Good morning. Fire up the Nespresso and lets get this week started.
WeWork’s decision to skip rents and aggressively renegotiate hundreds of leases has seen CMBS values tumble(£). Around $5.5bn of bonds are backed by WeWork offices.
Landlords and retailers are warning of an “imminent collapse”(£) unless the government does more to support businesses. The BRC, BPF and Revo have sent another letter to Rishi Sunak.
Meanwhile, 40% of retail landlords think they will ditch upward-only rent reviews(£) for turnover pegged rents after the crisis. Around 80% are expecting “permanent changes”.
Foxtons is facing a City revolt(£). At its annual meeting on Wednesday the estate agent will be the first firm to find out how bad investors feel about companies raising cash(£) without shareholder approval.
“Return to work”(£) is the new “stay at home”, as the government launches Phase One(£) of the end of lockdown.
To help this the Treasury is considering topping up salaries for workers who return part-time(£).
France is lifting its lockdown(£) today, but not for restaurants, bars or secondary schools…
… But Germany may have to return to lockdown(£), after the infection rate soared just days after restrictions were lifted.
Unsurprisingly customer visits to UK shops have fallen by 80% (£) since the lockdown started, with retailers preparing for “the mother of sales”(£) when restrictions end.
Housebuilders are also wanting to sell a glut of stock, with the Home Builders Federation saying there is “not much point” building(£) if no one can buy.
Colony Capital, run by Trump ally Tom Barrack, has defaulted on $3.2bn of debt(£) secured against three-quarters of its properties.
In other news, Bain Capital(£) has just bought 100 hectares of Tokyo for $871m, with plans to build a logistics hub.
Riba’s president(£) has been accused of abusing his position to get a job for his mistress.
And finally, Russia has said it will defend neutral territory from a US “invasion”. The territory in question, which the Kremlin says could become “another Afghanistan or Iraq”(£), is the moon. US president and real estate deal-maker Donald J Trump wants to open the moon up to mining and development, reasoning that, as it has a US flag on it, it should be treated as US real estate. The $35bn Artemis program plans to develop a permanent base on the lunar surface by 2028. It is probably no coincidence that Trump’s vision shares its name with 1994’s Artemis Project, which proposed a shiny hotel on the moon.
