• UK’s Commercial property sector currently in a state of uncertainty [FT.com/Property]
• Emaar (Dubai) share prices poised for gains: Deutsche Bank [Khaleej Times]
• UAE’s real estate market heads toward a soft landing [Khaleej Times]
• Asia-Pacific property boom expected to stay robust [M&C]
• In St Petersburg, Russia Local Experts Expect Commercial Property to Boom [St Petersburg Times]
• China central bank ‘closely monitoring’ property prices - state media [Forbes]

NOT one brick has been laid, not one piece of timber has been erected. But already this home comes with a price tag of $155m (€119m) and has triggered considerable controversy. The price for the property, planned for central Montana by a US real estate magnate makes it, in theory, the most expensive property in the world - beating the record of an unsold 103-room mansion in Windlesham, Surrey, with an asking price of €112.

Read the rest of this entry »

• The Independent’s Ski chalets recommendations ranging from top-end luxury style in Swiss Alps to bargains in Bulgaria [Independent]
• Dubai sets up real estate studies [Ame Info]
• Investors move into Philippine property [Daily Times Pakistan]
• Hong Kong luxury market heads for high end returns [Fly2Let]
• In Dubai hundreds of Investors lose $38m deposits in project after developer closed operations and disappear [Ame Info]

British investors are finally cottoning on to the holiday developments in France that offer exemption from VAT, providing savings of nearly 20 per cent.

These holiday complexes, known as résidences de tourisme, are built by a developer who then sells the units to investors. They, in turn, lease them back to an operator who does all the hard work - including furnishing, letting, cleaning and general maintenance.

To encourage the building of tourist accommodation, particularly in the South, the French government exempts leaseback résidences de tourisme from VAT on the purchase price, currently 19.6 per cent. Irish investors have known about leaseback for years, says Laure Baldacchino of Chesterton International, but it is now catching on in the UK. “The best capital appreciation is in the Alps and the South - growth has been about 10 per cent a year,” she says.

Read the rest of this entry »

Coffee Republic plc, the British coffee and deli bar operator, will enter the Bulgarian market under a franchise arrangement with Property Links International.

The news, announced in a filing with the British stock exchange, was confirmed by Coffee Republic’s partners in Bulgaria. This is first international deal for Coffee Republic.

The first outlet of the British cafe chain will like open in a mall-like shopping and entertainment center under development in Black Sea resort Sunny Beach. It is due for launch in mid-2007.

Coffee Republic is also in talks to lease outlets in shopping malls in Varna and Sofia, said the Property Links representatives for Bulgaria. The British company plans to open up to 10 cafes in Bulgaria over the next 3-4 years.
Property Links is a master franchisee which means it can franchise the Coffee Republic outlets to third parties.

Coffee Republic is the second speciality coffee chains to launch operations in Bulgaria. It follows in the footsteps of LSE-registered coffeeheaven which arrived here a year ago.

Britain’s Costa Coffee is poised to enter the market within the next couple of weeks.
Austria’s Testa Rossa also has plans regarding the Bulgarian coffee house market but is yet to make a move.
coffeeheaven currently shares the market with locally-owned cafe chains Onda and Coffee House.

Source: Franchise-Hit

Related:

• Bulgaria specialty coffee chains caught in frivolous pricing war [Dnevnik]
• British cafe chain Costa Coffee opens first outlet in Bulgaria [Dnevnik]

• MANCHESTER developer Modus seals £296m property deal in Romania, with sign up of European retailer Carrefour as anchor tenant at the £296m Colosseum shopping centre, in the heart of Bucharest. [Manchester Evening News]
• Average US REITs yield drop to 3.6% - Have REITs Lost Their Footing? [Business Week]
• Austrians Opening Three Factories in Bulgaria [Focus Information Agency]
• Koreans find dream houses abroad [JoongAng Daily]
• Blogging for Property Sales [NY Times]

