Dive Brief:
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Hyatt Hotels has announced it will position a Park Hyatt hotel, the company's luxury brand, in the $1 billion Oceanwide Plaza mixed-use development planned for downtown Los Angeles, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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Hyatt officials said the downtown area has seen a revitalization in recent years, which is why it chose Oceanwide's proximity to popular residential, retail and entertainment venues. The development is scheduled to open in 2019 and will feature 504 residential units and a 166,000-square foot shopping center with a 700-foot-tall LED display.
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The Oceanwide development is just one of Chinese company Oceanwide Holdings' six such U.S. projects, with others located in New York, San Francisco and Hawaii, among others.
Dive Insight:
Foreign investment in the U.S. has boosted the nation's construction market as overall construction starts are forecast to rise only 1% in 2016, according to Dodge Data & Analytics Chief Economist Robert Murray. Other Chinese-backed projects include Chicago's Vista Tower, another $1 billion project in Los Angeles and a massive housing development in Brooklyn, NY.
Earlier this year, Extell Development Co., announced that it would partner with China-based SMI USA to construct the $3 billion Central Park Tower, which, at 1,550 feet in height, will be the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere. SMI has conditioned its $300 million investment on Extell being able to obtain a construction loan by May 2017. If Extell cannot secure a loan, SMI could force the sale of the project. As a return on its investment, SMI will get 30% of development fees and 4.5% a year in interest.
Another significant foreign investment in U.S. construction and real estate is the $4 billion Resorts World Las Vegas hotel-casino project backed by Malaysian-based developer Genting Berhad. The company's plans for a Chinese-themed resort, situated along the Las Vegas Strip on the site of the former Stardust Hotel and Casino, will feature a 3,307-room tower with approximately 657,000 square feet of public space, a movie theater, a convention center, a 29,350-square-foot lake and a Chinese garden.
