Scattershot Reopening Policies Are Expediting The Restaurant Industry's Collapse

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has voted to extend the county's residential and commercial eviction moratorium and rent freeze through Sept. 30. The moratorium was slated to end at the end of this month. 

This is the third time the board has extended the eviction moratorium since the coronavirus pandemic began. With Los Angeles unemployment near 20% and most business remaining closed or with limited operating hours, the board unanimously supported the extension.…

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As small-business owners across the country struggle to stay afloat, Americans are increasingly looking locally to see how they can save and protect the shops and restaurants that tie their communities together. To reinvigorate business infrastructure during an unprecedented pandemic,…

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In Case You Missed It...

In this series, Make Yourself At Home, we are hearing from members of the commercial real estate industry about how they are managing this new reality and gaining insight into their day-to-day approaches. You can subscribe on iTunes and Spotify.

In this episode, we hear from Bobby Turner, the CEO of Turner Impact Capital. The social impact firm has more than $3B in investment potential, which it is aiming to use to address some of the country's biggest problems through real estate.  Turner is speaking here about how the company has…

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Discussions are underway in Washington, D.C., among lawmakers to create a new federal stimulus package that will offer continued financial support for Americans still reeling from the economic disruption of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act is poised to expire on July 31, ending a variety of stimulus initiatives, including higher unemployment pay and a moratorium on evictions at properties with a federally backed mortgage.

Among the possible features of a new stimulus package is a proposal to extend the eviction moratorium for 12 months, a prospect that has developers concerned about the ability to finance and deliver future affordable housing at a time of pressing need.

“If investors lose money and get burned, they're not going to come back,” Slate Property Group principal David Schwartz told Bisnow.

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When the Hôtel Monville in Montreal opened in 2018, it was one of the first hotels in Canada that offered a truly contactless visitor experience.

Guests at the 269-room hotel could check in via the hotel's app or website or at any of the four check-in kiosks in the lobby of the hotel. If a guest forgot a toothbrush, wanted an extra towel or ordered room service, a 3-foot-tall robot would deliver the item straight to their room.

"From the moment you walk into the hotel, we offer a full contactless experience," Hôtel Monville Director of Sales and Marketing Jean-Cédric Callies said. "Guests loved that they could check in [in] 30 to 45 seconds and go straight to their room and get items without interacting with anyone."

In the midst of the coronavirus, reviewers have praised the contactless experience they've encountered at the hotel, Callies said. Hôtel Monville is one of several hoteliers looking into the further use of robots as a way to bring gun-shy visitors back to their hotels.

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Office building management has never gotten more attention than it has during the last four months, with issues from touchless access to elevator capacity to HVAC systems suddenly becoming hot topics.

But now that office owners have taken the initial steps to prepare their buildings for reopening, they are finding the return to work is happening much more slowly than they anticipated. Five major office market stakeholders, speaking this week on Bisnow's Reopening the Nation's Workplaces webinar, said they are now focusing less on preparing their properties for people and more on helping their employees feel comfortable coming back to the office. 

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