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ICSC and other commercial real estate associations continue to sound the call for modifications to the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP) and other assistance to help CRE during this time of unprecedented economic challenges.
Hearings are scheduled next week in the relevant committees of the House and Senate with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. ICSC is working with members of these committees in advance of the hearings to educate them about the current state of the retail real estate industry and make sure our concerns are considered.
During a hearing earlier this month in the Senate Banking Committee, Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) said that one goal for the session was to examine the impact of the MSLP and concerns that the hard-hit commercial real estate industry is not able to access many of the current loan facilities. ICSC’s President and CEO, Tom McGee, in a written statement, advocated for more relief for commercial real estate via legislation such as the Small Business Comeback Act, the RESTART Act, and the HOPE Act, while also urging policymakers to create a federal liquidity facility.
“Congress should allocate unused Title IV CARES Act funds and direct the Federal Reserve and Treasury to create a preferred equity program for CRE borrowers, either as part of MSLP or as a separate facility. We believe a temporary liquidity bridge to combat the current market distortion in certain CRE sectors is critical. To this end, we support the program established by H.R. 7809, Helping Open Properties Endeavor (HOPE) Act or a similar model,” McGee wrote.
ICSC’s statement specifically requested that the Treasury and the Federal Reserve expand the eligibility standards for the MSLP, removing the limitation placed on commercial rental real estate businesses due to the misguided use of the SBA 7(a) loan eligibility standards, as well as modifying the EBITDA underwriting metrics.
At that hearing, Jeffrey D. DeBoer (President and CEO, The Real Estate Roundtable) testified on behalf of the commercial real estate industry as a whole. He called upon the panel to make the eligibility and metrics of MSLP underwriting work so that the program could be accessed and utilized by businesses that desperately need Main Street assistance – such as manufacturing, retail, restaurants, real estate owners and other asset-based borrowers.
For more information, contact gpp@icsc.com.