Brookfield Property Partners Lost $2B Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
By Nicholas Rizzi February 2, 2021 4:25 pm
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Brookfield Property Partners, one of North America’s largest commercial landlords, lost $2 billion last year as the coronavirus pandemic emptied offices around the country, the company announced Tuesday.
The real estate investment trust (REIT) — which owns properties like One Manhattan West and Brookfield Place in New York City — had profits of $3.16 billion in 2019 and blamed 2020’s billions in losses on “unrealized reductions of values of certain assets.”
Overall, Brookfield’s funds for operations dropped from $1.35 billion in 2019 to $815 million in 2020, according to the company.
On the office front, its funds from operations declined from $662 million in 2019 to $540 million last year, while occupancy dropped by 90 basis points to 89.8 percent.
Brookfield’s retail side took a bigger hit with its funds for operation falling from $772 million in 2019 to $550 million in 2020. Occupancy in its retail portfolio also dropped by 90 basis points to 92.5 percent.
“Our office operations have continued to perform well, and we were pleased by the resilience of our retail portfolio leading up to and through the holiday shopping season,” Brian Kingston, Brookfield’s CEO, said in a statement.
Landlords have struggled during the pandemic as workers stayed at home to stop the spread of the disease, while retailers were forced to shutter for several months. Owners have been fighting with tenants, sometimes in court, over rents, while dozens of brands filed for bankruptcy.
In September, Brookfield’s retail arm laid off 20 percent of its workforce in both its corporate headquarters and leasing team across the country, CNBC reported.
And, last month, Bloomberg reported that Brookfield’s parent, Brookfield Asset Management, was in talks to buy back the stocks it doesn’t already own for a total of $5.9 billion to take the company private.
