News Type: Roundtable Weekly

OPM Ends “Maximum Telework” Status for Federal Government

Posted on by Abigail Grenadier

U.S. Office of Personnel Management logo

On Tuesday, the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that it is ending its “maximum telework” directive to federal agencies. 

Federal Workforce and Telework

  • At the outset of the pandemic, OPM issued a government-wide announcement that federal agencies should “operate as ‘open with maximum telework flexibilities to all current telework eligible employees…'” The April 18 memo from OPM Director Kiran Ahuja states that OPM will withdraw its maximum telework directive effective May 15, 2023. (Gov’t. Executive, Apr 19)

  • “COVID-19 is not driving decisions regarding how Federal agencies work and serve the public as it was at the outset of the pandemic,” wrote Director Ahuja in his memo to the chief human capital officers of federal agencies.
  • The announcement by OPM comes on the heels of guidance released last week from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) informing federal agencies that they have 30 days to develop plans to “substantially increase” their employees in-person work at headquarters.

Roundtable Letters Jeff DeBoer RER Meeting

  • Both the OMB and OPM actions followed appeals from The Real Estate Roundtable for the federal government to end its “active encouragement of remote working for federal employees.” (RER letter to the Senate).
  • “The executive branch’s current policies are undermining the health of cities, local tax bases, and small businesses. Federal agencies should return to their pre-pandemic workplace practices,” wrote Real Estate Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer, above, in an April 12 letter to all U.S. Senators. 

  • In a similar letter to President Biden in December, DeBoer wrote that federal telework polices were ignoring “the negative impacts of remote work on cities and communities, labor productivity, and U.S. economic competitiveness, as well as the quality of government services.”  (Commercial Observer, April 14 and RER letter to President Biden).

  • “This week’s OPM announcement is another important step forward for our communities, small businesses, and local tax bases that depend on vibrant city centers,” said DeBoer. (Roundtable Weekly, April 14)

Low Office Occupancy Persists Empty office

  • Kastle reported on Monday that office occupancy rates for 10 U.S. cities fell to an average of 46%, a weekly dip of 2.2 points that reflects consistent rates of under 50% since last month. (Kastle’s Back to Work Barometer, April 17)
  • Real estate investor Sam Zell commented this week on the state of the office market and remote work, predicting a reversal in telework trends. (GlobeSt, April 20)
  • “We’re all reading about layoffs in the newspapers. It will be interesting to see what percentage of those who lost their jobs worked from home and what percentage of them are people who came into the office,” said Zell. “The office situation will change. People need to be together to develop their skills.”

The impact of return-to-the office on the industry, communities, and the economy will be a focus of discussion during The Roundtable’s April 24-25 Spring Meeting in Washington, DC. (Roundtable-level members only). 

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Banking Crisis Impact on CRE

Posted on by Trey Jackson

Buildings sky

A recent Moody’s Analytics report compares the amount of commercial real estate loans held by small and regional banks today to CRE asset exposures during the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, concluding that credit positives in the current environment present a more manageable downcycle for CRE and its lenders than 15 years ago. The Roundtable continues to urge federal regulators to issue guidance as soon as possible that would give greater flexibility to lenders for restructuring commercial real estate loans with borrowers.

CRE Exposure

  • Nearly $1.5 trillion in CRE loans will mature over the next three years, over half of which is held by commercial banks, according to a separate Morgan Stanley analysis. (Bloomberg, April 8)
  • The report from Moody’s acknowledges that higher interest rates currently threaten CRE loans, especially for maturing loans backed by struggling assets. Yet the banking sector has seen recent positive signs, including controlled and strategic borrowing, along with stable deposit levels among small banks.
  • The Moody’s analysis also notes that CRE loans today have less leverage, asset pricing has more cushion, and borrowers have a more diverse set of debt sources, which puts the CRE debt market in a relatively better position when compared to a 2008-style bank liquidity crunch. (Axios, April 12 and CNBC, April 9).

