A buddy of mine rents in a 90% vacant building he claims the owners haven't bothered putting tenants in at lowered rents because they're borrowing against the v

A buddy of mine rents in a 90% vacant building he claims the owners haven't bothered putting tenants in at lowered rents because they're borrowing against the value established by the high rents. It's also a rent control scenario, which strongly disincentivizes ever lowering the rent.