Sternlicht Says Virus Plus Unrest Equals NYC Property Plunge
- Billionaire investor sees city at a dangerous ‘tipping point’
- New York office towers could lose 40% of value, he predicts
This article is for subscribers only.
It reads like the script for the business version of a disaster movie: office buildings lose 40% of their value, a third of hotels go bankrupt, residential rents plummet. Yet that, according to Barry Sternlicht, is the real-life future for New York real estate.
The coronavirus pandemic has left New York at a “tipping point,” Sternlicht, the billionaire founder of Starwood Capital Group, said in a Bloomberg “Front Row” interview. Having suffered the country’s worst outbreak, then watched as businesses were looted during unrest in late May, New Yorkers are re-evaluating the city’s density, run-down infrastructure and high cost of living. Some families have already left.