Moodys CRE Lending

  • In the chart above, the Moody’s report clarifies that 13.8% of debt on income-producing properties is held by 135 US regional banks, generally considered as those with about $10 billion to $160 billion in assets. The top 25 banks considered large by the Federal Reserve hold 12.1%. Additionally, 829 community banks (with $1 billion to $10 billion of assets) hold 9.6%, and the remaining 3.2% is spread among 3,726 very small local banks with less than $1 billion in assets. (GlobeSt and Commercial Observer, April 7)
  • Kevin Fagan, director of commercial real estate analysis at Moody’s Analytics told CNBC, “There’s a lot of headaches about calamity in commercial real estate. There likely will be issues but it’s more of a typical down cycle.” Fagan also told Axios, “there’s definitely been an overreaction in the market about the relationship between banks and CRE.”

Roundtable Request to Regulators

Federal Reserve sunset

  • A March 17 Roundtable letter to federal regulators cited market uncertainty from regional bank turmoil—along with a steady increase in looming debt maturities, rising interest rates, and remote work’s negative influence on office space demand—as coalescing factors that have put pressure on liquidity and decreased refinancing options for CRE assets.
  • The Roundtable continues to urge federal regulators to issue guidance that would give financial institutions increased flexibility to refinance loans with borrowers and lenders—similar to other initiatives in 2009, 2010, 2020, and as proposed in 2022. (Roundtable letter to regulators, March 17)
  • The Roundtable also urged bank regulatory Agencies to avoid any pro-cyclical policies, such as requiring financial institutions to increase capital and liquidity levels to reflect current mark to market models. “These policies would have the unintended consequence of further diminishing liquidity and creating additional downward pressure on asset values,” the letter states.
  • Last week, Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer discussed capital concerns affecting commercial markets on the Walker Webcast with National Multifamily Housing Council President Sharon Wilson Géno and Roundtable Member Willy Walker (Chairman & CEO, Walker & Dunlop). (Roundtable Weekly, April 7)

DeBoer noted during the webcast that “The concept of additional regulations and expanding liquidity are kind of counter to each other. [The banking crisis] has to be allowed to settle through and transition. We ought to be working together and the federal government ought to be helping people transition to that new world.” (Walker Webcast, April 6)

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White House Shifts Policy, Directs Agencies to Focus on Returning Federal Employees to the Workplace

Posted on by Trey Jackson

The White HouseThe White House informed federal agencies yesterday that they have 30 days to develop plans to “substantially increase” their employees in-person work at headquarters. The new guidance is an important step forward that is supported by The Real Estate Roundtable, which sent letters to President Joe Biden in December and the Senate this week about the need to get more federal workers back to the workplace. (Commercial Observer and The Hill, April 14 | Roundtable Weekly and Letter to President Biden, Dec. 2022) 

Remote Work & Agency Policies  

  • Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Deputy Director Jason Miller commented, “The guidance we are releasing today directs agencies to refresh their Work Environment plans and policies—with the general expectation that agency headquarters will continue to substantially increase in-person presence in the office—while also conducting regular assessments to determine what is working well, what is not, and what can be improved,” Miller wrote. (OMB blog post, April 13)
     
  • The OMB guidance also informs federal agencies that the impact on local communities should be considered when determining future physical space requirements. The memo’s examples for measuring community needs includes the “location and use of agency-occupied office space and other real estate.” (Page 19, OMB guidance, April 13)
     
  • The OMB memo to federal agencies comes after President Biden signed a bipartisan congressional resolution on April 10 that immediately ended the three-year Covid-19 national emergency declaration. Many of the two million civilian federal employees began working remotely after the original March 2020 declaration. (Reuters, April 13)
     
  • A White House official told CNN, “To be clear, ending the National Emergency will not impact the planned wind-down of the Public Health Emergency on May 11.”

