WSJ.com HHHH WhatÕs VirusÕs Economic Pain Deepens News€¦ · clining enrollment and financial...

* * * * * * FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2020 ~ VOL. CCLXXV NO. 102 WSJ.com HHHH $4 .00

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term at home. The loss of a $3-million-plus bridge loan was the final straw.

The pandemic “squeezed out the lastrays of hope,” said President BeverlyRodgers.

From schools already on the brink tothe loftiest institutions, the pandemic ischanging higher education in Americawith stunning speed.

Schools sent students home whenthe coronavirus began to spread, and no

one knows if they will be back on cam-pus come fall. Some colleges say largelecture classes and shared living anddining spaces may not return. Athleticsare suspended, and there is no sense ofwhen, or if, packed stadiums, and theirlucrative revenue streams, will return.

Every source of funding is in doubt.Schools face tuition shortfalls becauseof unpredictable enrollment and mar-ket-driven endowment losses. Public in-stitutions are digesting steep budgetcuts, while families are questioningwhether it’s worth paying for a privateschool if students will have to take

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By Melissa Korn, Douglas Belkinand Juliet Chung

Colleges Pushed to Breaking PointPandemic is expected to hit enrollment and revenue, forcing ‘hard choices’ about education

THECORONAVIRUSPANDEMIC

U.S. confirms scrutiny ofWuhan laboratory, A3

Virus spreads at immigrantdetention center, A4

Doctors in bind as patientsstay home, A6

MANSIONHigh-end homeownersget creative to list

estates for sale duringthe pandemic.M1

JOURNAL REPORTA family in lockdowncopes, and wonderswhat the future holds.

R1-8

Forget Sourdough—Everybody’sMaking Banana Bread

i i i

Homebound bakers salvage browningbananas left over from panic-buying

Vickie Jones normally isn’ta fan of bananas. Even so, shegrabbed a bunch while stock-ing up for an extended corona-virus lockdown at home inHarlingen, Texas.

It seemed a good idea untilthe bananas, aban-doned on thekitchen counter,turned brown. Ms.Jones, a retired ul-trasound techni-cian, salvaged afew for bananabread, about theonly recipe thatcame to mind foryucky overripefruit. “There are even more inthe refrigerator to keep themfrom getting yuckier,” shesaid.

The grotesquerie of decayhas showcased the appeal of

homemade banana bread inthe global shutdown. Nervousabout venturing into markets,many people are making dowith ingredients at hand, in-cluding the moldering ba-nanas.

In the past month, bananabread beat out pancakes,

brownies andpizza dough as theNo. 1 searched-forrecipe in the U.S.and world-wide,according toGoogle.

The humbleloaves are taking astar turn on Insta-gram and Twitter.“Is Covid-19 spon-

sored by banana bread?” onetweet said.

“The isolation stages ofgrief,” another said, are “de-nial, anger, bargaining, depres-

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BY SHAN LI

Gross to great.

MacMurray College survived the CivilWar, the Great Depression and twoworld wars, but not the coronaviruspandemic. The private liberal-artsschool in central Illinois announced re-cently it will shut its doors for good inMay, after 174 years.

Like many small schools, it faced de-clining enrollment and financial short-falls. To lure prospective students, itwas using steep discounts to its$30,000 listed tuition. Then the globalhealth crisis brought unexpected costsfor shifting classes online and partiallyreimbursing room and board for stu-dents forced to finish out the spring

INSIDE

UNREST: Protesters against coronavirus restrictions, some bearing arms, made their way into the Michigan CapitolBuilding in Lansing on Thursday. The Legislature declined to support an extension of the governor’s stay-at-home order. A7

Virus’s Economic Pain Deepens

came widespread.People also cut back on

spending by 7.5% in March, thebiggest monthly decline on re-cord back to 1959, and personalincome fell by 2%, the largestdecrease since 2013. Stockmarkets slipped on the ac-counting of economic damage.

