MADRID — Renewable energy investors who lost subsidies promised by Spain are heading to a London court to try to claw back $125 million from the government — a decadelong dispute with ramifications for clean energy financing across the European Union.
The outcome will be closely watched by investors after the U.S. passed a new law offering incentives for homegrown green technology. Experts say the Inflation Reduction Act is already drawing clean energy investment away from EU countries like Spain, leaving the 27-nation bloc much less competitive globally.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has proposed its own rules on allowing state aid and incentives for green investment. But those changes would not affect court cases already underway.
The lawsuit in London’s Commercial Court this week involves investors from the Netherlands and Luxembourg who poured millions into a solar plant in southern Spain in 2011. The Spanish government offered subsidies to encourage growth in renewable energy production, then controversially slashed the payments without notice as it cut costs after the 2008 financial crisis.
Spain has been sued internationally more than 50 times over the retroactive changes. It has not paid out despite losing more than 20 cases so far, according to U.N. data on international investment disputes. The EU backs Spain’s position.
“Those renewable investors — multibillion-dollar companies — are very concerned about the attitude of Spain and Europe looking forward,” said Nick Cherryman, one of the lawyers leading the case against Spain. “Why should they take risks investing in Europe given the track record?”
Spain now ranks alongside Venezuela and Russia as countries with the most unpaid debts over commercial treaty violations, according to a recent ranking compiled by Nikos Lavranos, a Netherlands-based expert in investment arbitration and EU law.
Most of the cases allege that Spain broke agreements it agreed to honor under the international Energy Charter Treaty, a legally binding agreement between 50 countries to protect companies from unfair government interference in the energy sector.
Environmental campaigners have criticised the treaty for protecting fossil fuel investment because financiers can also sue over policy changes aimed at scaling back polluting projects. However, for Spain, almost all cases relate to renewable energy.
“If you take the bigger picture, the EU is shooting itself in the foot by supporting Spain in this,” Lavranos said. “You cannot trust that they can follow through with their agreements, so I think you do shake investors’ confidence.”
He also questioned how leaving investors in the lurch over initiatives to ramp up renewable energy production aligned with recent EU initiatives like the Green New Deal, a goal for carbon neutrality by 2050 and relaxation of subsidy rules.
“It’s very contradictory,” Lavranos said.
In 2013, the investors in Spain brought a case before the World Bank-backed International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, an arbitration body between governments and investors.
Spain in 2018 was ordered to compensate investors over its subsidy changes. Despite being told to pay out more than $1 billion by the international body, Spain has refused, citing EU rules.
Spain’s Ecological Transition Ministry said the payments “may be contrary to EU law and constitute illegal state aid.” When the government is told to make a payout, it says it notifies Brussels but that “Spain cannot pay before the commission’s decision, so it is faithfully complying with its legal obligations.”
The European Commission said the Energy Charter Treaty does not apply in disputes between member states like the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Spain, arguing EU law takes precedence. The commission says the decision to compensate investors over lost Spanish subsidies is still being studied and “the preliminary view is that the arbitration award would constitute state aid.”
Cherryman, the investors’ lawyer, said the EU thinks it “should be superior to international treaty law.” After waiting for payment for a decade and given the EU position, his team is trying to seize part of a $1 billion settlement awarded to Spain over a 2002 oil spill.
Starting Wednesday, the London court will hear Spain’s arguments that the investors should not be allowed to seize those assets in lieu of compensation they have yet to be paid.
José Ángel Rueda, a Spanish international arbitration lawyer who has represented several renewable energy investors against Spain, said the country’s reputation is at stake. Other EU members like Germany and Hungary have paid out after international disputes, opting to maintain a positive image, he said.
“Spain is not like Russia or Venezuela. It was expected to be a serious country. But the awards remain unpaid,” Rueda said. “Investors can see that Spain might not be a reliable state in terms of the rule of law.”
Following years of legal wrangling, the EU is now considering a coordinated withdrawal from the energy treaty, though that would not affect pending disputes.
“It is not possible to modernize the treaty to make it compatible with the objectives of the Paris agreement and the European Green Deal,” Spain’s Ecological Transition Ministry said.
