Real Estate Responds to New CDC Mask Guidelines
US President Joe Biden takes off his mask before speaking about updated CDC mask guidelines. (Getty)
Aliza Bixon had insisted that clients wear masks when training in her Pilates studio in Miami Beach. Before the vaccination, they had preferred to remain masked, but it got a bit annoying during strenuous training sessions.
Within hours after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fully vaccinated people could do without face covering, she scrapped her client mask rule.
“You come back to the studio for joy and say, ‘I’m so excited. I can breathe without a mask, ”said Bixon.
Businesses across the country, not to mention their landlords, are also breathing easier after the CDC’s announcement Thursday, which could also inspire more Americans to get vaccinated.
But Bixon, co-owner of the boutique studio at 712 West 51st Street, echoed other business owners, saying she wouldn’t check vaccination cards.
“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have the vaccine,” she said. “People proudly announced it when they walked through the doors.”
When the CDC issued its guidelines, about 35 percent of Floridians were fully vaccinated. For New Yorkers it was 42 percent, for Californians 37 percent and for all Americans 36 percent.
The CDC guidelines are advisory; States may or may not obey it in setting Covid regulations. But it gave commercial landlords hope that life – and rental collection – would soon return to normal. Some of their tenants have been partially occupied for over a year and have not paid the full rent.
“What is good for the retailer and the restaurateur is good for the landlord,” said Peter Ripka, co-founder of broker RIPCO Real Estate.
In downtown Fort Lauderdale, tenants of the 11-story Museum Plaza office building received an email Thursday night from the association asking them to take off their masks, said Keith Poliakoff, whose Government Law Group has an office there.
“You are likely the first massive office building to have made such a decision,” Poliakoff said.
The Museum Plaza has put up signs on the entire property that illustrate the relaxation of the mask mandate. This only applies to fully vaccinated tenants and visitors. But like Bixon, it relies on the honor system and doesn’t check vaccination cards.
Poliakoff said he saw no potential liability for businesses and landlords when people get sick.
“As long as they publish their protocol and make it clear that anyone who has not been vaccinated must still wear a mask, that person takes their risk,” he said.
These people can infect people who have been vaccinated, but the vaccines are very protective. Only about 1 in 10,000 Americans vaccinated has tested positive for Covid since then, and those who did have almost always had minor or nonexistent symptoms. In clinical trials, not a single recipient of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was hospitalized or died of Covid.
California plans to lift its mask mandate on June 15th. From that point on, companies can do the same. The California Retailers Association told The Real Deal that its members “will look at it from their own perspective and make their own decision.”
“It’s difficult – you have the problem proving that everyone is vaccinated,” said Rachel Michelin, president of the trade group. “We will wait for the official guidance from the Ministry of Health.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had already ended Covid emergency restrictions on all locations in Florida on May 3, but companies can still impose their own mask mandates.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he will review CDC guidelines before making changes to state policy requiring masks in public when social distancing is not an option. Cuomo had previously announced that most capacity restrictions will end on May 19th.
Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, described the CDC guidelines as “excellent” news for bars and restaurants, although he noted that it will only matter if the state acts.
“It is more justified to further remove restrictions on restaurants and nightlife so that these businesses, which are vital to the social and economic fabric of the city, can open up further, welcome customers back and help the Big Apple itself to recover, “Rigie said in a statement.
Where the restrictions are lifted, some retailers have already seized the opportunity.
Publix, one of the largest Florida grocery chains, lifted mask requirements for fully vaccinated staff and shoppers on Friday night, except in other mandated states. The Lakeland-based supermarket said in a statement that it continues to need masks for those who have not received both doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines (Johnson & Johnson’s is a one-shot) but has not clarified whether or not to verify vaccination cards become.
California-based trader Joe’s isn’t waiting either. It was one of the first major grocery stores to lift mask mandates after the CDC issued its recommendation.
Retail landlord Miami Manager, who owns five malls in South Florida, no longer needs masks in public areas such as parking lots and hallways, but is letting its retail tenants rule their stores.
“We expect people who have not been vaccinated to wear a mask for their own safety,” said Milton Mekler, chief operating officer.
Optimism in the office
Landlords also believe the CDC’s announcement will encourage employees to return to the office, potentially ending the trend of subletting and consolidation that is threatening their bottom line.
“The CDC’s new guidance will send a strong message to all businesses and their employees that a full return to the office and other indoor spaces can be achieved safely and effectively,” said James Whelan, president of the New York Real Estate Board, in a Explanation.
Eric Meyer, director of New York landlord Meyer Equities, repeated Whelan’s words.
“Anything that makes people feel like they are coming to work is positive for the rental business,” he said. “If the CDC says it’s safe and people are on the same page with it, it sure helps.”
Some companies have already announced their return to the office, in some cases as early as next month. Among them are Blackstone, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
Despite the lifting of capacity restrictions and the new mask management, not everything is back to normal for landlords. State and local eviction moratoriums remain in effect. In New York, for example, apartment tenants and companies with 50 or fewer employees who claim Covid hardship cannot be forced to non-pay until September.
“Anything that brings us closer to normal is great,” said Alex Mehran, vice president of Mehran Property Management, which operates 200,000 square feet of retail and office space in New York.
“But it’s still not great for landlords,” he said. “As long as you don’t allow landlords to enforce the contracts they’re on, the real estate business won’t return to normal.”