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Commercial landlords in the Portland-metro area are enduring the ongoing shutdowns along with their tenants, but also pointing to reasons for optimism.

Different commercial real estate sectors have been affected by varying degrees. Retailers have experienced tremendous stress because of pandemic-driven closures; some have worked with building owners to have portions of their rent delayed or forgiven. Other sectors, such as grocery, have seen little negative impact.

Restaurants have been hit particularly hard by losses of sit-in dining and alcohol revenues.

鈥淚t’s the restaurants and bars that are the lion’s share of the impact,鈥� said Tom DiChiara, principal at Cairn Pacific, a developer that has invested heavily in Northwest Portland’s Slabtown neighborhood.

Some restaurants were immediately in a dire financial situation when stay-at-home orders were given, DiChiara said. That may impact how Cairn Pacific chooses tenants for its buildings in the future, he added.

鈥淪ome of that was surprising and warrants further study as far as the financials of tenants,鈥� he said.

Beam Development also has a substantial tenant portfolio of local restaurants and shops such as Bunk Sandwiches and Water Avenue Coffee. Some of those tenants have kept money flowing in with 鈥渇airly robust鈥� to-go service, Beam Development principal Jonathan Malsin said.

鈥淧ublic-facing businesses continue to be at least initially the hardest hit,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t hasn’t been some kind of catastrophic fall-off in collections. But businesses that are suffering, we’re working with them and helping to maintain occupancy.鈥�

Cairn Pacific has reduced or deferred rents to keep commercial tenants in place. But such concessions can’t be extended indefinitely, DiChiara said.

鈥淲e’re working with them where we can,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut there’s going to be a limit. There’s going to be a limit at some point.鈥�

Additional economic ramifications are expected to materialize as the coronavirus crisis drags on, Malsin said.

鈥淚t’ll start affecting all businesses, but a lot of those office types of businesses that are not publicly facing may be hit later,鈥� he said.

JLL recently released a study of how Portland’s commercial real estate sector performed in past recessions. The overall takeaway was positive, particularly for office.

鈥淲hat we did tend to, in terms of rents, was bottom out faster than the national average, and we tended to rebound faster than the national average,鈥� said Tim Harrison, research manager at JLL in Portland.

Coming out of past recessions, Portland experienced strong population growth from young people moving for employment.

鈥淚 don’t think there’s a reason to think the same thing isn’t going to happen again,鈥� Harrison said. 鈥淚 can certainly see another wave of in-migration coming our way.鈥�

Most of Beam’s tenants have relatively small footprints. That’s proven a boon in past recessions, Malsin said.

鈥淗aving a rent roll with a lot of smaller tenants is not a bad way to get through a recession,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f a 1,500-square-foot tenant doesn’t make it in the middle of a recession, it’s easier for us to pivot and re-rent at a lower cost,鈥� he said.

Commercial rent collections have remained strong for Menashe Properties, CEO and principal Jordan Menashe said.

鈥淚t’s a mixed bag, but collections for April and May were 97 or 98 (percent),鈥� he said. 鈥淛une, as of (Monday) morning, is looking good.鈥�

Nevertheless, Portland now is being affected by both the pandemic and the upheaval of nationwide protests.

鈥淥ur community has taken a one-two blow, but my gut tells me that we’ll get through the other side of this,鈥� Menashe said. 鈥淢y positivity radar has gone up.鈥�

But the extent of the downturn remains to be seen, DiChiara said.

鈥淚t depends on how long things play out,鈥� he said. 鈥淛une is still a little too early to see. We have engaged with our tenants and have plans with them that will get us through the summer months.鈥�

Multnomah County will be the last jurisdiction in Oregon to apply for Phase 1 reopening procedures. County officials have said the target to begin the first phase is June 12.