Recent press report have suggested that the Dubai-based Jumeirah and Saudi tycoon Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz are interested in buying the Hotel de Crillon near Paris' Champs Elysees. Starwood Capital gained control of the hotel's owner, Societe du Louvre, when it bought out Taittinger, owner of the champagne house, for nearly 1.2 billion euros ($1.42 billion) in July.
Generally speaking, Paris is one of the favorite destinations for Arab investors, who look for profitable investments in the property sector. Since 9/11 attacks, Europe has emerged as an ideal place for Arab investments coming from America. It is true that some of the money that Arabs brought in Europe was invested in securities, but some went into real estate, with Paris one of the main beneficiaries of this process.
Paris has become a popular site for Lebanese and the French facilitated their acceptance. 80% of the working Lebanese in Paris are in the professional categories. Some 50% of the Lebanese in France live in Paris and reside in the "Quartiere Cheques" and in the wealthiest areas of the French capital. For instance, the well known Lebanese businessmen, brothers Karim and Sandro Saadé own luxurious properties in Paris.
