Insulated, Not Immune | Washington Business Journal

Yesim Taylor, executive director of the D.C. Policy Center and a former staffer in the CFO’s office, observed that the typical formula for appraisers involves examining a building’s capitalization rate: essentially, the ratio of net operating income to its expected value on the open market. But what are the “comparable sales” the CFO could examine to calculate that value? How do you evaluate the income potential, say, of a hotel without any occupants or an office that’s leased up, but everyone is working from home?

“It’s an entirely open question right now,” Taylor said. “But if your building is burning, obviously that is going to be taken into consideration.”