It's a consideration again as the developer revealed the firm's latest development target: Tripoli, Libya. There, Hines revealed, the firm that bears his name is planning a major mixed-use complex. And while details are still sketchy, Hines explained that the vision is to create a 300-room hotel and an office complex that could range from 300,000 to 700,000 sf.

"There's still much that has to be done," Hines told GlobeSt.com in an interview after the speech, but he projects that "piles could be driven" as early as sometime this year.

One of those details that remains unresolved is exactly how much equity Hines takes in the project, which folds into the issue of politics. Hines, who was introduced by Real Estate Media editorial director and Naree president Michael G. Desiato, explained that the firm is partnering on the project with a local official he characterized as a "Lebanese principal who knows the country's ministers intimately." The unnamed principal is a Shiite Muslim.

Hines went on to say that another foreign project, the redevelopment of the former Renault headquarters facility in Paris, is now in the groundbreaking process. Some 9.5 million sf of office, retail and residential will be created in the space. But even on more familiar territory, the politics of place rears up. Hines is partnering on the project with two local developers because, as one local contact told him, "Mr. Hines, you are, after all, an American."