1. Iran: Hotels attract investors despite economic sanctions
Political tensions and economic turmoil have weighed heavily on Iranian hotels, but the country’s hospitality industry is attracting investors as operators maintain guarded optimism about future business.
Geopolitical situations, including conflicts with Israel and sweeping United States sanctions, have had a severe impact on Iranian hotels during the past several years as tourism has slowed, said Hamid Vahabzadeh, CEO of Dastyar Hotel and a hospitality management consultant in Iran. “Quite a few hotels are in a pretty bad situation,” he said.
2. UK: Monarch’s property firm joins development venture
The Crown Estate, the reigning United Kingdom monarch’s property company, and investment firm Lendlease entered into a conditional agreement to create a joint development venture focused on Lendlease’s land management portfolio, valued at up to £24 billion.
A Crown Estate said the 50-50 joint venture aligns with its plans to support development of science, innovation and technology space, and also unlock space for new housing in the United Kingdom. The joint venture said it has the potential to deliver over 10 million square feet of commercial workspace, more than 100,000 jobs and around 26,000 homes, including market-rate and affordable rental units.
3. France: Pending retail property sales volume soars
With €1.3 billion allocated to the sector, retail accounted for 38% of French commercial real estate investments in the first quarter of 2025. This was well above the €500 million recorded for same period a year earlier, and sources indicate another €1.3 billion in retail deals is in the pipeline for potential completion this year.
Among big transactions about to be finalized is the sale of 277 rue Saint-Honoré by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Immobel, a property recently leased by Italian luxury fashion house Brunello Cucinellio. According to an insider, the sale price could amount to €180 million.
4. Germany: Prime office rents, vacancy projected to rise
Industry leaders are expecting office rents to rise in prime German office locations in 2025 and 2026 as overall vacancy rates continue to rise, according to the latest survey of researchers by a prominent industry organization.
Parts of Düsseldorf and Frankfurt will be particularly hard hit by the oversupply of empty office space, with vacancies in those regions recently exceeding 10% mark. The rate is 7% in Berlin and could reach 9% by the end of 2026. In Munich it has risen surprisingly sharply to well over 7% and could hold at that level going forward, respondents said in the survey conducted by Gesellschaft für immobilienwirtschaftliche Forschung, also known as GIF.
5. Canada: Montreal preps for auto race that pushes hotel revenue into overdrive
Montreal hoteliers, restaurateurs and retail owners are revving up for their most lucrative weekend, as the Formula 1 Grand Prix race is set to roll into town June 13-15. The race has taken place in Montreal since 1978 and routinely leads to near-full occupancy across hotels.
An estimated 350,000 visitors gathered last year to watch the high-speed race, braving heavy rain to witness Dutchman Max Verstappen win his 16th title. For the upcoming race weekend, roughly three-quarters of the city’s hotel rooms are already booked for Friday and Saturday. Those bookings are expected to rise to near full capacity closer to the date, according to data from STR, a CoStar company.
6. US: Officials shop retail solutions as downtowns shed office workers
Public officials across the country are getting more creative in their strategies to rejuvenate their downtowns five years after the pandemic decimated foot traffic. Local legislators were among the 25,000 people who descended on Las Vegas to attend the annual International Council of Shopping Centers conference in an attempt to boost their retail ecosystems.
In San Francisco, leaders and landlords are offering small businesses free rent on retail space. Stakeholders in Birmingham, Alabama, are repositioning vacant offices into new storefronts and restaurants. In Denver, bodegas and banks are replacing offices downtown as city stakeholders hope to transition the retail base from focusing on workers to catering to residents.
This report was compiled from CoStar’s news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.