Real-estate co-working startup Knotel Inc. filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, agreeing for the company to be taken over by real-estate services firm Newmark Group Inc. Newmark is providing Knotel with $20 million in debtor-in-possession financing. New York-based Knotel, founded in 2016, raised hundreds of millions of dollars from investors and in August 2019, Knotel said it had reached a valuation of more than $1 billion.
Household Savings
Households collectively saved $1.4 trillion in the first nine months of last year, about twice as much as what they saved in the same period a year earlier
Hotel Industry Lows
The U.S. hotel industry reported all-time lows in occupancy and revenue per available room in 2020 with year-over-year declines the worst on record across the three key performance metrics. Occupancy averaged 44 percent, down 33.3 percent from 2019; average daily rate was $103.25, down 21.3 percent; and revenue per available room was $45.48, down 47.5 percent.
Fed Forecast
The Fed estimates U.S. economic output will grow 4.2% in 2021 and the unemployment rate will drop to 5% by year’s end from 6.7% in December. It sees the jobless rate falling further to 4.2% by the end of 2022.
Apartment Debt Risk
During the pandemic, the share of total apartment debt that banks place into their highest-risk categories has ballooned to 16.9% from 4.6%.
Latch Tishman Speyer
Latch Inc., a maker of smart locks and building-management software, plans to go public by merging with a special-purpose acquisition company. The merger will unite Latch with a SPAC sponsored by New York commercial real-estate firm Tishman Speyer Properties. The deal values Latch at $1.56 billion.
Finance Chiefs
Thirty-seven CFOs stepped down from S&P 500 companies, up 27.6% from 2019. The figure for 2020 is higher than the average number of resignations over the past decade, which totaled about 25 a year.
Eviction Moratorium
The federal eviction moratorium will be extended to March 31, 2021. Mr. Biden is also asking the Department of Housing and Urban Development to consider extending the foreclosure moratorium and continuing forbearance applications for federally guaranteed mortgages. As of early January, an estimated 2.7 million mortgages are in forbearance according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Vaccination Sites
In a letter to the incoming administration, the American Hotel & Lodging Association wrote that hoteliers across the U.S. are offering up their properties as possible COVID-19 vaccination sites.
NYC Rents
New York City renters owe more than $1 billion in unpaid rent.