1. Peru: Latin American Travel Rebounds Amid Challenges
Latin American travel and tourism remain resilient despite inflation and high interest rates hampering real estate transactions in some regions including the United States, according to analysts at a hotel investment forum in Lima, Peru.
Reinier Schliesser, principal economist at a prominent development bank overseeing Latin America and the Caribbean, cited last year’s regional droughts that restricted shipping activity through the Panama Canal and that could potentially happen again this year, depending on water levels. Political instability in many Latin American countries also contributes to volatility that adds to monetary policy risks and affects global commerce.
2. UK: Blackstone in Talks To Buy Property in Prime Retail District
Private equity giant Blackstone is reported to be in talks to buy a high-profile office and retail block on London’s most exclusive shopping street, indicating a potential investment rebound for the city.
New York-based Blackstone is in discussions to acquire the block at 130-134 New Bond Street from Canada’s Oxford Properties and Swiss luxury goods company Richemont for about £230 million, according to sources. The 27,657-square-foot block fronts New Bond Street and Grosvenor Street and is home to tenants including luxury watch maker Breitling, stationery company Smythson and investment service firms Newmark, APAM and Hilco Capital.
3. France: Investors Look for European Markets To Stabilize
Many French and international investors emerged from the recent Mipim real estate conference in Cannes, France, with renewed optimism that economic storms of the past two years are on the verge of clearing out.
“Last year, the mood was quite low because we had come from a long period where making money in real estate was relatively easy and now it is getting more and more difficult,” said Per Erikson, head of real estate at Zurich-based Swiss Life Asset Managers, a firm with a regional office in Paris. But he is optimistic about prospects for 2024 that could prove to be “the start of a phase where we expect a normalization in the market, preferably somewhere in the second half of the year.”
4. Germany: Prominent Munich Mixed-Use Property To Be Sold
German fund manager Union Investment has agreed to sell a prime Munich retail and office property to Athos, an investment arm of the Strüngmann family, for about €700 million in what would be among the region’s largest commercial deals in several months, according to reliable sources.
Union Investment has owned the 49,210-square-meter property at Theatinerstrasse 8-16 since 2003, and it was valued at €715 million as of September. The Strüngmann family made its fortunes in the pharmaceutical industry by founding Hexal Pharmaceutical Group. The pending sale surprised some analysts given the property’s quality and size, though Germany’s open-ended investment funds have recently struggled with rising investor pullouts.
5. Canada: Business Leaders Urge More Domestic Investment by Pension Funds
A campaign to compel Canadian pension funds to invest a larger portion of their holdings domestically is gathering steam with the publication of an open letter signed by more than 90 prominent business executives.
If adopted by the federal government, the initiative would result in Canada’s pension plans limiting their investments abroad, potentially lowering the billions of dollars in real estate holdings they have in the United States and other countries. A group led by Daniel Brosseau and Peter Letko of Montreal-based Letko Brosseau Global Investment Management sent a letter to national and provincial finance ministers urging the federal government “to amend the rules governing pension funds to encourage them to invest in Canada.”
6. US: Sun-Fueled, Sheep-Curated Electricity Planned for Western States
Fast-growing data centers in the Western United States hold stacks of computers that power the online world but also require immense amounts of electricity and ever-stronger cooling equipment to prevent overheating. Here comes the sun, along with hundreds of sheep, to the rescue.
A joint venture between two privately owned commercial real estate developers is seeking state approval to construct a 499-megawatt solar farm, enough capacity to power about 150,000 households, at a 4,700-acre sheep ranching business in central Wyoming. The land is now occupied by a large flock of sheep that would continue to graze there unharmed while preventing vegetation from growing around the solar panels and potentially reducing their performance.
This report was compiled from CoStar’s news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.