A report from News.com.au. "Living at 432 Park Avenue in New York – one of the wealthiest addresses in one of the tallest residential buildings in the world – should be the epitome of luxury. But residents who have paid up to $US88 million ($115 million) for an apartment in the building are up in arms complaining about major construction failures and huge out-of-pocket expenses. 'I was convinced it would be the best building in New York,' Sarina Abramovich, one of the earliest residents of 432 Park, told The New York Times. 'They’re still billing it as God’s gift to the world, and it’s not.'"

"In 2016, she and her husband bought a $US17 million ($A22 million) apartment that spans more than 1000sq m so the retired couple could have a second home close to their children. She said they were disappointed with their purchase from day one. 'Everybody hates each other here,' Ms Abramovich said. 'They put me in a freight elevator surrounded by steel plates and plywood, with a hard-hat operator,' she said. 'That’s how I went up to my hoity-toity apartment before closing.'"

"On top of the construction problems, residents have been fraught with added expenses to the multimillion-dollar price tag to live there. Strata fees skyrocketed around 40 per cent in 2019 to pay for repairs and hiked insurance, according to management emails. Residents have also been forced to pay $US15,000 ($A19,000) in annual fees for the building’s private restaurant, which is run by a Michelin-starred chef, even though they were told this cost would be only $US1200 ($A1570) a year. The complimentary breakfast they were promised is off the menu now too."

The Commercial Observer. "'Buying cheap is not going to be successful this time,' according to Empire State Realty Trust Chief Investment Officer Aaron Ratner. 'We have trillions of dollars of fiscal and monetary stimulus; half of high-yield bonds are trading below 4 percent; commercial mortgages are being issued below 3 percent,' he said. 'We think investors are going to have to change their strategy this cycle to generate profits, which is how we’re positioning ourselves.'"

"Despite the liquidity injection, commercial real estate is 'languishing,' Michael May, the President of Silverstein Capital Partners said. Office buildings, hotels and multifamily in major cities are virtually 'empty.'"

"Loan workout expert Rob Verrone said that the 'best day for a lender is the first day they make the loan,' drawing laughs from the other panelists. 'After that, stuff can go bad. A great day is they get paid off. Lenders are just being cautious,' Verrone added, anecdotally, that a difference between this cycle and the last cycle is that in the previous cycle, a borrower might own 20 properties with only two or three in default, and they 'were able to tap into resources to help solve the problems, and now a lot borrowers might have 20 properties and 19 are under stress,' he said. 'That’s a different value proposition in terms of how they make their equity work to get through this crisis.'"

From Culture Map on Texas. "A new study indicates the Alamo City could be poised for a housing crisis. GOBankingRates puts San Antonio among 40 U.S. cities that could be facing a faltering housing market, one largely triggered by 'pandemic-related disruptions.' 'Although today’s housing market is largely hot, experts are bracing for a wave of evictions triggered by pandemic-related disruptions,' the study says. 'That, they fear, could be the catalyst for a different kind of housing crisis that could rival even the dreariest days of the Great Recession — all with COVID-19 still far from contained.'"

"The study found 3.6 percent of mortgages in San Antonio were 30 to 89 days delinquent, and 1 percent were at least 90 days delinquent. The foreclosure rate is one in every 8,142 homes, and the homeowner vacancy rate is 1.9 percent. San Antonio is among seven Texas cities that made the GOBankingRates list along with Corpus Christi, Killeen, Amarillo, El Paso, Brownsville, and Laredo."

The Aspen Times in Colorado. "The redevelopment project of The Aspen Club & Spa will live on after all, but will its name? That’s a question the property’s new ownership will be asking soon. On Wednesday, Meriwether, Revere Capital and Fireside Investments completed their purchase of the 5-acre property after claiming it with the lone bid of $52.59 million at a foreclosure auction held Jan. 6."

"The previous owners of The Aspen Club, a group led by Michael Fox, could have reclaimed the property for $53,062,621 during what is known as the redemption period, which expired at noon Wednesday. That did not happen. For the courts, banks and creditors, the sale marks the end of saga that included a bankruptcy declaration, three foreclosure filings, multiple lawsuits and dozens of mechanics’ liens."

"With more than 1,000 members, the club closed in February 2016 to make way for the construction project. It came to halt in the fall of 2017 when a lender withdrew its second round of financing of $15 million. As a result, construction firms weren’t paid and left the project unfinished. Fox and investors bought the property in 1996 and gained city approval in 2010 to redevelop the property with 15 townhomes, six condos, affordable housing and a new club and recreation/wellness facility."

"Based in Boulder, Meriwether Cos develops resort and private club projects mainly in the West. Its projects include an unfinished $250 million surf resort in La Quinta, California, and a $100 million hotel and condo redevelopment project at the Squaw Valley ski resort."

