Free Republic

Troubles of Brookfield DTLA show how some office-sector bets are starting to unravel ... A major Los Angeles office owner operated by Brookfield Asset Management is struggling to make mortgage payments as vacancies and rising interest rates disrupt the city’s commercial real-estate market. The company, known as Brookfield DTLA Fund Office Trust Investor Inc., owns six Los Angeles office buildings and a retail center. Five of the office buildings face the risk of foreclosure, according to its public filings, and at least two of its mortgages are in default. The company on April 21 filed to delist from the New...

The downtown office market in major cities continues to struggle after changes brought on by the pandemic, as another major investor has defaulted on loans for a pair of Downtown Los Angeles skyscrapers. According to an SEC filing, Brookfield DTLA Fund Office Trust Investor said that subsidiaries that owned the 52-story Gas Company Tower at 555 W. 5th St were in default on $465 million in loans related to the building. In addition, Brookfield DTLA has defaulted on $319 million in loans related to its 52-story building on S. Figueroa Street, the 777 Tower. In both cases, lenders for both...

Columbia Property Trust, a large office landlord controlled by PIMCO, has defaulted on $1.7 billion in loans tied to seven buildings across the country, marking one of largest office defaults since the start of the pandemic. The firm is now working with its lenders — a group that includes Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank — to restructure its portfolio, according to Bloomberg. The loans were all floating rate, meaning Columbia Property Trust started to feel pain after interest rates soared last year. The loans are tied to three office buildings in New York, two in San Francisco, one in...

Rents are rising again across the country, squeezing tenants who are already coping with high gasoline prices and improving returns to landlords after a deep five-year slump. The turnaround appears to be another sign that the boom in house prices and sales is finally slowing, as homes have become so expensive in many metropolitan areas that some people have decided to rent instead. A government report yesterday also offered new evidence that the housing boom could be reaching a peak. The median price of a newly built home fell to $203,800 in July from $219,500 in June, after having risen...