Sam Kartalis CRE Opinion: Active Chinese Investors in D Magazine

A recently published article regarding Chinese investments in the U.S. implied that the Chinese government’s recent regulations restricting cash outflow from the mainland may have negatively impacted investments in the DFW marketplace by Chinese investors. The article went on to list New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles as the favorite beneficiaries of Chinese-invested monies. DFW was on the list of secondary cities attracting Chinese monies.

While I cannot dispute these statistics, I feel that they may apply more to restrictions on state-owned Chinese corporations and institutions and not necessarily on high-net-worth Chinese-American individuals. Many of these entrepreneurs are living in the U.S. permanently, or maintaining homes here and in China. They spend much of their time traveling and living in both locations, and own successful business entities that benefit from the booming economics in both the U.S. and China.

Many of these investors are clients of ours, both individually and via LLCs formed in the U.S., and are extremely active in pursuing real estate investments in DFW. Indeed, most have also been active in the first-tier markets, but they’re smart enough to realize that DFW and Texas cannot be ignored because of the continued growth and the strong economy of the region.

I have been impressed by our investors’ knowledge of the U.S. commercial real estate markets and how quickly they identify and negotiate terms for the assets they purchase. We have aided our investors in pursuing the purchase and investment of equity into raw land, multifamily projects, development land, retail strips, industrial buildings, office buildings, and even condo projects.  Very frankly, we thoroughly enjoy working with them, as do our local clients.

The foreign investors we work with have expressed an interest in not only acquiring existing properties, but also in partnering with developers for new construction.  They are not afraid of bringing equity or debt to the table and have also considered providing mezzanine debt.

Our global investment group continues to serve investors from China and the local Chinese-American communities successfully with our knowledgeable staff that includes brokers Nan Li and Eliane Xu. Nan and Elaine are fluent in multiple languages and have a great understanding of Chinese culture, having grown-up attending elementary school together in China.

Chinese investors are here to stay, and they are perfect examples of how government restrictions and prohibitions do not prevent honest, intelligent and successful individuals from making money.

Sam Kartalis is broker at Dallas-based Younger Partners.