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Billionaire Sam Zell
Scott Eells/Bloomberg
Equity International Chairman Sam Zell.
Equity International Chairman Sam Zell. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg
Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) ? Billionaire investor Sam Zell, founder and chairman of Equity International, talks about the outlook for the U.S. real estate market and economy and his strategy.
Zell speaks with Betty Liu on Bloomberg Television?s ?In the Loop.? (Source: Bloomberg)
Billionaire Sam Zell said he is
entering the real estate markets in Colombia and India in the
next two weeks as he continues to favor international
investments over U.S. property deals.
Zell, chairman of Chicago-based Equity International, will
invest in real estate in Colombia and will eventually move on to
residential projects, he said in an interview today on Bloomberg
Television. In India, he plans to open hotels.
?Colombia is the next star of Latin America,? Zell said
on ?In the Loop? with Betty Liu. ?In India, we?re doing a
hotel/motel program like Residence Inn at Marriott and we hope
to build a chain across the country.?
Zell, through Equity International, which he co-founded
with Gary Garrabrant in 1999, has invested in real estate-
related companies around the world, including in Brazil, China
and Mexico. His involvement in the U.S. property market is
?minimal? amid low interest rates and inflation that he
estimates to be as high as 6 percent, Zell said.
Equity International?s first deal in Colombia is a $75
million investment in Bogota-based Terranum Development, a
closely held real estate company, according to a statement
today. Terranum is developing a 190,000-square-meter (2 million-
square-foot) mixed-use complex near Bogota?s El Dorado
International airport, the companies said.
Equity Office Sale
Zell, 69, sold his Equity Office Properties Trust in 2007
for $39 billion as the real estate market was peaking. U.S.
commercial property prices fell as much as 49 percent from their
October 2007 high after credit contracted and the economic slump
boosted the unemployment rate to more than 9 percent, according
to the Moody?s/REAL Commercial Property Price Index.
Commercial real estate prices climbed 0.9 percent in June,
the third straight monthly gain, according to Moody?s. The
increase represented a ?firming up? of the market bottom as
investors move beyond trophy properties and major coastal
cities, the company said Aug. 22.
Equity International said earlier this month that it sold
its remaining stake in Gafisa SA after previously owning as much
as 23 percent of the Sao Paulo-based homebuilder. The investment
firm still has five portfolio companies in Brazil and wants to
expand in Latin America?s biggest economy, Garrabrant said in an
Aug. 2 statement.
Brazil is still ?really terrific? even after a 21 percent
decline in the benchmark Bovespa stock index this year, Zell
said.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Brian Louis in Chicago at
blouis1@bloomberg.net;
Prashant Gopal in New York at
pgopal2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Kara Wetzel at
kwetzel@bloomberg.net
Article source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-30/zell-to-limit-u-s-real-estate-investing-as-he-expands-in-colombia-india.html
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