Thai hotel firm Minor Hotels & Resorts said it signed a long-term, joint-venture agreement to enter Egypt with Sunrise Resorts & Cruises, targeting the development of 50 hotels over the next 10 years.

According to a statement from Minor Hotels, regions under consideration include West Cairo; Azha Ras al Hekma on the Mediterranean coast, 130 miles west of Alexandria; and Azha Ain al Sokhna on the Gulf of Suez, 85 miles southeast of Cairo. Minor Hotels is part of Minor International and its hotel brands include Nhow Hotels & Resorts, Oaks Hotels & Resorts and NH Hotels & Resorts. 

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There are 12 central London office properties now under offer at prices over £100 million, with 14 having already traded in 2025. That’s compared to the 12 properties over £100 million that traded in the whole of 2024, according to experts and delegates at the Expo Real conference in Munich this week.

CoStar News has compiled the list following discussions with leading participants, underlining returning confidence in liquidity in the London office market. Analysts cite factors including escalating office rent growth and improved financing conditions. 

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Blackstone has agreed to purchase a portfolio with around 500 French industrial properties for about €2.3 billion in one of the largest such transactions in recent years.

The portfolio includes about 2 million square meters of industrial and logistics sites, as well as business parks “with a high degree of versatility” posting an overall occupancy rate of 92%, according to a statement from the seller, asset management firm Proudreed. “The logistics sector in France benefits from solid fundamentals, including supply constraints and growing e-commerce penetration,” said James Seppala, Blackstone’s head of European real estate.

Business Immo>>

The German investment market for commercial and residential property recorded turnover of between €21.6 billion and €23.9 billion in the first three quarters of 2025, which is roughly on par with the previous year’s level, according to reports from various analysts.

Commercial property sales fell 2% from the year-earlier period to €17.5 billion, as projections of increased investment made at the start of the year failed to materialize. Only office properties recorded an increase of 23% to €4.5 billion within the commercial category, as turnover from residential properties rose 7% to €6.3 billion.

Thomas Daily>>

Montreal could soon join Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa in taxing empty homes, after the mayoral candidate for the ruling political party pledged to introduce fees on owners of vacant residential properties, as Canada seeks ways to improve housing affordability.

Outgoing Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante did not favor the tax, but her successor in the party, mayoral candidate Luc Rabouin, has vowed to implement the measure as a way to increase the total number of available rental units in the city and help lower rents if elected. The election is set for Nov. 2. 

CoStar News>>

When a Barnes & Noble opened to a long line of customers in August in a former Staples office supply store in Texas, it didn’t have its traditional dark wood and green aesthetic. Instead, the feel was airier: soft Victorian pink walls, light-wood displays and genre-themed rooms with reading nooks as well as play areas catering to local customer preferences.

The new store, spanning roughly 20,000 square feet in the Dallas suburb of Rockwall, reflects the real estate-focused strategy behind Barnes & Noble’s comeback as fewer books are sold in the United States. The chain is opening in smaller cities and has become more flexible in the type of real estate it leases across the country.

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This report was compiled from CoStar’s news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.