Impact on Communities & Real Estate 

Jeffrey DeBoer, Real Estate Roundtable President and CEO

  • Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer, above, stated, “The OMB remote work guidance is a welcome step toward increasing in-person work by Federal Agency employees. Widespread Federal agency remote work was appropriate during the COVID-19 national emergency. With that emergency now officially behind us it is very appropriate that the Federal Government now asks its Agencies to refresh their remote work policies with an eye toward less remote work.”
     
  • Roundtable Senior Vice President Ryan McCormick added, “However, welcome as this new guidance is, more concrete action may be required for the new guidance to have meaningful, positive impact on communities, small businesses, and the overall health of our nation’s cities. We look forward to understanding the true impact of the new guidance, and we will continue to offer positive insights into why strong workplace attendance is so important.” 
  • In December, DeBoer and Real Estate Roundtable Chair John Fish (SUFFOLK Chairman & CEO) urged President Biden “to direct federal agencies to enhance their consideration of the impact of agency employee remote working on communities, surrounding small employers, transit systems, local tax bases and other important considerations.” (Roundtable letter, Dec. 12, 2022) 
  • In January, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser reiterated The Roundtable’s views about the need to get more federal workers back to the workplace and convert underutilized commercial real estate spaces into affordable housing. (Roundtable Weekly, Jan. 6) 

Roundtable Calls for Senate Action 

US Capitol Building

  • The Roundtable on Wednesday also called upon all U.S. Senators to suspend current federal telework rules and return agencies to their pre-pandemic workplace practices. (ConnectCRE, April 13 and Roundtable letter to the Senate)
  • The April 12 letter explained how remote work is undermining the health of cities, local tax bases, and small businesses. The letter also notes that the vast majority of state and local governments, congressional offices, and private sector employers are instituting return-to-workplace policies.
  • The House of Representatives recently passed legislation—the Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems (SHOW UP) Act (H.R. 139)—that would require all federal agencies to revert to pre-pandemic telework office arrangements and allow employees 30 days to return to their offices. (GovExec, Feb. 1 and The Hill, Feb. 2)
  • Last week, The Roundtable’s DeBoer commented on federal remote work and potential Senate action. “We’re trying to get Congress to pass a rule that will require the agencies to go back to pre-pandemic rules. Now, if they’re at home and they’re not downtown, the small businesses suffer, the transportation suffers, safety issues suffer, and the tax base suffers. And so we’re focused on getting people back to the office as much as possible.” (Walker Webcast, 32:58) 

The impact of return-to-the office on the industry, communities, and the economy will be a focus of discussion during The Roundtable’s April 24-25 Spring Meeting in Washington, DC. (Roundtable-level members only). 

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Senators Urge Regulators to Assess Risks to U.S. Financial System; Roundtable Leaders Voice Concerns

Posted on by Trey Jackson

Sen. Crapo at RER Meeting

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH), above, and 11 other committee members urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who oversees the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), to identify risks and vulnerabilities brought to light during the recent banking crisis and provide regulatory, legislative, or other recommendations. (March 31 Letter and Politico Pro)

Regulatory Action

  • The committee letter called upon the Oversight Council’s members to conduct a thorough assessment that should include “traditional, quantifiable risks within prudential regulation, such as liquidity and interest rate risk management of less durable funding sources like non-core or uninsured deposits, and concentrations in asset classes like commercial real estate & long duration bonds.” (March 31 Letter) 
  • The Federal Reserve is conducting a separate review of federal banking oversight, with a report expected by May 1 that will recommend regulatory and supervisory actions. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has stated he will support the report’s regulatory recommendations. (Barr congressional testimony, March 30 and The Hill, March 28)
     
  • A recent House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) hearing—“The Federal Regulators’ Response to Recent Bank Failures”—featured testimony from Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg and Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang.
     
