District of Columbia

Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae Hire Financial Advisors to Exit Conservatorship

by Alex Tostado June 16, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have hired separate financial advisors to guide the agencies in exiting conservatorship. Freddie Mac has brought on J.P Morgan, and Fannie Mae has hired Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. Both government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) are based in Washington, D.C. The Federal Finance Housing Agency (FHFA) became the conservator for both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2008 during the Great Recession to oversee the lending activity of the agencies. The FHFA helps ensure that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are providing counter-cyclical liquidity and support sustainable homeownership and affordable rental housing. The timeline for the GSEs to exit conservatorship was not specifically disclosed, though FHFA director Mark Calabria says it won’t be before 2024. The FHFA announced Freddie Mac’s and Fannie Mae’s intentions of exiting conservatorship in the 2020 FHFA Scorecard, which was released in October 2019. The Scorecard is a tool used to align the GSEs’ priorities and operations with FHFA’s Strategic Plan for the lenders.

June 16, 2020

District of Columbia Restaurant Retail Southeast

US Retail Sales Surge 17.7 Percent in May, Says Commerce Department

by Alex Tostado June 16, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The advance estimate for U.S. retail and food services sales, including e-commerce, in May is 17.7 percent higher than in April, the U.S. Commerce Department reported this morning. May is the first month since the COVID-19 outbreak halted the U.S. economy that has shown positive month-over-month growth. April was down 14.7 percent from March, and March decreased nearly 10 percent from February. Spending in May was at $485.5 billion, still lower than pre-pandemic levels. February’s total spending came in at $527.3 billion. “These sales numbers do not reflect the same strength we had going into the pandemic, but they certainly reflect the trajectory we need coming out of it,” National Retail Federation (NRF) president and CEO Matthew Shay said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “The most important thing now is to keep these retail stores open for business and not penalize them by closing their doors in the event of a coronavirus surge. “As those stores that remained open have shown, retailers have developed solutions that protect the safety of their customers and associates, and they are sharing those lessons to the benefit of store owners large and small in communities across the country.”

June 16, 2020

District of Columbia Leasing Activity Office Southeast

Law Firm Wiley Rein Inks 166,000 SF Lease at New Office Tower in D.C.

by Alex Tostado June 15, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Law firm Wiley Rein LLP has signed a 166,000-square-foot office lease for its new headquarters at 2050 M St. in Washington, D.C. The law firm will occupy the third through seventh floors of the 11-story, 340,000-square-foot building, which is now 81 percent leased. The owner of the property, Tishman Speyer, delivered the asset earlier this year. The office space is part of the larger CBS Washington, D.C. bureau. As part of the development process, new CBS studios were constructed with a separate entrance. The building is located less than one mile from downtown D.C. and Dupont Circle. Lou Christopher, Jordan Brainard, Tim Dempsey and Greg Maurer-Hollaender of CBRE represented the tenant in the negotiation.

June 15, 2020

District of Columbia Market Reports Southeast Southeast Market Reports

D.C.’s Tax Rate Maze: An Imperfect System Has Increased Property Taxes for Many Real Estate Owners

by John Nelson June 15, 2020

By Sydney Bardouil, Esq. If you own or manage real property in the District of Columbia and are wondering why your real estate tax bill has gone up in recent years, you are not alone. One common culprit is rising assessed value, but that may not be the main or only source of an increase. A less obvious contributor may be a new, different, or incorrect tax rate. Since tax rates vary greatly depending on a property’s use, staying diligent when it comes to your real estate’s tax class and billed rate is critical. The District of Columbia applies differing tax rates to residential, commercial, mixed-use, vacant and blighted properties. Why is this important? Because the classification can make a considerable difference in annual tax liability – even for two properties with identical assessment values. For example, a multifamily complex assessed at $20 million incurs a tax liability of $170,000 per year while the same property, if designated as blighted, incurs an annual tax liability almost twelve times greater at $2 million. Therefore, the assessed value is just one piece of the puzzle. Keeping a sharp eye on a property’s tax bill for the accuracy of any tax rate changes …

June 15, 2020

District of Columbia Multifamily Southeast

NMHC Rent Tracker: 80.8 Percent of Apartment Households Paid June Rent

by Alex Tostado June 12, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) Rent Payment Tracker found that as of June 6, 80.8 percent of apartment households paid rent for the month of June. The Washington, D.C.-based organization reports that the June figure is a 0.6 percent increase over May 6, but it is a 0.7 percent decrease from this point in June 2019. Nearly 20 percent of households with at-risk wages in small multifamily apartments may have difficulty paying rent, according to a study published June 11 by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. In addition, 32 percent of renter respondents to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, conducted from May 28 to June 2, reported “no or slight confidence” in their ability to pay next month’s rent. “While our Rent Payment Tracker metric continues to show the resilience and strength of the professionally managed apartment industry, it does not necessarily tell the whole story, as it doesn’t capture rent payments for smaller landlords or for affordable and subsidized properties,” says Doug Bibby, president of NMHC. The organization surveyed apartment management companies responsible for 11.4 million units nationwide. There are 21.4 million apartments nationwide in buildings with more than five units, …

