1. Mexico: Hotel REITs Look for Next Stage of Growth
Executives with Mexico’s two hotel-focused real estate investment trusts said there are reasons to remain optimistic about growth as the hospitality industry rebounds from the pandemic.
Fernando Rocha, Fibra Inn’s director of acquisitions and development, said the market has grown more institutionalized in recent years, and though his company’s growth was delayed somewhat by the pandemic, it’s now back on track. Part of the company's strategy has been revising its corporate structure to eliminate conflicts of interest and diversifying its portfolio, which now includes more business-driven hotels.
2. UK: Retail Centers Emerge As Safe Haven
Hundreds of millions of pounds of U.K. retail centers are set to change hands in the coming weeks as institutional investors increasingly target the sector because of its perceived safe-haven status the lack of needed capital expenditures.
Aviva Investors bought two retail assets in the south of England: Hedge End Retail Park in Southampton and an Asda superstore in Hayes, Middlesex. James Stevens, head of real estate investments at Aviva, said the deals showed non-discretionary retail such as food and groceries is a strong defensive asset class against the macroeconomic backdrop.
3. France: Investors See More Strong Logistics Property Demand
The mid-2022 slowdown in investment in logistics property in France and the subsequent slowdown in transactions do not worry industry specialists.
They say the fundamentals of this category remain good, with rental-yield-focused investors showing interest alongside institutional investors, and deals are being discussed. “The second half of 2023 will be more active than the first, but if this market lands at €4 billion, it will already be good,” said François-Régis de Causans, director of industrial and logistics investment at CBRE France.
4. Germany: Fund Manager Buys Former Steel Plant in Düsseldorf
German-U.S. fund manager Jamestown purchased the Areal Böhler at Hansaallee 321 in Düsseldorf-Heerdt from Austrian steel company Voestalpine for about €156 million.
The site formerly housed a steel production facility. Jamestown previously invested in former industrial sites in the U.S., such as Industrycity, but it is the first time the fund manager, with U.S. $13.2 billion of assets under management, has invested in this type of property in Germany.
Thomas Daily and CoStar News>>
5. Canada: Federal Government Amends Foreign Buyer Ban
The federal government has amended its ban on foreign ownership of residential real estate, adjusting rules for vacant land and property for development purposes to provide additional clarity for dealmaking.
The legislation, called the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act, took effect on Jan. 1 as part of a plan by the government to address affordable housing. The ban resulted in numerous participants in the commercial real estate market in Canada either unable or unwilling to do deals until regulations were clarified, law firm McCarthy Tetrault said in an article posted to its website.
6. US: More Corporate Campuses Get Warehouse Conversions
Insurance giant Nationwide’s suburban Philadelphia campus is being redeveloped into an industrial complex, among a growing number of conversion projects in previously top-tier office markets as the demand for warehouse and logistics space far outstrips that for traditional office properties.
Developers across the United States, in regions as varied as the San Francisco Bay Area and greater Chicago, are capitalizing on pandemic-related shifts. Thanks to rising demand and pricing for industrial property, hundreds of millions of square feet of vacant offices are now financially feasible to overhaul into logistics space in markets that just a few years ago weren’t practical.
This report was compiled from CoStar’s international news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.