  • HFSC Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) on March 31 stated, “As we heard from [President] Biden’s own regulators at this week’s hearing, supervisory incompetence was the leading cause of the failures. There is no evidence that the original Dodd-Frank would have prevented these bank runs. Additionally, no recent stress test has considered the current economic conditions—most notably the Fed’s rapid rate increases to combat Democrat-induced inflation—that contributed to the fall of these institutions.”

Roundtable Leaders Respond

Walker Webcast April 5, 2023 with Jeff DeBoer

  • Capital concerns affecting commercial and multifamily markets were a focus this week of the Walker Webcast, which featured Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer and National Multifamily Housing Council President Sharon Wilson Géno. Roundtable Member Willy Walker (Chairman & CEO, Walker & Dunlop) led the wide-ranging discussion on April 5, which addressed the federal response to the bank failures, the debt ceiling, and affordable housing. 

  • DeBoer said, “I don’t think anybody assumed a 12-year period of basically zero interest rates, followed by a steep 500bps increase in financing costs, immediately following a once-every-hundred-years pandemic that shut everything down and changed a lot of the ways  . . . (in which) . . . the built environment would be used,” DeBoer said. “I think all of this has to be allowed to settle through.” (Walker Webcast video and Connect CRE, April 5)
     
  • Similar observations were offered this week by the head of the International Monetary Fund, who cautioned that a more volatile global economy would bring slower growth and greater financial fragility. “There is simply no way that interest rates would go up so much after being low for so long and there would be no vulnerabilities. Something is going to go boom,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said. (PoliticoPro, April 6)
     
  • DeBoer also noted The Roundtable’s recent letter urging federal regulators “to take action immediately to provide increased latitude for financing institutions to work constructively with borrowers. Such action will avert what we believe would be an unnecessary crisis.” (Roundtable Weekly, March 17)

Bill Rudin on Squawk Box April 2023

The challenges facing the industry due to recent interest rate hikes, bank failures, and continued widespread remote work will be a top focus of The Roundtable’s Spring Meeting on April 24-25 in Washington, DC (Roundtable-level members only). 

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Trepp Shows Influence of Government Remote Work Policies on Office Markets and CMBS Exposure

Posted on by Trey Jackson

Federal Office BuildingThe wide-ranging impact of remote government work policies on office occupancy rates and CMBS exposure is the focus of a March 31 Trepp report that analyzed 20 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with federal, state, and municipal governments as tenants. (TreppTalk, Seeking Office Answers? Look to the Largest Office Tenant… Government) 

Remote Government Workforces 

  • The federal government is the largest tenant of office spaces throughout the U.S. and its General Services Administration (GSA) leases over 43 million square feet, which equals one-third of the overall market. (Trepp, March 31 and Commercial Observer, Feb. 27)
  • Trepp notes, “The strategy the government deploys to get its workers back to the office will have a cascading effect on the rest of the CRE market.”
  • A recent Washington, DC financial forecast projected tax revenue will plunge nearly a half-billion dollars from 2024-2026 due to remote work’s influence, reduced office transactions, and dropping asset values. (BisNow and DCist, March 1)  

Occupancy Rate Comparison by Geography

Trepp occupancy chart

  • The Trepp table above shows the 20 MSAs with the largest outstanding loan balances for properties that have federal, state, and municipal governments as tenants. (Table data points in Excel here) 
  • The analysis included 1,365 government-occupied properties across 837 loans, with a total outstanding loan balance of $25.9 billion. The majority of these loans with exposure to one or more government tenants are backed by office or mixed-use properties.
  • Prolonged uncertainty about return-to-office policies for GSA entities may eventually reduce current office space allocations. If government tenants vacate some of their offices, net operating income (NOI) could fall, adding more pressure on the loans that back these properties. 

