There’s no sign yet of a red star rising over Rockefeller Center, but cash-rich Chinese property groups are rushing into troubled California hotels.
Last week, Shenzhen New World Group, a private Chinese developer, grabbed the 451-room Sheraton Universal hotel adjacent to the Universal Studios theme park in Los Angeles out of receivership. Local press accounts put the price tag at $60m to $90m.
The deal follows Shenzhen New World’s similarly sized purchase last year of the Los Angeles Marriott Downtown out of foreclosure. Qiao Garden Group, a Shanghai-based private developer, is in exclusive talks to buy a derelict hotel taken over by the government of Rosemead, a heavily Asian suburb of Los Angeles.