Real Estate companies interested in providing more economic opportunities to businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans and other under-represented groups can participate in a national “supplier diversity” program initiated by The Roundtable in coalition with allied trade associations. (Supplier Diversity's FAQ)

SupplierGATEWAY Pilot Program 

• A leading vendor management company, SupplierGATEWAY, has joined The Roundtable and six other national organizations in a pilot program that runs through the end of 2024.
  
  
• The pilot effort provides the software, database, and tracking tools to real estate companies with an interest in hiring small businesses and other entrepreneurs that have historically lacked fair and equal access to opportunities in the industry’s supply chain.
  
  
• “MWBEs”—shorthand for firms owned by minorities, women, veterans, LGBTQ+ persons, and persons with disabilities—can register with SupplierGATEWAY’s comprehensive online database.
  
  
• The database currently includes approximately one million MWBE “suppliers”— including consultants, contractors, building trades, service providers, joint venture partners, vendors and other enterprises.
  
  
• MWBE developers, lenders, and capital providers can also register to be included in the database. (Supplier Diversity's FAQ)
  
  
• Hiring companies can track their discretionary procurement spending on MWBEs by subscribing to the database, vendor-matching software, and budget analysis tools at the discounted rate of $10,000 for 12 months. SupplierGATEWAY has offered this reduced rate to members of The Roundtable and our coalition partners through the pilot’s duration.
  
  
• Participation in the program may assist real estate companies seeking to advance Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals.

Industry Coalition Launch Imminent 

• The SupplierGATEWAY pilot program is a unique industry-wide initiative of the Commercial Real Estate Diverse Supplier (CREDS) Consortium, which includes The Roundtable and six inaugural association partners.
  
  
• An announcement of the CREDS Consortium’s formal launch is imminent.

Points of Contact

• Roundtable members interested in subscribing to the SupplierGATEWAY platform should first receive a demo of the system by contacting Julian So at julian@suppliergateway.com.
  
  
• Roundtable Senior Vice President and Counsel, Duane J. Desiderio (ddesiderio@rer.org), can also provide more information. (Supplier Diversity FAQ document)  

Advancing supplier diversity goals across the CRE industry has been a priority of The Roundtable’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, chaired by Roundtable Board Member Jeff T. Blau, (CEO, Related Companies). Roundtable members and their key staff interested in joining the DEI Committee should contact Michelle Reid, Director of Membership Services (mreid@rer.org).   

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This week, commercial real estate was a prominent focus of the Federal Reserve’s quarterly senior loan officer opinion survey and announcement about the hypothetical scenarios that 23 banks will be stress-tested against in 2023. (Fed Survey, Feb. 6 and Stress Test, Feb. 9)

2022 Survey & 2023 Stress Test

• On Monday, the Fed released its January 2023 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices, which reported tighter standards and weaker demand for all commercial real estate loan categories for the fourth quarter of 2022. The survey also reported that for 2023, banks expect lending standards will tighten, demand will weaken, and loan quality will deteriorate across all loan types. (Reuters, Feb. 6 | American Banker, Feb. 7 | GlobeSt, Feb. 9)
  
  
• On Thursday, the Fed released the hypothetical scenarios for its 2023 annual stress test, which measures and evaluates the ability of large banks to continue lending to businesses and households during a recession or weakened financial conditions.
  
  
• The scenarios will include a severe global recession, heightened stress in both commercial and residential real estate markets, and a new, unspecified "exploratory market shock." The new component will not count against capital requirements affected by the tests, the Fed said. (BGov, Feb. 10)
  
  
• The Fed detailed additional key features of the “severely adverse scenario” by instructing banks, “Declines in commercial real estate prices should be assumed to be concentrated in properties most at risk of a sustained drop in income and asset values: offices that may be affected by remote work or hospitality sectors that continue to be affected by reduced business travel. Declines in U.S. house prices and U.S. commercial real estate prices should also be assumed to be representative of … those that experienced rapid price gains before the pandemic and were significantly affected by the event.” (pdf of instructions for 2023 Federal Reserve Stress Test Scenarios)

Delinquency Rate & CRE Outlook

• Trepp’s CMBS Research reported this week that that the overall US CMBS special servicing rate dropped in January 2023 six basis points to 5.11%—down for the second month in a row after four consecutive increases from August to November. By comparison, the rate one year ago was 6.33% and six months registered at 4.79%. (Trepp, Feb. 8)
  
  
• The office sector saw a 16-basis point increase in the special servicing rate in January, and it led all new special servicing transfers.
  
  
• An industry panel discussion on Feb. 6 focused on Cutting Through Uncertainty: 2023 Economic & CRE Outlook. The on-demand webinar is moderated by Roundtable Member Hessam Nadji (President & CEO, Marcus & Millichap), who leads a discussion with Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandy, along with Roundtable Members Wendy Mann (CEO, CREW Network), Tom McGee (President and CEO, ICSC) and Marc Selvitelli (President & CEO, NAIOP).

