Weekly News (August 12, 2020)

This week’s Interest Rate (32nd  Week)

  (By Fairway Asset )

(The rate based on 25% down payment with 740 above credit score)

   Prime Rate:3.0% / Ref IR: 0.00- 0.25%

Covid-19 Overlays
Potential home buyer — Do not apply deferred payment or forbearance program. If applied , they need to complete the program as soon as possible, and make sure credit record is restored.

Facebook agreed to lease the former post office building in Midtown Manhattan

(NYT  8/3)

• Despite the pandemic, the social media giant leased all the spaces in the former main post office at Penn Station in Midtown – 107 year old James A. Farley Building at 421 8th Ave between W 31st St and W 33rd.
• With this 730,000 sf, Facebook has acquired more than 2.2 M sf in the city, all of it on Manhattan’s West Side between Pen Station and the Hudson River, including 1.5M sf at three Hudson Yards (30 Hudson Yard, 55 Hudson Yard, 50 Hudson Yard).
• Manhattan’s West Side has become a hub for Silicon Valley tech companies as Apple, Amazon and Google have leased space for thousands of employees, buttressing the city’s “Silicon Alley” moniker.  Google’s new campus in Hudson Square is underway.  Apple signed a lease for four floors of space at 11 Penn Plaza, and Amazon leased office space at 410 10^th Ave in Hudson Yards last year.
• Related News: *Empire Station Complex Redevelopment (CWM 07082020)
  *Nieman Marcus waked away from Hudson Yards store(188,000 sf) and the Related is converting to office                                   spaces. (CWM 07292020)

KKR & Co is buying $860 M rental building in Brooklyn, NY

(Bloomberg   8/7)

• The New York-based alternative asset manager, $60 B in asset, is in contract to purchase a portfolio of newly developed rental buildings from Bruman Realty in a deal that is worth amount $860 M including debt. KRR is partnering with apartment operator Dalan Management on the deal and will provide the bulk of the equity.  The deal would be one of the biggest commercial real estate acquisitions in New York this year.
• Rental apartment have historically been considered recession-proof, performing well in times of economic turbulence as more people are priced out of owning homes.  That thesis could be tested in the COVID-19 era with high unemployment and a sluggish recovery landing hard on renters.

Super Residential complex development in NJ Edgewater moves forward

(The Korea Daily  8/7)

• More detailed plan of the huge residential complex project at the former HESS lot in Edgewater at 615 River Rd was revealed. NJ supreme court decided to approve the project with 180 units of low income units as a final decision of the sue which was going on for 5 years between Edgewater town and the developer.
• The plan includes 1200 residential units reduced from the original 1873 units.  The developer will have to build public school facilities and public recreation facilities as a donation.  Other amenities in the surrounding area include forest park at East/West side, performance theater at the river side, ferry terminal, 600,000 sf mixed use complex, restaurant and café complex with Manhattan view.
• Meanwhile, the owner of SoJo in Edgewater sued the developer for blocking views and Cliffside Park town announced that they will object the development.

COVID-19 Change: NJ State supports $25M to small business Landlords

(The Korea Times  8/10)

• SLEG (Small business Landlord Emergency Grant) will help landlords for the registered 3-10 family residential complex for lapse of 4-7 month rent. The conditions for the grant are 1) at least 1 tenant has to be COVID-19 related victim 2) satisfactory fire inspection as of 3/9/2020) tenants income is below 80% of median income of local community.
• njhousing,gov/ewntals/sleg

COVID-19 Change: Co-working companies begin retreat

(WSJ   8/12)

• The world biggest co-working companies are starting to close money-losing locations across the globe, including WeWork, IWG PLC, Knotel.  The retreat reflects an effort to slash costs at a time when the pandemic is reducing demand for office space, and perhaps for years to come.
• “Everybody’s pretty bullish on the concept of shared workplace when we come out of this, but getting out of this is the struggle”, said CEO of New York based coworking company Bond Collective.

BEA reported consumer price went up, especially meat price

  (The  Korea Daily  8/10)

• Bureau of Economic Analysis under US Commerce Department reported that consumer price went up between Feb and June, compared to same period of last year.  Prices for veal and beef went up 20%, pork went up 8.5%, eggs went up 10%, and cereal and vegetable went up 4%.
• The reasons are  1) Grocery demand increase  2) Less restaurant dining due to closures  3) Supply chain disruption.
• Less income due to furlough or lay off hit consumer harder.
• On 6th, new unemployment insurance application reached to 1.4 M.  About 6 M people are facing difficulty to make a living due to stopping FPUC $600.
• Census Bureau reported 30 M people feel stress due to lack of grocery: current US population is about 331M.

Moderna Vaccine might be available after the presidential election

(The Korean Daily 8/12)

• Moderna is the first runner of all vaccine developers in US currently.  The situation is not helping Trump because he wants to use the vaccine announcement as an big advantage.
• People who joined the 3rd phase clinical trial reached to only 4,536 which is 15% of the target for the first 2 weeks.  With this pace, it is not possible to do trial in September and the 2nd injection needs to wait for 28 days after the first injection.
• Even if the vaccine is approved in November, majority of people will get the vaccine during Spring or Summer next year.
• Meantime, Moderna said Tuesday to agreed to provide the US government with 100 M does of its experimental Coronavirus vaccine in exchange of more than $1.5 B.(WSJ 8/12)

Russia registered the First Vaccine in the world: “Sputnik V”

(WSJ   8/12)

• Russia registered the world first corona vaccine, said President Vladimir Putin, marking a milestone in the fight against the new corona virus but amid safety concerns in the West over the country’s accelerated clinical evaluations.
• Some wonder if Russia’s curtail testing could add political pressure on other corners of the globe to imitate Moscow’s regulatory corner cutting in the hope of more quickly getting to a vaccine.
• Anthony Fauci said during a House COVID-19 subcommittee hearing in July that the US likely wouldn’t use vaccines developed in China or Russia, voicing concerns over testing.

Others/Tech News : Joe Biden named California Senator Kamala Harris(55) as a vice president running mate

   (WSJ  8/12)                  – First Black woman and first woman of Asian descent: Daughter of  Jamaican and India.