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1. US holds interest rates steady while UK makes slight cut
The U.S. Federal Reserve held its benchmark lending rate at a target range of 4.25% and 4.5% on Wednesday despite pressure from President Donald Trump to lower the costs, CoStar News' Jonathan Lehrfeld reports.
"It appears that the Fed's bias for now to keep rates steady could keep capital costs relatively stable and not act as a major tailwind" for commercial real estate in the near term, said CoStar Group's chief U.S. economist Christine Cooper.
The Bank of England, on the other hand, cut its interest rates from 4.5% to 4.25% on Thursday. Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, said rate cuts are likely to be "gradual and careful" over the rest of the year, the BBC reports.
2. Blackstone finalizes Kimpton Eventi acquisition
BRE Hotels & Resorts, a Blackstone-owned hospitality platform, officially acquired the Kimpton Hotel Eventi in Manhattan for $175 million from DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners, Crain's New York reports. The final deed was signed on May 1, according to city records.
CoStar News' Andria Cheng reported Blackstone's plans to acquire the 292-room hotel at 851 Sixth Ave. back in January.
"This transaction reflects our longstanding conviction in New York City and growth in travel," Blackstone Managing Director Michelle Gelshteyn said in an emailed statement to CoStar News in January. "Hotel demand in New York is nearing pre-COVID levels while no new hotel construction permits have been filed in the last three years, creating a compelling backdrop for fundamentals."
3. IHG reports first-quarter earnings
IHG Hotels & Resorts CEO Elie Maalouf said during the company's first-quarter earnings call that it has both the "strength and diversity" to withstand macroeconomic volatility, CoStar News Hotels' Terence Baker reports. The hotel firm is still expected to meet its full-year 2025 profit expectations despite the murky economic backdrop.
Maalouf said international travel to IHG hotels in the U.S. makes up about 5% of its business, while its properties in Canada and Mexico make up about 1.5%.
“We saw a drop from Canada, but total international to the U.S. was positive for every month in this quarter, and if [that spend] goes somewhere else, we are well-positioned to capture it,” he said.
4. Trade war leads to business travel pullback
Uncertainty due to the ongoing global trade war is leading to companies pulling back on business travel, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Bill Dobie, founder and CEO of London software company Sedna, said the uncertain economic climate makes it "very hard to predict" if a face-to-face visit will be successful.
The number of March trips sold by U.S. corporate agencies were down year over year for the third consecutive month. Corporate bookings at U.S. hotels through April 26 were down 4% from a year earlier, the WSJ reports.
5. Disney to open theme park in Abu Dhabi
Disney is planning to build its seventh theme park in Abu Dhabi, the Wall Street Journal reports. It will be designed by Disney Imagineers and financed and built by Miral.
"We know there's Disney brand affinity in the wide Middle East region, but we've pretty much just scratched the surface," Disney CEO Bob Iger said.
There isn't an official timeline for opening, but Iger said in a CNBC interview that parks typically take about two years to design and five years to build.