This Month
Why Chris Lucas’ new top-end Melbourne venue won’t be a private club
The city’s restaurant king reveals his $45 million plan for a four-level venue known as Batard at the top end of Bourke Street.
- Patrick Durkin
Social housing offers 8-12pc infrastructure-like returns
As Australia grapples with how to channel institutional money into new housing, the $10b HAFF fund offers a way to invest that Australia hasn’t had before.
- Michael Bleby
How this office building is saving money – and carbon
This retrofit saved 57,000 tonnes of embodied carbon emissions, as companies rethink the design of office buildings.
- Michael Bleby
Investors claim mismanagement of Elanor’s $500m hotel fund
The $500 million hotel fund – part of a $6b real estate platform – is at the heart of refinancing issues facing the ASX-listed fund manager.
- Larry Schlesinger
Time to buy into REITs: Barrenjoey
Property stocks have weathered the interest rate storm, according to Barrenjoey, who say investors could be “well served” to increase their exposure.
- Nick Lenaghan
Commercial landlords struggle to refinance $2.2 trillion of debt
The value of buildings has broadly dropped after higher interest rates boosted funding costs for property owners.
- Neil Callanan and Scott Carpenter
Spain’s crackdown on holiday rentals bodes well for luxury hotels
Locals have staged protests, blaming booming short-term holiday lets for soaring costs of housing and crammed city streets.
- Joan Faus and Corina Pons
The Hong Kong luxury mall sitting empty as Chinese spending plunges
China’s collapse in high-end spending has shaken confidence in luxury brands globally as companies from LVMH to Richemont and L’Oreal report falling sales.
- Shirley Zhao
Surry Hills pub sold for the first time in nearly 50 years
The landmark pub near Central Station sold for about $10 million to local publican Laurence Collins.
- Larry Schlesinger
- Opinion
- Commercial real estate
How investors can profit from the commercial property cycle
It’s important to recognise and understand the four phases in the cycle – recovery, expansion, hyper-supply and recession – to enable better decisions.
- Sam Tamblyn
- Exclusive
- Commercial real estate
‘Great assets’: Nick Politis pays $50m for Porsche dealerships
Sydney Roosters chairman Nick Politis has added two Melbourne Porsche dealerships to his 28pc stake in ASX-listed Eagers Automotive.
- Larry Schlesinger
- Exclusive
- Construction
Pay deals keep tradies in line with Big Mac index, but teachers lag
Annual wage growth close to 5 per cent for the past two decades has put CFMEU construction workers ahead of other employees, new earnings analysis shows.
- Michael Bleby
Mormons join $1.1b American push into ‘undervalued’ Aussie farmland
The Mormon Church has purchased a Queensland cropping aggregation for over $300 million, while a NASDAQ-listed company has acquired the Bell family’s NSW farming empire.
- Larry Schlesinger
August
The $500m pub owner you’ve never heard of
David Tomsic, the son-in-law of billionaire pub owner Bruce Mathieson, started out as bricklayer but now owns an empire spanning over 40 venues.
- Larry Schlesinger
Bleak outlook for commercial property: NAB
Sentiment and confidence waned in all states bar Western Australia with Victoria the clear under-performer in all sectors, according to an industry survey.
- Nick Lenaghan
- Exclusive
- Industrial
Rich Listers double down on industrial with $800m logistics plans
Brothers Andrew and Michael Buxton have spent almost $150m buying adjoining sites in south-east Melbourne where they are planning an $800m logistics estate.
- Larry Schlesinger
- Exclusive
- Building Bad
How construction failures push up costs for builders – and consumers
Union officials with unchecked power on construction sites force builders to cover costs of insolvent subcontractors, which in turn pushes up costs for home buyers.
- Michael Bleby
Home building goes backwards as infrastructure booms
Developers and economists say conditions might improve soon for detached homes, but there’s no sign of any change that would get apartments going up again.
- Michael Bleby
Hydrogen-powered skyscraper set for Egypt’s new desert capital
The 50-storey skyscraper will rise in a new capital being built from scratch in the desert east of Cairo.
- Aidan Lewis
Airbnb boom hits a wall as landlords slash prices to lure tourists
A broad backlash from residents and resurgent interest in hotels has made life more difficult for property owners, forcing rates down in many popular areas.
- Larry Schlesinger