The European Commission agreed, saying a withdrawal was “the most pragmatic way forward.”
That might simply nudge investors to look across the Atlantic, Cherryman said.
“America has been nimble, and it introduced very favorable legislation to encourage renewable investment,” he said. “They will respect my investment. Or I can take risk and go into Europe, go into Spain.”
The risk was the loss of more money for renewables, which are “a win for everybody,” Cherryman said. “We all want to see renewables being invested in and we all want a greener environment that is a safer future for our children.”
British Land’s £6.6bn portfolio offers a wide spread of exposure to UK property, across retail parks, shopping centres, urban warehousing and what management calls “campuses”, such as Canada Water and Broadgate in London, where offices, shops and leisure combine. New development and refurbishments also mean the FTSE 100 company offers the high-quality, attractive assets that employers can use to encourage staff to return to the desk.
This also offers a way of playing any acceleration in the economy, while the balance sheet comes with a relatively low net debt position, a loan-to-value ratio of barely 30pc and no need to refinance any borrowing until 2025. A share price of 363.6p compares to the last stated tangible NAV per share figure of 695p. That dates from September, and the end of the first half of fiscal 2023.
Granted, analysts expect NAV to have retreated to 615p by the March year end and 578p by March 2024. But that means expectations are already low, the discount to forecast NAV is still 36pc and lower interest rates could put a different gloss on NAV forecasts by this time next year.
It could be a bumpy ride but in the meantime the shares offer a dividend yield of almost 6pc. And while sceptics will fret about asset prices, income-seekers can draw comfort from the fact that rental income and cash fund the dividend, not building valuations. Net rental income grew 8pc year on year in the first half, helped by a 97pc occupancy rate.
In Questor’s view, lower rates could yet help British Land to rebound.
Questor says: hold
Ticker: BLND
Share price at close: 363.6p
Russ Mould is investment director at AJ Bell, the stockbroker
Read the latest Questor column on telegraph.co.uk every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 6am.
Read Questor’s rules of investment before you follow our tips
DANVILLE — Recent high egg prices have people thinking about raising their own chickens, specifically for egg production.
The Danville City Council’s Public Services Committee Tuesday night will hear a presentation from resident Ethan Massey representing Chicken Hens in Danville IL about the allowance of backyard hens. The committee meets at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 17 W. Main St.
Massey, the husband of Comptroller Ashlyn Massey, started a Facebook group and page titled “Chicken Hens in Danville IL” to “discuss the benefits of chicken hens in Danville, promote awareness and advocate for city ordinance changes. Will also serve as a local resource to share local chicken information etc.”
The public group currently has 41 members.
Residents have gone to city officials in the past, with more than 100 petition signatures from supporters for chickens to be allowed in the city limits, but officials have not backed an ordinance or zoning changes to allow backyard chickens.
Some aldermen have suggested more research be done on the matter, but the majority have voiced concerns about more workload for city inspectors, regulation, disease, predators, residents living in the city for a reason and more problems for the city when it already has enough issues to deal with.
According to the Chicken Hens in Danville group: Benefits of backyard hens — Sustainable: Carbon footprint reduction in comparison to commercial egg supply chain; Less premature hen slaughter (from clustered hen health issues and viruses); and food supply resiliency (U.S. egg inventories were down to 29% in December 2022); Ecological Benefits: use of human food scraps; natural and safe lawn and garden fertilizer; and insect management. Economical: fluctuating food supply has meant fluctuating prices. Up to 60% rise in price increase for eggs during 2022. Health: Pasture raised eggs contain 2x Omega 3s, 3x Vitamin D, 4x Vitamin E, as well as up to 7x more beta carotene than conventionally raised eggs.
Why hens in Danville? Accessibility: access to highly nutritious eggs regardless of income. Education for children: teaches where food originates from; instills responsibility, animal lifecycle and rewarding hard work. Desirable place to live: growing trends in the U.S. are in favor of backyard chicken hens aligning Danville to the already existing agrarian culture within Vermilion County and the surrounding villages, and Champaign also has made provision for backyard hens within its city limits. Changing lot supply within the city limits: positive use of space as some yards are becoming significantly larger in size (through the city side lot program).
