- Office Building Owners Drown in Tide of Sublease Space “Companies throughout the U.S. are flooding the market with office space they want to sublease, aggravating landlords already facing weak demand as more tenants embrace hybrid work. The amount of space listed for sublease surged in the first year of the pandemic to the highest level in decades in some cities. But it fell in the second half of 2021 as offices leased up and some companies took listings off the market. Now it is rising again. Sublease availability across the U.S. increased 3.6% in the first quarter to 159 million square feet, according to CBRE Group Inc.” (The Wall Street Journal)
- $20 Million HUD Grant Doubles the Size of Eviction Legal Help “The Department of Housing and Urban Development is doubling the size of its eviction protection program, designed to fund legal assistance for tenants seeking to stay in their homes. The $20 million HUD grant, announced Monday, will not provide any sort of direct rental relief; instead, it will fund legal services and representations for families facing eviction. The funds will be distributed through the Eviction Protection Grant Program to 11 nonprofit organizations and government entities, with grants ranging from $1 million to $2.4 million.” (The Associated Press)
- IKEA to Open to More Downtown Stores, Retool Big-Box Sites for Online Orders “IKEA is to invest €3 billion, about $3.16 billion, in opening city-center stores and outfitting existing big-box locations to act as distribution hubs for online orders as the furniture giant looks to adapt to changing shopping habits. The retailer has for decades focused on sprawling, out-of-town stores that act as showrooms, storage depots and restaurants. But in recent years, IKEA has been experimenting with new formats, opening smaller, city-center stores and working to build up its online offerings.” (The Wall Street Journal)
- 5 Questions with Apartment Investor Patrick Carroll “Apartment landlord Patrick Carroll moved to Miami Beach from New York City this year — and not because he’s looking to slow down. Instead, the investor and developer aims to ramp up his company’s growth. ‘I’ve always wanted to be at the center of the action — and right now it’s Miami,’ says Carroll, founder and CEO of the real estate investment firm also known as Carroll.” (Commercial Observer)
- April Jobs Report Holds Some Concern for CRE “With nonfarm employment up by 428,000 jobs in April, most economists and business leaders were delighted with Friday’s April jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But those in commercial real estate need to read past the top-line numbers to understand what the new data might be saying to the industry. There were ‘subliminal messages,’ according to commentary by Jeffrey Roach, Chief Economist for LPL Financial sent by email.” (GlobeSt.com)
- Amazon’s Surprising New Delivery Partners: Rural Mom-and-Pop Shops “Since at least last summer, Amazon has quietly been recruiting mom-and-pop shops in rural America to join an experimental delivery program. The company is paying participating small businesses a per-package fee to deliver Amazon orders within a 10-mile radius to their neighbors’ homes in states like Nebraska, Mississippi, and Alabama. The local businesses Amazon is recruiting range from florists to restaurants to IT shops, and none of them are required to have prior delivery experience — just a commitment to deliver Amazon packages seven days a week, around 360 days a year, and a physical location to receive parcels each morning.” (Recode)
- Trade Associations Are Making a Comeback as Industry-Wide Threats Loom “Cracks and fissures in global supply chains existed before the pandemic. Many of these weaknesses have been exposed during the pandemic, and supply chains are buckling under the strain. The problems–and the reasons for them–are many and complex, but they begin with the simple fact that between 80 and 90% of the world’s goods travel at some point by ship, and shipping is in the midst of a perfect storm. Surging demand, container shortages, port bottlenecks, shipping price increases, trade imbalances, and so on are roiling the economies of the world.” (Fortune)
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