of a former Blyth Power Station.

"Works are set to begin in 2031 and last for more than three years.

"Microsoft is planning four new data centres in the UK at a total cost of £330 million, with an estimated completion between 2027 and 2029 - two in the Leeds area, one near #Newport in Wales, and a five-storey site in #Acton, north west London.

"And Google is building two data centres, totalling £450m, spread over 400,000 sq m in north east London in the #LeeValley water system."

Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyr9nx0jrzo

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/GukDh

#BigTech #Datacenters #AISucks #NoisePollution #WaterIsLife #NoWaterForAI #NoNukesForAI

New York Studio Project Adds Blackstone And Hudson Pacific Properties; $350M Pier 94 Site Will Have Manhattan’s First Purpose-Built Film And TV Stages
#BreakingNews #CorporateAffairs #News #BlackstoneGroup #NewYorkCity #Pier94 #Production #Soundstages

https://deadline.com/2023/08/new-york-city-soundstages-pier-94-manhattan-film-tv-production-1235530243/

@littlealex

Actually, #Blackstone bought #AncestryCom back in 2020. The latest news on the subject is:

" #Blackstone Inc. defeated a proposed class action alleging that its $4.7 billion acquisition of Ancestry.com resulted in the disclosure of protected genetic information of #Ancestry users, in violation of the #IllinoisGeneticInformationPrivacyAct." [Bloomberg Law News, 01 May 2023]

They originally tried to leverage that data when #Covid first hit.

#GeneticGenealogy #DNAtesting #Genetics #GeneticData #23andMe #GedMatch #AncestryDNA #AncestryResearch #Genealogy #FamilyTrees #BlackstoneGroup

https://diggingintoyourfamilytree.wordpress.com/2020/08/07/why-you-should-care-that-ancestry-com-just-got-bought-by-blackstone/