Akron carries a modest CMBS book — $549M spread across 29 loans — and the filed record has begun to move. The distress rate reads 3.2% as of July 2026, and the direction is up. That is a small number on a small book, but the trend line is the story: what had been a quiet market is showing its first cracks in the servicer data. Median DSCR across the metro still sits at a comfortable 1.71, the kind of coverage that says most of this paper is paying as agreed even as the tally of trouble edges higher.
The timing pressure lands later this decade. The heaviest maturity load falls in 2029, at $104M — the single largest slug of paper coming due in the metro. For now the 2029 book shows no filed distress, but it is the year that concentrates the refinancing question, and desks watching Akron should mark it.
Beyond the loan tape, the on-the-ground signal is thin but not blank: three store closures over the past year, with no layoff notices filed. It is a small metro throwing off small numbers, but the same numbers all point the same way — a filed record that is rising off a low base.
Akron, OH shows a distinctly uneven distress picture: store closures are elevated, with 6 closures over the trailing year (2.14 per 100,000 jobs, ranked 70th of 392 metros by count and 155th by rate), while WARN layoff notices are quiet at 0 notices (ranked 313th of 386). Bank CRE over the noncurrent line reads $272.6mm (7.28% of allocated CRE, ranked 96th of 393 by count), which is not elevated, and securitized loans in special servicing sit at 2 rows (1.89% of the tape balance, ranked 66th of 335), also not elevated. Of the six pairwise comparisons, 0 show both sides elevated, 3 show both sides quiet, and 3 disagree — the disagreements all stem from store closures being hot while the other three legs read calm, suggesting tenant failures below the WARN filing floor and on buildings not held in this securitized tape, with no lender balance sheet yet reflecting the stress.
| Signal | Level | Rate | Rank by count | Rank by rate | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| store closures store closures per 100,000 jobs |
6 closures | 2.14 per 100k jobs | 70 of 392 | 155 of 392 | elevated trailing 365 days to today
|
| layoff notices (WARN) workers on layoff notices as a share of the metro's employment |
0 notices | 0% | 313 of 386 | 308 of 386 | quiet trailing 365 days to today
|
| bank CRE at lenders over the noncurrent line share of the CRE lent into this metro that sits at a lender over the blended-noncurrent line |
$272.6mm | 7.28% | 96 of 393 | 106 of 393 | quiet
allocated 2026-03-31
|
| securitized loans in special servicing share of the securitized balance read here that is in special servicing |
2 loan records | 1.89% | 66 of 335 | 94 of 335 | quiet
floor 2026-07-29
|
In Akron, OH, the elevated distress signal is closures, with 6 store closures over one year against 0 WARN notices. CRE-credit distress itself is largely unreadable: the securitized dollar figure is a FLOOR because it is measured over 50.0% of the metro’s 2 special-servicing rows (the rest carry no balance), making the securitized side invisible here. Bank-side data show $3.74bn in bank CRE, with 7.2% at risk at the 90th percentile, but distressed lender CRE is $272.6mm with 0 distressed banks and no material distressed dollars behind the signal — this is a real-economy signal (closures/layoffs) rather than a CRE-credit event. The reading on whether CRE credit has been hit is unavailable; the phase is "obscured," not quiet.
| Bank | Deposit share | CRE / Capital* | Room contributed | Noncurrent CRE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portage Community Bank OH | 100.0% | 128% total 232%
|
🔒 | 0.50% |
| Hometown Bank OH | 100.0% | 152% total 466%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| Northwest Bank PA | 0.4% | 109% total 145%
|
🔒 | 1.53% |
| The Farmers National Bank Of Canfield OH | 1.7% | 198% total 285%
|
🔒 | 1.02% |
| Dollar Bank, Federal Savings Bank PA | 0.3% | 168% total 187%
|
🔒 | 0.42% |
| Civista Bank OH | 2.7% | 261% total 329%
|
🔒 | 0.63% |
| Consumers National Bank OH | 4.3% | 188% total 336%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| Cfbank, National Association OH | 8.5% | 279% total 362%
|
🔒 | 0.53% |
| The Apple Creek Banking Company OH | 10.0% | 194% total 355%
|
🔒 | 0.00% |
| S&t Bank PA | 2.5% | 309% total 339%
|
🔒 | 0.24% |
| Bank | Total CRE | CRE / Capital* | Noncurrent CRE | Early Warning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portage Community Bank | $150M | 128% total 232%
|
0.50% | 🔒 |
| Hometown Bank | $104M | 152% total 466%
|
0.00% | 🔒 |
In Akron, OH, the capacity of regional and community banks to refinance its maturing CMBS appears tight, with a wall-to-room ratio of 1.05, meaning the maturing balance of $149.5mm slightly exceeds the room after committed draws of $141.8mm, though it falls below the 0.76 ratio before accounting for those draws. Of the 270 metros ranked, Akron places 55th from the most strained, indicating above-average pressure relative to the median of 0.20, yet this reading is qualified by an exclusion artifact—banks with no local deposit footprint are excluded—so with 10 banks qualifying and 5 excluded, the strain may be overstated if lending is concentrated in those excluded institutions. The distressed share stands at 3.7%, and with 11 maturing loans, while the CMBS UPB is $549.3mm, the wall itself is an upper bound on local absorption, leaving the refinancing capacity uncertain but not impossible, as room before committed draws of $195.8mm would cover the wall if no new construction commitments intervene.
Based on the last 365 days, ground-level activity in Akron, OH shows 6 store closures, while CRE-related bankruptcies and WARN layoff notices both stand at 0. The bankruptcy figure is a state proxy, not a metro-native count, so it may overstate or understate local exposure; layoff job impacts are a floor, as notices without a stated headcount contribute 0 jobs. The reading for job loss volume is unavailable beyond this floor, and no other major distress signals have emerged in the window.