Chinese presence in U.S. commercial real estate seems to be waning, trade war or no trade war.
The fate of the off-again, on-again specter of an impending U.S.-China trade war may be uncertain, but regardless of what happens with tariffs and exports, the U.S. commercial real estate industry continues to feel the effect of both China’s cold shoulder and the stricter U.S. regulatory environment surrounding foreign investment.
Chinese companies and financial institutions were active in U.S. commercial real estate in recent years, both on the equity side and the debt side, but their presence seems to be waning, trade war or no trade war.
In New York City alone, Bank of China was involved with originating about $5 billion in loans for prominent commercial properties in 2013 and 2014. Bank of China has been party to loans of more than half a billion dollars each for trophy properties in the Big Apple, including the Sony Building at 550 Madison Ave. (originated in 2013), the One Astor Plaza headquarters of Viacom and its MTV studio (2012) and the 63 Madison Ave. home of tenants such as IBM (2015).
Other big Chinese players in the U.S. real estate market over the past few years have included the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which financed New York properties including the Bush Tower at 130 W. 42nd St. (2015), and Anbang Insurance Group, one of China’s largest insurance groups.
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