World Real Estate News

This past week the distinctive and innovative Doha Tower was named Best Tall Building Worldwide by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat tonight in a ceremony in the Illinois Institute of Technology's seminal Crown Hall.

Doha Tower, which was first named the Best Tall Building in the Middle East and Africa, took the overall award out of the four regional winners. The building was honored for incorporating elements of traditional regional design with modern technologies to create an environmentally-sensitive icon for Qatar's capital 

The eye-catching cylindrical facade is constructed of multi-layered patterns invoking ancient Islamic screens designed to shade buildings from the sun.

"The skin of the building is a beautiful expression of the local culture, connecting this very modern tower with ancient Islamic designs," said Richard Cook, awards chairman and partner in Cook + Fox Architects." It also provides a fantastic pattern of light within the building, while efficiently dampening the heat gains internally of the sun's rays."

While talk is growing over niche emerging real estate markets in Africa, two firms have stepped to the plate and are pledging a total $528 million for investment in new development.

Nairobi-based Actis, one of the largest private equity investors in the world's poorest countries, announced it has raised $278 million.  Its fund, Actis Africa Real Estate 2, will back retail and office development in west, west and southern Africa.

Johannesburg-based First Rand Ltd. previously announced it plans to invest proceeds of its $250 million fund raising exercise across major West and Southern African real estate markets - particularly, Nigeria, Ghana and Angola.  Like Actis, FirstRand said it will earmark most of its funds in high-grade retail and commercial properties.

Believe it or not, real estate existing real estate  in South Africa currently is currently valued at $604 billion in US dollars, according to new research prepared by the Property Sector Charter Co. in Johannesburg.

It is the first study of its kind about the size and shape of the country's property industry. In South African currency, the total is R4.9 trillion.

The information is important because real estate transactions contribute to the country's economy and in 2009 comprised 8.3% of gross domestic product (GDP), according to another report, one by the South African Property Owners Association

In a prepared statement, Portia Tau-Sekati, CEO of the Property Sector Charter Company, said  "the research creates a hub of knowledge about the property sector, consolidating information and developing a common and consistent understanding.