Qatar is now one of New York’s biggest property owners, which comes as no surprise, considering Qataris own more of London than the Queen! This includes well-known spots such as the Shard, Canary Wharf and Olympic Village.

New York is something of a new frontier, with the country’s sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) now among the top property owners, holding around 10.69 million square feet of real estate in the city.

According to CoStar, a commercial real estate intelligence group, this shows an increase of a whopping 145 percent. It marks a changing pattern as Qatar aims to purchase more assets in Asia and the US rather than concentrating so fixedly upon the European markets.

Officials from Qatar’s Sovereign wealth fund previously stated that they meant to invest $35 billion in the US by 2020. They are acquiring assets “for the long term—like 20 to 30 years,” according to Michael Maudeull, president of a research outfit called the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.

In 2016, Qatar invested a 9.9 percent stake (about $622m) in Empire State Realty Trust REIT, which handles the Empire State Building along with other properties. QIA has about $338 billion worth of assets, and opened its New York office in September 2015. Judging by their ambitious investments, they clearly mean to stay.