Searches of Abu Dhabi foreign real estate investment largely come up empty. A few articles came across about deals, but they never had any blatant news like other REITs and foreign investors. One comment in the Real Deal article by Katherine Clarke states ‘“Abu Dhabi generally doesn’t like to be known,” said Christopher Wilson, a managing partner at commercial brokerage Brookfield Financial. “They will hide in the background of deals.”’ This is interesting but very apparent via lack of information regarding transactions in the U.S. regarding Abu Dhabi real estate investment. In the search, two main players surfaced. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is one of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds; Aabar Investments PJS is another investment firm that is located in Abu Dhabi.

 

These two companies have definitely been players in the rush to purchase U.S. real estate. The most popular places for these Abu Dhabi firms is New York. In 2013, ADIA along with a Singapore sovereign wealth fund firm (GIC) purchased the Time Warner building at a price of $1.3 billion. It is reported that the two firms are funding 80% of the cost. One of the major issues with sovereign wealth funds is their lack of transparency. Aabar also reportedly paid $133.83 million for a majority stake in the future development of One57, which is a luxury condo building in New York. New York is the top place in the world to invest for foreign investors.