The latest seasonal visitors to Sweden’s famous Icehotel include 24 artists from 15 countries selected by operators to help with an annual update to the design of a property that also has a permanent section made entirely of ice where guests can stay year-round.

Operators said 135 artists from 23 different countries applied to be involved in this year’s program, which involves building new renditions of the property’s ice rooms, traditional suites, lobby and other common areas. About 2,500 blocks of ice are carved out of the Torne River every year, for a collective weight of 5,000 tons, and approximately 70,000 people make the long trek to the hotel over the course of a year, many attending one of the 80 weddings held there annually.

Hotel News Now>>

Real estate investors in France and other European countries are starting the new year as they ended the previous one, with a lot of uncertainty about the evolution of market conditions.

Between inflation and rising interest rates, and their potential effects on pricing and capitalization, the question European investors are asking is whether 2023 will be a year for redefining the terms of engagement for real estate transactions. One consulting firm’s study found that average inflation in the 19 European countries “has already peaked in July at 10%” and is expected to come down to below a 2% target by early 2024, but investors are looking at what could change an outlook for such an easing.

Business Immo>>

Cameron Management plans this year to begin turning the 95-year-old Niels Esperson Building in downtown Houston into an entrepreneurial vertical village that includes residential units in the top floors, the latest such move across the United States.

Several national office owners, including Silverstein Properties, are looking to put a twist on a growing niche in real estate where old office buildings are being fully or partially converted into residential living. While space slated for conversions across the country still represents just a small part of the overall office market, it is attracting billions of dollars in investment as the industry looks to deal with relatively low demand for workplace space, especially in older buildings, after the pandemic made remote work more common.

CoStar News>>

If ever there was a year of two halves for United Kingdom real estate, or more accurately three-eighths and five-eighths, then 2022 was that year.

CoStar’s investment figures for the United Kingdom show one-and-a-half quarters of calm and recovery at the beginning of the year, and the rest of 2022 filled with turbulence, drama and slowdown that will likely bring some rethinking about property markets. Real estate was on course for a record year in the opening months a year ago, but transactions fell off drastically in the face of inflation, war in Ukraine and domestic political and budgetary upheaval.

CoStar News>>

Global fashion brand Saint Laurent has signed a lease to open a major flagship store on Bloor Street West next year in a part of downtown Toronto that's become home to many of the world's high-end retail outlets.

At 10,400 square feet, the new location encompasses the space previously occupied by J. Crew and Brooks Brothers. It will be one of the largest stores in the world for Paris-based Saint Laurent and the biggest in Canada.

CoStar News>>

Investment firm Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate, the entity majority-owned by Apollo Global Management and better known as Demire, sold a logistics property in Leipzig for 121 million euros to Commerz Real’s Hausinvest fund in a standout sale in Germany for December.

The 159,000-square-meter property is 90% leased to tenants including Amazon and Berlin-based online retailer Momox. The property sold for 14% below its latest valuation, but it was still among only a few deals to top 100 million euros announced in the country in the last month of the year.

Thomas Daily>>

This report was compiled from CoStar’s international news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.