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11 Must Reads for CRE Investors Today (Feb. 21, 2023)

Distress has begun to mount in the office sector, reports The Wall Street Journal. The Real Deal examined the real estate holdings of President Biden and all the living former presidents. These are among today’s must reads from around the commercial real estate industry.

  1. Office Landlord Defaults Are Escalating as Lenders Brace for More Distress “Until now, most landlords have been able to stay current on their mortgages because office leases typically run for 10 years or more and lenders have been willing to extend expiring mortgages. The delinquency rate for office loans that back commercial-mortgage-backed securities remains low, but it is heading higher.” (The Wall Street Journal)
  2. Florida's Great Displacement “The storm was the first episode in a long and turbulent process of collapse, one that will expand over time to include market contraction, government disinvestment, and eventually a wholesale retreat toward the mainland.” (Insider)
  3. What are the real estate holdings of Biden and the living ex-presidents? “President Joe Biden and the other living former presidents — Donald Trump, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — have taken a different approach concerning the accumulation of real estate assets. Here are the reported real estate holdings of Biden, Trump, Bush and Clinton.” (The Real Deal)
  4. The rise and fall — and rise again — of Barnes & Noble “By 2022, sales were up 3% compared to pre-pandemic levels and book sales were up 14%. And after more than a decade of shrinking its store fleet, Barnes & Noble is growing once again: The company announced in late 2022 that it plans to add 30 new stores in the coming year.” (Insider)
  5. Malls Are in Trouble Again, Offices Are Next “The collapse of the US mall industry, long hyped by billionaire investor Carl Icahn and other doomsayers, may indeed finally be near. The industry has been shaky for years, of course, but now that interest rates are soaring from record-low levels, lenders are beginning to move aggressively against property owners.” (Bloomberg)
  6. PREIT now eyeing up to 7,000 apartments on its mall properties as it looks to rebuild value “The Philadelphia mall operator is seeking a strategic merger partner after emerging from bankruptcy and being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.” (Philadelphia Business Journals)
  7. Are Japan-style earthquake-proof buildings the future of real estate? “The country has established two levels of earthquake resilience: If a building is damaged by a smaller earthquake, it needs to be rebuilt from the scratch with the latest earthquake-resistant features to be included; if a building is damaged by a stronger tremor, some degree of material damage is accepted as long as no human casualty occurs.” (TRT World)
  8. Dropbox finance chief warns San Francisco office space market has ‘deteriorated’ “Of all the major U.S. markets, San Francisco has been among the slowest to rebound from the Covid pandemic because of its heavy reliance on the tech industry, which has generally maintained a hybrid workforce and, in some cases, has gone fully remote.” (CNBC)
  9. The climate change real estate bubble risks billions “The current prices mask the true danger that these properties are exposed to, because of factors such as outdated FEMA flood maps, incentives in the National Flood Insurance Program and home buyers who lack climate change information.” (Axios)
  10. ‘Dirty old man’: Second woman accuses Dallas-based HMS CEO of sexual assault “The complaint, filed in Dallas County court Monday by ‘Jane Doe #2,’ alleges that Lovell sexually assaulted her by fondling her breasts in March 2021 after she delivered the custom clothes he had ordered from her The Dallas Morning News was not able to reach Lovell, who founded HMS, which helps people buy and sell homes. His attorney, Larry Friedman, said Lovell unequivocally denies the allegations.” (The Dallas Morning News)
  11. China’s State-Owned Firms Are Sitting Out the Property Rescue “State-backed property companies have considered and ultimately decided against acquiring a great number of projects started by private developers. They have also largely shunned a “merger and acquisition” bond program intended to help them fund these deals, although some have used the program to pay off their own debt.” (The Wall Street Journal)
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