SHOW UP Act

Empty office

  • The House of Representatives recently passed legislation—the Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems (SHOW UP) Act (H.R. 139)—that would require all federal agencies to revert to pre-pandemic telework office arrangements and allow employees 30 days to return to their offices. (GovExec, Feb. 1 and The Hill, Feb. 2)
  • The Real Estate Roundtable wrote to President Joe Biden last December about the need for federal employees to return to their workplaces—and encouraged the administration to support legislation that could incentivize the conversion of underutilized buildings to more productive use such as housing. (Roundtable Weekly, Feb. 3 | GlobeSt and CoStar, Dec. 15, 2022)
  • Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer discussed the remote work issue this week on the Walker Webcast, hosted by Roundtable Member Willy Walker (Chairman & CEO, Walker & Dunlop).
  • DeBoer commented on the impact of employees working from home. “If they’re not downtown, the small businesses suffer. The parking garages suffer. Transportation suffers, safety issues suffer, and the tax base suffers,” he said. “This is why we’re focused on getting people back to the office as much as possible.” (Connect CRE, April 5) 

Trends in remote work, its ongoing impact on commercial real estate markets, and the SHOW UP Act will be topics for discussion during The Roundtable’s Spring Meeting on April 24-25 in Washington, DC (Roundtable-level members only). 

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Policymakers Urge Treasury to Amend Proposed Beneficial Ownership Rule

Posted on by Trey Jackson
Capitol building

Bipartisan groups of House and Senate policymakers recently sent letters urging Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to amend proposed beneficial ownership reporting and access rules, contending certain provisions do not follow congressional intent. (BGov, April 4 and Reuters, April 5)

House “Escape Hatch” Modification

  • Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and a bipartisan, bicameral group of congressional  lawmakers sent a letter on April 3 to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and FinCEN Acting Director Himamauli Das about the Treasury Department’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on beneficial ownership information reporting requirements. (Roundtable Weekly, May 7, 2021)

  • The lawmakers requested that FinCEN amend the proposed rule to adhere to congressional intent and ensure reporting companies cannot avoid transparency.

  • The bipartisan letter states that the NPRM has an “escape hatch” that must be modified. Specifically, the policymakers requested that language allowing reporting parties to enter “Unable to identify…unable to obtain” or “Unknown…not able to obtain” be struck from the proposed rule.

  • “Allowing these options in any final rule will degrade the benefits of the registry to law enforcement and to financial institutions and provide an opportunity for bad actors to obscure the identity of the company applicant or beneficial owner,” according to the letter.

Senate Requests

  • A group of six bipartisan Senators also submitted a letter to FinCEN’s Das on March 15 requesting revisions to the beneficial ownership rule. The policymakers requested that the rule (1) track closer to the text of the congressional statute; (2) enhance the utility of a beneficial ownership information (BOI) directory for financial institutions; and (3) remove excessive barriers to accessing the directory by authorized recipients.

  • The Senators’ letter states, “Once the database is live, financial institutions across the country will immediately begin requesting access to BOI for the 32 million reporting companies in the country. It is essential that FinCEN establish an automated process (ideally one that integrates with existing compliance systems at financial institutions) for fielding and responding to these requests.” (Reuters, April 5)

Proposed FinCEN Rules

FINCEN website
  • The CTA amended the Bank Secrecy Act to require corporations, limited liability companies, and similar entities to report certain information about their beneficial owners (the individual natural persons who ultimately own or control the companies).

  • The Roundtable and three other national real estate organizations also submitted detailed comments to FinCEN on May 5, 2021 addressing several implementation concerns related to the beneficial ownership registry. (Roundtable Weekly, May 7, 2021)

  • The coalition document addressed several specific implementation issues, including how small companies targeted by the CTA will face compliance burdens—and the time-consuming and challenging process of gathering required information on all beneficial owners of a reporting company that may have been created years ago.

FinCEN’s BOI directory is scheduled to be operational on January 1, 2024. All guidance material will be made available on FinCEN’s beneficial ownership webpage.

