IF YOU’RE LUCKY ENOUGH TO
attend the Kentucky Derby—
standing-room tickets for
May’s 146th running re-
cently sold for $89 online—
you can wager a few bucks
and perhaps take away a
small profit for your memo-
ries. But it’s possible to play
the Derby another way:
as a shareholder. For every
$2 “wagered” on Churchill
Downs stock 10 years ago,
the stock-bettor would have
$25 and change, a return
of nearly 29% annualized.
Not bad odds in the world
of investing.
You can also own a piece
of the storied Empire State
Building, deemed one of
the Seven Wonders of the
Modern World by the
American Society of Civil
Engineers, as well as such
marvels as the Golden Gate
Bridge, the Panama Canal
and the “Chunnel” con-
necting England to France.
Or maybe country music’s
hallowed Grand Ole Opry
strikes a chord, or the ho me
of one of the world’s most
beloved soccer teams, Man-
chester United.
For investors with a yen
for a little history along
with their returns, we’ve
put together a list of invest-
able landmarks, including
nine stocks of premier prop-
erty owners. Overall, thebull market has been good
to property and entertain-
ment investors. If the stock
collection below were an
equal-weighted portfolio,
it would have a one-year
return of 18%, compared
with 16% for Standard &
Poor’s 500-stock index,
and a five-year gain of 11%,
just about even with the
S&P 500.
Not all of our picks have
been big winners. Some
are being refurbished as
landmarks and as invest-
ments, and they might be
more suited to bargain
hunters comfortable with
turnarounds or sightseers
more interested in brag-
ging rights as part-owners.
Securities are listed in al-
phabetical order; returns
and other data are as of
November 30.Blackstone Group (symbol BX)
Price $54, yield 3.61%, one-year
return 66%
Landmark: Willis Tower, Chicago
The Willis Tower is still
known widely as the Sears
Tower. For 20-plus years
after its 1973 construction,
it was the tallest building
in the U.S., and it’s still as
conspicuous as ever. Black-
stone, a member of the Kip-
linger Dividend 15, the list
of our favorite dividend
stocks, is a highly diversi-fied holding company that
owns a real estate empire
extending from Motel 6
to luxury hotels to single-
family homes.Boston Properties (BXP)
$139, 2.74%, 8.5%
Salesforce Tower, San Francisco
Salesforce Tower is the tall-
est building in the western
United States and one of
many impressive structures
owned by Boston Properties,
the biggest office real estate
investment trust by total
market value. The compa-
ny’s portfolio comprises
181 properties in core mar-
kets that include Washing-
ton, D.C., New York City
and Boston, as well as San
Francisco. Some $2.4 billion
worth of property is in de-
velopment and scheduled
to come online between
late 2020 and 2022—
and 83% of it is
pre-leased to high-
quality tenants.Churchill
Downs (CH D N)
$130, 0.45%, 41%
The Kentucky
Derby, Louisville
The Derby
draws big
crowds,
with some
visitors
payingInvest in a Landmark
Go from sightseer to part-owner with these notable property stocks.
BY JEFFREY R. KOSNETTREAL ESTATEINVESTING
32 KIPLINGER’S PERSONAL FINANCE^ 02/2020