How it would work: no roosters, no chicken slaughter on site, must be housed in an exterior coop, permit application, requirements met prior to obtaining hens, property requirements, limited hens based on property size, single-family home, and owner-occupied or landlord approved. Coop Guidelines: not visible from the road, regularly cleaned requirements, limited distance from property line, structure meeting a variety of requirements, hen run, covered fully, and property line distance.
The group also states there shouldn’t be problems with smell or noise. Roosters make up most of the commonly associated sounds, and they would not be permitted with this plan.
Also Tuesday, the committee will have a public hearing for the 2023 Community Development Block Grant draft annual action plan.
In other business, the committee will consider:
Authorizing a contract for dedicated fiber internet connection and fiber ethernet network services. The city’s Comcast contract for fiber optic wide area network service expires in June 2023.
- The new AT&T contract would provide internet connection and ethernet private network services to all city facilities from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2028, at a monthly cost of $8,447.80.
- Purchasing a Ferrara Igniter Custom Pumper Apparatus for $792,238 through authorized dealer A.E.C. Fire & Safety. The total is from a bid of $776,704 and $15,534.08 from pre-build estimate of 2%. The total price for the new pumper exceeded the amount originally allocated in the city’s American Rescue Plan Act spending plan. Funds will come from ARPA and the city’s general fund.
- Amending language changes in Chapter 111 of city code regarding ambulances.
- Purchasing two police vehicles for $98,138.50, not including special emergency equipment up-fitting, from Andy Mohr Ford of Plainfield, Ind.
- Approving a retirement plan consulting program agreement.
- Authorizing an agreement to add a 457(b) Roth provision to the nationwide deferred compensation plan.
- Authorizing the creation of Fund 605 as an Opioid Settlement Fund. The city is participating in consolidated lawsuits in the Circuit Court of Cook County with other participating local governments. The intent behind the lawsuits is to seek penalties, restitution, disgorgement of revenues, and costs to remediate the public nuisance as well as damages and injunctions against numerous pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and other related persons and entities arising from their actions and/or inactions which contributed to the opioid epidemic and resulting public health crisis, according to the ordinance. Danville was allowed to join in the Illinois Opioid Allocation Agreement along with other local Illinois governmental units to ensure the fair apportionment of all sums collected from any opioid defendant by way of judgement or settlement and sums received have restricted uses.
- Amending city code pertaining to compensation of municipal employees. Changes include updating elected officials’ salaries; creating the position of Community Relations Content Manager with a salary range of $35,000 to $45,000; creating the position of IT Support Specialist with a salary range of $35,000 to $45,000; retitling the position of Parks & Public Properties Manager to Facilities and Grounds Manager; 2% salary increases for the three previous mentioned positions; and base hourly pay increases for auxiliary workers, interns, peer court supervisor, playground assistant and pool and other workers including mass transit part-time dispatchers to be changed to mass transit part-time logistics
- specialist. The ordinance would be effective May 1, 2023, or otherwise under a collective bargaining agreement.
- Enacting and adopting supplement to the code of ordinances.
Attleboro area legislators continue to push for a bill that monitors and reduces the commercial use of rodent-killing pesticides following the death of a bald eagle earlier this month.
Marissa Walker is a reporter with the Boston University Statehouse Program.
DANVILLE — A group of more than 60 local residents, Illinois Freedom Caucus and Right to Life members attended a press conference and protest Monday across the street from the former Dillman Eye Care where an abortion clinic is proposed.
The group is trying to stop Counseling of Indiana’s Ladonna Prince from opening an abortion clinic at 600 N. Logan Ave. in Danville.
According to the Vermilion County Recorder’s Office, McGhee Investment group LLC bought the property for $200,000.
According to the website for the Clinic for Women in Indianapolis, where Prince is the administrator, the clinic since 1977 has provided safe and legal pregnancy terminations through the first trimester. Ultrasound and pregnancy testing is available with appointment. Family planning options, supplies and exams are also available by appointment. Both female and male physicians are available.
