At issue: Trump’s comments on “CNN Tonight” about Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, who moderated a GOP presidential candidate debate Thursday night.

During the debate, she pressed Trump aboutmisogynistic, sexist comments he made in the past, such as calling some women “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals.”

Trump slammed Kelly, saying her questions were “ridiculous” and “off-base.”

“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes,” Trump told CNN’s Don Lemon on Friday night. “Blood coming out of her wherever.”

That remark crossed the line, said RedState.com editor Erick Erickson. He disinvited Trump from the RedState Gathering, a conservative event featuring GOP presidential hopefuls this weekend in Atlanta. Trump was scheduled to give the keynote speech Saturday night.

“I have tried to give a great deal of latitude to Donald Trump in his run for the presidency,” Erickson wrote.

“He is not a professional politician and is known for being a blunt talker. He connects with so much of the anger in the Republican base and is not afraid to be outspoken on a lot of issues. But there are even lines blunt talkers and unprofessional politicians should not cross. Decency is one of those lines.”

Republican stalwart and Fox owner Rupert Murdoch praised debate moderators Kelly, Bret Baier and Chris Wallace — while criticizing his friend Trump.

“Friend Donald has to learn this is public life,” Murdoch tweeted.

Erickson said while he likes Trump personally, “I just don’t want someone on stage who gets a hostile question from a lady and his first inclination is to imply it was hormonal. It just was wrong.”

But the Trump campaign fired back, saying “this is just another example of weakness through being politically correct.”

“For all of the people who were looking forward to Mr. Trump coming, we will miss you,” his campaign said. “Blame Erick Erickson, your weak and pathetic leader. We’ll now be doing another campaign stop at another location.”

It was not immediately clear where that new campaign stop will be.

But the RedState Gathering will go on without Trump. This year, the annual event features fellow GOP presidential candidates Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, Marco Rubio and Scott Walker.

As for the newly vacant spot at the RedState Gathering, Erickson has invited Kelly to replace Trump.

Republican presidential candidates (top row L-R) Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, (bottow row L-R) Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Chris Christie and John Kasich are seen in a combo of recent file photos. The head of the Republican Party on Wednesday said its presidential candidates are unlikely to attack each other in the party’s first official debate but instead are focused on ousting Democrats from the White House. Seventeen Republicans, led by billionaire Donald Trump, who has taunted fellow contenders, are seeking the conservative party’s presidential nomination. Only 10 will be on stage Thursday night in the first prime-time debate, which could offer a boost in exposure to voters and a chance to break out of the pack. REUTERS/files STAFF / Reuters

First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day’s most important political stories and why they matter.

Republicans — and Trump — take center stage, and here’s what to expect

CLEVELAND — One of us is here just outside of the first Republican debate of the 2016 presidential cycle, and the atmosphere is … electric. All of the media, TV trucks, conversation — it feels more like a political convention or general-election debate than your first primary-season debate. And rest assured, it will probably get the largest TV audience for a primary-season debate, at least for one held on cable TV. Here is what to expect from each of the 10 GOP candidates participating:

• Donald Trump: With all eyes on him, he’s smartly downplayed expectations and has emphasized that he intends to play nice. But he also has to deliver the same toughness and channel the same anger fueling his rise in the GOP polls.
• Jeb Bush: As we wrote yesterday, maybe no one has more on the line than Bush does. He’s had a rough last week — especially as Hillary Clinton has used him as a punching bag. And here’s the thing: He’s the most well-known unknown person (due to his last name) on that debate stage.
• Scott Walker: He has the buzz and the record, but does he look the part? That will be his biggest challenge of the night.
• Marco Rubio: Ditto. And he can’t afford to disappear at the debate — as he has disappeared from the 2016 scene these past few weeks.
• Mike Huckabee: If you want to place an early bet on the best performer of the night, Huckabee would be a smart call. He is the only one of the 10 who has actually participated in a presidential debate before. And he was routinely the best performer in the 2007-2008 debates.
• Ted Cruz: Can he handle the 60-second time limits and come across a bite more likeable than his perception, especially in DC?
• Ben Carson: His low-key demeanor could be a weakness. Can he display some fire and passion that don’t come across in his interviews?
• Chris Christie: He’s used to being the center of attention, but can he handle being on the outside looking in? How does he assert himself?
• John Kasich: Ditto.
• Rand Paul: Make no mistake: The Jesse Benton indictment has rocked the Ron/Rand Paul World, and the campaign needs a major pick-me-up from this debate.

