ILLINOIS — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has extended the state’s stay-at-home order through the end of May in effort to fight the spread of the coronavirus. There are also new modifications to the executive order. For example, state parks will begin a phased reopening under guidance from the Department of Natural Resources. Golf will be permitted under strict safety guidelines. Greenhouses, garden centers and nurseries may reopen as essential businesses. Non-essential retail may reopen to fulfill telephone and online orders through pickup or delivery. Beginning May 1, individuals will be required to wear a face covering or a mask when in a public place where they can’t maintain a six-foot distance. The new requirement applies to all citizens over the age of 2. Essential businesses and manufacturers will be required to provide face coverings to employees and follow occupancy limits. Educational institutions may now allow and establish procedures for pickup of necessary supplies or student belongings. Dormitory move-outs must follow public health guidelines. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) will also be issuing guidance to surgery centers and hospitals to allow for certain elective surgeries for non-life-threatening conditions beginning May 1. As of Thursday, April 23, there were 36,934 …
In response to the outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, industrial landlords in Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) are demonstrating greater flexibility on short-term lease structures in order to keep deals moving forward. With most of the nation sheltering in place to stem the spread of the virus, e-commerce activity is accelerating, leading to greater demand for distribution and logistics services. In addition, supply chain operators that service essential industries — such as grocery, healthcare, construction and infrastructure — are working overtime to store and ship the necessary product to end users. In addition, many of these suppliers are also carrying more inventory. This is because are at interest rates are at historic lows, making it cheaper to stockpile goods and equipment, and because the global healthcare crisis has caused demand for certain foods, household products and consumer goods to skyrocket. All of this activity translates to short-term disruption in industrial real estate. Some deals are on hold, and the market is now seeing more unforeseen requirements from firms that need additional space for inventory storage, as well as from distribution and logistics users that are hiring more workers and shipping more product. “Several larger distribution companies are still …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An estimated 4.4 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment claims during the week ending April 18, the Department of Labor reports. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect millions of Americans as business and public spaces are closed. Over the past five weeks, the total number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims is 26 million, all but wiping out the 24.4 million jobs created in the 11 years since the Great Recession. The latest figure shows a declining trend in weekly jobless claims, with the number of initial jobless claims having decreased for three straight weeks, according to the Department of Labor. As of this writing, there were 46,859 deaths and 843,614 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
HARRISBURG, PA. — Some construction projects, including public and private residential and non-residential construction, in Pennsylvania will be allowed to restart on May 8, according to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf. The state shut down all nonessential businesses on March 21, including most construction projects not related to healthcare or critical infrastructure. Restrictions on new construction also extended to housing developments that had not been issued a final occupancy permit. In a public statement, the governor said that when construction sites do restart, development teams should adhere to social distancing, personnel limits and other guidance provided by the administration. If cases of COVID-19 flare up again in the state, construction sites will have to close once more.