This month, The Real Estate Roundtable will release its Q1 Economic Sentiment Survey, which will report on how leading CRE executives view current market conditions and their expectations for the year.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) this week announced its 2023 Examination Priorities, which includes a focus on registered investment advisers (RIAs) who manage “private funds that hold certain hard-to-value investments…with an emphasis on commercial real estate.” (PoliticoPro, Feb. 7)  

Private Fund Adviser Disclosures

• The SEC reports that more than 5,500 RIAs manage approximately 50,000 private funds with gross assets exceeding $21 trillion. In the past five years, the gross assets of private funds have increased, with retirement funds playing a significant role. The funds are invested through a variety of strategies used by hedge funds, private equity funds, and real estate-related funds, among others. (SEC 2023 Examination Priorities, Feb. 7)
  
  
• The agency recently proposed an expanded set of disclosures by SEC-registered, private fund advisers, which could affect those that manage real estate investments. (SEC Feb. 9, 2022 News Release | Proposed Rule | Fact Sheet)
  
  
• The Real Estate Roundtable submitted comments last April on how the proposed SEC rules would increase compliance costs, decrease returns for all private fund investors and drive smaller fund sponsors away from the market. (Roundtable comments to the SEC, April 25, 2022)
  
  
• The Roundtable letter raises concerns that the SEC proposal, if finalized, could hinder real estate capital formation; harm development and improvement of real properties; and curtail essential economic activity that encourages job creation. (Roundtable Weekly, April 29, 2022)

Credit Rating Risk

• Last week, the SEC issued a separate report that identified commercial real estate credit ratings as a potential risk for consideration in assessments by nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSROs). (SEC Staff Report, Feb. 2023)
  
  
• According to the agency’s NSRO report, “After being adversely affected by COVID-19, the single borrower CMBS sector experienced an uneven recovery during the first half of 2021 as compared to the first half of 2020, with properties such as lodging and retail lagging. The (SEC) Staff identified potential risks relating to commercial real estate ratings with significant exposure to sectors negatively impacted by COVID-19, and potential non-adherence to methodologies and rating processes.”

The Roundtable’s Real Estate Capital Policy Advisory Committee (RECPAC) will continue to respond to the SEC’s various proposed regulatory initiatives and proposals affecting CRE with its industry and coalition partners. 

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Nelson C. Rising, a trailblazing real estate industry leader who served as chairman of The Real Estate Roundtable (2000 to 2003), and cofounder and chairman of Rising Realty Partners, passed away yesterday. (Los Angeles Times and BusinessWire, Feb. 10)

Private and Public Sector Leader

• “Always a gentleman, Nelson Rising chaired The Real Estate Roundtable for three years,” said Jeffrey DeBoer, Roundtable President and CEO. “Nelson emphasized an issue advocacy system built around solid research, positive approaches to issues and an overall focus on the substantial economic and social benefits that strong real estate markets provide to job creation, healthy communities, and a growing national economy.”
  
  
• DeBoer added, “His strategic policy acumen was especially valuable following 9-11 when Nelson was a key leader in the establishment of a national terrorism insurance program. This hugely important work allowed a stalled real estate capital market to reopen. The Roundtable was honored to have his compassionate friendship and his inspirational leadership. We already miss him deeply and will remember him always.“
  
  
• Mr. Rising was an accomplished developer who built iconic projects in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Mission Bay, the largest mixed-used development in San Francisco history. (CREConnect, Feb. 10)
  
  
• “Some of the biggest buildings in America are standing today because Nelson had a hand in it,” said John Cushman, Chairman, Global Transactions at Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., and a friend of Mr. Rising for over 40 years. “We worked together to bring Downtown LA the Library Tower, Gas Company Tower, Wells Fargo Center, and numerous other projects in California and across the country. He could take confusion and chaos and translate it into common sense and bring people back to the table who were yelling. He was a genius in terms of dealing with people,” added Cushman, who is also a member of The Real Estate Roundtable. (Los Angeles Times and BusinessWire, Feb. 10)
  
  
• Mr. Rising served as Chairman Emeritus of Rising Realty Partners, an environmentally conscious real estate investment and operating company headquartered in Los Angeles. The company owns or manages more than 5 million square feet in buildings in California, Colorado, Nevada, Missouri, and Texas.
  
  
• Previously, he served as President & CEO of MPG Office Trust, Inc., the owner of over half of the institution-quality office space in downtown Los Angeles. From 1994-2005, Mr. Rising served as Chief Executive Officer of Catellus Development Corporation. During his tenure, he oversaw the company’s successful evolution from a railroad land company to a diversified development company and a real estate investment trust. (Rising Realty Partners)
  
  
• Mr. Rising was also widely known for his influential role in advising elected officials at all levels of government. He is credited with managing the successful mayoral campaigns of the late Tom Bradley, who served for twenty years as Mayor of Los Angeles. Mr. Rising also chaired campaigns for California Governor and U.S. Senate. He also served as a former chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Mr. Rising received a B.A. with honors in Economics from UCLA on a football scholarship and earned a Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law, where he served as Managing Editor of the UCLA Law Review. He practiced law at O’Melveny & Myers prior to entering the real estate industry.

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