Dealmakers Rush to Sign Deals, While They Still Can
Real estate partner, Yariv Ben-Ari was quoted in the Commercial Observer discussing the lengths people in the real estate community in New York City are going to keep transactions moving forward. Yariv told the Commercial Observer, “People are being very creative when they find the willingness to close,” going on to describe how for one of his refinancings his client rode a scooter 60 blocks to meet Yariv in his apartment building's lobby to sign and notarize documents -- at an appropriate and safe social distance -- enabling the sizable commercial transaction to close a few days later.
Yariv went on to discuss that while not all deals are able to close, he’s been "moving forward on several refinancings for multifamily and hotel properties, and while lenders are being more conservative, they’re also being cooperative." He added that, “[w]e’re seeing that lenders are recognizing that these are short-term challenges. We’re exploring ways to address that with cash flows and reserves to make sure the owners can ramp up again, lenders don’t have to worry about defaults in the short term.”