From the October issue: When Anbang Insurance Group agreed to pay $1.95 billion for the landmark Waldorf Astoria hotel in October 2014, it suggested the beginning of a new era in the scale — and audaciousness — of Chinese investment abroad.
Not only did the seismic deal set a record as the most expensive purchase of a U.S. real estate asset by a Chinese buyer, it was the highest price ever paid for an American hotel. In New York City especially, the Chinese appetite for property is a well-established fact. Between 2010 and 2015, Chinese real estate and investment firms snapped up $9.56 billion worth of commercial real estate in the city, accounting for nearly 56 percent of transaction volume, according to a May report from the Asia Society. Over the past 12 months, Chinese firms accounted for $6.44 billion in commercial real estate acquisitions in the New York metro region, according to Real Capital Analytics. [more]