A day after pledging tomaintain aid for the U.S. econ-omy, the Federal Reserve saidit would expand a $600 billionlending effort aimed at smalland midsize businesses. Stateand local governments also

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Nearly four million peoplefiled for unemployment bene-fits last week, bringing totalclaims to more than 30 millionas states struggle to process anunprecedented wave triggeredby the coronavirus pandemic.

The latest weekly report onU.S. jobless claims showed12.4% of the U.S. workforcewas covered by unemploymentbenefits in the April 18 week, arecord dating back to the early1970s. The surge in unemploy-ment-insurance claims startedsix weeks ago, when shut-downs to contain the virus be-

BY SARAH CHANEYAND KATE KING

Protesters in Michigan State House Press for Lockdown’s End

Initial jobless claims,inmillions

Note: Seasonally adjusted,latest figure is preliminarySource: Labor Department

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3.8 millionThe public-health crisis

sparked by the coronaviruspandemic ricocheted throughEurope’s economy in the firstquarter, causing a record de-cline in output that was moresevere even than in the U.S.,an ominous sign for the globaleconomy.

The eurozone’s gross do-mestic product fell 3.8% ver-sus the final three months of2019, according to data re-leased Thursday, as measuresimposed to limit the pan-demic’s spread stalled every-thing from florists and restau-rants to factories.

The economy shrank by14.4% on an annual basis, farexceeding the 4.8% contrac-tion in the U.S. economy overthe period. That largely re-flects Europe’s earlier andbroader lockdown.

“The euro area is facing aneconomic contraction of amagnitude and speed that areunprecedented in peacetime,”European Central Bank Presi-dent Christine Lagarde saidThursday. “Measures to con-tain the spread of the corona-virus have largely halted eco-nomic activity.”

The data, along with otherfresh numbers from around

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BY PAUL HANNON

U.S. Jobless Claims Top 30 Million,As Spending, Personal Income Drop

Record Contraction in the EurozoneBodes Ill for Quick Global Rebound

Amazon’sSales SoarAs ProfitTakes Hit

Amazon.com Inc. reportedsoaring quarterly sales ashomebound customers floodedit with online shopping orders,capping a string of earningsreports from big tech compa-nies that show how the coro-navirus pandemic has fueleddemand for their products andservices.

The Seattle-based tech com-pany said Thursday that reve-nue rose 26% from a year ear-lier to $75.5 billion in thethree months through March—by far the highest on recordfor what is usually Amazon’sslowest period of the year. Thesales boom came at a cost,though, as profit fell 29% froma year earlier to $2.5 billion,well short of analysts’ averageestimate of $3.26 billion, ac-cording to a survey by FactSet.Operating profit for the quar-ter also missed the estimateAmazon gave in January.

The results, which followrelatively robust earnings re-

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BY DANA MATTIOLIAND SEBASTIAN HERRERA

! Heard on the Street: Small-business aid falls short...... B12

! Apple gains despite iPhoneslump............................................... B1

APRIL 19-25

3.8M

Source: IDCWorldwide EnterpriseResourcePlanningSoftwareMarket Shares,2018: DigitalTransformationDrivingChange,ERPrefers to IDCCompetitiveMarket EnterpriseResourcePlanningSoftware, IDCSemiannual SoftwareTracker 2019H2Final

Historical,April 2020.HCMrefers to IDCFunctionalMarketHumanCapitalManagementApplications,SupplyChainManagementApplications is an IDC secondarymarket,ProcurementApplications is an IDCFunctionalmarket.Based on2019

WorldwideRevenues.©2020SAPSEor anSAPaffiliate company.All rights reserved.

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IN ERP, HCM, SUPPLYCHAIN & PROCUREMENTSOFTWARE PER IDC.

