Uncertainty surrounding the future of WeWork Inc., the office-space company reeling from a management shuffle and real estate problems, will pressure the commercial mortgage-backed securities market, with New York being particularly exposed, strategists for Barclays Plc write.
The co-working office company says there’s “substantial doubt” it will even be able to stay in business, as it bleeds cash while customers of its office rentals cancel their memberships in droves, according to a statement Tuesday. WeWork said it intends to take several measures to alleviate risk, including reducing rent and tenancy expenses by restructuring and negotiating more favorable lease terms.
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In a June report, the bank highlighted about $7.5 billion in CMBS loan exposure to WeWork as a tenant, with 38% of that total in New York City. “Given the current weak fundamentals of the office market in New York, we believe these locations might be at particular risk of closure due to over-concentration,” Barclays strategists Lea Overby and Anuj Jain wrote Wednesday.
“Lease negotiations and terminations could have negative effects on properties where WeWork is a tenant,” they wrote. In addition, a potential bankruptcy filing would substantially increase the risk to property cash flows, as leases can be rejected in a bankruptcy, according to the note.
Since 2019, the company has already amended over 590 leases for a combination of partial terminations to reduce its lease space, rent reductions and rent deferrals, offsets for tenant improvement allowances, and other strategic changes, they said.