Retirement living never looked so good. But if you want to buy in, follow some rules.
Retirement living never looked so good. But if you want to buy in, follow some rules.

Rocketing prices, dwindling inventory, yearlong waiting lists, buyer lotteries—no, it’s not the 2005 housing bubble. It’s the current investment boom in retirement living.

Demand for homes in “retirement” communities is on the rise. (I use the term loosely, because some of these developments are so dynamic they’re more like luxury adult summer camps.) Behind this, naturally, are the baby boomers, who account for about a quarter of the U.S. population. Born between 1946 and 1964, they started hitting retirement age a few years ago, and in the next decade, they’ll drive up the number of retiree households by about 10 million.

Though the National Association of Realtors reports that overall housing inventory is up slightly from a year ago, it doesn’t break out stats for retirement housing. Clearly, though, it’s a seller’s market. Brokers complain of shortages, and in some new communities there are even 2004-style lotteries for newly constructed homes. That’s right—when builders have more reservations than they do inventory, some put you into a lottery. No auction, no bidding war. They just pick names from a hat, and if yours isn’t one of them, you’re out.
The market is especially hot for the buyer willing to spend $1 million or more on a home. All over the country, high-end builders are cranking up their development of retirement communities. The game has attracted national players, including Chicago-based Vi, founded 25 years ago by billionaire and current U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker; Toll Brothers, the publicly traded high-end builder from Horsham, Pennsylvania; and Miami housing behemoth Lennar, which builds retirement and active-adult homes in 18 states. And there are plenty of local sharpshooters as well, like Robson Resort Communities in Arizona and the Lutgert Companies in Florida and North Carolina. (Meanwhile, international destinations like the Bahamas and Mexico, which offer tax advantages, lenient ownership restrictions and appealing prices, have become interesting to stateside retirees and developers as well.)
If you’re retiring soon, you may be wondering how to navigate this frenzied market. There’s no single strategy that works for everybody—these days, retirement can mean very different things for different people. But no matter where you fall on the spectrum, one thing’s for certain: Buying what will likely be your last home is nothing like buying your first.

Here are a dozen key ways to get it right:

