
WeWork hit by rise in unpaid rent - chewz
https://www.ft.com/content/78dbfb03-f47d-41f3-9bf6-6696e5ef626b
======
chewz
> Thousands of tenant companies halt payments or try to break leases as
> coronavirus empties offices

> The company has been overwhelmed by the volume of calls and emails from
> businesses big and small that have moved to preserve their own cash as the
> coronavirus pandemic brings economic activity to a standstill, according to
> people involved in the matter.

> The group’s occupancy rate fell to roughly 64 per cent at the start of
> April, down from 79 per cent at the end of September. One person cautioned
> that the drop did not yet account for the full economic fallout of the
> crisis and the surge of cancellations the company was still girded for.

> WeWork has offered rent holidays to keep some clients and renegotiated
> monthly terms for others in an effort to retain as many of its more than
> 662,000 members as possible.

> However, many companies have decided against negotiating with WeWork and
> have either removed their credit card information from its payment system or
> declined to wire rent for the month, one of the people added, with lost
> income running into millions of dollars at least.

> Royal Caribbean, the cruise ship operator, was among the companies in recent
> days to notify WeWork that it would stop paying rent for the space it leases
> in Miami. The group, which suspended its global fleet in March, told the
> Financial Times on Monday that it was taking “decisive actions to protect
> the company’s financial and liquidity positions”.

> One employee said the company had taken its time to process termination
> requests and was attempting to “fight for every penny” as customers sought
> to cancel their leases.

> “Adam sold us on changing the world,” the employee said. “Sandeep has turned
> us into collection agents.”