The Clinic for Women states it is a member of the National Abortion Federation and the National Coalition of Abortion Providers. It also states, “the choice to terminate a pregnancy is one of the most private and difficult decisions a woman may make. We recognize that no two women are the same and are dedicated to meeting and exceeding the needs of every woman.”
Prince could not be reached for comment.
The city of Danville has no correspondence for a new use or building permit applications for 600 N. Logan Ave.
One city official attending Monday’s press conference was Ward 6 Alderman Ethan Burt.
Speakers at the press conference on Monday in Danville included state Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) who is chairman of the Illinois Freedom Caucus.
The caucus also is comprised of state representatives: Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City), vice-chairman; Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich); Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville); Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur); Jed Davis (R-Newark) and David Friess (R-Red Bud). The members of the Illinois Freedom Caucus are members of the Illinois General Assembly who are advocating for limited government, lower taxes and accountability and integrity in government.
Also in attendance at Monday’s press conference were Illinois Right to Life Executive Director Mary Kate Zander and Mark Lee Dickson, director with Right to Life East Texas and founder of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative.
Miller welcomed those in attendance saying they were there on Monday to talk about a life and death topic.
According to the Illinois Freedom Caucus, the intent of the clinics being built in rural counties is not to address the health concerns of Illinois residents but to capture the growing number of out-of-state abortions being performed in Illinois.
Miller said nearly 30 percent of all abortions in 2022 involved women out of state. Prior to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs vs. Jackson decision, only about 6 percent of abortions at Illinois clinics involved women from out of state. Women from 31 different states had abortions in Illinois last year.
“We’re rapidly becoming the baby-killing capital of the Midwest,” Miller said.
Miller said the group members were in Danville to express their opposition to the proposed clinic.
Niemerg, who represents the southern part of Vermilion County, said it warmed his heart to see all the citizens with them on Monday.
“The people of Danville don’t want this abortion clinic in their community,” Niemerg said, with many in attendance voicing their agreement with him. “My office has received numerous phone calls from people upset by what’s happening in their own backyard. There seems to be a sinister effort to bring abortion clinics to parts of Illinois that are overwhelmingly pro-life, just to make some sort of point. The far-left has moved far beyond merely making abortion legal. They have become abortion advocates.”
“We don’t need more abortions in Illinois, and we certainly don’t need this clinic,” Niemerg said.
Halbrook said what is needed in downstate Illinois is a solution to the doctor shortage in rural areas. He said about 75 of 102 counties are considered primary care deserts.
“What we need in downstate Illinois is more doctors – not abortion providers,” Halbrook said. “We have a physician shortage issue in rural Illinois … People often have to drive long distances just to get routine tests and basic medical services. We should be addressing the physician shortages instead of opening more abortion clinics.”
He said Illinois should be prioritizing nurses and doctors who save lives.
Zander said this abortion clinic is unwanted by this community. The crowd then clapped and voiced their agreement.
“This is a conservative, pro-life community that wants to support women, that wants to support women who are experiencing crisis pregnancies, that is not interested in killing babies,” she said.
She said this situation has been created by far-left politicians who are up near Chicago and don’t know anything about this area. She said these politicians are interested in serving this abortion provider who is interested in the business opportunity this location provides to her.
“(Prince) is interested in drawing women from Indiana …,” Zander said.
Zander too said the community will be changed by the presence of this abortion clinic. She said Prince is coming from out of state to exploit this community, and the community doesn’t want it.
Those with the caucus have said the explosion of abortion clinics in Illinois is about making money; and that abortion is the most protected industry in Illinois.
Dickson said there are 65 cities and two counties in the U.S. that passed ordinances prohibiting abortion within their jurisdictions. In the last month, Dickson said he’s been working throughout Danville and meeting with leaders who want to see this abortion facility not become a reality.
“I’m here to say that it is possible. We are working in three different communities right now across the United States that are experiencing the same problem; these border-city abortion battles,” Dickson said, talking too about Virginia and Nevada.
“The voice of this city is loud,” he said of Danville, and added that an ordinance could be expected to go forward in the city of Danville that can stop the abortion facility from opening and performing abortions. The ordinance would require compliance with some federal statutes which would not allow the abortion facility to receive abortion-inducing drugs and abortion paraphernalia at this location.
