1. Israel: Hotels Shelter Evacuees Displaced by War
Israel’s hotel industry is playing a critical part in housing, sanctuary and relief efforts amid an evolving humanitarian calamity as thousands of people are displaced by the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Industry leaders said the war also will affect Israeli tourism, with Israelis among the world’s largest sources of outbound travel demand on a per capita basis. Hoteliers’ efforts are directed at looking after Israeli victims of the attack launched Oct. 7 by Hamas, with the welfare of hotel staff a primary focus. “Three years of the coronavirus pandemic assisted hotels here to be very nimble and flexible to emergency situations,” said Joseph Fischer, owner of Tel Aviv-based business consulting firm Vision Hospitality & Travel.
2. UK: US Firm in Talks To Buy Outlet Center Near Wembley Stadium
U.S. investment firm The Ardent Companies is in talks to buy the London Designer Outlet retail center at Wembley Park, the massive mixed-use development near the national stadium, for about £90 million, according to sources.
LDO is owned by developer Quintain, part of Texas-based investment giant Lone Star, and is managed by Realm, the U.K. specialist outlet operator. The property includes 265,000 square feet of retail and leisure space with 70 outlet stores, restaurants and bars, a nine-screen Cineworld movie theater and a large children’s play park.
3. France: Luxury Retail Property Owners Bet on Tourism Rebound
Columbia Threadneedle Real Estate recently took over management of the City Retail Europe fund, a portfolio of properties housing 23 high-end stores in 11 European countries including prime locations in major capital cities with a large influx of tourists.
Ian Kelley, who heads Columbia Threadneedle’s operations in an area that includes France, the Netherlands and southern Europe, sat down with CoStar’s French publication Business Immo for a video interview on plans to accommodate the growth of luxury retail in an inflationary environment. The firm is also betting on a rebound in international tourism to fuel property demand.
4. Germany: Berlin Looks To Buy Prominent Retail Building
The Berlin government is in talks to buy the Quartier 207, a mixed-use retail property also known as Q207, from current owner Tishman Speyer, said Senator Joe Chialo during a meeting of the culture committee in the regional house of representatives.
He mentioned an “indicative purchase price” of €589 million, which would not include costs for renovation and furnishing. A source familiar with the situation confirmed that Berlin wants to buy the property in the Mitte district to house its central and state library when French department store Galeries Lafayette vacates the property.
5. Canada: Global Property Firm Seeks To Mine Data
The climate was right for Vancouver-based QuadReal Property Group to take advantage of the mountain of data it was sitting on with its global real estate portfolio valued at CA$73.8 billion.
However, the manager of the British Columbia Investment Management Corp.’s real estate program needed some help mining all that data. So QuadReal brought in Adastra, a global IT firm that uses data to try to help boost a company’s bottom line. The future might include employing artificial intelligence to make decisions and monitor patterns in traffic, weather, population and business migration.
6. US: Netflix Plans To Premiere Branded Stores
Here’s a new kind of debut for streaming giant Netflix: launching U.S. stores.
The Los Gatos, California-based entertainment juggernaut plans to take the plunge on brick-and-mortar after experimenting with various kinds of retail pop-ups nationally. The first two permanent Netflix House locations are slated to premiere in 2025, officials at the streaming service confirmed to CoStar News. Bloomberg News first reported Netflix’s plans, which include eventually rolling out the Netflix House stores globally.
This report was compiled from CoStar’s news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.