* A resident of West Kensington, London, has against in relation to the developer's EarlsCourt redevelopment scheme. The resident, who lodged the complaintwith the European Commission, claims that the land deal for the scheme violatedthe commission's state aid rules.
* Foncière des Régionsand Caisse des Dépôts, through unit Foncièredes Murs, have agreed to launch a new vehicle that will promotetourism in France. The Foncière Développement Tourisme will have an initial€100 million capital, expected to be raised to €500 million, and will carry out€1 billion in investments over the long term.
The vehicle will invest in hotel walls, touristresidences and holiday centers. It will also be used to fund major developmentoperations and renovation projects in areas in France that see a lot oftourists, according to a press release.
* A new fund expected to have an up to €900 million capacity has beencreated to give institutional investors an opportunity to invest in existing elderlycare facilities and rehabilitation centers, PropertyInvestor Europe reported,citing local media. Personae Fund will primarily invest in Italian assets.
The fund, created by Italy-based asset manager Serenissima S.G.R. S.p.A. andFrench health care provider Orpea, has a minimum target volume of €90 millionin 2016.
* According to a TRIUVA study,over 100 regional centers in 548 European cities have higher sales indexes thanmajor cities, leading the European investment manager from Frankfurt to regardretail properties in second-tier cities as "a defensive and comparativelyhigh-yield investment."
* Pramerica Real Estate Investors plans to boost its exposure in Europe'sreal estate market to roughly €10 billion in the "next couple of years"from the current €7 billion, PIE reported,citing an interview with Raimondo Amabile, the group head of Europe.
* JLL data shows that real estate investment volumes in Europe in thefirst quarter came out to €40 billion, down 20% year over year. PIE reported,citing the data, that the U.K. and France recorded declines in contrast to thegrowth in the Nordics, Benelux and central and eastern European regions.
Germany
* TLG IMMOBILIEN AGis investing€50.6 million in a Berlin office property, according to a news release. TheErlenhöfe building is about 88.5% occupied and generates about €2.9 million innet rent annually.
* TH Real Estate and German mall specialist ECE are carrying out a €73million expansion and renovation of the PEP Shopping Centre in Munich, EuropeReal Estate and PIEreported.
The makeover is expected to be completed in 2018, and willsee an additional 7,900 square meters of space at the center's existing50,000-square-meter retail area.
* Property financier Deutsche Hyposaid that property sentiment in the country fell by 3.7% in April, attributedto a lack of supply and growing skepticism among survey participants. PIE reportedthat sentiment on the office submarket saw the biggest decline, according tothe Deutsche Hypo index.
UK and Ireland
* St. Modwen Properties Plchas filed its plans for the next phase of its St. Andrew's Park development inUxbridge, London, Property Week reported.The new phase features 44 homes.
* Network Rail and the Homes and Communities Agency are hoping to deliverup to 10,000 new homes in the coming years through a partnership that willbuild houses near rail stations across the U.K., Construction Enquirer reported.The first schemes in the plan will be built at York in North Yorkshire, Tauntonin Somerset, and Swindon in Wiltshire.
The proposed £600 million development near the YorkCentral station is expected to yield 2,500 homes.
* Speaking of the government'sresidential initiatives, PW reportedon how a "key" component of the amended Housing and Planning Bill wasrejected by the House of Lords.
* Despite various measuresto regulate the buy-to-let industry in the U.K., data from finance websiteMoneyfacts shows that such landlords are still benefitting from fallingmortgage rates, The (U.K.) Guardian reported.
* Stephen Dance, head of infrastructure delivery at the U.K.'s Treasury,alleges that homebuilders are purposely delaying work on their projects to makemore profit, PW reported Dance as saying.
* According tothe chief economist of Sherry FitzGerald Group, Marian Finnegan, data gatheredby the Irish estate agency shows that the mismatch in the number of private investorsentering and leaving the property market in Ireland "is having adebilitating impact on the rental sector." Finnegan went on to say in a statement that the first quarterof 2016 "was a disappointing period" for the Irish housing market.
Middle East
* haslaunched a new residential-led development called Yas Acres, which will add1,315 villas in Yas Island,Abu Dhabi, according to a newsrelease.
The waterfront project will be developed with a 6billion-United-Arab-Emirates-dirham budget and is being considered by thecompany as its largest project to date.
* STR'spreliminary data for March showed that hotels in Abu Dhabi achieved mixedyear-over-year results in three performance metrics, with revenue per availableroom and average daily rate declining, and occupancy increasing. Data alsoshowed that there was a 3.2% increase in supply and a 7.3% increase in demandduring the comparable period in the sector.
Spain
CBRE Global Investors closed on its acquisition of a16-strong logistics portfolio on behalf of a client, Property Magazine International reported.The assets are located on the Henares corridor and sold by Metrovacesa andParques Intermodales Gran Europa.
Malta
Europe Real Estatereportedthat Vienna's Flughafen Wien AG inked a €64 million deal for a 15.5% stake in theMalta International Airport. Prior to the deal with SNC-Lavalin Group, thecompany held a 32.94% interest in the airport.
Czech Republic
According to forecasts from Capital Economics, prime retailproperties in Prague will yield over 11% in annual returns until the end of2018, while capital value growth will flatten out in 2019, PIE reported.
Africa
Anthony Lewis, head of Sub-Saharan Africa capital markets atJLL, writesthat although macroeconomic issues like depressed oil and commodity prices are "unsettlingoccupiers" in Africa, they are not likely to interfere with the region'sevolving real estate capital markets.
Lewis added that JLL expects that between $500 million and$1 billion could trade in the region in 2016.
TheDaily Dose Europe, Real Estate edition, is updated as of 6:30 am London time.Some links require a subscription. Articles and links are correct as ofpublication time.