TRENTON, N.J. — Retailers and construction projects in New Jersey will be allowed to resume operations while adhering to social distancing policies on Monday, May 18, according to Gov. Phil Murphy in a public statement. In response to the COVID-19 health crisis, the governor closed nonessential businesses and ordered all residents to stay home on March 21 and later ordered nonessential construction to stop on April 8. Restaurants have been allowed to provide pickup and delivery services, and essential businesses including grocery stores have been allowed to stay open with social-distancing restrictions in place. The governor’s new order applies to all retailers that were not originally deemed essential and are able to adhere to social distancing policies, including restricting customers from physically entering establishments. Similarly, the order applies to all construction projects not originally deemed essential. Gov. Murphy said in a public statement that the virus is less likely to spread in a construction environment, as projects are limited to workers rather than customers. As of May 13, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 140,700 cases of the virus in the state, and more than 9,500 deaths.
RICHMOND, VA. — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam says the state is still on track to begin “Virginia Forward,” the state’s Phase I plan for reopening stores, restaurants and select businesses and organizations starting Friday, May 15. Northam said in a press release Tuesday, however, that Northern Virginia localities are able to delay reopenings to Thursday, May 28 if they feel it is unsafe to reopen Friday. The new guidelines outline more relaxed restrictions, including upping the capacity of non-essential retail from a 10-person limit to 50 percent capacity; allowing restaurants to open outdoor seating with a 50 percent capacity limit; allowing places of worship to have a 50 percent capacity, up from its previous 10-person limit; fitness centers may operate outdoor classes; and allowing for personal grooming services to reopen to appointment-only customers. Some restrictions that are unchanged include schools remaining closed, childcare remaining open only to working families and entertainment and public amusement remaining closed. As of this writing, there were 927 deaths and 26,746 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Virginia, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
The student housing industry has been uniquely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The niche asset class has been proclaimed “recession-proof” since its inception, and COVID-19 has been the ultimate test. One after another, universities across the country shut down, transitioned to online classes and sent their students home. What we have found during this time is that college students do not go home just because class is cancelled. Across the nation, students are still living in their off-campus apartments and rent is still being collected. Additionally, students who were turned away from traditional university-owned residence halls are now seeking off-campus apartments. With today’s students valuing privacy, distance and cleanliness more than ever, we are seeing students who typically live in residence halls transition to off-campus apartments where they can have a private bedroom and bathroom. What does this mean? Student housing is truly recession-resilient. When every university in the country cancelled classes, privately owned student housing not only remained stable but it expanded its clientele. The unknowns regarding where the economy is headed in the immediate future will likely give a lot of investors pause, but I personally remain optimistic about the opportunities that will come out of this pandemic. A few …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peterson Cos. has unveiled its plans for welcoming back tenants and customers, once permitted to do so. Peterson owns and operates open-air, mixed-use and power center properties. The company will implement the plan across several of its properties, including at National Harbor, Downtown Silver Spring, Rio in Gaithersburg, Fairfax Corner and Fair Lakes. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam says he wants to slowly begin reopening retail businesses in the state, but he will allow northern Virginia to move at its own pace given the elevated number of COVID-19 cases in the region. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan allowed the reopenings of parks and public spaces last week, but has not yet released guidelines on retail businesses. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also released guidelines for residents to participate in outdoor activities but not retail-specific guidelines. Some of the new operations that the shopping centers will implement include hand sanitizing stations located throughout centers, especially in high-traffic, high-touch areas such as elevator lobbies, breezeways, restrooms, outdoor plazas and gathering areas; social distancing signage will remind customers and employees to stay six feet apart; curbside pickup areas will remain throughout the properties and will …
ALBANY, N.Y. — The Finger Lakes, Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley regions of Upstate New York have met New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s public health guidelines to begin the process of reopening businesses and industries impacted by the COVID-19 heath crisis. The requirements to reopen a region include a 14-day decline in hospitalizations and hospitalized deaths, fewer than two new hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, as well as several other requirements related to hospital capacity and testing availability. Regions that meet the required metrics by May 15 will be allowed to restart construction, manufacturing, retail for curbside pickup, agriculture and forestry operations, as well as some recreational activities. The North Country and Central New York regions are close to meeting all metrics, according to a statement from the governor. As of May 11, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 334,640 positive cases of the virus in New York and 26,923 deaths.
BEND, Ore. — Sunshine Retirement Living, a Bend-based seniors housing operator with 32 communities in 16 states, now offers FDA-approved “Respira-ID” testing for COVID-19 at all its properties. Residents and employees that are exhibiting symptoms will now all be tested, as well as any new residents moving in regardless of symptoms. Produced by Vikor Scientific, Respira-ID tests for over 40 pathogens known to cause respiratory illness including COVID-19. The manufacturer will provide in-depth virtual training to the community nursing staff, which will administer the tests and oversee the shipment of samples for analysis within 24 hours.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. economy lost 20.5 million jobs in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as the COVID-19 outbreak continued to wreak havoc. The leisure and hospitality sector was particularly hard hit, losing 47 percent of its workforce in April. The BLS also reports the unemployment rate jumped from 4.4 percent in March to 14.7 percent in April, the highest since February 2011. The total number of jobs lost is the highest since records began in 1939. The leisure and hospitality sector lost 7.7 million jobs in April compared with a loss of 2.5 million jobs for the education and health services sector, the next hardest hit segment. Retail trade lost 2.1 million jobs with the heaviest losses coming in the clothing and clothing accessories stores (minus 740,000). Similarly, the professional and business services segment lost 2.1 million jobs. The BLS also noted that the number of people out of work but seeking employment in April was 9.9 million, nearly double the prior month. As alarming as the labor numbers were for April, they were better than expected. Economists from the Wall Street Journal had collectively forecast a loss of 22 million jobs. The BLS …
PHOENIX — Sprouts Farmers Market has expanded its grocery pick-up service to 46 stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee as the grocer faces heightened demand amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The service allows customers to plan grocery pick-up for the same day or to schedule several days in advance. Their personal shopper will bring the groceries to a designated pickup parking spot when the customer arrives and checks in. A list of specific stores offering the service was not disclosed. The Phoenix-based grocer recently expanded this service to 30 of its stores across Texas. Sprouts also partners with Instacart for same-day delivery services.
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has extended a ban on evictions due to nonpayment of rent through August 20 for both residential and commercial tenants that have had difficulties paying rent and preserving their businesses amid the ongoing COVID-19 health and economic crisis. The governor originally issued the executive order banning new cases of rent-related evictions on March 20 with the expectation of keeping it in effect for three months. Additional updates to the executive order include rent relief in the form of bans on late fees for missed payments, as well as a new provision that allows renters to use their security deposit as rent payment. As of May 7, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported nearly 319,000 cases of the virus in New York and more than 25,700 deaths.
MICHIGAN — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has extended the state’s Stay Home, Stay Safe order through May 28. The governor’s order will also enable manufacturing workers, including those at Michigan’s Big 3 auto companies, to resume work on Monday, May 11 as part of her MI Safe Start Plan. Under this order, manufacturing facilities must adopt measures to protect their workers from the spread of COVID-19. These measures include conducting a daily entry screening protocol with temperature checks, creating dedicated entry points and suspending entry of all non-essential in-person visits, including tours. Workers must also be educated on how the virus is spread, its symptoms and use of personal protective equipment. All businesses in the state — including manufacturers — must require masks to be worn when six feet of distancing is not possible.