The economic fallout related to COVID-19 continues to evolve. NAIOP is on the front lines working to protect your business during these tenuous times. Please share any best practices or innovative ideas related to COVID-19 with suzanne@naiopaz.org.

Governor Ducey Meeting

On Wednesday, our Chapter President and CEO, Suzanne Kinney, along with a small number of NAIOP members met directly with Governor Doug Ducey to discuss strategies to mitigate the economic damage to our industry caused by COVID-19. Tenants requesting rent deferrals was a major topic of this conversation. We discussed how NAIOP members are working tirelessly to make arrangements with the tenants that have been hit the hardest by COVID-19. Our members are also working with banks and other lenders to assure they can continue to service debt on their buildings during this difficult time.
If you have any stories to share about how you are working with tenants, please send them to suzanne@naiopaz.org.

1031 Exchanges

NAIOP is working to extend the deadlines to complete 1031 exchange transactions. We’ve heard from our members that, due to travel restrictions and office closures, it has become nearly impossible to complete 1031 transactions within the current timeframes. Fortunately, there is a relatively simple solution. IRS Revenue Procedure 2018-58 allows extensions to 1031 deadlines in cases of federally declared disasters, but only if the IRS releases an IRS News Release or other guideline authorizing the Revenue Procedure to go into effect. We believe that the deadlines to identify replacement property and complete like-kind exchanges should be extended to the latter of 120 days or to the last day of the general disaster.
On Monday, NAIOP Corporate signed on to a joint letter to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin requesting the extension. The letter can be found the Legislative Action page on our local chapter’s website. NAIOP Arizona is working with our US Senators and other trade associations to get the message delivered and ensure timely action on this issue.

Federal Economic Stimulus Package

The latest version of federal legislation to rescue the economy is expected to take the following actions important to the commercial real estate industry:

  • Provides a technical correction to the Qualified Improvement Property (QIP) depreciation drafting error from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that resulted in a 39-year depreciation period for QIP, rather than making it eligible for immediate expensing. This correction is a top NAIOP federal priority and its inclusion is a result of our efforts over the last two years.
  • Allows 5-year carryback of net operating losses (NOL) for non-REIT businesses for 2018, 2019 and 2020.
  • Increases the limitation on deductible business interest from 30% to 50% of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization) for 2019 and 2020.
  • Excludes from income the cancellation of debt related to new, emergency small business loans.
  • Provides small businesses, many of whom are your tenants, with $367 billion in loan assistance so they can keep employees on payrolls and continue paying obligations. This should be of great assistance for our tenants to keep paying rent.
If you would like to discuss legislative issues, please contact our President and CEO, Suzanne Kinney at (602) 451-9326 or Suzanne@naiopaz.org.

Visit the NAIOP Response: COVID-19 page for critical resources and knowledge to support you now and visit our page Take Action.