Market Data
International Beat
London’s Big Deal
Chinese
insurers continue to invest in European commercial properties, particularly in
London. Ping An Life Insurance, the second largest insurer in China, recently
purchased the 385,000-sf Tower Place office building from Deutsche Asset &
Wealth Management for $491 million. The purchase marks Ping An’s second London acquisition in two years; it
purchased the Lloyds of London building for approximately $391 million in July
2013. High yields and long-term tenants are attracting Chinese insurers to
European office buildings according to CBRE. Asian investment in European
commercial properties reached $8.8 billion in 2014, according to DTZ Research,
with no signs of stopping. “Outbound real estate investment, now a flourishing component of
China’s
overseas investments, is becoming the ‘new normal’” said
Kitty Liu, CBRE’s senior
director of global capital markets.
Markets
to Watch
A
surge in corporate and leisure travel is stimulating Brazil’s lodging market, despite bleak economic
conditions across the rest of Latin America. Of the 65,479 rooms under
construction in the region in 4Q14, 40,000 will be added in Brazil.
Construction in the region is up from 49,054 rooms in 4Q13 according to EY.
Retail
construction in the Middle East is sky rocketing in 2015. Construction of the
Mall of the World — the world’s largest mall — will add 8 msf of retail, entertainment, and
lodging to Dubai’s
leasable space according to Cushman & Wakefield. Other notable projects in
the pipeline include the 235,000-sm Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi, and the 163,500-sm
Mall of Egypt in Cairo.