June 12, 2020

District of Columbia Southeast

Over 1.5M Americans File First-Time Unemployment Claims as Coronavirus Still Holds Grasp on Economy

by Alex Tostado June 11, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Over 1.5 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment aid during the week ending June 6, the U.S. Department of Labor reports. The coronavirus has continued its grasp on the U.S. economy, but several governors have allowed their respective states to reopen certain aspects of the economy, including stores, restaurants, office buildings and amusement parks. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last Friday that the economy added 2.5 million jobs in the month of May. Furthermore, for the 10th straight week, the first-time claims have been lower than the previous week, with the most recent figure showing a decrease of 355,000 claims. Additionally, the continued claims decreased by 339,000 on a week-over-week basis to 20.9 million. The four-week moving average of the initial jobless claims for this week was just over 2 million claims, down by 286,250 claims the prior week.

June 11, 2020

Acquisitions District of Columbia Office Southeast

Grosvenor Americas Acquires Two Office Buildings in D.C.’s Georgetown District Totaling 241,000 SF

by Alex Tostado June 8, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Grosvenor Americas has acquired two office buildings spanning 241,000 square feet in Washington, D.C.’s historic Georgetown district. The first property is the Georgetown-Green Building, a four-story, 112,000-square-foot building located at 2001 Wisconsin Ave. The British International School of Washington occupies the building, which was constructed in 1967 and renovated in 1987 and again in 2007. The other property in the transaction is the Harris Building, a five-story, 129,000-square-foot building located at 3300 Whitehaven St. Georgetown University occupies the building, which was built in 1975 and renovated in both 1987 and in 2005. The buildings are located less than one mile from each other and three miles northwest of downtown Washington, D.C. Grosvenor plans to implement smart technology designed to lessen utility loads and minimize the properties’ carbon footprint. The seller(s) and sales price were not disclosed.

June 8, 2020

District of Columbia Southeast

U.S. Economy Adds 2.5M Jobs in May, Greatly Exceeding Expectations

by Alex Tostado June 5, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy added 2.5 million jobs in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports. The uptick signals the economy is recovering faster from the COVID-19 shutdown than many market observers had expected. The unemployment rate decreased from 14.7 percent to 13.3 percent in May. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal were prepared for continued job losses and a further shrinking of the economy. They had predicted a net loss of 8.3 million jobs for May. Some notable employment sectors that rebounded in May included leisure and hospitality, which added 1.2 million jobs after losing a combined 8.2 million jobs in March and April. Additionally, the construction sector added back nearly half of its lost jobs from April, moving upward by 464,000 in May. Education and health services was another industry that showed a recovery in May, adding 424,000 jobs. The sector lost 2.6 million jobs in April. Similarly, the retail sector added 368,000 jobs in May after losing 2.3 million in April. Not all sectors, however, were in the black in May. Employment in government declined by 585,000, following a drop of 963,000 in April. The heaviest loss came in local government (-487,000). Mining …

June 5, 2020

District of Columbia Southeast

First-Time Jobless Claims Up by 1.9M, Initial Filings Decline for Ninth Straight Week

by Alex Tostado June 4, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Another 1.9 million Americans filed first-time unemployment claims in the week ending May 30, the U.S. Department of Labor reported. The latest figure is about 100,000 claims higher than economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected, with the forecast looking at just under 1.8 million claims. Since the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. in March, approximately 42.4 million claims have been filed. The Department of Labor also reported that the four-week moving average is at nearly 2.3 million claims, a decrease of 324,750 from the previous four-week average. Additionally, the number of first-time jobless claims has decreased for nine consecutive weeks.

June 4, 2020

District of Columbia Southeast

Another 2.1M Americans File First-Time Unemployment Claims, Number of Continuing Claims Drops by 3.9M

by Alex Tostado May 28, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Another 2.1 million American filed first-time unemployment claims during the week ending May 23, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. Since the COVID-19 outbreak in March, 40.6 million Americans, or one in four in the workforce, have submitted claims. A continuing trend, though, is the steady decline in first-time weekly claims, which have decreased in number for eight consecutive weeks. The four-week moving average was 2.6 million claims, a decrease of 436,000 from the previous week’s moving average. Additionally, the number of continuing claims dropped by 3.9 million to just over 21 million overall.

May 28, 2020

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