I just read on line that Abu Dhabi Investment Council, an investment group from the Middle East has purchased Prudential's 75% share of the Chrysler Building in New York City for a cool 800 million. That's over 10 million per floor. Several months ago a group from Dubai, Kuwait and Qatar bought the General Motors building on Fifth Avenue in NYC for 2.8 million. I felt the first twinge of "no, that can't be true!" then I felt my blood pressure rise when I read this quote. " Many of the oil-rich nations in the Middle East who (are) flush with capital from their oil profit are targeting or looking at our trophy real estate assets." said Dan Fasulo a property analyst at Real Capital Analytics.
I'm not sure why this is upsetting me, after all the Japanese bought Rockefeller Center but this feels like a slap in the face. We're gouged with the cost of oil at about $140.00 per barrel then with the money they've made from us they turn around and buy pieces of our country.
I know I sound like I'm xenophobic but I'm not. It's not that I have a fear or hate of foreigners, I just don't like the thought of so many of our country's assets being owned by foreigners. Does that make me zenophobic??
Americans and their companies own far more foreign real estate than the foreigners own in America. Far more. Far far more. Just saying.
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