First Baptist Church of Danville Senior Pastor Paul Rebert also spoke, saying he was speaking on behalf of many believers in the community, that the clinic is not their will and not the will of God.
“A society that kills for convenience and tolerates and promotes the victimization of those without a voice, feels it has the right to decide which innocent lives live or die,” he said. He also led the group in a prayer.
Local resident Gail Collins, who was holding a sign that read, “Satan will convince you to abort then accuse you for the rest of your life,” said she attended the press conference because she has strong feelings about the issue.
“My family’s been touched by abortion. I’ve seen what it can do post abortion,” she said, adding someone possibly not being told or realizing what’s going to affect them afterward.
The group said next steps include continuing to push legislation and an anti-abortion message.
- Microsoft is starting to test its new version of Teams for Windows with corporate customers participating in a public preview program.
- Similar updates are coming to the Teams clients for Mac and the web later this year.
- The company said the new version will be twice as fast and people can receive notifications from all their accounts.
- A switch at the top will allow users to go back to the classic version of Teams.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks during an interview in Redmond, Washington, on March 15, 2023.
Chona Kasinger | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Microsoft said Monday it is starting to roll out a faster new version of its Teams communication app for Windows to commercial clients enrolled in a preview program. The software will become available to all customers later this year, and Microsoft also promises new versions of Teams for Mac and the web.
Since its 2017 debut, Teams has become the jewel of Microsoft 365, the subscription-based productivity software bundle formerly known as Office 365. Companies rushed to adopt Teams to keep workers connected through video calls and text chats during the Covid pandemic. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in January that more than 280 million people use Teams every month, even though many workers are again commuting to offices.
Microsoft Teams had some performance issues in 2020, which the company resolved. In 2021, with Teams usage still rising, Microsoft began building a second generation of the software with an eye toward improving performance, Jeff Teper, president of collaborative apps and platforms at Microsoft, said in an interview with CNBC.
Reports of a new version of Teams circulated earlier this year. Teper said this prompted “a lot of agitation” but that he did not want Microsoft to announce the update until the program had achieved an internal goal of being twice as fast as before while using half the memory as before.
The new version also includes enhancements meant to simplify Teams, building on the more than 400 feature updates Microsoft delivered last year, some of them meant to help Microsoft catch up with rivals, Teper said. Competition comes from the likes of Cisco, Google, Salesforce-owned Slack and Zoom.
Instead of displaying a kind of ribbon of functions for a chat, Teams will hide several options behind a plus sign that people can click on. It’s a concept people have become accustomed to on other messaging applications, Teper said. For example, in Slack, users can upload documents or set reminders after clicking on a plus sign under the area where they type messages.
During Teams video calls, the software will show every participant on screen in a box of the same size, rather than giving more space to participants with their cameras on. Until now, Teams calls have sometimes resembled Piet Mondrian paintings characterized by their squares and rectangles of varying sizes and colors, Teper said.
Microsoft is also adjusting Teams so that people who belong to multiple organizations can more easily stay on top of what’s going on.
“Instead of logging in and out of different tenants and accounts, you can now stay signed in across them all — receiving notifications no matter which one you are currently using,” Teper wrote in a blog post.
Corporate workers who get access to the new version of Teams will see a switch at the top of the application window that will enable them to go back to what Microsoft is calling the classic version, he wrote in the blog post.
WATCH: Satya Nadella reflects on his nine years of leading Microsoft
A private island in Palm Beach could become the most-expensive home ever sold in Florida, if it gets its asking price of $218 million.
Developer Todd Michael Glaser and his partners bought 10 Tarpon Isle — the only private island in Palm Beach — for $85 million in 2021. They built a brand new house, turned the existing structure into a guest house, and added a giant pool, tennis courts and other amenities and have now relisted the property.
“I paid $85 million without a hesitation because there’s only one of them,” Glaser said. “You watch art, they sell. There’s a Mercedes 300 SLR that just sold for $142 million. … That’s what this is … it’s a one of one.”
