Respected commercial real estate consulting firm Green Street Advisors has opened an international division.
The international division is based in London and is being headed by Green Street CEO John Lutzius. Other support staff are located at Green Street’s offices in Dallas and Newport Beach, Calif.
A key goal is to provide detailed net asset value estimates, corporate governance scores, and warranted values, each calculated on a consistent basis,” Green Street Chairman Mike Kirby said at the time of the announcement. “Our initial focus will be on research, but we anticipate adding trading capabilities in the future.”
Kirby said Green Street plans to start its international coverage in the European sector before moving on to Canada and possibly Asia.
Lutzius ceded most of his U.S. responsibilities in the move.
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Tokyo Stock Exchange Permits J-REITs to Hold Foreign Assets
The Tokyo Stock Exchange will start to allow Japanese REITs (J-REIT) to hold overseas assets beginning in May.
The development came after a period of intense anticipation by J-REIT industry observers that such a move was imminent. Historically, Japan’s government has prohibited foreign investment by J-REITs as a measure to ensure investor protection from inadequate asset appraisals.
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Survey: Foreign Investors in New York—and China—State of Mind
New York was foreign investors' favorite spot for commercial real estate in 2007, followed by Washington and London, according to a survey released by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE).
The survey showed that foreign investors consider the United States to be the "most stable and secure" locale for real estate investment, featuring the top opportunity for capital appreciation. The survey also showed that investors are growing increasingly enamored with China. China remained second to the U.S. in the 2007 rankings of most likely to produce capital appreciation after finishing in the same spot in 2006. The gap in voters' preference for the U.S. over China narrowed significantly between 2006 and 2007, though, falling from 27 percent to approximately 5 percent.
Respondents picked retail as their favorite industry sector in 2007. The survey also showed that foreign investors targeted more than half of their 2008 planned acquisitions to be in the U.S., a 16 percent increase dollar-wise from the previous year. They also said they intended to boost their global real estate investment by 20 percent for the year.
Globally, Paris and Shanghai rounded out foreign investors' top five favorite cities. Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle followed behind New York and Washington in the U.S.
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