News & Stories

Stuttgart. The fundamentals of business administration of Vacation Ownership business models are clearly different to those of classic hotel sales. Also, the marketing of VO rights is completely different. In his previous guest article, Joachim Mezger, Regional Director Central and Eastern Europe of Interval International, Stuttgart elaborated on the financial and economical basics; today he explains the systems of the most traditional and still largest segment of shared ownership real estate, timesharing as well as the specifications in the luxury areas of high-end-Fractionals and Private Residence Club concepts.

Milan. Professional design has found its way to student residences as well. Youniq AG, Frankfurt am Main, was able to win over the studio Matteo Thun & Partners for its student-housing concept Youniq. Wood is the primary material for this flexible project.

Andermatt. The diggers are hard at work in the Ursen Valley. In the end, 1.5 million sq.m of fallow land will have been completely redeveloped. At the moment, only the mounds of earth indicate what the developer has in mind: In Andermatt in Switzerland, the outline of "Andermatt Swiss Alps" is slowly taking shape, the mega destination resort which the Egyptian Samih Sawiris will build from nothing by 2016. The plan is to attract tourists to this less popular part of Switzerland, located between Grisons and Valais with a whole new infrastructure. 850 hotel rooms, 490 apartments and at least 20 villas/holiday homes, a massive sport and leisure centre, congress hall, concert, golf and ski facilities are planned. The first million CHF villas and the first two buildings with condos have already been sold. And just a few weeks ago, Sawiris' own Orascom Development Holding AG began to advertise the holiday properties for sale in Great Britain, Germany, Austria and Italy. After all, the whole undertaking for the Egyptian developer is not a simple tourism project, but a hard, long-term property deal intended to bring huge capital gains. Sawiris' business model is quite unique in Europe, both in terms of geographical dimensions as well as detail of planning.

Zurich. In recent years, Switzerland has seen more lodging establishments open than close. And for the next few years, numerous large hotel projects will reach the construction or conversion phase. Yet although Switzerland stretches over only 41,285 sq.km. and counts only 7.7 million inhabitants, there is no reliable list of future hotel projects. And the hotel association hotelleriesuisse has no plans to set up such a database.

Munich. The hotel markets in Asia are exciting for both investors and operators alike. New locations in Russia, on the other hand, are proving to be somewhat tougher. Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as ailing North America, show smallest RevPar growth. An overview of the global market and single markets from this year's real estate fair Expo Real in Munich.

Singapore. One of Asia's most powerful real estate companies, CapitaLand and its wholly-owned serviced residence business unit, The Ascott Limited, sold 28 of its serviced residence properties by sale and lease-back. Most of them are managed under the Citadines brand.

Metz. French SIIC Foncière des Murs is looking at new opportunities outside its home market after sealing the acquisition last month of a European hotel portfolio in partnership with insurance group Predica.

Munich. The words tumbled from his lips, but the essence is clear in the end: "You can create nice things without much money," says 42-year old Andreas Neudahm, who works as an interior designer in Wuppertal, Germany. For many years, international hotel chains and constructors have hired the young German for their projects. His talent for creating stylish chain hotels despite a limited budget is in high demand. He preferably applies lots of colours and light, but he also thinks in an unconventional way. Andreas Neudahm constantly challenges himself and everything else. Several years ago, contracts commissioned by Ramada opened the doors for him. Next came international names like Citadines, Ascott and Queens. He knows the design requirements of Starwood, Marriott, Sol Meliá and Accor. Currently, he is in close connection with David Fattal, Fattal Group and Leonardo Hotels, respectively. "When furnishing a hotel, design is not the problem," he says sarcastically, "it's the designers' expectations."

Berlin. The Hamburg based project developer ECE is set to develop a 4-star superior hotel at the future site of Berlin Brandenburg International Airport with Steigenberger Hotels AG as operator. The move marks ECE's first venture into hotel development.

Andermatt. On the construction site of the new golf course of Andermatt's mega resort of Samih Sawiris in Switzerland, archaeologists have discovered Roman coins and metal objects from the middle Ages, among others. However, the construction work is continuing. The first apartments have already been sold.