Tarpon Isle, a private island in Palm Beach, Florida, is on sale for $218 million.
CNBC
When Glaser bought Tarpon Isle, it held a modest 1940s house and plenty of potential.
“I came over the bridge, I saw the two trees and I said, ‘Guys, let’s knock down the garage and the guest house and the maid’s quarters and let’s build a brand new house,'” Glaser said.
The new main house is over 9,000 square feet. With the guest house, tennis pavilion and other structures, the property now has over 21,000 feet of living space. There are 11 bedrooms, 15 full bathrooms and seven half-baths.
Tarpon Isle, a private island in Palm Beach, Florida, is on sale for $218 million.
CNBC
Unlike many Palm Beach mansions, which are Mediterranean-styled giants festooned with gold carvings and mahogany, Tarpon Isle is a study in modern simplicity, where the star of the home is sweeping water views on all four sides.
The master bedroom suite is a large complex of closets, bathrooms and sitting areas. The larger of two bathrooms is a temple of white Italian marble, covering the floors, countertops, ceiling and oversized shower. A large soaking tub perched in front of the windows overlooks the Intracoastal Waterway.
A waterfront bathroom inside the main home on Tarpon Isle, a private island in Palm Beach, Florida, on sale for $218 million.
CNBC
“It’s the best bathroom I ever did,” Glaser said. “My wife picked it, and she did an incredible job. I’ve never seen anything like this bathroom.”
Outside, there’s a new 98-foot pool overlooking the views of the water to the south. A large dock can fit multiple boats or a mega-yacht. The guest house features resort-like amenities, including a spa, massage room, salon and entertainment area.
“That’s the way we designed it,” Glaser said. “When people come to Palm Beach they bring their families, they’re on vacation.”
A dock servicing Tarpon Isle, a private island in Palm Beach, Florida, on sale for $218 million.
CNBC
Glaser said the human-made island, which was built in the 1940s, has a high sea wall. Because it’s well protected in the Intracoastal and well elevated, it has easily weathered big storms and tidal surges, he said.
Granted, $218 million is an ambitious price, even for Palm Beach. The record sale in the enclave was Oracle founder Larry Ellison’s $173 million purchase of billionaire Jim Clark’s oceanfront estate last year.
A living space inside the main home on Tarpon Isle, a private island in Palm Beach, Florida, on sale for $218 million.
CNBC
Palm Beach is the most expensive real estate market in the country, with an average sale price of nearly $13 million, according to Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel. Many homes saw their prices more than triple during the pandemic as ultra-wealthy buyers from the Northeast fled to Florida, and the coveted properties in Palm Beach in particular.
Christopher Leavitt of Douglas Elliman, who is listing the property alongside Christian Angle Real Estate, said interest in the property has been strong, especially from hedge fund managers and finance chiefs looking to relocate south.
“The buyer of this home is someone who wants the one and only private island on the island of Palm Beach, surrounded 360 degrees by water, accessible by your boat or a private bridge,” Leavitt said. “It’s somebody who wants that one property that no one else has, that one trophy property.”
Glaser declined to say what profit he would make if the home sells for its asking price. He added that he and his investors spent “a fortune” on the new home and improvements. But he said the buyer will be making a long-term investment.
“Whoever buys this house, in five years they’re going to be very happy with the purchase,” he said. “It’s a legacy property that they’ll own for the rest of their lives.”
Tarpon Isle, a private island in Palm Beach, Florida, is on sale for $218 million.
CNBC
- The LA home features a Kobe Bryant-themed basketball court, car showroom and a 70-foot infinity pool that appears to float some 45 feet above the mountainside, and it’s on sale for a reduced price of $38 million.
- If it doesn’t sell by April 1, the property would be subject to a looming new, local mansion tax, which goes into effect next month and could cost the owner a further $2 million.
- The ULA tax was designed to “fund affordable housing projects and provide resources to tenants at risk of homelessness” and it’s levied upon a seller of any real property that trades for $5 million or more.
The owner of this over-the-top, seven-bedroom and 11-bath mansion in Los Angeles is prepared to accept $6 million less than what he paid for it less than two years ago — all to beat a ticking clock.
