Daren Blomquist: I think the most likely buyer is going to be the smaller,
regional investor in those markets who is still going to keep the property as a rental.
The ROTR Fund invests catalytic capital, often
alongside regional investors, to the most promising early stage investments in Rise of the Rest cities.
The robust regulatory framework and commercial terms have attracted international and
regional investors resulting in the lowest levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for 200 MW at 5.64 US cent / kWh and recently DEWA announced an 800 - MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant at 3.0 US cent / kWh.
Homebuilders who have cash as well
as regional investors are snapping them up at 40 percent of the average $ 25,000 replacement cost, she says.
Instead, the slowdown of Middle Eastern capital into the U.S. may be a function
of regional investors having less capital to invest with because of the drop in oil wealth, coupled with fewer opportunities to find good rates of return, Costello notes.
CASE: The fund came out of our work around Rise of the Rest over the last four years where we've visited 33 cities, completed six different tours, and met a lot of entrepreneurs and
regional investors.