WASHINGTON, D.C. — A total of 498,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment insurance assistance for the week that ended May 1, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. These claims were a decrease of 92,000 from last week’s revised unemployment claims of 590,000 and were lower than the Dow Jones estimate of 527,000. Continuing claims, for which data lags a week, increased by 37,000 to just below 3.7 million claims. The latest weekly first-time unemployment claims set another pandemic-era low and are approaching pre-pandemic figures — claims totaled 256,000 for the week that ended March 14, 2020.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lowe and joint venture partner Mitsui Fudosan America have broken ground on Gallery 64, a 492-unit, 12-story apartment building that sits at the site of the former Randall Junior High School in Washington, D.C. The 500,000-square-foot redevelopment of the 2.7-acre site includes the preservation and repurposing of existing historic buildings into the Rubell Museum. Gallery 64’s apartment residences, 98 of which are designated as affordable, will include studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans. The property will have 19 two-level, townhouse-style residences as well. Community amenities will include rooftop gathering spaces with fire pits, grilling stations and outdoor kitchens, a dog walk and a resort-style pool. Indoor communal areas will include a lounge with fireplace, game room, fitness center and a maker space with sound studio. A landscaped area will be in between Gallery 64 and the Rubell Museum. The Randall School buildings closed in 1982. Two of the school’s three buildings will be transformed into the approximately 31,000-square-foot Rubell Museum, presenting contemporary paintings, sculptures, photographs and installations. Entry to the museum will be free of charge to all residents of Washington, D.C. The West Randall building will be reconfigured as an approximately 18,000-square-foot creative office building designed …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A total of 553,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment insurance assistance for the week that ended April 24, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. These claims were a decrease of 13,000 from last week’s revised unemployment claims, which was revised up by 19,000 from 547,000 to 566,000. In the first quarter of 2021, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annualized rate of 6.4 percent, which was the second-highest growth since 2003 but slightly below the 6.5 percent predicted by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The fastest growth of GDP was seen in the third quarter of last year (an annualized rate of 33.1 percent). The first-quarter GDP growth includes the influence of the second round of stimulus checks issued by the government. According to CNBC, the Bureau of Economic Research says that the United States is still not out of a recession yet due to how GDP in total has not passed last year’s peak. The news outlet also reports that while 14 million Americans have returned, the Federal Reserve says the U.S. workforce is still short about 8.4 million jobs compared to pre-pandemic times.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — JLL Capital Markets has arranged $197 million in senior debt for the refinancing of a 10-property retail portfolio totaling over 1 million square feet located in the Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Chicago, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle metros. Tarik Bateh, Greg Brown, Bruce Ganong, Keith Largay, Chris Hew and Drew Heitstuman of JLL arranged the financing on behalf of the borrower, a co-investment partnership managed by Jacksonville-based Regency Centers Corp. Hartford Investment Management Co. (HIMCO) provided the 10 interest-only loans, all of which featured 10-year terms and fixed interest rates. The portfolio is approximately 97 percent leased overall and includes grocery and pharmacy neighborhood centers anchored by Trader Joe’s, Giant, Safeway, Ralph’s, Albertson’s, Mariano’s, Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A total of 547,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment insurance assistance for the week that ended April 17, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. These claims were a decrease of 39,000 from last week’s revised unemployment claims of 586,000. The claims were a new pandemic low, and also lower than the Dow Jones estimate of 603,000. Continuing claims, for which data lags a week, decreased by 34,000 to nearly 3.7 million claims. While these unemployment claims are lower than previous months, these claims are still higher than before the pandemic. In 2019, the weekly average of first-time unemployment claims was approximately 218,000, according to the The Wall Street Journal. There are also still 8 million less Americans working than before the pandemic, according to CNBC.