Acclimate before you relocate. Weather is a key consideration when you’re buying a retirement home, especially for year-round residents. Places like Florida, Arizona and southern California are significantly more seasonal than they probably seemed during your annual one-week holiday visits. If you’re planning to make one of these vacation locales your primary residence, consider renting during the off season before you buy. Off-season deals like half-price golf might even make Florida’s humidity bearable in the summer.
Get to know the characters. Take some time to appreciate the personality of the neighborhood and your prospective neighbors. Retirement will bring more downtime than you may have been used to, and social activities are big in planned communities. Your fellow residents will be your new friends—or your new nemeses. Either way, they’ll have a bigger impact on your life than your bathroom fixtures or hardwood floors.
Check out the medical care. Many retirees endeavor to experience an active lifestyle. Does the community provide medical services? If there are no on-site health care facilities, how far must you travel? Does the community provide in-home health services, or are local physicians willing to make house calls? Remote upscale communities should be equipped with a helipad for airlift.
Factor in local tax rates. Some states are more retirement friendly than others. Income, property and estate taxes are crucial considerations when choosing a location in which to invest. Find the recipe that suits you. For instance, complying with residency requirements in Florida, Wyoming or Texas can create great income-tax advantages, but property taxes are relatively high.
Time your buy to get the best price. The best time to buy is just as the local high season is ending. In southern states, that’s usually May and June, when the weather gets steamier and the tourist stream slows to a trickle. Buyers gain negotiating power as sellers become nervous about the lull. Like the pricing but not quite ready to retire? Consider buying the home and renting to another retiree.
Study the community financials. Many retirement and second-home communities were hit hard during the downturn. While a recovery is taking place, some of these places have fared better than others. To avoid surprises, carefully review the financial records of the homeowners’ association. Search county clerks’ offices for liens and foreclosures within the community. Research community assessments through the association and the local property tax appraiser. While you’re at it, ask for the meeting minutes of the community board to learn what they’ve been concerned about lately.
Scope out the approval process. Big-city residents who live in condos and co-ops are used to being scrutinized by boards, but are you? Some retirement communities have stringent approval processes. Learn about what’s required by consulting with your broker and current residents. If you’re not crazy about the idea of your new neighbors looking at your banking records, or asking for references, you may want to consider a living situation with a less invasive approval process.
Explore “membership.” Full-service communities frequently offer specific club-membership structures. Study the requirements and options. In some communities, for instance, the purchase of an ownership stake known as an “equity membership” is mandatory. This investment may run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, yet its appreciation and resale value can be uncertain. Many communities also charge annual dues and a food and beverage minimum. The equity members are responsible for maintaining the club at any cost. During the downturn, many clubs suffered as fewer members were able to pay their shares.
Scrutinize the activity calendar. You may not have thought this much about games since your school days. But again, you’re about to have a lot more time on your hands. So spend some time figuring out if the community you’re buying into provides activities you take seriously. In most cases, there are the country club staples—golf, tennis, swimming. But some of the most popular activities for retirees these days may sound foreign to you. Pickleball, for example, is played with paddles on what looks like a badminton court, and has become a craze for seniors who used to play tennis. Bocce, the Italian lawn-bowling game, is also hot, primarily because it can be played with a drink in one hand.
Research the restrictions. Rental and resale restrictions are common in gated communities and condominiums. Still, you may be startled by what some retirement communities disallow. Pets are just the tip of the iceberg. Some places ban outdoor grilling and cigar smoke. Some won’t let you park a car in your driveway or warn burglars that your home is equipped with a security alarm system. You may not even be allowed to talk on your balcony after dark. And a long list of rules may also indicate a high level of board politics. If you decide to buy in, be prepared to get involved. Condo and co-op dwellers know well that it’s often just one or two people on a board who create 95 percent of the drama.
Consider the caretakers. Who’s going to take care of your home when you’re out of town, ill, or just don’t feel like it? Some communities offer more maintenance, repair and security services than others. Predictably, well-staffed condos are easier to maintain than individual homes. However, caretaker and home-watch services are common offerings in high-end communities. Some visit 200 to 300 homes per month and charge $50-$100 to open and close the house and make sure your lights, air conditioning and pool pump are working.
Don’t forget the big city. Homes in walkable cities like New York, Boston and San Francisco can be expensive, but provide many built-in advantages for retirees, including health care services, mass transit and a wealth of activities and social opportunities. It’s not surprising that many people of means move from suburbs back to these cities as empty nesters or retirees. If a retirement community in a place like Naples or Scottsdale just isn’t

A new super-tall tower will rise along midtown’s so-called Billionaires’ Row now that the project’s developers have secured a $725 million construction loan for the $1 billion spire.

A partnership between JDS Development and Property Markets Group has received financing from AIG and Apollo Global Management to build 111 W. 57th St., a 1,438-foot-tall tower that will be the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere when it is completed in 2018.

AIG is the senior lender, while Apollo is providing a mezzanine loan. The size of each loan could not be determined, but construction loans are generally as high as about 60% of a project’s value, which would put AIG’s debt at about $600 million and Apollo’s mezzanine loan at about $125 million.

