Honestly I’m tired of landlords expecting good returns, I’m glad they had this wake up call that yes, in fact there is risk in every investment. What really irks me is when they prefer vacancy to lowering rents.
My understanding is that this results from the terms of commercial loans. If they were to sign a lease at a lower rate, they'd have to lower the appraised value of the real estate, which would blow up the loan.
But offering "concessions" like free months of rent, or having apparently any rate of vacancy doesn't affect the loan.