WASHINGTON, D.C. — A total of 199,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment insurance assistance for the week that ended Nov. 20, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Wednesday. The claims were much lower than the revised 270,000 from the previous week, as well as lower than the 260,000 expected. Additionally, this week’s unemployment figure is the lowest level in 52 years, since November 1969. From the week that ended on Nov. 20 to the previous week, workers filing for initial unemployment benefits declined by 71,000. The four-week moving average hit a new pandemic-era low as well at 252,250 claims, a decrease of 21,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The Wall Street Journal reports that the decline of Delta variant cases, as well as a surge of job openings, has contributed to the lower unemployment numbers. There were 52 percent more job postings on Indeed.com, an online job-search engine, than there were before the pandemic in February 2020. The sudden decrease in unemployment claims may be due to the upcoming holiday season and the way seasonal adjustment is calculated. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, initial claims for the past four weeks were up by 18,000 to 259,000. There were big …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump Organization has entered into an agreement with Miami-based investment firm CGI Merchant Group to sell its namesake hotel in the nation’s capital for $375 million, according to multiple news outlets including The Wall Street Journal, which broke the news. The Journal reports that the new ownership will remove the Trump name and signage from the 263-room luxury hotel, which opened in 2016 at 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., just a few blocks from The White House. The project was a redevelopment of a former U.S. Post Office building, which has served many functions since its construction in the late 1800s. Lastly, the business publication states that CGI Merchant Group has reached an agreement with Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) to operate the property under the Hilton Waldorf Astoria brand. The sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter, per the Journal. The hotel was valued at $212 million when it opened. At that time, the property housed the Benjamin Bar & Lounge, restaurant BLT Prime, The Spa by Ivanka Trump, a Brioni menswear boutique store and a 13,200-square-foot ballroom. The hotel includes a 4,000-square-foot presidential suite, which is located in the former Postmaster General’s office. …
Speaking at the Port of Baltimore on Nov. 10, President Joe Biden touted the now passed $1 trillion infrastructure bill as a “once-in-a-generation investment” designed to help us push past the COVID-19 pandemic. The $17 billion earmarked specifically for port improvements is welcome news as on Nov. 15, the day the bill was signed, 90 container ships carrying goods valued at $85 billion were still waiting to dock off the coast of California. Throughout the pandemic, the transportation infrastructure and labor supply for the East Coast and the Mid-Atlantic specifically have demonstrated efficiency and productivity. The two main ports — the Port of Virginia and Port of Baltimore — processed record container volumes of imports and exports through cargo ship, rail and barge at record “turn times” of under one hour, meeting and overcoming many of the challenges within the supply chain. Connecting the dots As we approach the 2021 gift-giving season and beyond, it is crucial to focus on the “why I should care” factor. The Port of Virginia for example, which by 2024 will be the only 55-foot-deep port on the East Coast, experiences cargo movements that occur 64 percent by truck, which is nearly double the next …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The total amount for commercial and multifamily mortgages originated in the third quarter is up 119 percent compared to a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations released on Thursday. The third-quarter volume is also up by 19 percent from second-quarter 2021. All property types showed an increase in year-over-year originations. The highest dollar volume hike was for hotel loans, with an 866 percent increase. Following that figure was a 317 percent increase for retail loans, 156 percent increase for industrial properties, 105 percent increase for multifamily properties, 102 percent increase for office properties and a 45 percent increase for healthcare property loan originations. “Borrowing hit an all-time quarterly high during the third quarter, driven by strong or improving market fundamentals, higher property values, low interest rates and solid mortgage performance,” says Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president of commercial real estate research. “Borrowing and lending backed by industrial and multifamily properties are each running at a record annual pace. And while year-to-date office and retail lending are each up significantly from last year, both remain below 2019 levels.” The dollar volume of loans originated for investor-driven lenders (such …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy added 531,000 jobs in October and the unemployment rate dropped by 20 basis points to 4.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. These figures are better than what economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected with an increase of only 450,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 4.7 percent, according to CNBC. October’s unemployment numbers are much improved from September, which had total job gains that were revised upward from 194,000 to 312,000. October’s numbers outgained August as well, which had job gains revised up from 235,000 to 483,000. Since the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020, nonfarm employment has risen by 18.2 million but remains down by 4.2 million from its level before the pandemic started, according to the BLS. The highest job gains in October were in the leisure and hospitality sectors with 164,000 jobs added. In the year 2021, leisure and hospitality regained 2.4 million job positions lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the gains in employment, the sector is still down by 1.4 million jobs, or 8.2 percent, from Feb. 2020. The second highest job gains for the month were in professional and business services, which …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Wegmans Food Markets is opening its first store in Northwest Washington, D.C. at City Ridge. Located