CONTENTSBusiness News.. B3,5Crossword............... A11Heard on Street. B12Life & Arts....... A10-11Mansion.............. M1-12Markets..................... B11

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s 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.All Rights Reserved

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What’sNews

! Stay-at-home orders inparts of theU.S. expired at theend of the pandemic’s dead-liest month so far and con-firmed U.S. fatalities reached63,000. But uncertaintymounted over how stateswould loosen restrictions. A7! The U.K.’s official deathcount from the coronavirus israpidly rising toward that ofItaly, spurring heightenedscrutiny of the government’shandling of the outbreak. A7! The U.S. intelligencecommunity publicly con-firmed it is trying to deter-mine whether the coronavi-rusmay have escaped from alab inWuhan, China, the citywhere thepandemic began.A3! New York City’s subwaysystem will stop running24 hours a day, closingfrom 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. to al-low stepped-up disinfectionof trains and stations. A6! Biden, under increasingpressure from some Demo-crats to respond to a sexual-assault allegation against him,is expected to facepublic ques-tions on the issue Friday. A3! Tensions are set to riseas pro-democracy protest-ers attempt to return to thestreets of Hong Kong after alull amid the pandemic. A16! Nascar took the leadamongmajorAmerican sportsin the quest to return fromshutdowns, saying it wouldresume live racingMay 17. A3!U.S. prosecutors chargedthe ex-Honduran NationalPolice chief with a cocaine-trafficking conspiracy, partof a probe that implicatesHonduras’s president. A16

Nearly four million peo-ple in the U.S. filed for

unemployment benefits lastweek, bringing total claimsto more than 30 millionsince the surge began. A1!Consumer spending inthe U.S. posted its steepestmonthly decline in recordstracing back to 1959, falling7.5% in March. Personalincome dropped 2%. A8! The eurozone’s GDPshrank at the fastest paceon record in the first quar-ter, an ominous sign forthe global economy. A1!The Fedwill expand loanofferings and qualificationrules for its coming $600 bil-lion relief program for smallandmidsize businesses. A2! Amazon posted soaringquarterly sales powered bya surge in online orders,with revenue rising 26%.But profit dropped 29%. A1! Apple reported an uptickin quarterly revenue de-spite the pandemic shut-ting down factories anddenting sales in China. B1! U.S. stocks finishedtheir best month in de-cades on a downbeat note,with all three major in-dexes posting declines. B11!Macy’s plans to reopen68 stores on Monday instates that have loosenedcoronavirus restrictions. B1!Boeing launched a $25 bil-lion bond offering that it saidmet near-term financial re-quirements and for nowavoided federal funding. B11! J.Crew is preparing to filefor bankruptcy protection,joining a string of retailerson the verge of unraveling.B2

Business&Finance

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THEWALL STREET JOURNAL. Friday, May 1, 2020 |M1

ACar Buff Rethinks a ’50s Lisbon HomeThe villa in the Portuguese capital got a $540,000 makeover with a car showroom

A LOVE OF CARS and a need forprivacy helped guide the refur-bishment of a 1950s Portuguesevilla in Restelo, a neighborhood inthe west of Lisbon, marked bystately embassies and river views.

In 2016, Alejandro RodriguesMartins, a 56-year-old engineer,and his wife, Rita Barata daRocha, a 49-year-old architect andreal-estate developer, paid $1.1million for the three-story, 4,850-square-foot home.

Although the couple firstplanned to tear it down, they em-barked instead on a $540,000 ren-ovation, because “we liked theshape,” says Ms. Barata da Rocha,referring to the Iberian-stylehouse, marked by geometricshapes, clean lines and a terraceset off by classical archways.

They created a sprawling newmaster suite on the ground floor,

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BY J.S. MARCUS

No Time Like the PresentWhy would anyone list their multimillion-dollar estate for sale right now, in the middle of a pandemic?With creativity and common sense, these homeowners and real-estate agents are doing just that.

Back last fall, when Los Angeles real-es-tate agent Tomer Fridman began think-ing about launching his newest listing, a$32 million contemporary home perchedabove the Sunset Strip, he envisioned an

elaborate Champagne-fueled soiree to mark the occa-sion. High-end brokers, wealth managers and theirwell-heeled clients would wander through the prop-erty’s three farmhouse-style pavilions, through its11,000 square feet and gaze at the views of down-town Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean through the32-foot-tall windows.

