Commercial/Multifamily Briefs Aug. 13, 2020

Greystar Closes $600 Million Greystar Credit Partners II

Greystar Real Estate Partners, Charleston, S.C., launched and funded Greystar Credit Partners II LP, a $600 million commercial real estate debt fund that will focus acquiring securitized subordinated debt issued by the GSEs and private label securitizations, junior notes or mezzanine debt collateralized by multifamily assets.

GCP II succeeds GCP I, a $500 million fund created in 2018 that completed its investment activities concurrent with the formation of GCP II.

HUD Awards $472 Million to Public Housing Authorities

HUD announced $472 million in CARES Act funding on Monday intended to help low-income families during the coronavirus pandemic.

Public housing authorities can use the funding to help families assisted by Housing Choice Vouchers and Mainstream vouchers prevent, prepare for and respond to the coronavirus. The funding was made available by the CARES Act signed into law on March 27, 2020.

The eligible coronavirus-related activities include, but are not limited to:

— Procuring cleaning supplies and/or services to maintain safe and sanitary Housing Choice Voucher units, including common areas of public housing authority-owned Project-Based Voucher projects.

— Relocating participating families to health units or other designated units for testing, hospitalization or quarantine to limit the exposure that could be caused by using mass transportation.

— Additional payments to supportive services vendors incurred due to coronavirus.

— Expenses to retain or increase owner participation in the HCV Program, such as incentive or retention costs (e.g. the PHA offers owner an incentive payment to participate in recognition of added difficulties of making units available for HCV families to rent while stay-at-home orders or social distancing practices are in effect).

— Costs for providing childcare for the children of PHA staff that would not have otherwise been incurred (e.g. children are at home due to school closings, PHA staff are working outside of regular work schedules, etc).

Q3 2020 Survey Sees Rebound in Confidence After Widespread Coronavirus-Induced Closures

The CNBC/SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey found small business confidence has rebounded, a small sign of progress after widespread, coronavirus-induced business closures and general disruptions.

The CNBC/SurveyMonkey Small Business Confidence Index is currently 53 out of 100, the second-lowest ever, and still well below pre-pandemic levels. The number of small business owners who describe current conditions as “Good” doubled from 18 percent in the second quarter to 36 percent presently, the second-lowest number ever for the survey and 20 points below the first-quarter survey in February.

Each quarter, CNBC and SurveyMonkey poll over 2,000 small business owners aiming to measure the vitality of the American economy as well as the view from Main Street on jobs, taxes and other hot topics.

Key findings from the Q3 2020 CNBC/SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey include:

— A majority of small business owners (64 percent) now say they can continue operating under current conditions for more than a year, exactly double the number for whom that was true three months ago (32 percent).

— Nearly a quarter of small business owners (24 percent) who had to layoff or furlough employees because of the shutdowns in March/April, say they’ve hired all of their employees back. 34 percent say they have hired some employees back and 15 percent say they have not brought anyone back and do not expect to. 

— More than half (54 percent) of small business owners say their business has had unforeseen costs associated with new coronavirus-related safety measures, but only 9 percent say they are passing those costs on to customers via higher prices or fees.

“These latest results offer a glimmer of optimism from the small business world,” says Jon Cohen, chief research officer at SurveyMonkey. “Even as seven in 10 small business owners say the pandemic has caused permanent changes in the way they operate, nearly as many of those who made it through the first throes of the crisis express confidence they can survive for a year or more. For many on Main Street, the strong sense is they’ve made it through a paradigmatic shift.”