March 31st – All For One

What I'm Reading Halt: As expected, the CDC extended their eviction ban residential evictions until the end of June.  However, the extension makes no substantive changes to the policy, despite housing advocates pushing the administration to boost enforcement measures to prevent landlords from going around the moratorium.  Politico  Next Wave's...

December 11th – Staying Power

What I’m Reading Staying Power: Office CMBS distress may last quite a bit longer than initially thought according to Trepp as revenues continue to decline while expenses rise.  Globe Street  See Also: As employers eagerly await the Covid-19 vaccines that promise to return staff to offices after months of working from home, new...

December 9th – Balancing Act

One Big Thing California’s eviction moratorium is scheduled to expire in early February.  A new assembly bill is seeking to extend it through the end of 2021. Concurrently another assembly bill is attempting to establish a framework for dispersing rental relief. (h/t Steve Sims) Connect Media  Two comments here:  While I’m...

November 24th – Cracks in the Armor

What I’m Reading Cracks in the Armor:  Chuck E Cheese (CEC Entertainment) was able to successfully use a Force Majeure clause to lower its rent in a bankruptcy case.  This provided evidence that bankruptcy courts may be willing to grant debtors extraordinary relief in light of the ongoing pandemic, but...

November 20th – Swept Under the Rug

What I’m Reading Swept Under the Rug: October marked the fourth straight month that the overall lodging delinquency rate has fallen, according to Trepp.  Unfortunately, this isn’t due to improved property performance but rather granted forbearance that is allowing loans to “current” status.  Globe Street See Also:  A new survey of American Hotel &...

November 2nd – Lifeline

What I’m Reading One Big Thing: A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how ESG trends are likely to provide a growing headwind for the office market in the coming years.  Today, I’m going to focus on a different segment of the real estate market that I’ve followed closely for years: housing....

October 30th – On the Move

What I’m Reading On the Move: For decades, the share of Americans moving to new cities has been falling. The pandemic-induced rise of telework is turning that trend around.  This is perhaps a silver lining in the chaos that is 2020.  Axios Before the pandemic, the top 15 most expensive cities in the...

October 20th – Out of Date

What I’m Reading Out of Date: According to JLL, 78% of all cold storage warehouses are at least 20 years old and the average age of a US cold storage facility is 42 years old.  This is a problem in an industry where the technology has changed so dramatically in recent...

October 19th – Color Me Skeptical

One Big Thing A Barclay’s analyst went on CNBC last week and made the claim that converting an underperforming mall to a distribution center or residential complex could reduce the value of the property anywhere from 60% to 90%.  While I believe this would be the case if a top...