Middle East: Few Public REITs Among Hotel Investors
Publicly listed hotel companies remain largely absent in the Middle East, though investment professionals at a global conference in Madrid said they expect that to change in coming years.
Public money from state entities or stock exchanges is often better positioned to take advantage of investment opportunities in the Middle East, according to panelists at the Atlantic Ocean Hotel Investors’ Summit. Khalid Anib, CEO of Abu Dhabi National Hotels, said that eventually more Middle Eastern REITs will exist, but for the moment the culture in the region is that individual owners, such as investors with a high net worth and family-run firms, prefer to own hotels in their entirety.
France: Paris Tops List of Wealthy Investors’ Prized Markets
Paris beat out three American cities in a Top 5 listing of regions most sought out by international investors with at least $30 million in net assets, according to an annual survey by brokerage firm Barnes.
A report from the luxury-focused property brokerage said wealthy international investors are particularly attracted by the French capital’s heritage, culture and overall economic strength, topped off by its selection as host city for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Among the Top 5, Paris beat out Miami, Florida; New York, New York; and Austin, Texas, along with Dubai.
UK: King Charles’ Property Company Sues Twitter Over Unpaid Rent
Social media giant Twitter is being sued by the Crown Estate, the property company of King Charles, over alleged unpaid rent for its U.K. headquarters in London.
Media reports said Twitter has stopped paying rent at its global offices, as well as its San Francisco headquarters, while owner Elon Musk’s team looks to renegotiate lease terms after the billionaire’s $44 billion purchase of the struggling company. A Crown Estate spokesman said court proceedings have been issued in the dispute over Twitter’s offices in London’s West End.
Germany: Financial Struggles Raise Concern Over Healthcare Property
Investment risks involving some healthcare properties in Germany could be on the rise after two nursing home chains filed for bankruptcy.
During the past month, Curata, with 40 care facilities, and Convivo, with more than 100 locations, declared themselves insolvent and filed for a supervised restructuring of large portions of their operations. Convivo executives cited factors including rent and other cost increases, staffing shortages and occupancy rates recently falling as low as 70% from their usual 95%.
Canada: Pension Fund Joins $1.6 Billion Capital Raise for Multifamily
Investment firm Harbor Group International said it closed a new multifamily credit fund after raising $1.6 billion, including $585 million from longtime partner CPPIB Credit Investments III, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, or CPP Investments.
The Canadian agency in 2020 was the lead investor in Norfolk, Virginia-based HGI’s multifamily whole loan program, committing $110 million. “We continue to view multifamily credit investments as resilient assets that are well positioned to drive strong returns for the CPP fund over the long term,” Geoffrey Souter, managing director and head of real assets credit at CPP Investments, said in a statement.
US: Denmark’s Lego To Relocate Longtime US Headquarters to Boston
Danish toymaker Lego Group plans to move its U.S. headquarters with more than 700 employees from Enfield, Connecticut, to Boston, as the company best known for its interlocking plastic bricks looks to expand its American operations.
“Boston is ranked one of the best cities in the world to attract and retain talent,” Skip Kodak, president of Lego in the Americas, said in a statement. This marks the second big recent corporate departure for Connecticut after Campbell Soup Co. said it was closing its Pepperidge Farm operations in Norwalk as part of a consolidation move.
This report was compiled from CoStar’s international news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.