at the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and Rodman Street, the Wegmans Wisconsin Ave. store will be part of the historic building formerly occupied by Fannie Mae’s headquarters. Roadside Development and North America Sekisui House LLC are the developers of the City Ridge development. Wegmans Wisconsin Ave. is part of the $640 million City Ridge development, which includes commercial, residential and retail facilities. The 84,000-square-foot Wegmans supermarket will include a Market Café, coffee shop and the casual restaurant called The Burger Bar. The store site will include parking below and residential units above. The new store is slated to open in the summer of 2022. Wegmans plans to employ approximately 450 people at the City Ridge location, including 150 full-time positions. Wegmans now operates 106 stores in seven states and has more than 50,000 employees chainwide. The company is set to open three Mid-Atlantic locations in 2022: in Alexandria, Va.; Washington, D.C.; and Wilmington, Del.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has set the 2022 multifamily loan purchase caps for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to be $78 billion for each agency for a combined total of $156 billion. The 2022 caps are based on FHFA’s projections of the overall growth of the multifamily originations market. This year the caps are set at $70 billion a piece for both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The FHFA wants the agencies to keep their focus on providing liquidity for affordable housing and underserved markets. Just like this year, the organization is requiring that at least 50 percent of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s multifamily business in 2022 to be mission-driven affordable housing, or for units affordable to residents earning 80 percent of area median income (AMI). However, at least 25 percent of the agencies’ multifamily business is required to be affordable to residents at or below 60 percent of AMI, up from the 20 percent required this year. Additionally, the FHFA is expanding certain definitions of what it determines as “mission-driven affordable housing.” Starting next year, the FHFA will allow loans on affordable units in cost-burdened renter markets and loans to finance energy or …
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Easterly Government Properties to Acquire 10-Property VA Portfolio for $635.6M
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Easterly Government Properties Inc. (NYSE: DEA) has entered into an agreement to acquire a 1.2 million-square-foot, 10-property portfolio of facilities leased to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for $635.6 million. The properties will be purchased in a joint venture with an undisclosed global investor, with Easterly retaining a 53 percent stake in the portfolio. Two of the properties are open, while the other eight are currently under construction. Acquisitions include: VA Chattanooga, a 94,566-square-foot Class A facility in Tennessee that was completed in November 2020. The property offers audiology, imaging, pathology, lab, dental and mental health services. VA Lubbock, a 120,916-square-foot facility in Texas completed in December 2020. The facility is located on the Texas Tech medical campus and features an ambulatory surgery center as well as general health, dental, audiology, ophthalmology, MRI, radiology, pharmacy, lab, physical therapy and mental health services. VA Lenexa, a 31,062-square-foot facility in Lenexa, Kan., that was delivered in May 2021. The property offers primary and specialty care, including audiology, dental, pathology and lab services, as well as radiology. VA San Antonio, a 226,148-square-foot development currently underway in Texas. The three-story facility will feature six patient aligned care team (PACT) modules …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy added 194,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate dropped by 40 basis points to 4.8 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had predicted there to be an increase of 500,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 5.1 percent, according to CNBC. In addition, the total job gains for August were revised upward from 235,000 to 366,000. These numbers from the past two months were much lower than in June, which had employment numbers revised up to 1.05 million. Nonfarm employment has risen by 17.4 million since April 2020 but is 5 million below (or 3.3 percent) from its pre-pandemic level in February 2020, according to the BLS. There were notable job gains in September in the leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade and transportation and warehousing industries. Leisure and hospitality employment rose by 74,000, but is still down by 1.6 million (9.4 percent) from February 2020. Professional and business services added 60,000 jobs last month but is still 385,000 below what it was pre-pandemic. Retail trade employment increased by 56,000 jobs and transportation and warehousing jobs rose by 47,000. Public education jobs …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Enterprise Community Development (ECD) has reopened Randle Hill Apartments, a $51 million affordable housing property in Washington, D.C.’s Congress Heights neighborhood that was recently renovated. The property includes 195 apartments, including 20 set aside for formerly homeless individuals and families. Located at 3300 6th St. SE, Randle Hill is a nine-building complex with one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The renovations on the property include updated kitchens and bathrooms, new HVAC units, enhanced light fixtures and energy-efficient features. In addition, the property includes onsite resident services such as workforce development, case management, educational and financial literacy programs. ECD made sure no residents of Randle Hill were displaced during renovations. District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency provided $25 million in bonds of construction financing and Bank of America provided a $26.5 million loan. Additional financing included $17.3 million from DCHFA’s HUD Risk Share program, $13 million from District’s Housing Production Trust Fund program, a $650,000 predevelopment loan from Neighborworks Capital and $15.3 million in low-income housing tax credit equity from Enterprise Housing Credit Investments LLC to support the development on behalf of Bank of America. Community Housing Capital provided an initial acquisition loan of nearly $17.8 million. Associates Architects …