Morocco Central Bank Raises Benchmark Interest Rate To Subdue Inflation

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Inflation in Morocco is expected to reach 6.6 percent this year, according to Reuters. The Bank Al-Maghrib (“BAM”), Morocco’s central bank, raised its benchmark interest rate today by 50 basis points to 2.5 percent in an effort to control inflation, according to the report. Today’s rate hike is the second this year. In September, BAM raised its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to two percent—the first rate hike in 14 years, according to Morocco World News.

Prior to the pandemic, tourism contributed about seven percent to Morocco’s GDP, according to the OECD. The Arab Weekly, quoting the Ministry of Tourism, reports that the number of tourists arriving in Morocco fell by 79 percent in 2021 and 71 percent in 2020, compared to 2019. In November, the Moroccan government announced that the North African nation’s tourism recovery rate had reached 80 percent at the end of October 2022. On December 12, Hilton Worldwide announced the opening of the 120-room Conrad Rabat Arzana—the first Conrad brand in Morocco and Hilton’s sixth property in the country.

Surging Housing Prices in Turkey

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Hyperinflation in Turkey coupled with the central bank’s decision to slash interest rates to nine percent has led to soaring property prices. Domestic demand for real estate has increased as investors seek to shelter their savings from staggering inflation. Additionally, the weakening Lira has led to an increase in home sales to foreign investors with assets in relatively stronger currencies. Foreign investment in the Turkish housing market increased by 20.4 percent between January and November, compared to the same period last year, according to the Associated Press (citing data from the State Statistical Institute).

More than two-thirds of people in Turkey are struggling to pay their rent, according to Turkish Minute (citing the results of a poll conducted by Aksoy Research Company).

Black Friday Retail Foot Traffic Lags Pre-Pandemic Levels

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The average amount of inventory held by the 20 biggest U.S. public apparel companies was up by 26 percent compared with the 2019 (pre-pandemic) level, according to Insider Intelligence (citing analysis from AlixPartners).

On Black Friday, indoor mall foot traffic was down by 14.2 percent when compared with the last pre-pandemic holiday season, according to the report (citing data from Placer.ai). Foot traffic at outlet malls declined by 17.8 percent and open-air lifestyle centers saw an 11.7 percent decline, according to the report.

Virginia High Court Elaborates on VFOIA’s “Personnel Information” Exemption

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In a recent decision, the Supreme Court of Virginia held that “personnel information” for purposes of Va. Code § 2.2-3705.1(1) (a section of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (“VFOIA”)) means “data, facts, or statements within a public record relating to a specific government employee, which are in the possession of the entity solely because of the individual’s employment relationship with the entity, and are private, but for the individual’s employment with the entity.”

The court stated that absent statutory guidance on what is private, “we will not legislate from the bench regarding which specific pieces of information are private” and instead will “look to an objective test, and hold that data, facts, and statements are private if their disclosure would constitute an ‘unwarranted invasion of personal privacy’ to a reasonable person under the circumstances.” The court added that “the precise contours of what content qualifies as private are neither rigid nor precise and require determination in the context of each case” [some internal citations and quotations omitted].

Inflation Outpaces Salary Increases in Argentina

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Fortune reports (citing Argentine government data) that overall paychecks increased by 78 percent in September from a year ago, whereas the annual inflation rate was 83 percent. During the same month (September 2022), 90 percent of Buenos Aires recorded a drop in the sale price of real property, according to MercoPress (citing a survey from Ámbito). Since 2019, property prices have fallen by 20.1 percent, according to the MercoPress report (citing research from Zonaprop).

DC Leads in Adaptive Reuse

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Adaptive reuse is the process of taking an existing structure and adapting it for a new use. During 2020-2021, DC opened a total of 1,565 apartments by adaptive reuse, surpassing all other cities and accounting for 5.6 percent of the total adaptive reuse projects in the U.S., according to RentCafe.com (citing research and data from Yardi Matrix). DC also leads in office-to-apartment conversions with 1,147 apartment units delivered from former office spaces between 2020 and 2021, according to the report.

FOX 5 reports that Bernstein Management Corporation, Placemakr, and Urban Atlantic are partnering to convert the office building located at 1735 K Street NW into a 12-story apartment/hotel hybrid with ground-level retail. The building’s current tenant, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), intends to relocate to 1700 K Street NW, according to the report.

The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Washington, DC is $2,422 and has increased by three percent in the past year, according to Rent Group Inc.

DC Court’s New E-File System Reduces Public Access to Court Filings

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As of October 31, 2022, DC Superior Court has a new e-filing system. The public search portal of the previous system (CaseFileXpress) permitted the general public access to case filings in the Civil Division. The public search portal for the new system (eFileDC) provides access to the titles/summaries of the Civil Division case filings, but not the actual filings. It is hoped that in the next update, public access to Civil Division case filings will be restored.

A Frail Office Sector

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JLL reports additional office occupancy losses in Q3-2022 with 11.4 million square feet of negative net absorption, bringing the year-to-date occupancy loss to 24.7 million square feet. According to the report, a vast majority of downsizing companies are relocating into higher-end (“trophy”) office space while adjusting their footprints, creating 1.7 million square feet of positive net absorption in trophy space despite the overall occupancy loss. More than 90 percent of new sublease space added to the market in Q3-2022 was in buildings that were developed before 2015, according to JLL.

Australian CRE Market – Q3-2022

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Deal flow in Australia’s commercial property market fell by 24 per cent year-over-year to $16.4 billion, according to The Australian Financial Review. Third quarter office building investments dropped by 10 percent from a year ago to $7.9 billion and in the retail sector, deal volume fell by 41 percent in the third quarter to $2.9 billion, according to the report.

Metro’s Silver Line Extension To Open on November 15

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The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) announced yesterday that rail service to Washington Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County will commence on November 15. The Silver Line Extension includes a new rail maintenance and service yard (the largest in the Metro system) that is located on 90 acres of airport property and employs approximately 450 people, according to the press release.