The coronavirus pandemic meant nixing those plans.Now, Mr. Fridman and his fellow agents are trying

what they hope is the next best thing. In May, theyare hosting a VIP open-house party on Zoom de-signed to help a group of about 25 would-be buyersand their agents experience the house the way theywould in person—through all five senses.

Along with their invitation to the live tour, invi-tees will receive a 4-inch-tall olive tree to mimic thelarger ones at the entrance to the house. They’ll get ahand-stained roughly 10-inch by 6-inch box withsmall cuttings of the same travertine stone used forthe floors and a slab of the white oak from the wallpaneling to touch and feel as they explore the prop-erty. There will be a Tom Dixon candle to provide thescent of rose petal garlands, cinnamon and a Chineseherbal market.

The tour will be conducted by the three agentsrepresenting the listing, who will lead guests from

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BY KATHERINE CLARKE

MANSIONDylanMcDermott

The actor studiedsitcoms to learnabout family. M8

$45 MillionBahamian partypad of the richand famous lists.

M3

HOMES | MARKETS | PEOPLE | REDOS | SALES

The property hasa new garden houseand landscaping.

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A Porsche on display

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Listing agents will walk through the home, offering potential buyers a video tour using their phones.

The property has a contemporary farmhouse stylewith three pavilions with 32-foot-tall windows.

$32MILLION11,000 sq. ft.6 bedrooms9 bathrooms

Prospective buyersgot a box of items toenhance their

virtual walkthrough.

This contemporary farmhouse, perched above Sunset Strip, will be the scene of a virtual VIP open house after listing agents’ plans for an in-person event were shut down by the pandemic.

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M12 | Friday, May 1, 2020 THEWALL STREET JOURNAL.

MANSION

A MakeoverIn Lisbonwith direct access to the reland-scaped yard, and they refashionedthe top floor’s original three bed-rooms and lone bathroom intofour en-suite bedrooms for theirfour daughters. On the middlefloor, the couple have an adjust-able open plan, with living, diningand cooking areas separated by anetwork of sliding doors. Thefamily moved into the finishedhouse in fall 2017.

The star attraction for Mr. Mar-tins, an avid car collector, is thenew, vitrine-like, single-car ga-rage, which allows him to rotatehis collection of some 15 cars andview them from inside the house.(The bulk of his personal fleet isstored off-site.)

“My husband treats his carslike diamonds,” says Ms. Barata daRocha, adding that on any givenday he might feature a Ferrari ora Porsche in the $34,000 bijou ga-rage, which is all the compact lotwould accommodate.

Meanwhile, she wanted an oa-sis-like atmosphere on the 1/5-acre lot, which she achieved bycommissioning long, horizontalfountains on the front and backends of the property. The foun-tains—one of which feeds an out-door pool—block the street andneighboring homes, while fillingher own with the gentle sound oftrickling water.

A backyard structure was builtfor utilities and staff accommoda-tion. Its exterior is set off by theinterlocking shapes of a North Af-rican motif, in the form of a per-sonalized, flowerlike pattern.

Because Mr. Martins likes torace as well as collect, he and hiswife have made several trips toMorocco, where he competes indesert rally races. The motif is areference to those trips.

Back inside the home, the logois used in textured paneling in theliving room.

The couple worked with JoãoTiago Aguiar, a Lisbon architectwho specializes in upscale residen-tial projects. They turned to Mr.Aguiar, 46, after they decided tosalvage the original home, whichthe architect says is a good exam-ple of a hybrid called Estilo Portu-guês Suave, or the Soft Portuguesestyle.

Combining modernist tech-niques with traditional Iberianforms, the style marked a range ofthe country’s public and privatebuildings in the 1940s and 1950s,when Restelo was being developed.