Neither JDS nor PMG would comment on the deal.

The developers began work on the spire last year, pouring its foundation and renovating an existing building that it is preserving on the site and incorporating into the new tower. The project is often informally referred to as the Steinway Tower because the ground floor of that existing property has a landmarked interior that was the former showroom for the piano maker Steinway & Sons. That space, which features an ornate domed ceiling and marble columns, will serve as part of the retail space in the new tower.

Now that the loan has been secured, the developers will begin erecting the SHoP Architect-designed 111 W. 57th St. in the coming weeks. The building will be a mere 60 feet wide, making it dramatically slender even among a new crop of pencil-thin condo spires. The exterior of the tower will feature a distinct stepped spire resembling a tilted deck of cards.

The city’s ultra-high-end residential market has been heating up. In recent weeks, The Real Deal reported that a Middle Eastern buyer was in talks to purchase the upper portion of 220 Central Park South, a new condo tower being built by Vornado Realty Trust just a few blocks from 111 W. 57th St., for a record $250 million.

The strong sales and eye-popping sums have, at least for the time being, allayed concerns in recent months over a glut of multimillion-dollar apartments in the coming years and whether there will be enough buyers for the influx of inventory. A total of about 13,000 new condo apartments will be built through the end of 2016, most of which will be priced at least $3,000 per square foot, according to Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel.

“To me, the question that will determine the success of these projects now is how long it will take for buyers to absorb all of these high-priced apartments,” Mr. Miller said. “Billionaires’ Row is really a whole new market, it’s not an extension of anything we’ve ever had before.”

JDS and PMG’s loan expires in four years, giving the developers time to sell the 60-unit 111 W. 57th St. Sales for the tower are expected to begin in the fall.

The developers have a good track record when it comes to selling high-end apartments. They converted a former Verizon-owned structure in Chelsea into a luxury building, known as Walker Tower, that became one of the city’s best-selling residential projects in recent years. Separately, JDS recently closed on a $390 million construction loan for a pair of rental towers it is building at 626 First Ave.

Alfa Development is in contract to buy a four-building Gramercy Park development site from Kevin Maloney’s Property Markets Group and Kasra Sanandaji’s Apex Investments for $69.6 million, The Real Deal has learned. Alfa, a Chelsea-based development firm led by Michael Namer, will likely build condominiums on the site, said M.L. Perlman, vice president of development and marketing. The existing properties, along with additional air rights, collectively offer more than 90,000 buildable square feet — and allow for a building as tall as 20 stories.

PMG and Apex began assembling the low-rise, mixed-use properties last year, paying $9.5 million for 253-255 Third Avenue and $7.6 million for 261 Third Avenue in two separate deals, according to property records. Then, just last month, they paid $15.6 million for a pair of buildings at 257 Third Avenue and 259 Third Avenue, near East 21st Street. The four properties contain residential rental units as well as significant retail space. PMG and Apex intended to construct an affordable housing building on the site, but are now selling all four properties in a deal slated to close by August 1. “Currently, PMG has a number of properties under construction including 111 West 57th Street and 10 Sullivan, two additional sites breaking ground this year and several in the planning stage,” Maloney said in a statement to TRD. We are also very busy in Miami and Chicago, so I thought it prudent to focus on these and sell the site at 21st Street and Third Avenue.” Cushman & Wakefield’s Bob Knakal and Jonathan Hageman, who represented the sellers, declined to comment.

Alfa also developed Chelsea Green, a 20-story, 51-unit condo building along 21st Street in Chelsea. “We’re excited to participate in the strong real estate market in the area, just steps away from Gramercy Park,” Perlman said. Elsewhere in the neighborhood, Akelius Real Estate Management picked up a 17-story rental building at 301 East 21st Street for $167.5 million in May, as TRD reported.