1. Greece: Investment Firm Buys Two Island Resorts
Athens-based Premia Properties Real Estate Investment Co. has agreed to acquire two hotels in Greece for €112.5 million, or about $122 million, from Stockholm-based operator Nordic Leisure Travel Group.
Set to close by year’s end, the sale-leaseback deal calls for Premia to take full ownership of holdings that include the 534-room Sunwing Kallithea Beach resort on the island of Rhodes, and the 262-room Sunwing Makrigalos & Ocean Beach Club on the island of Crete. Both hotels were previously owned and operated by Premia, which has stakes in several real estate categories including logistics and residential.
2. UK: Uber Hails Larger Space at London Office Tower
Ride-hailing technology provider Uber has doubled the space it occupies at Aldgate Tower, a London office building owned by Brookfield and China Life, bringing the property close to full occupancy.
Uber, based in San Francisco, signed a 10-year lease for 60,000 square feet across three floors, boosting its presence in the tower from its current 30,000 square feet. The leasing brings occupancy to 93.4% at the building, where owners may need to inject £62 million of fresh equity as part of a pending refinancing of a property loan, according to regulatory filings.
3. France: Olympics Weigh on Paris Retail Sales
The Olympics have had a larger-than-expected effect on retail sales in France and especially Paris, though not necessarily a positive one as preparations for this year’s global games slowed customer traffic at some locations during July. Analysts cited factors including security-related mobility disruptions as tourists and locals were not allowed access to some retail hubs.
According to figures from Procos, a French trade group representing specialized retailers, store activity was down 2.5% nationwide at the end of July compared with a year earlier, and the annual decline was 9% in Paris, due largely to the Olympic Games. July sales declines were especially steep for categories such as home furnishings, dropping 7.5% nationwide, and clothing, down 6% from a year earlier.
4. Germany: Capital Values Stabilize in Largest Office Markets
Office property values in Germany’s five largest real estate regions held steady in the second quarter with minimal losses, as performance declined just 0.1% from the prior quarter in the latest tracking by brokerage JLL.
Researchers said values for Hamburg’s prime locations rose for the first time after eight quarters of decline, thanks to higher rents, as Munich and Düsseldorf also recorded slight increases. Berlin and Frankfurt showed a slightly negative trend in valuations, and Frankfurt was the only major region posting continued increases in prime investment yields.
5. Canada: Wildfires Ravage Properties in Alberta Town
Wildfires raging out of control in Western Canada have devastated lives and businesses and damaged property, including hotels and other real estate in Jasper, Alberta, as part of a natural disaster that threatens to once again nudge insurance rates higher across the country.
The property damage has been centered on Jasper, a town of about 5,000 on the border with British Columbia that is a major tourism hub at the heart of a national park that attracts 2.5 million visitors per year. The fires are among large blazes burning across the western portion of North America, with fires in California also causing damage and spurring calls for changes as weather analysts warn climate shifts are making areas of the continent hotter and drier.
6. US: Musk Prepares To Close X’s San Francisco Headquarters
After more than a year of will-he-or-won’t-he speculation, billionaire Elon Musk appears finally ready to pull the plug on the longtime San Francisco headquarters of the tech company formerly known as Twitter.
The social media platform X Corp. is expected to permanently close its corporate hub in the city’s Mid-Market area, a move Musk confirmed as the result of frustrations in operating in San Francisco and elsewhere throughout California. The San Francisco office will be shut “over the next few weeks,” according to an internal email sent to employees Aug. 5, with workers expected to be moved to the Silicon Valley area. Musk previously said he plans to relocate headquarters of X and his aerospace company SpaceX from California to Texas.
This report was compiled from CoStar’s news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.