The home features a Kobe Bryant-themed basketball court, car showroom and a 70-foot infinity pool that appears to float some 45 feet above the mountainside, and it’s on sale for a reduced price of $38 million.
If it doesn’t sell by April 1, the property would be subject to a looming new, local mansion tax, which goes into effect next month and could cost the owner a further $2 million.
The grand living area opens to the outdoors with 22 foot ceilings, a 10-ft long fireplace, and a giant wall covered in living green moss that extends across three levels of the home.
EstateLuxShoot
The Brentwood estate, now known as the Star Resort, was built by veteran spec developer Ramtin Ray Nosrati, who sold it back in 2021 for $44 million. According to public records, the almost 16,700-square-foot residence was purchased by the trust of wealthy investor Jeffrey Feinberg, who runs Feinberg Investments.
About a year after buying it, Feinberg put the home back on the market for $48 million but couldn’t find any takers. Feinberg brought in Dan Malka of Ikon Advisors to implement a more aggressive pricing strategy, and the original asking price was chopped down $10 million, or almost 21%. To put that price cut into perspective, it amounts to the home dropping almost $64,000 in value every single week for 94 weeks straight since Feinberg bought it.
One wall of the dining room is a 1,000 gallon salt water aquarium with views into the kitchen on the other side.
Yann Ippolito
Malka told CNBC yearly real estate taxes on the Star Resort run his client around $550,000 a year, plus about $20,000 a month in utilities.
“Plus, the staff and so on, so probably a million dollars of expenses [per year],” Malka said.
Jutting out from the lowest level of the home is a Kobe-Bryant-themed half basketball court.
EstateLuxShoot
Trying to unload an expensive mansion in the midst of a banking crisis with the LA real estate market softening and uncertainty looming large isn’t exactly great timing.
Feinberg, like all luxury mansion sellers in LA, is also contending with the new mansion tax approved by voters in November. The ULA tax, as it’s called, was designed to “fund affordable housing projects and provide resources to tenants at risk of homelessness,” according to the city of Los Angeles website.
It’s levied on the seller as a transfer tax upon the sale of a home, or any real property, that trades for $5 million or more.
The home’s impressive foyer includes double height ceilings and glass walls that open to the pool deck and outdoor bar.
Yann Ippolito
For homes priced between $5 million and $10 million, sellers will have to pay the city 4% of the total sale price. For real estate trading north of $10 million, the rate increases to 5.5%.
The new tax is on top of the city’s current 0.45% transfer tax. And it’s levied based on sale price, not profit, which means sellers will have to pay up even if they’re already taking a loss, as could be the case with the Star Resort.
The city’s website includes a tax calculator, which estimates ULA and city transfer taxes owed on a $38 million deal at $2,261,000, or just under 6% of the total deal.
The primary bedroom is accented by a recessed wood-panel covered ceiling and walls of glass that slide away for access to a private terrace.
EstateLuxShoot
For many high-end home sellers and their agents, the race is on to lock in profits and close on a sale before the new tax takes effect. But for Malka, who wouldn’t discuss his client by name with CNBC, the pressure is on to get the best price and rein in his client’s losses before the new tax takes them even higher.
“That’s why we decided to give a good price cut and send a signal to the market that my seller is motivated to sell and that he wants to move on,” said Malka, who still holds out hope he can broker a deal before the first of the month.
After CNBC’s report on the mansion and looming tax bill was published, Malka reached back out to CNBC on Friday to add that the current pricing is intended to pass on tax savings to a buyer willing to close prior to April 1. His client also intends to raise his asking price to $41 million after the tax takes effect with no intention of accepting offers below that price after March, he said.
A bar, billiards table and 250-bottle wine cellar on the home’s lowest level.
Yann Ippolito
Real estate broker Aaron Kirman of AKG/Christies International called the short runway to offload homes before April 1 “crazy.”
“People had a four-month window from the day [the new tax] passed to sell a house,” he said.
Kirman, who is one of LA’s top-producing luxury real estate brokers, does not represent the Star Resort, but he does have many clients who are also in a big rush to sell.
