1. Somalia: Hotel developers seek national economic uplift
Stakeholders bringing a planned luxury hotel to Mogadishu, Somalia, hope the development can begin to rehabilitate the image of the Eastern African nation.
Developers broke ground in December on the Mogadishu Rotana, a 261-room hotel with an additional 60 apartments near Aden Adde International Airport, the main airport in Somalia’s capital. It is part of a mixed-use zone containing a conference center, shopping mall, hospital and residences, according to Jibril Hassan Mohamed, chairman of hotel owner Riverside Holding. The company is on a mission to “create enabling infrastructure, so that it is possible to do business, to visit,” said project lead Suleiman Abdullahi.
2. UK: WeWork settles eviction fight at largest London office
Global shared-space provider WeWork reached a settlement in a High Court battle with its landlord over the company’s flagship 290,000-square-foot London office, a case that’s been closely followed by other landlords as the co-work firm restructures operations.
The settlement will allow WeWork to remain in the building at 10 York Road, owned by investment firm Almacantar, and both parties confirmed to CoStar News that there will be no change to the amount of space occupied by WeWork. The High Court last month dismissed one of two legal moves by Almacantar to evict WeWork from the property.
3. France: Office regions face varied leasing recoveries
Office demand stabilized across Europe in 2024, though there were significant differences among regions when it came to trends in newly leased square footage, according to a report from Paris-based BNP Paribas Real Estate.
The consulting firm tracked 18 regions and found office space take-ups increased 58% from the prior year in Dublin and rose 17% in Amsterdam. But improvement was much slighter in some French cities, with Lyon rising 2% and Paris and its inner suburbs posting an annual decline of 7%. Researchers said Paris and some German cities are “still weakened” by political and economic uncertainty.
4. Germany: Court prohibits ‘low risk’ label on real estate fund
A German court ruled that an open-ended real estate fund that has come under scrutiny can no longer be classified in a low-risk category. The decision has potential implications for investment in other similar open-ended funds, which generally have an indefinite life span and are often structured to allow operators to issue an unlimited number of shares.
The Nuremberg Regional Court ruled that the open-ended fund known as Uniimmo Wohnen ZBI may no longer be classified in the low-risk class 2 category under German law. Union Investment, parent company of fund manager ZBI, said its classification complies with current accepted practices and it will appeal the ruling in a lawsuit filed by consumer advocates over recent fund devaluations.
5. Canada: Water park, hotels planned for Montreal suburb
A mixed-use development planned to include a water park, two hotels and a convention center is a step closer to reality in Mirabel, a city about an hour’s drive north of downtown Montreal that was once home to a major international airport.
A firm led by developer Ray Junior Courtemanche said it has received all needed local approvals for a project with an estimated development cost of $175 million to $200 million. Plans include more than 20 water attractions, a 1,500-seat performance hall, an 11-floor hotel with a top-floor convention center, and a 14-story hotel with a rooftop terrace. The site was previously targeted for a water park project that was proposed in 2006 but subsequently shelved due to economic challenges.
6. US: How Trump administration policies could shape the real estate recovery
As they celebrate another quarter of surging deals, executives with the largest commercial real estate brokerages are sounding notes of caution amid what they say is growing uncertainty over the potential effects of the Trump administration’s economic policies.
While optimistic that deal activity will further strengthen this year, executives for CBRE, JLL, Cushman & Wakefield, Colliers International, Newmark and Marcus & Millichap said during their most recent earnings calls that macroeconomic factors linked to the policies of the new administration — including the trajectory of interest rates and inflation, and the potential effect of tariffs and government cuts — are concerning clients and clouding earnings forecasts. “We are currently in a still very volatile environment,” JLL CEO Christian Ulbrich told investors during an earnings call.
This report was compiled from CoStar’s news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.