ContinuedfrompageM1

PORTUGAL

LISBON

PORTUGAL

Restelo

Dining room with sliding doors

BUDGETBathrooms

$65,000Kitchen

$27,100Heating,cooling andventilation

$108,000Windows andsliding doors

$43,300Flooring

$65,000Landscaping

$65,000Addedstructure

$54,200Lighting andelectrical work

$108,000Swimming pooland fountains

$70,000Interior décor

$135,400Fireplaces

$17,300Architect fee

$21,700Garage

$34,000Carpentry

$97,500

Calacatta marble bath

Master bedroom withHermès wallpaper

Hermès-covered pillows

Lisbon is known as a hip city, butluxury lovers have long associatedit with a trio of traditional home-furnishing companies:.

• Bordallo Pinheiro—named after itsfounder, a 19th-century Portuguesecaricaturist and artist—is known forfantastical ceramic renderings offlora and fauna, such as bright redplates that look like tomatoes andneon-green soup tureens in theshape of cabbage leaves. Started inthe 1880s, the company continues toturn out fanciful accessories.

• Vista Alegre has been producingfine porcelain and glassware since1824. Neoclassicism was the ragethen, and the brand stays true toits roots with Anna, a white porce-lain service trimmed in gold gar-lands. Gold is also the trim ofchoice for the company’s signaturecrystal whiskey and wine decanters.

• Viuva Lamego still produces tilesthe old-fashioned way, specializingin hand finishes. Ceramic tiles arethe default choice for many Portu-guese, who use them on kitchenwalls, bathrooms floors, patio tablesand even to cover the fronts oftheir houses. Iberian tilework datesto Muslim rule in the Middle Ages,and the company maintains a tradi-tion of Hispanic-Arabic techniquesand patterns, marked by geometricshapes and rich glazes.

LISBON DESIGN TRADITIONS

The redesign allows a viewing from inside the homeof a changing display of Mr. Martins’s car collection.

The backyard garden house, on left, with a NorthAfrican motif, includes a one-bedroom unit for staffers.

Alejandro Rodrigues Martins and his wife, Rita Barata da Rocha, spent $540,000 on the redesign of the property.

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PURCHASE PRICE$1.1 MILLION

The architect says he was ableto update the building by resurfac-ing outer walls, increasing windowsize and altering the layout. Hecame up with the home’s logo byconsulting the Moorish patterns oftraditional Portuguese tiles.

The couple’s daughters range inage from 8 to 23, and their movefrom an apartment, in anotherriverside neighborhood on the op-posite side of Lisbon, was jarring,says Ms. Barata da Rocha. They’veadjusted, she says, thanks to ame-nities, such as the new pool andan upstairs terrace with views ofLisbon’s Tagus River.

The girls were allowed to makedecisions about their own rooms,says their mother, and one of thecouple’s younger daughters alsomade a crucial furnishing decisionfor the whole house. She sug-gested a hot-pink toaster, from It-aly’s Smeg, for the white-and-brown kitchen, and now it is astandout in the space, acting likea piece of whimsical sculpture.

Greater Lisbon homeownerswith villas on their minds have avariety of areas to choose from, in-cluding the resort communities ofCascais and Estoril, near where theTagus River meets the AtlanticOcean, and Sintra, a mountaintopenclave known for its palaces andestates.

Ms. Barata da Rocha says Rest-elo was their first choice becauseof its convenience to the heart ofthe Portuguese capital. In 10 or 15minutes, they can be in the centerof Lisbon, while the commute fromCascais might be triple that in rushhour.

Mr. Martins’s car collectionmay later prompt a move to a big-ger lot with a larger garage, saysMs. Barata da Rocha. But for thetime being, the family is stillbreaking in the single-familyhome—their first, after years ofapartment living.

Ms. Barata da Rocha added lux-ury detailing throughout the house,including white Italian marble inthe bathrooms, Hermès wallpaperand upholstery in the master suite,and a fig sculpture from BordalloPinheiro, a Lisbon maker of fine ce-ramic objects. But she gets a spe-cial kick out of a $51,000 Italianchandelier in the main stairwell. Itwas a splurge, she concedes, but “Iget to see it every day.”

A fountain wall offers privacy andfills the home with water sounds.

Pink toasterby Smeg

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The flowerlike motif onthe doors and wall isMoroccan-inspired.

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