I enjoy a terrific view of the Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue from my office in midtown Manhattan, and I'll be looking forward to changes are a coming for the iconic hotel now that China's Anbang Insurance Group Co agreed to fork out $1.9 billion to Hilton Worldwide to acquire the property. Anbang plans to kick off a major redevelopment of the hotel, restoring it to its original glory but with a twist: the addition of condominiums and a massive mixed-use retail development at ground level.

Not to be outdone by Anbang, the Chinese insurer Sunshine Insurance Group announced late last week that they are in contract with Barry Sternlicht's Starwood Capital Group to acquire their new Baccarat Hotel that opens next month. The price tag is $230 million which translates to $2 million a room. Back in the Midwest, Chinese Dalian Wanda Group is anteing-up $900 million for a Chicago property that will contain a new luxury hotel. There is a lot of head scratching over the price tags for these hotel properties, but back in China it makes a lot of sense.

Chinese investors can now acquire properties for up to $1 billion without government approval back home, combined with their long investment horizon that stretches out for 100 years, they can readily afford trophies like the Waldorf. The wrinkle is how they will manage U.S. assets, especially developments such as the Waldorf. We have had numerous meetings with major institutional Chinese investors, and typically their strategy is to send bilingual and bi-cultural expats from their HQ in China for key decision-making roles, and they hire local market players for know-how and for their network. I doubt that we will see U.S. execs in top jobs anytime soon.