1. Sweden: Hotel development project puts focus on music
A significant redevelopment project is underway in Stockholm, with developers looking to bring hotels and music venues to an area of the Swedish capital known as Slakthusområdet, near Stockholm's largest stadium.
Work began in 2019, but construction of the first hotel is not due to start until 2029 with a projected opening in 2031, according to Maria Hammarsten, head of urban innovation at development firm Atrium Ljungberg. She said development includes planned investment of approximately €1.3 billion or $1.52 billion. Buildings dating to the beginning of the 20th century are being restored and reworked, with venues emphasizing Swedish music to be the center of the project.
2. UK: Housing agency picks providers for advisory services
Homes England, the government housing agency, has picked agents for the first and most lucrative portion of some £138 million in property and financial professional services contracts.
The opportunities are split into three sections and run for four years. CoStar News has learned that the lineup for the larger first lot, representing around £96 million in fees, includes Aspinall Verdi, Avison Young, BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory and Property Management, Carter Jonas and CBRE. It also includes Copping Joyce Surveyors, Cushman & Wakefield, Deloitte, Eddisons, Hartnell Taylor Cook, JLL, Knight Frank, Lambert Smith Hampton, Montagu Evans, Rapleys, Savills and Thomas Lister.
3. France: Real estate fund investment recovers
Office, healthcare and retail are among property categories showing continued improvement as investment into French real estate investment funds rebounds in the early months of 2026, according to first quarter figures issued by the French Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts and the Institute for Real Estate and Land Savings.
Overall fundraising for certain non-traded French REITs, pooling money from multiple investors, increased 10% from a year earlier to reach €1.2 for the quarter. Diversified funds tracking multiple categories accounted for 72% of investment inflows, with office-focused funds at 20%, healthcare and education at 3%, logistics and industrial at 3% and retail at 1.4%.
4. Germany: Housing investor issues bonds in UK, Australia
German residential property investment firm Vonovia has issued two bonds denominated in British pounds and Australian dollars, as part of efforts to refinance its debt by diversifying its capital sources beyond its home country. Bonds have a volume of £400 million or approximately €460 million; and $300 million in Australian dollars or approximately €185 million.
The bonds carry an average interest rate of 4.4%, based on Euro standards. It is Vonovia’s second bond issuance in the British market, after a similar issuance two years ago. Vonovia tapped the Australian capital market for the first time last year with an issuance of $850 million.
5. Canada: Multifamily, office properties lead Toronto investment gains
Total commercial real estate investment in the Toronto region increased an estimated 10% in the first quarter compared to the same period of 2025, with the biggest increases in multifamily and office property sales. The 412 commercial transactions in this year’s first quarter marked an 11% year-over-year increase, according to Avison Young.
The real estate service firm’s Greater Toronto Investment Review revealed an aggregated year-over-year gain of $3.4 billion, with multifamily investment increasing to $675 million from $208 million and office transactions rising to $485 million from $134 million. However, retail property investment declined to $324 million in the first quarter of 2026 from $937 million a year earlier.
6. US: As Americans pinch pennies, affordable fun reshapes retail real estate
A family vacation to Disney World has gotten so expensive that Americans are increasingly opting for lower-cost, local entertainment offerings that still deliver shared experiences. And that shift is driving a wave of demand that's reshaping retail real estate, according to JLL.
The brokerage released a report, “Game On! Entertainment Report 2026,” at ICSC's retail real estate conference in Las Vegas. The study found that “location-based entertainment has crossed from amenity to primary tenant category.” JLL “tracked 4,746 existing locations across 207 concepts, with a 16.5 million square foot pipeline,” with expansion of venues like trampoline parks, miniature golf courses and family entertainment centers.
This report was compiled from CoStar’s news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.