Office Landlords Beating Vacancy Still Miss Loan Payments

New wire reporting points to a shift in what is breaking office landlords: it is no longer just empty floors. One report finds that occupancy gains are failing to rescue properties from DSCR stress — a measure of whether rental income covers loan payments — because higher refinancing rates are eating into coverage even when buildings are full. A separate item names a New York City office REIT that disclosed going-concern doubt tied to $249 million in debt. The pattern is uneven across the office sector. Medical-office buildings are reportedly pulling ahead of general office space, which has stalled, suggesting tenant type now matters as much as location. Landlords who leased space years ago at low fixed rates are hitting maturity walls just as refinancing costs have jumped, squeezing the coverage ratios lenders require regardless of how full a building is. What remains unclear is how widespread the DSCR failures are beyond the cases named in the reporting, and whether lenders will extend or restructure loans rather than force sales. The $249 million disclosure is a single data point, not evidence of a sector-wide wave.