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White House Prods Agencies to Tighten Regulations for Mid-Sized Banks

Posted on by Trey Jackson

Banking regulators testify before the House Financial Services Committee

The White House proposed tighter regulations yesterday for regional banks with between $100 billion to $250 billion in assets—after bank regulators testified this week before congressional committees that they are considering similar measures. (White House Fact Sheet and Reuters, March 30 | AP and American Banker, March 28)

Regulatory Changes

  • Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg and Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang, above, testified on the need to strengthen capital standards for mid-sized banks in the wake of this month’s bank failures. (BGov, March 28)
  • The Biden administration stated that federal regulators could expand long-term debt requirements and reinstate banking rules that were rolled back in the previous administration. (White House Fact Sheet and CNBC, March 30)
  • Reuters reported that according to a senior White House official, “These are all actions that can be taken under existing law and as a result, there’s no need for congressional action in order to authorize the agencies to take any of these steps.”
  • The Fed’s Michael Barr is conducting a review of federal oversight of SVB, with a report expected by May 1 that will recommend regulatory and supervisory actions. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has stated he will support the report’s regulatory recommendations. (Barr congressional testimony, March 30 and The Hill, March 28)
  • Bank Policy Institute head Greg Baer issued a statement emphasizing how imposing more regulation on all banks would drive costs higher in the economy. “It would be unfortunate if the response to bad management and delinquent supervision at SVB were additional regulation on all banks. The Fed has barely begun its promised review. This has a strong feeling of ready, fire, aim,” he stated. (Reuters, March 30)

Roundtable Recommendations

RER PC logo x500w white background

  • The Roundtable recently cited market uncertainty from regional bank turmoil—along with a steady increase in looming debt maturities, rising interest rates, and remote work’s negative influence on office space demand—as coalescing factors that have put pressure on liquidity and decreased refinancing options for CRE assets. (Roundtable letter to regulators, March 17)
  • The March 17 letter from Real Estate Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer to federal banking regulators recommended the reestablishing a troubled debt restructuring (TDR) program for commercial real estate that would give financial institutions increased flexibility to refinance loans with borrowers and lenders.
  • The Roundtable urged regulatory bank Agencies to avoid any pro-cyclical policies, such as requiring financial institutions to increase capital and liquidity levels to reflect current mark to market models. “These policies would have the unintended consequence of further diminishing liquidity and creating additional downward pressure on asset values,” the letter states.

Agency Actions

  • The Roundtable letter also notes that regulators have taken significant action four times since 2009 to assist commercial real estate loan modifications during periods of economic instability. DeBoer added, “Now is the time to take action again. Our request is for immediate action, given increasing credit and liquidity constraints. Time will allow markets still struggling with post pandemic uncertainties to stabilize.” (Roundtable letter to regulators, March 17)

This month’s Roundtable letter urged federal regulators to “take action immediately to provide increased latitude for financing institutions to work constructively with borrowers. Such action will avert what we believe would be an unnecessary crisis.”

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Real Estate Coalition Urges Congress to Raise Debt Limit ASAP

Posted on by Trey Jackson

Capitol building

The Roundtable and 13 other national real estate organizations this week urged congressional leaders to raise the debt limit as soon as possible. The joint letter noted that the possibility of inaction could agitate the stability of U.S. financial markets, and policymakers should avoid roiling significant sectors of the American economy unnecessarily. (Coalition letter, March 29) 

August X Date 

  • The debt limit, which puts a statutory cap on the amount of debt outstanding and the ability to issue securities to fund the government’s obligations, was reached when the government hit its $31.4 trillion borrowing limit early this year. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen informed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in January that the U.S. would begin taking “extraordinary measures” to pay its bills. (Yellen letter, Jan. 19)
  • The so-called “X date,” when the U.S. will be unable to meet all its financial obligations, looms as policymakers search for consensus on raising the debt ceiling. (NPR, Feb. 17)
  • Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, told the House Budget Committee this week that Treasury’s extraordinary measures are likely to be exhausted this summer—and if the debt limit is not increased, the blow to the economy would be devastating. (Zandi’s written testimony, March 29)
  • “As we approach that so-called X date in mid-August, pressures in the financial system are going to build,” Zandi said. “And as we can see from recent events, given the banking crisis, the system is very fragile at this point-in-time and adding the debt limit as an issue for investors would be particularly inopportune.” 

