As we progress into summer we are getting a clearer picture ofthe impacts to the real estate markets surrounding theunprecedented events of COVID-19. I previously wrote that propertymanagers need to be prepared with re-entry plans as statesbegin loosening restrictions and prepare for the next normal. Butit's worth looking at what transpired over the past two months toensure that we can maximize the learnings from COVID-19 should wefind ourselves in a similar situation in the future.

According to new data from JLL Property Management, swaths oftenants from varying sectors are actively looking for ways to manage their realestate expenditures. Data show that such requests peaked the weekof April 3 as the pandemic unfolded, and have tapered off throughthe beginning of May. The report looks at data from across the U.S.from the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic through May 11,2020. The review covered a subset of JLL's office and non-officeproperty management portfolio including 620 properties and morethan 8,500 tenants. It's clear that while some sectors were hitharder, no one has been immune from the impacts of this incrediblyfast paced market shift. The volume of rent relief and abatementrequests show how state- mandated closures and stay-at-home ordershave put increased pressure on how companies across the spectrumview their real estate costs.

Rent relief requests – a request for rent reduction in variousforms that were not abatement or deferment – and general inquiriesaccounted for about 28 percent of the activity. More importantly,the rapid shift in economic conditions has resulted in 34 percentof tenants asking for direct rent abatement, with another 28.5percent seeking a deferment from paying until conditionsnormalize.