Deals
Goldman Sachs to Carlyle Fix Up `Forgotten' Paris Skyscraper Hub
- La Defense business district rents lowest since 2007
- About 12 percent of offices in district standing empty
The Eiffel Tower and the business district of La Defense in Paris.
Photographer: Songquan Deng/Getty Images/Moment RMThis article is for subscribers only.
La Defense in Paris may hold the title of Europe’s biggest business district, but its office blocks have been blighted by low rents, high vacancies and a glut of supply following the financial crisis.
Slumping values in the skyscraper hub that’s a 30-minute cab ride northwest of the Eiffel Tower are now tempting global real estate investors seeking cheap properties they can renovate, and that could benefit from an economic turnaround. Yields in the district are more than 5.5 percent, compared with an average 3.3 percent in central Paris.