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bipartisan group from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives has introduced legislation that would expand and strengthen the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) program. The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA) of 2021 was introduced by senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Todd Young (R-IN), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rob Portman (R-OH); and representatives Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Jackie Walorski (R-IN), Don Beyer (D-VA) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH). First introduced in 2016, the most recent version of the AHCIA earned the bipartisan support of more than one-third of the 116th Congress. The 2021 bill would accelerate the proposed housing credit allocation increase and proposes a new flexibility to allow housing credit developments to maximize private activity bond financing. The legislation would also provide states with additional flexibilities, streamline program rules and make the housing credit more effective in rural and Native American communities. The bill would also help states use the housing credit to benefit their lowest-income residents, such as homeless veterans. “More than 10 million households nationwide were paying more than half of their monthly income on rent prior to the COVID-19 crisis, and millions more are now struggling to keep a roof over their heads,” says …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Commerce Department reports that retail sales increased 9.8 percent in March, following a 2.7 percent decrease in February. The numbers surpassed the Dow Jones economists’ prediction of a 6.1 percent gain for the month. The sales growth is the biggest monthly gain since May 2020 (18.3 percent), which also came after a round of stimulus checks. According to CNBC, the newly issued stimulus checks gave consumers more discretionary income to spend on goods and services from retailers and restaurants than they had in February. The sporting goods, clothing and food and beverage categories generated the greatest increases in sales since pre-pandemic. Bar and restaurants saw an increase of 13.4 percent, while sporting goods sales increased by 23.5 percent. Clothing and accessories retailers had an 18.3 percent increase, and motor vehicle parts and dealers experienced a 15.1 percent jump. Some economists predict that people are still trying to save a portion of their stimulus checks. According to the CNBC, people saved 34.5 percent of stimulus checks and spent 29.2 percent. The news outlet also reported that inflation is becoming an increasing worry for economists as there has already been an increase in gas prices.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A total of 576,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment assistance for the week that ended April 10, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. These claims were the lowest figures seen since March 14, 2020 (256,000 claims). The amount of initial jobless claims was lower than the 744,000 figure that economists surveyed by Dow Jones predicted. Continuing claims, for which data lags a week, decreased by 98,000 to a little more than 3.76 million. In addition to the stimulus checks distributed last month, unemployed workers can get an additional $300 each week until September of this year. Currently more people are spending money on gyms, hotels and restaurants as they have more discretionary income, according to CNBC. Despite the positive tailwinds, the U.S. economy remains in recovery mode. U.S. payrolls in March were still lower than their level in February 2020 by approximately 8.4 million.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Feldman Ruel Urban Property Advisors has arranged the $4.2 million sale of 4618 14th Street NW, a 25,153-square-foot development site located directly across the street from WMATA’s planned redevelopment of the Northern Bus Garage in Washington, D.C. Heleos, a Washington, D.C.-based affordable housing developer, bought the site in partnership with a local performing arts nonprofit. Josh Feldman and Ian Ruel of Feldman Ruel marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Raymar Corp., which had controlled the property since 1964. The sale represents the final parcel in Raymar’s portfolio. The new ownership plans to construct 99 multifamily units at the site, with 66 of those units set aside for residents making up to 60 percent of the area median income (AMI) and approximately 20 three-bedroom units designed for families. The new owners also plan to include solar panels in an effort to make the project a net-zero energy building. The site currently includes a commercial property leased to a local furniture store on the first level and a dance studio on part of the second level. The project will be branded as Dance Loft at 14th and will include up to 16,000 square feet of ground-floor retail …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A total of 744,000 Americans filed for first time unemployment assistance for the week that ended April 3, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. The amount of initial jobless claims was higher than the 694,000 figure that economists surveyed by Dow Jones predicted and is an increase of 16,000 from last week’s revised total of 728,000. Last week, the original number of first time unemployment claims were a total of 719,000. Continuing claims, for which data lags a week, decreased by 105,750 to a little more than 3.86 million. Last month, the economy appeared to be healing. In March, the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 6 percent and nonfarm payrolls increased by 916,000, which was the biggest job gain since August 2020. However, the unemployment rate remains substantially higher than the pre-pandemic low of 3.5 percent.