1. Saudi Arabia: Upcoming World Cup Could Fuel More Hotel ‘Giga-Projects’
Saudi Arabia’s quest to increase the stock of hotels and other commercial “giga-projects,” as part of its ambitious Vision2030 program, has been boosted by the news that soccer’s 2034 FIFA World Cup will be held in the country.
Saudi Arabia was the only bidder for that year — the competition is held every four years — and the decision comes on the back of huge Saudi investment in sports both domestically and internationally over the past few years. Ed James, head of content and research in the Middle East at business consulting firm MEED, said a successful bid for the finals “will result in even more hotel rooms.”
2. UK: Bank Eyes Canary Wharf Landmark for Headquarters Move
Banking firm Revolut is in talks to take around 113,000 square feet of office space at Quadrant and Oaktree’s YY office development in London’s Canary Wharf financial district, in what would be a significant boost for the area.
The fintech group, which has around 6,000 staff globally and 1,000 in London, where it began life in 2015, launched a search via brokerage JLL for a new headquarters across central London earlier this year. It currently occupies about 80,000 square feet at 7 Westferry Circus in Canary Wharf. A move away could have created a second departure for the district after HSBC announced in June it was leaving its more than 1-million-square-foot Canary Wharf headquarters after more than two decades, relocating to the redeveloped former British Telecom head office near St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
3. France: Hotel Firms Announce Planned Property Exchange
France-based hotel investor Covivio and AccorInvest of Luxembourg have entered into exclusive negotiations with plans to consolidate and reorganize some of their jointly held hotel properties and related business assets.
The companies said the arrangement includes an exchange of some properties, currently held by AccorInvest, for hotels owned by Covivio under various ownership-leasing arrangements between the two firms. Following completion of the transaction, Covivio would own 24 properties and AccorInvest would own 10, with properties in the deal valued at a total of about €470 million, according to a statement. Covivio Hotels CEO Tugdual Millet called the exchange a “unique opportunity to accelerate the value-creating asset management of our hotel portfolio.”
4. Germany: Developer Signa Changes Leadership Amid Restructuring
Signa Holding founder René Benko has stepped down as chief executive of the struggling development and investment firm, ceding control to restructurer Arndt Geiwitz.
Geiwitz will also chair the shareholders committee of Signa Holding, the company said in a statement. Geiwitz’s task is to restructure the whole Signa group of companies from Signa Holdings, which like other German developers has recently faced construction and financing challenges in a climate of high interest rates and declining property demand.
5. Canada: Brookfield CEO Expects Improved Investment Climate in 2024
The chief executive of Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management, one of the world’s largest real estate owners, said he expects next year to be one of the best in a while for real estate investment based on money flowing into his company’s funds.
Bruce Flatt, who has headed the global investment management firm since 2002 and now oversees an empire with US$850 billion in assets under management, said the company sees strong demand for its fifth opportunistic real estate fund and closed on an additional US$2 billion during its latest quarter. “Transaction activity is picking up, and 2024 should be one of the best years we have seen in a while for investment," said Flatt, referring specifically to real estate in his quarterly letter to shareholders for the third quarter.
6. US: WeWork Seeks To Reject 65 Direct Leases
WeWork is seeking to reject 65 direct unprofitable office leases in the United States and Canada, including more than half in its home market of New York, as part of its filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The struggling global flexible workplace provider, credited with popularizing coworking space, listed the locations at a time when fewer workers are going into the office than before the pandemic and companies are looking to cut costs amid higher interest rates and are unsure about their space needs. WeWork’s “lease portfolio has been, and continues to be, a significant contributing factor” in its current financial challenges, the company said in a court document.
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This report was compiled from CoStar’s news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.