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The pessimism from investors who bet on office buildings and mass transit can be seen in market signals that are flashing red.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Not entirely sure the Chicago suburbs will benefit much from this. The suburban office market right now is like that submarine stuck down by the Titanic. There’s not much hope in either places.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/commercial-real-estate/owner-throwing-towel-rolling-meadows-office-building
Democrat mismanaged cities are collapsing under the weight of their own left wing horse-shit
Banks are going to be the biggest loser as they hold the mortgage on worthless properties.
And of course congestion pricing and a head tax won’t do much good if people are working from home. And a city income tax would only affect city residents. Gentlemen, start your engines (of your moving vans.)
Democrat run downtowns perhaps?
Don’t think party affiliation of politicians who run cities is driving people to remote work. Covid, and a tight jobs market, has given many workers power they didn’t have just 3 years ago and remote work is now an important perk for someone looking for a job. Even people who live and work in the suburbs love remote work.
Its more than just remote work, it is people avoiding downtown at all costs. I frequently hear from suburbanites who joke that they haven’t been into Chicago in 3 years and have no intention of ever returning – not for plays, theater, shopping, dining, hotels, errands, doctors appointments, medical care, and so on. I’m talking just over the border here, not even downtown. In fact, it seems like the suburbs are benefiting from this the surrounding suburbs seem busier than ever, at least the north, northwest suburbs.
Yes, REIT investors inform that crime in downtowns is a factor – as well as the trend to remote work.