1. Spain: Barcelona Hotel Sells for Record Per-Room Price
Saudi Arabian private equity firm and hotel owner The Olayan Group purchased the 120-room Mandarin Oriental in Barcelona from Andorra-based Reig Capital Group in a deal reported to carry Spain’s largest per-room price tag on record.
Brokerage JLL did not disclose a price in a statement announcing the transaction, but Spanish newspaper El Pais said the hotel traded for approximately €240 million ($261 million), which amounts to about €2 million per key. Mandarin Oriental is expected to continue operating the hotel, which opened in 2019 on Barcelona’s famed street Passeig de Gràcia, as Spain sees rising visits from international tourists.
2. UK: Investors Buy Two Large Industrial Portfolios
Deutsche Finance International, a pan-European private equity real estate platform, launched a United Kingdom urban logistics business in a joint venture with Argo Real Estate, with the £177 million acquisition of two portfolios in separate transactions.
The portfolios seed DFI’s platform with 1 million square feet of space across 11 assets located in urban logistics hubs including London, the South East and Manchester, as investors look to capitalize on recent moderation in logistics property pricing. The assets are 90% occupied, with a single vacant asset where a comprehensive repositioning will be undertaken and another that is leased to Amazon. The platform will aim to build a portfolio of about £400 million of value over the next few years, DFI officials said.
3. France: Debt Funding Gap Looms Over Real Estate Investment
After strong investment momentum in 2018 and 2019, the time may have come years later for many commercial real estate owners to refinance because they now face a more restrictive market environment.
In Europe, analysts estimate one in five loans maturing over the next three years could face a financing shortfall amid higher interest rates. Those looking to refinance are now facing rates considerably above those in place when properties were originally financed, such as Paris’ prime rates of 2.75% for retail, 2.85% for offices and about 4% for logistics properties in earlier years.
4. Germany: Clarion Buys Five Logistics Properties From Blackstone
Logistics fund manager Clarion Partners Europe bought a portfolio of five modern, institutional-quality logistics properties across Germany for €264 million from Blackstone Group as investors cited underlying industrial property fundamentals that remain strong across the country.
The acquisition, which totaled 251,793 square meters, takes Clarion Partners Europe’s total deployment since March this year to €428 million. Clarion officials said the five fully leased properties in Germany carry strong environmental, social and corporate governance credentials and are located in regions including North Rhine-Westphalia, Frankfurt, Ruhr and Stuttgart.
5. Canada: Residential Towers Mark Architect Gehry’s Return to Toronto
World-renowned architect Frank Gehry, now 94, jokes about running out of time as he breaks ground in his birthplace of Toronto on a pair of the tallest residential buildings he’s ever designed.
He will be close to a centenarian in 2028 when the two towers, reaching 73 and 84 floors high in the city’s downtown, have tenants start moving in. Still, the mixed-use condominium project known as Forma is already the talk of Canada’s largest city because while cranes dot the landscape in Toronto, fewer developments are breaking new ground amid high interest rates and other economic challenges.
6. US: Restaurant Properties Sell as Investors Bet on Demand for Dining Out
A pair of recent restaurant portfolio deals, following Darden Restaurants’ purchase last month of Ruth’s Chris Steak House, marks a return of investor interest as demand improves for sit-down dining across the country.
The Necessity Retail REIT sold 44 Bob Evans restaurants for $93 million to Orion Real Estate Group of Miami, the most active buyer of such properties over the past five years, according to CoStar data. In another deal, Four Corners Property Trust bought 13 Darden-operated properties for $79.5 million.
This report was compiled from CoStar’s news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.