From Motley Fool. "Prizm Outlet Mall in Las Vegas recently sold at auction on the Ten-X auction platform for $1.525 million, a 95% reduction in value from its July appraisal for $28.2 million. This deep discount isn't a huge surprise, considering the state of the mall industry today, with a record number of retailers closing their doors or filing bankruptcy. It was only a matter of time before distressed assets, particularly malls and hotels, started to hit the market."

From Barron's. "Dozens of poorly run nursing homes have recently taken out cheap financing backed by a federal loan guarantee program that critics say is propping up some of the industry’s worst operators, even as Covid-19 ravages the residential care sector. As the industry pleads for more federal money, better control is needed over who runs nursing homes 'and what they do with the money we give them,' says Toby Edelman, senior policy attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy. 'If you’re providing terrible care, maybe we shouldn’t be giving you mortgage insurance.'"

"Some researchers say it’s time to redesign the Section 232 program. Charlene Harrington, professor emerita at the University of California, San Francisco, suggests limiting it to quality nonprofit and government facilities. There’s an oversupply of nursing-home beds in many areas, she says, and 'the poor operators need to be forced out of business.'"

"For nursing-home operators, the benefits of the Section 232 loans are clear. The loan terms can stretch out to 40 years and offer fixed rates that are often at least 1 to 2 percentage points below conventional loans, says Joshua Rosen, a senior managing director at Walker & Dunlop, a Section 232 lender. 'Once you’re done, you’re set for the next several decades,' Rosen says. Another perk: It’s a non-recourse loan, so for borrowers, 'there’s nothing at stake, other than the facility, if things don’t go as planned,' he says, although there are exceptions in cases of fraud or misrepresentation."

"For nursing-home residents and taxpayers, however, there is plenty at stake. First launched in 1959, the Section 232 program has been criticized in recent years for failing to properly monitor nursing homes’ financial and physical condition. More than a dozen Illinois and Missouri facilities in the Rosewood Care Centers chain defaulted on $146 million worth of HUD-backed loans in 2018. A HUD Inspector General report that same year found that the department didn’t always have sufficient financial data to assess facilities and didn’t routinely evaluate whether the financial information submitted by facility operators and lenders was complete and accurate."

"HUD allowed defaulted nursing homes to remain in its portfolio for up to 6.5 years, accumulating interest and other carrying costs, according to the report. HUD’s Inspector General shares nursing-home resident advocates’ concerns about facilities with care-quality issues participating in the program, a spokesman said. Edward Golding, who headed the FHA from 2015 to early 2017, says he struggled with the same issue."

"'What’s the mission? How do you know you’re doing good?' he recalls asking his team. While the hope is that low-cost mortgages mean facilities have more money to prevent infection and otherwise improve care, he says, 'surely if you’re helping bad actors get bigger, that’s a really bad thing.'"

The San Jose Spotlight in California. "They’ve reported gun violence, had cars stolen and watched in outrage for months as trash piles up and homeless encampments grow around them. Business and property owners in downtown San Jose are demanding the city take action to end vandalism, theft and increasing illegal camping they say is destroying their livelihood. And they are not mincing words — one man even calling homeless people parasites."

'We will soon see a hero before us to rid the world of these parasites who infect and destroy life and property,' Arturo Lionetti, plant manager at Airgas, wrote in an email to Councilmember Raul Peralez."

"Lionetti sent another email about an encampment near his workplace, which is on Montgomery Street. 'What a glorious day, today I looked out my office window to see a new tent erected with two homeless men occupying it. Claimed the land and settled it like the times of NewfoundLand … ‘I drive a stake in this here ground and claim it for myself,’ he wrote. 'Back — you heathens! — for the law has no jurisdiction for those who trespass on private property.'"

"A Coleman Avenue building owner said he supports social programs for the homeless and families who need help but said the city needs to fairly enforce the law. The owner, who was not part of the email thread, was granted anonymity for fear of retribution. 'I have fought with people. I have people camping at my front door. I have been accosted by some of these crazy a– people,' he said. 'We need an alternative for people that refuse any assistance. They should not be able to walk around the city and break the law.'"

"His said his truck is in the shop after someone broke into it. Another truck was stolen. He reported the crimes but said nothing came of the reports. He also complained about people who pitched tents and parked campers along Coleman. In one incident, a homeless resident brandished a gun against another homeless resident in front of his office. This was the only incident police responded to, he said."

"Prior to the pandemic, he said the city met with business owners to talk about how to best protect themselves and their employees but since the pandemic, response has been minimal. 'It’s a bad situation down there and everyone is very frustrated,' he said. 'It is illegal to occupy public places. It is illegal to do half the things that are being done and the city will not do anything about it … It’s a crying shame Silicon Valley has allowed this to happen.'"