Sean Armstrong joins Richard Green to discuss highlights from his career, his views on acquiring distressed debt, and how COVID could impact the industry. Though the K-shaped recovery will likely be a general trend going forward, Armstrong sees the recovery playing out in very focused markets with multiple intersecting factors including region, product type, COVID progress, and consumer behavior. Green asks questions about Armstrong’s process on looking for opportunities, where he has made mistakes in the past, and what options remain for regional malls in decline.

Record date 10/8/20

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Richard Green (Director, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate) is joined by Michael Lens (Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs), Michael Manville (Associate Professor of Urban Planning, UCLA Luskin), and Paavo Monkkonen (Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy, UCLA Luskin) to discuss their joint study on renter distress during the COVID-19 crisis. Among its many findings, the study illustrates that though many households are making rent payments, tenants may be using other means of credit or cutting basic needs spending to do so.

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Roy March discusses the ins and outs of Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities with Richard Green. Starting with the history of how CMBS was born out of the Savings and Loan Crisis in the late 1980s and how it gained ground after the 2008 crisis by providing much-needed liquidity, the conversation covers a wide range of the market. March offers insights and observations on how a global aging population focused on long-term saving impacts interest rates, how valuation and refinancing is changing since COVID-19, and what changes have been made in governance to provide more flexibility on loan terms. March also takes a moment to address the shortcomings of the homelessness and housing crisis, particularly in Southern California.

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