Tishman Bets Billions on Office Workers Returning: Qatar Forum

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(Bloomberg) -- Tishman Speyer Properties President Rob Speyer and Brookfield Asset Management Inc. Chief Executive Officer Bruce Flatt told the Qatar Economic Forum they have invested billions snapping up discounted offices and other commercial buildings since the start of the pandemic.

Earlier, Colony Capital founder Tom Barrack said he is preparing for higher inflation and rate hikes, while billionaire Barry Sternlicht urged more oversight for special purpose acquisition companies.

Speakers at the Forum on Wednesday include UBS Group Chairman Axel Weber, Qatar Investment Authority CEO Mansoor bin Ebrahim al-Mahmoud, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters, BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink, and Barclays CEO Jes Staley.

The Qatar Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Investment Promotion Agency Qatar and Media City Qatar are underwriters of the Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg.

Key Highlights

Deutsche Bank’s top Qatari holder says time is ripe for mergersDalio, Summers still see risk U.S. overheats after Fed shiftVW sees autonomy transforming cars more than electrificationGlencore’s Glasenberg says China can’t cool commodities for longBig Oil CEOs join traders, banks in predicting higher prices

Travel Picks Up in China (11:35 a.m. Doha)

Until recently, China led the global aviation recovery, helped by a robust domestic market. Domestic leisure travel and business travel “have rebounded very solidly,” Trip.com Chief Executive Officer Jane Sun said during a panel on the future of travel and tourism.

On the same panel, Marriott International Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tony Capuano said he expects a new type of traveler to boost hotel performance in the early days of the travel recovery -– guests who combine business trips with family vacations.

Such guests add days to their stays, creating a new source of bookings for a global hospitality sector that was leveled by the Covid-19 pandemic. “We think that blending of trip purposes is great for the hotel industry,” Capuano said.

Also on the panel, Portugal’s Secretary of State for Tourism Rita Marques said she expects the country’s tourism industry to grow this year by at least 20% compared to 2020.

Real Estate Titans Bet on Workers Returning (10:35 a.m. Doha)

The pandemic has created a once-in-a-generation buying opportunity for investors willing to bet on the long-term prospects of workers returning to the hearts of global cities, Tishman’s Rob Speyer and Brookfield Asset Management’s Bruce Flatt said.

“There are extraordinary opportunistic things to buy in major cities around the world,” Speyer said during a panel at the Qatar Economic Forum Wednesday. “We have been active during Covid in Paris, in Washington D.C., in San Francisco, in London and people are just selling off real estate at 25%, 30%, 40% discounts.”

Even as others fret about the future demand for workspace, Tishman has spent about $12 billion since March last year on deals it expects “to be some of the best investments we have ever made,” Speyer said. “If you have a long-term view of things reverting anywhere near where they were pre-Covid, these are generational buying opportunities.”

Millennials Snap Up Hong Kong Development (10:30 a.m. Doha)

Most buyers of a sustainable development in the world’s most expensive property market were under 40, New World Development Co. Chief Executive Officer Adrian Cheng said.

Millenial buyers of The Pavilia Farm property in Hong Kong were attracted by the “unique urban farming concept,” Cheng said. The residential project was oversubscribed by more than 33 times in the first week of sales, underscoring pent-up demand for housing in the city.

“Sustainability is like a second nature to young generations, also a major factor driving New World’s core businesses, from residential to commercial projects,” Cheng said.

Barrack Preparing for Higher Inflation, Rate Hikes (10:00 a.m. Doha)

Tom Barrack said he sees a mismatch between the pace of technological change and the real estate industry’s ability to catch up. Talking shop, he discussed some of his firm’s investment in digital assets like data centers and radio towers.

Barrack is the founder of Colony Capital, which earlier this month said it would rebrand as DigitalBridge.

Sternlicht Says SEC Should Rein In SPACs (10:00 a.m. Doha)

Barry Sternlicht said special purpose acquisition companies need more oversight from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and pointed at Clover Health Investments Corp. as a sign of a bubble.

“The stock market is detached from reality,” he said at the Forum. “Clover Health Care is basically a fraud, is trading at $16 a share, and it keeps going up. The more you say it is going out of business, the higher the stock goes.”

A Clover representative declined to comment on Sternlicht’s remarks. Sternlicht has been involved in at least five SPAC deals since the beginning of last year, and said that he hoped the trend had peaked.

“There is a trickle of deals getting done,” the 60-year-old founder of Starwood Capital said. “I hope it remains a trickle. I doubt it will remain a trickle until the SEC tightens the process up,” he said, adding that SPACs are “really misleading investors.”

Read More in The Big Take: Inside the Rush for Billionaire Riches

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