Real Estate Markets Susceptible 

Debt limit

  • The real estate coalition’s letter this week emphasized that housing and real estate markets are particularly susceptible to any instability stemming from concern about the U.S. meeting its financial obligations, given that more than $10.3 trillion in mortgage debt is backed by the federal government through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, and other federal agencies.
  • The 14 industry organizations informed Senate and House leaders that bipartisan negotiations should pursue solutions as part of the budget and appropriations process. “We have no collective preference for the manner or legislative vehicle you use to resolve this critical issue and protect the full faith and credit of the United States,” according to the joint letter. 

Policymakers & the Debt Ceiling 

  • Republicans have expressed interest in using some elements from a sprawling energy bill as part of debt ceiling negotiations. Certain measures in the bill, such as streamlining the permitting process for energy projects, have attracted support from both parties. (Bloomberg, March 30 andThe Hill, March 29)
  • Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the bill, which is focused on fossil-fuel measures, with four Democrats joining all but one Republican. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has called the overall bill dead on arrival in the Senate, but has expressed interest in striking a deal on permitting reform. (Reuters and CBS News, March 30)
  • The chairman of the House Budget Committee, Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) said this week that it could take months for Republicans to complete the budget process. “The more urgent matter is to address the debt ceiling and negotiate spending limitations and broader fiscal reforms in the process,” Arrington said. (Roll Call and Wall Street Journal, March 29) 

As Congress began its two-week recess yesterday, with no votes scheduled until April 17, the White House released fact sheets to show the impacts of Republican requests for spending limits. (White House, March 30) 

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President’s Budget Reignites Congressional Debate on Taxing Assets at Death

Posted on by Trey Jackson

Capitol at sunset

Congressional policymakers this week focused on two tax policy proposals included in President Biden’s FY2024 budget that could adversely affect family-owned real estate businesses—eliminating the step-up in the basis of assets at death and imposing new restrictions on the use of grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) and grantor trusts. (Roundtable Weekly, March 10 and Treasury’s “Green Book” description of the President’s revenue proposals, March 9)

Step-up in Basis

  • The White House budget plan once again includes a proposal to eliminate the step-up in basis of real estate and other assets at death.  The budget would replace step-up with a new policy that subjects the decedent’s appreciated assets to capital gains tax at death, in addition to potential estate tax liability.  The tax on unrealized, built-in gains would apply even when the decedent and the heir have no intention or desire to sell the property.
  • On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of Representatives led by Rep. Tracey Mann (R-KS) and Jim Costa (D-CA) introduced House Resolution 237 expressing support for retaining stepped-up basis.  Cosponsored by 63 members of Congress (4 Dem., 58 Rep.), the resolution notes that stepped-up basis is “a crucial component of many family farms and small business succession plans.” (BGov and Rep. Mann news release, March 21)
  • In 2021, a study by EY commissioned by the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition with support from The Real Estate Roundtable found that repealing stepped-up basis and taxing unrealized gains at death would result in reduced job growth, lower wages, and a reduction in GDP of roughly $10 billion per-year.

