RXR boss Scott Rehler criticized the “firestorm” due to the collapse of the office market

The alleged “collapse of the office market due to WFH” lasted less than 72 hours. But it certainly set off what RXR Realty CEO Scott Rehler called a “firestorm,” reflecting how much the industry remains on edge.

The Financial Times reported last week that Rehler was planning to “return the keys” to his banks at some RXR hotels, prompting scary headlines. Fortune howled: “The new era of remote work has prompted the New York real estate mogul to consider giving up some of his office buildings: ‘I don’t think we can do anything with them.’

OMG, there are rumors. Could Rehler have unloaded the gigantic WorldWide Plaza, Five Times Square, or 75 Rockefeller Plaza?

But it turns out that Rehler was only referring to two underperforming companies among RXR’s 91-building, $21.2 billion, 31 million-square-foot commercial properties. Rehler wrote a note to investors, found by the Commercial Observer, in which he explained that there was no mass purge.

It’s probably 110-year-old 61 Broadway and vintage 1889 47 Hall Street, near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Rehler did not give exact addresses, citing bank confidentiality.

But on Friday, he told Realty Check: “The way this story got around was a symbol of concern about the future of offices. This caused a firestorm. We are all aware that there is a sense of existential change.”

Rehler said RXR may not even part with the two properties currently under discussion. Negotiations are underway with lenders to convert them to apartments or mixed use, and only if those efforts fail will Rechler be willing to return the keys.

“We are actively working on transformation plans, but we need lenders to change loans,” he said. “We would have invested a lot of money in it.”

Rehler offered this perspective on the commercial situation of the Big Apple. “Running for the quality that is talked about so much is a reality showing itself,” he said. “One theme is renewal by tenants who want to spend a lot of money to stay where they are, and another is tenants buying better buildings to lock in rent” before they grow up.

He was encouraged by the apparent occupancy of the RXR towers, some of which saw 100 percent employee attendance on “mid-week peak days.” One day last week: “I’ve never seen our lobby at 75 Rock so busy.”