Retail REIT Gets PPP Loan as Tenants Struggle to Pay Rent

Whitestone REIT, a national retail real estate investment trust, said about 36% of its tenants did not pay rent in April, but executives are cautiously encouraged by signs of an early recovery as economies begin to reopen. The landlord is deferring rents in the short term, cutting its cash dividend for investors and using a $1.73 million Payroll Protection Program loan to help it manage through the crisis spurred by the pandemic.