Grantor Trusts

FY2023 Budget Cover

  • The President’s budget again proposes major tax increases on grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) and grantor trusts that the administration estimates would raise $65 billion over 10 years.
  • GRATs and grantor trusts are frequently used to facilitate the continuation of family-owned businesses from one generation to the next, particularly in capital-intensive industries like real estate that can involve significantly appreciated assets.
  • On Monday, four Democratic Senators—Elizabeth Warren (MA), Bernie Sanders (VT), Chris Van Hollen (MD), and Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)—wrote to Treasury Secretary Yellen urging her to use her regulatory authority to “limit the ultra-wealthy’s abuse of trusts to avoid paying taxes.” The letter includes eight specific recommendations, including the reissuance of family limited partnership regulations that address the use of valuation discounts. (Tax Notes, March 22)
  • In 2017, The Real Estate Roundtable and others commissioned a study by Dr. Robert Shapiro, former Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, analyzing the economic impact of a proposed regulation to limit valuation discounts for family businesses. The study concluded the limits could cost 106,000 jobs and $150 billion in GDP over 10 years. The study followed formal Roundtable written comments submitted in 2016—and oral testimony highly critical of the proposal by Roundtable Tax Policy Advisory Committee Member Stef Tucker.

The White House FY2024 budget revenue proposals will be discussed during the Roundtable’s Spring Meeting on April 24-25 in Washington, DC (Roundtable-level members only.)

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Bank Failures Increase Pressure on CRE Capital Markets

Posted on by Trey Jackson

Scott Rechler on CNBC's Squawkbox

The failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank this month have raised concerns about the financial health of small and regional banks that hold a large amount of commercial real estate debt—particularly loans backed by office buildings already under pressure from decreased valuations, rising interest rates, and looming debt maturities. (New York Times, March 22 and Wall Street Journal, March 21) 

Call for Regulatory Flexibility 

  • Roundtable Board Member Scott Rechler, above, (chairman and CEO of RXR) appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box Wednesday morning to discuss liquidity pressures on CRE. During the interview, he endorsed a recent Roundtable request that banking regulators grant increased flexibility immediately to financial institutions for refinancing loans with borrowers and lenders, allowing time for capital markets to stabilize and the private sector to develop solutions. (Commercial Observer, March 22)
  • Rechler added that if no relief is provided, increased pressures on CRE may threaten the tax base of municipalities, the viability of small businesses that rely on regional banks, and the supply of housing. (Squawk Box, March 20)
  • Last week’s Roundtable letter from President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer informed federal bank regulators about the immediate need for reestablishing a troubled debt restructuring (TDR) program for CRE, similar to initiatives established in 2009 during the global financial crisis and in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. (BisNow and GlobeSt, March 21)
  • DeBoer’s letter also cited the lingering effects of the global pandemic, including remote work’s negative influence on office space demand, as pressure points on liquidity and refinancing options for CRE assets. (Roundtable Weekly, March 17) 

CRE Loan Concentrations 

Federal Reserve sunset

  • A March 16 report from Goldman Sachs Research showed that small- and medium-size banks with less than $250 billion in assets account for approximately 80% of commercial real estate lending and 60% of residential real estate lending.
  • The Wall Street Journal reported this week that smaller banks hold around $2.3 trillion in commercial real estate debt and that about $270 billion in commercial mortgages held by banks are set to expire this year, according to data firm Trepp Inc.
  • Additionally, sales of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) were down 85% last month compared with the same time in 2022 due to rising interest rates and defaults. (Bloomberg, Feb. 17, 2023)
  • Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testified yesterday before a House Appropriations Committee panel that the federal government is prepared to protect depositors in banks “of any size” who may face the possibility of collapse. “These are tools we could use again for an institution of any size if we judge that its failure would pose a contagion risk,” Yellen said. (Reuters, March 23)
  • The Fed is reviewing tougher capital and liquidity requirements for midsize banks, along with more stringent annual stress tests to assess their ability to weather recessionary pressures. New rules may target mid-sized banks with assets totaling between $100 billion to $250 billion. (Wall Street Journal | Financial Times | Reuters, March 14) 

The Roundtable’s March 17 letter to federal regulators states, “to avoid increasing unnecessary risk, we respectfully request that the Agencies reaffirm that financial institutions have flexibility to use reasonable and prudent judgment to give borrowers and lenders more time to see properties and loans through this current evolving environment.” 

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