Turks and Caicos: Tourism Prospects Brighten
A top executive at Grace Bay Resorts is anticipating a significant boost in visitors to Turks and Caicos in the coming year, aided by a rise in global tourism and the easing of travel restrictions that shut down early in the pandemic the Caribbean islands that are collectively a British territory.
“There were five months or so where we had to lock down the islands due to medical capacity,” said Grace Bay Principal and Chief Operating Officer Nikheel Advani. “It didn’t matter what we did, said or otherwise. We needed to up the medical capacity to match global standards.”
France: Projects Canceled Near Prominent Paris Boulevard
At the gates of Paris, near the Boulevard Périphérique highway that surrounds the French capital, several proposed developments have not made it through regulatory gates, such as the mixed-use Mille Arbres (Thousand Trees) development and the Ville Multi-strates (multi-layered city) housing and office project, where building permits were simply canceled.
There is also the Porte de Montreuil neighborhood redevelopment project, which is also being contested. Uses, density and heights are often disputed by government officials and neighboring property owners, with concerns about climate change among issues creating challenges for real estate investors and developers.
UK: Regulator Approves Terms for Large Student Housing Acquisition
A major merger in the student housing market is a step closer to completion after the United Kingdom’s competition regulator approved remedies proposed by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and U.S. apartment giant Greystar Real Estate Partners, which have formed a joint venture to acquire a student housing portfolio valued at £3.3 billion.
The venture is seeking to acquire Student Roost, the United Kingdom’s third-largest student housing provider, from a private real estate fund overseen by global property giant Brookfield. The portfolio includes more than 23,000 existing beds, along with a development pipeline of about 3,000 beds in several university cities around the United Kingdom.
Germany: Office Yields and Vacancies Continue to Rise
Prime office yields in the five largest markets in Germany increased 50 basis points this year and will rise a further 25 to 50 basis points in 2023, according to a new market forecast by research institutes GIF and CRES.
The largest increase in the coming year is expected in Hamburg, with the smallest in Berlin. Vacancy rates are also rising, albeit at a slower pace than expected six months ago, with Frankfurt’s expected to rise from 8.1% in 2022 to 8.8% in 2023.
US: Real Estate Firms Urge Federal Government to Bring Workers Back to Offices
The Real Estate Roundtable, an organization that includes prominent commercial property owners, is urging the Biden administration to do more to get federal workers back in the office to avoid setting a precedent for remote work that it says is hurting the U.S. office market.
The nonprofit policy group has concerns about the example set by the federal government as an employer shrinking its office space across the country while increasing remote working. The federal government owns 81 million square feet of office space nationwide and leases an additional 171.5 million square feet, according to CoStar and government data.
Canada: UK-Based Shell Buying 56 Gas Stations for $100 Million
A division of United Kingdom-based energy giant Shell is acquiring 56 retail gas stations in Western Canada for $100 million in cash.
Canadian Mobility Services Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell Canada, reached an agreement to purchase the properties from Empire Company Ltd., whose holdings include grocery retailer Sobey’s Inc. The gas stations include convenience stores and will be converted to the Shell brand when the transaction closes in Empire’s first quarter of fiscal 2024.
This report was compiled from CoStar’s international news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.