Executives at Luxembourg-based investment fund IREMIS are targeting categories including hotels in secondary German cities as global macroeconomic challenges require firms to show expertise across a diverse array of asset classes.

IREMIS, or Innovative Real Estate Management & Investment Solutions, was founded by Jochen Schaefer-Suren and London-based partner Jos Short, the founder and former executive chairman of Internos Global Investors. That’s the firm where Schaefer-Suren spent 11 years as a partner and head of hotels and leisure. Challenges including geopolitical tensions involving China and the Russia-Ukraine war have brought both instantaneous and longer-term disruptions of supply chains along with cost escalation, said Schaefer-Suren, IREMIS’ co-chairman and co-founder.

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Department Store group Fenwick is in talks to lease rival House of Fraser’s soon-to-be-vacated store in the town of Guildford, England, in a move that flies in the face of a recent trend of department stores retreating from the United Kingdom’s prominent high-end retail areas.

House of Fraser plans to close its long-term home in the county of Surrey, about 30 miles southwest of London, later this month, with the once mighty department store chain now nearly halved from 59 stores to 31 since its 2018 purchase by Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley. CoStar News understands that landlord Canada Life is in talks to bring another famous department store name, Fenwick, to the space. 

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Three prominent German project developers filed for insolvency in the past week, citing financial challenges brought about by rising construction costs and declining property demand.

Officials at Dusseldorf-based Development Partner, a builder of office and mixed-use projects, cited development delays and depleted capital reserves, noting in a financial filing that demand has “come to a standstill in almost all project areas.” Nuremberg-based office and residential developer The Project Group cited increased construction costs resulting from the Russia-Ukraine war, and Munich-based luxury apartment developer Euroboden noted factors including rising interest rates affecting its bond debt.

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British banking giant Barclays is considering moving its continental Europe regional headquarters from Dublin to Paris as it looks to be “closer to the balance of operations” that are outside the United Kingdom, according to a regulatory filing.

“Preparatory work and initial engagements with regulators and other stakeholders are underway,” the bank said in the filing, noting the relocation of its European headquarters to the French capital should take approximately two years if plans are confirmed. London-based Barclays is among several British financial service firms that have shuffled their real estate since the United Kingdom’s 2020 exit from the European Union. 

Business Immo>>

One of Canada’s most valuable malls is about to get a $28 million redevelopment, as owner Oxford Properties Group seeks to capitalize on rising regional retail demand at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto.

The relocation of tenants and renovation of what mall operators said is a critical property corridor are being designed for more than a dozen of the world’s leading luxury brands. The first brands opening in the renovated hall will be announced later this year. Recent signings outside the central corridor of retailers include fashion brands Dolce & Gabbana, World of Ralph Lauren and Anine Bing, and Chinese jewelry brand Qeelin. Operators did not mention plans for a space being vacated by Nordstrom, which announced its exit from Canada earlier this year. 

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Coach’s parent Tapestry will nearly double its brick-and-mortar footprint to roughly 2,700 stores when it acquires Capri Holdings — owner of Michael Kors and several other brands — in an $8.5 billion deal as it competes with Europe’s luxury goods juggernauts.

Officials of New York-based Tapestry, owner of retailers Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman in addition to Coach, said the company entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Capri, home to Kors as well as Versace and Jimmy Choo. Stockholders of New York-based Capri will receive $57 a share in cash when the transaction closes, which is expected to happen next year. 

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This report was compiled from CoStar’s news publications in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.