FOREIGN REAL ESTATE INVESTORS STILL LIKE L.A.Byline: GREGORY J. WILCOX In the portfolios of foreign commercial real estate investors, L.A is one of the top places to be. We're not No. 1. But they really, really really like us. Third choice, actually. At least that's the conclusion of a survey that arrived last week from the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate. This group has been polling foreign investors for 15 years, and for the last five Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. has been their third favorite place. The top five cities that provide foreign investors the best opportunities for capital appreciation come from a list of usual suspects. New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of in first, D.C. in second, San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden and newcomer Seattle, in fourth and fifth places respectively. Seattle pushed San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. out of the top five. ``It's clearly a bicoastal bi·coas·tal adj. 1. Relating to both the east and west coasts of the United States, as: a. Traveling frequently between coasts as part of a business or living arrangement: type of strategy. And the L.A. economy is growing and vibrant,'' said James Fetgatter, the association's chief executive officer. The survey reflects the buying preferences of members of the association who collectively own $601 billion of real estate globally, including $184 billion in the U.S. It was conducted by The Center for Real Estate, University of Wisconsin, Madison. ``The findings reflect investors' desire to invest in U.S. real estate despite macro uncertainties and competition from U.S. institutional investors,'' Francois Ortalo-Magne, who holds the Robert E. Wangard Chair in Real Estate at the university, said in a statement. ``Consequently, they are showing a greater willingness to consider diversification strategies into secondary markets, outside of the core property types, and with creative financing Creative Financing is a term used widely amongst real estate investors to refer to non-traditional means of real estate financing, or financing techniques not commonly used. and ownership structures.'' Jack Kyser, vice president and chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., offers a less academic take on this, at least for L.A. ``Most foreign investors understand Los Angeles a lot better than the rest of the residents of the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. do,'' Kyser said. ``If you talk to people in the commercial real estate industry, they will tell you there a still a lot of foreign capital sloshing around in this market.'' He makes another point, too. L.A. is an international business center, and most of the rest of the nation focuses on the entertainment sector and the fluffy stuff Fluffy Stuff is a brand of cotton candy that comes in a variety of fruit flavors, marketed by Tootsie Roll Industries. • • . Here's the top five areas, in order of preference, where foreign investors put their money last year -- office buildings, multi-family, hotels, industrial complexes and retail centers. London remains the top global city for cross-border real estate investment; New York regains the No. 2 spot, rising from third place in 2005 and fourth place in both 2004 and 2003. Foreign investors are moving into the suburbs, too. ``In the past few years they have branched out from their old traditional urban core of downtown, Fetgatter said. ``And that means they are amenable to a L.A. kind of place.'' greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3743 |
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