WeWork's Move To Dump Leases Will Impact $1.8B In CMBS Loans
The 69 leases that WeWork wants to get out of as part of its Chapter 11 reorganization are tied to $1.85B in CMBS loans, Commercial Observer reports, citing KBRA Analytics.
More than 70% of the loans are associated with properties in New York City, but there are also concentrations in Atlanta, Los Angeles and San Francisco, CO reported. The largest loan among the WeWork-impacted group is $785M associated with One SoHo Square at 233 Spring St. in Manhattan.
Replacement tenants might be hard to find, even for loans with maturity dates well in the future, because of lackluster demand in the office market. Another issue is that WeWork space would only be easily suitable for other coworking companies and in need of renovation if other tenants show an interest, according to KBRA.
The abandonment of these leases could represent the tip of the iceberg, as WeWork could seek to exit more leases in its efforts to right its balance sheet. CMBS loans totaling $8.2B have exposure to WeWork, according to Trepp. More than 21% of the loans are already delinquent.
Whatever the final total, the abandonment of WeWork leases would put additional pressure on the already-beleaguered CMBS market. Nearly 89% of CMBS loans associated with office properties defaulted at their maturity in September, while only about 11% were paid off during the month, Moody's Analytics reported in late October.
Defaulting office loans in September totaled $672M, the highest dollar total and percentage of office defaults in a single month this year, according to Moody's.
