- Business Travel Resumes, Hesitantly “The expanded Javits Convention Center, New York City’s main convention hall, reopened on Sunday and had a number of big events on its schedule for the rest of the year, including the New York International Auto Show. Then last week, as Covid-19 cases rose, the auto show’s organizers canceled it, though the center said it was keeping other events on its books. San Diego’s convention center, which reopened last week, is still expecting a series of shows this fall. (On the calendar for Thanksgiving weekend: a “special edition” of Comic-Con.)” (The New York Times)
- American National Group To Be Sold to Brookfield Reinsurance Arm “Assuming the deal is completed, American National will be wholly owned by Brookfield Asset Management Reinsurance Partners Ltd. which spun out of the Canadian investment giant in June to become a publicly traded entity. (It is still affiliated with Brookfield Asset Management.) Brookfield said it plans to keep American National’s headquarters in Galveston, Texas, and maintain its operational hubs around the country. American National, which has just under $30 billion in assets, provides life insurance and annuities as well as health, property and casualty and credit insurance and pension products.” (The Wall Street Journal)
- Regional Banks Are Reporting Strong Earnings, Except with Real Estate Lending “National banks along with the regional and community banks, are facing a totally different problem. They have too much money and not enough borrowers.” (The Real Deal)
- Texas Firm Hines Raises $625 Million for U.S. Real Estate Bets “Real estate investment firm Hines has raised $625 million for a new fund dedicated to snapping up properties within the U.S.” (Bloomberg)
- Lumber Prices Plummet All the Way Back to 2018 Levels “This spring lumber prices went on a historic run—shooting up over 300%—but that's all over now. Last week marked the 10th consecutive drop in wood prices. Not only are the gains completely wiped out, we're all the way back to 2018 levels. Last week, the "cash" market price fell to $472 per thousand board feet, according to data provided to Fortune by Fastmarkets Random Lengths, an industry trade publication.” (Fortune)
- Return-to-Office Plans: When Companies Are Planning to Go Back “It’s the grand parlor game of the commercial real estate industry and the wider business world: Which companies are going back to the office and when? Below is a running tab, in alphabetical order, on companies’ return-to-office plans, or lack thereof, based on information from the firms, previous Commercial Observer reporting, or reporting in other media outlets.” (Commercial Observer)
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