NEW YORK CITY — The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) has canceled its annual RECon event due to concerns about COVID-19. The move comes after the organization initially postponed RECon and suspended all of its events that were scheduled to occur before June 30. ICSC’s Annual Meeting of Members that typically takes place at RECon each year, along with the approval of the new slate of board of trustees, ICSC chair and vice chair, will now be scheduled for December 2020 during the New York Deal Making conference. The organization still plans to hold six regional deal-making events, including New York Deal Making, and additionally will hold the U.S. Law Conference and CenterBuild Conference. In 2019, more than 37,000 industry professionals descended on the Las Vegas Convention Center for the annual retail and real estate networking event, which featured 1,200 exhibitors and 853,000 square feet of exhibit space.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott provided more information on his plan to restart the Texas economy on Wednesday, noting that the state has experienced 13 consecutive days of downward trajectory in its COVID-19 growth rate and affirming his commitment to Texas’ reputation as a business-friendly state. Federal guidelines call for 14 straight days of downward trajectory before states may proceed with reopening certain businesses. Speaking to a Lubbock radio station, Abbott said his administration would soon allow the reopening of “any type of retail establishment you want to go to, with a structure in place that will ensure that we slow the spread of the coronavirus.” The Houston Chronicle reported that such businesses would include hair salons, movie theaters and dine-in restaurants. Abbott said that these measures would not permit full-fledged store reopenings, but rather “openings in strategic ways that are approved by doctors,” and that certain counties with higher growth rates would not be subject to these new measures. Lastly, the governor stated that he expected some level of expansion of COVID-19 cases in Texas following the reopenings, but expressed confidence in the state’s ability to handle it, “so long as the expansion is very minimal.” The …
CHICAGO — Effective May 4, Gogo (Nasdaq: GOGO) will furlough approximately 60 percent of its workforce and reduce compensation for most other employees as part of a broad-based cost reduction plan due to the impact of COVID-19. Chicago-based Gogo is an in-flight internet company. The furloughs will impact more than 600 employees. The time and duration of the furloughs will vary based on workload. Salary reductions will begin at 30 percent for the CEO, 20 percent for the executive leadership team and feather down from there. Members of Gogo’s board of directors has agreed to reduce their compensation by 30 percent. Certain types of employees, such as hourly workers, will not have their compensation reduced. Approximately 60 percent of Gogo’s revenue comes from its two commercial airline segments. Passenger traffic on commercial airlines using Gogo’s service has declined 95 percent this month compared with the prior year. The remaining 40 percent of Gogo’s revenue comes from its business aviation segment, which has experienced a sharp decrease in flight activity. Gogo has also applied for an $81 million grant and a $150 million loan under the CARES Act. If Gogo receives government assistance, it will modify the personnel actions. Previous measures …
DETROIT — Henry Ford Health System reported a net loss of $234.5 million in the first quarter due to the widespread COVID-19 pandemic. The Detroit-based company says it will furlough 2,800 employees across its six hospitals. In explaining the losses, the health system cited temporary closures, an increased need for caring for COVID-19 patients, and the postponement or cancellation of services and procedures. Additionally, the company expects losses in April and May to surpass the March total. The furloughed employees are those not directly involved in patient care and those from areas where workloads have been drastically reduced or operations have been temporarily closed. Henry Ford Health System employs more than 30,000 people. Executives at Henry Ford Health System will donate between 10 and 25 percent of their salaries to two funds meant to help furloughed employees. The two funds are the newly created COVID-19 Emergency Needs Fund and the Bob and Sandy Riney Helping Hands Fund, which was created in 2012 to help support employees experiencing unexpected hardships. The health system lost $43 million in net operating income (NOI) in March, and net operating loss for the first three months of 2020 was $36.2 million. The company had a …
SAVANNAH, GA. — Medical suppliers are using the Port of Savannah to ship equipment to hospitals across the state and the Southeast. The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) is collaborating with companies such as Drive Medical, which is a major supplier of beds, IV poles and other goods, to supply items needed at COVID-19 pop-up hospitals around the country. GPA is providing information such as vessel status, estimated time of arrival and container availability, as well as expedited container processing for cargo destined for COVID-19 hotspots such as New York, Detroit and New Orleans. With help from shipping lines and cargo owners, GPA can also identify containers, locate them on the vessel via U.S. Customs manifests and speed vessel discharge for specific containers. Most of the supplies are moving through the Garden City Terminal.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Retail Federation (NRF) has praised the $300 billion legislation the U.S. Senate passed to financially aid small businesses that are struggling during the COVID-19 crisis. The Small Business Administration (SBA) ran out of its originally allotted $376 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fund, which had 200,000 small businesses partaking in the program. The PPP is a product of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Securities Act (CARES Act), which was signed into law March 27. “Retailers continue to deal with catastrophic hardships from COVID-19, and small retailers are the hardest hit,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “The CARES Act was an important first step, but funding for the PPP has already been exhausted and additional relief is essential to keeping employees of small retailers on the payroll and contributing to the economy until we can get through this challenge.” The total allotment of the new legislation is $484 billion, with additional funding going to hospitals and COVID-19 testing. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on the bill Thursday. Washington, D.C.-based NRF has advocated for retailers and policies for more than 100 years.