• Foreign property investors purchase whole villages in Bulgaria [Sofia Echo]
• Goldman Sachs and Indian-based real estate company Unitech are close to jointly setting up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for investments in India’s real estate sector [Economic Times India]
• Vietnam: Real estate projects in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) numerous, but are having difficulty finding investors [VN Economy]
• Sofia is Europe’s Cheapest City for Luxury Apartment Buyers [Sofia News Agency]
• Japan Real Estate Shares Rise ASIA MARKETPLACE [Bloomberg]
• India: Citigroup Property plans US$100 mln luxury hotel in Bangalore [Antara News]
• Malaysian partners sought for green property projects [Business Times Malaysia]

EUROPEAN property funds have proved a worthwhile investment in recent years, with many people who have done well in UK property deciding to diversify overseas.

Only this week, Standard Life Investments (SLI) - the 11th-largest property investor in the world - said it would target fast-growing office markets in continental Europe and Asia after seeing something of a cooling of the commercial property boom in the UK.

SLI has just made its first direct investment in the Polish property market in a joint venture with Panattoni Development Company. They are developing a 50,000sqm distribution warehouse facility in the city of Lodz.

Andrew Jackson, manager of the SLI’s Select Property Fund, said: “We believe central European logistical property offers exciting prospects for the future. These markets are ideally placed for two main reasons - they provide logistical operators with an axis to transport goods from manufacturing bases in central and eastern Europe to western Europe, and serve as a distribution platform for goods traded between northern and southern Europe.”

There are several reasons behind the success of European property funds in recent times. For example, the favourable development of commercial property and the introduction of the special Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) status have fanned investor demand for property funds. Read the rest of this entry »

• Deal is valued at $6.6 billion
• Purchase includes Doral golf resort

Morgan Stanley has agreed a $6.6 billion (£3.34 billion) deal to buy a string of luxury hotels and holiday resorts, in a move that will give it control of one of America’s most famous golf courses.
The Wall Street bank’s real estate division has secured a deal to buy eight high-end resorts from CNL Hotels & Resorts, which operates 59 luxury hotels and resorts across the United States.

Among the hotels included in the deal is the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, which has played host to PGA Tour tournaments for more than 40 years. The Doral operates five championship golf courses, including The Great White Course. Playing a round of 18 holes on the course, designed by Greg Norman, the former world No 1 and twice winner of the Open Championship, costs up to $250.

As part of the deal, the two parties have agreed that CNL will sell 51 of its hotels to Ashford Hospitality Trust, a US investment trust, in a $2.4 billion deal. Morgan Stanley will take control of CNL and its remaining eight high-end properties, which include three properties trading under Hilton’s Waldorf- Astoria brand.

The portfolio of properties being bought by Morgan Stanley Real Estate also includes a Ritz-Carlton- branded property, two JW Marriott properties, The Doral and The Claremont, a resort in California. The properties will give Morgan Stanley a presence in four of America’s key destination regions: Florida, California, Arizona and Hawaii.

Michael Franco, managing director at Morgan Stanley Real Estate, said: “These types of luxury hotels are extremely hard to replicate and will exhibit excellent future growth from increased corporate group travel and leisure travellers seeking a one-of-a-kind experience.”

Morgan Stanley Real Estate was founded in 1969 as a mortgage brokerage business. It has widened to encompass banking, lending and investment. The group led the consortium that in 2004 bought Canary Wharf in London.

The CNL purchase comes as the group finalises a deal to dispose of 32 of its properties to Whitehall, an affiliate. Morgan Stanley’s deal with CNL includes the assumption of the company’s outstanding debt.

CNL Hotels & Resorts was created in 1996 to lead investment in the hospitality sector on behalf of CNL Financial Group, its parent group. The company, now a real estate investment trust, went on to become a developer and buyer of hotel and resort businesses.

CNL Financial Group was founded in 1973 with a $5,000 loan and has grown to be one of the largest privately owned property and financial groups in the United States, with $19 billion of assets.

Source: Timesonline

The international commercial property market attracted record levels of investment last year, with $US643 billion ($814 billion) in stock changing hands - a jump of 33 per cent on the previous year.