It’s a trend, he said, that’s reflected in LA’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which according to Kirman shows 86 homes with sale prices over $5 million currently in escrow.
A glass wall in the lower lounge offers a view into a sleek car gallery.
Yann Ippolito
“The tax is coming out at a complicated time with interest rates, inflation and bank issues,” Kirman told CNBC. “It couldn’t have been more of a perfect storm.”
The ULA tax, he said, “has led to dramatic price reductions on many homes.”
Potential homebuyers are swooping in with all-cash offers, and the promise of a fast-closing deal, Kirman said, but at deep discounts.
The Star Resort’s main bar is clad in stone and accented with back lit onyx.
Yann Ippolito
The Star Resort’s backyard includes a an outdoor kitchen & bar, infinity pool and lounge areas.
EstateLuxShoot
Jonathan Miller, president of the real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel, told CNBC it will be hard to project the impact of the tax on any one piece of real estate, but he does have a prediction across the region: “It ultimately lowers achievable prices as compared to the period before April 1 and becomes baked into market expectations in the future.”
In other words, the new tax will create a downward pressure on homes over $5 million as owners anticipate the future cost of higher tax bills.
One of the residence’s seven ensuite bedrooms with a private terrace.
Yann Ippolito
CNBC asked Miller to crunch market data to see how much sellers of luxury single-family homes in LA would have paid in 2022 if the mansion tax were already in effect. Last year, sales of $5 million-plus totaled almost $2.5 billion.
According to his calculations, all of those sellers combined would have racked up a mansion tax bill of almost $131 million. Sellers of homes trading between $5 million and $10 million would have seen an average tax bill of $43,000, according to Miller’s estimates, and sellers of $10 million-and-up homes would have footed an average bill of $1.2 million.
It’s important to note Miller’s analysis focused exclusively on single-family home sales over the price threshold. According to the city’s projections, which include commercial and multifamily sales, the new tax could generate between $600 million and $1.1 billion annually.
The night view from the pools hot tub.
Yann Ippolito
According to Miller, the rush to sell before the April 1 deadline matches a similar frenzy in New York four years ago.
“When New York implemented the mansion tax in 2019, there was a surge in closings just short of the July 1 start date and a void of sales in the following months,” he said.
Home cinema with Rolls-Royce inspired star lit ceiling.
Yann Ippolito
The primary bedroom’s terrace includes a fire feature and views of the pool below.
EstateLuxShoot
Kirman said even with the tax pressures, one thing will remain the same: “The house is worth what the buyer is willing to pay for it.”
And if that amount is over $5 million, there will be some new taxes to pay on it.
The Star Resort’s sport simulation room offers virtual golf, hockey and soccer.
EstateLuxShoot
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the name of Dan Malka of Ikon Advisors.
According to Knight Frank India, leading international property consultancy, transactions for office spaces above 100,000 sq ft remained high in the IT office locations of Hyderabad, Pune, and Bengaluru in the calendar year 2022 (CY22). An estimated 53% of office area transacted were for spaces measuring 100,000 sq ft or more in Hyderabad and Pune, while it was 51% in Bengaluru.
Share of area transacted across size categories in 2022
STEADY TRANSACTION PACE CONTINUED IN 2022
In Kolkata (70%) and Chennai (57%) majority of office space transactions were for office sizes below 50,000 sq ft. While Hyderabad, Pune, and Bengaluru topped the list of cities in the above 100,000 sq ft segment. Global IT, and manufacturing companies in these cities pushed demand for large-sized offices.
Ahmedabad, NCR, and Mumbai witnessed higher traction for offices in the 50,000-100,000 sq ft category, with over 30% of transactions in this segment.
Number of transactions / deals across size categories in 2022
Shishir Baijal, Chairman & Managing Director, Knight Frank India said, “Office leasing volumes in 2022 recorded at over 51 million sq. ft, which was historically the second best. Within this, IT/ITeS driven markets of Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune, saw more than 50% of their total office leasing by occupiers taking in excess of 100,000 sq ft. The large space take up are usually for value driven services such as R&D and GCCs, which is a sign of India’s continued prowess in this area. We expect the momentum of office transaction to remain largely in line for 2023.”