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The banks puts up for sale Castellana 200 for 150 million

The banks owning the majority of Castellana´s 200 capital, the property located on the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, building work of Reyal Urbis, according to financial sources have decided to put it up for sale.

The consulting firms Knight Frank and CBR Richard Ellis have been hired to search for investors. On Friday this newspaper could not confirm the information with either the consultants or the real estate. The sources consulted pointed out that the finance units hope to sale the building for approximately 150 million.

According to the accounts of the company Building Complex Castellana 200 in 2012, the company is owned by Reyal Urbis: Solvia (Sabadell´s real estate), Anida (BBVA´s), Cantabro Catalán de Inversiones (Santander´s), Valencia de Inversiones Participadas (Banco de Valencia) and Bankia. On 31 December 2012 Bankia and Banco de Valencia sold to Sareb their participation in the loan given to the company (in November 2010 the company signed a syndicated loan for 240 million).

On 31 December 2012 the consultant Jones Lang Lasalle valued the building at 146 million Euros. The complex includes two office buildings and one mall. The project contemplates the construction of a luxury hotel with 136 rooms (133 superior rooms, 10 deluxe suites and 2 royal suites), conference room, auditorium for 250 people, spa, gym, outdoor pool and two restaurants.

Castellana 200 has become an icon of the real estate boom, the bursting of the property bubble and of the emerging economic recovery. The Reyal Urbis real estate thought up the project of constructing Castellana 200 in 2006. Rafael Santamaría, the company´s president and Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, then the mayor of Madrid, in November of that year presented a building plan of the complex.  Ruiz Gallardon stated that Castellana 200 would help in “placing Madrid among the first cities in the world”. A few months before Santamaría made a takeover bid for Urbis in a transaction valued at 3.317 million Euros.

The bursting of the property bubble and the economic crisis stopped the construction of Castellana 200 in 2009, when the complex should have been inaugurated, as initially planned.

In 2010 Reyal Urbis achieved to refinance over than 4.000 million of debt. In the framework of that refinancing agreement it was agreed the entry of creditor banks in a company responsible for managing Castellana 200 where the creditor banks would hold control over the 51% of the voting rights.

The construction works were resumed back then. In 2011 Icex negotiated moving to Castellana 200, that would become its headquarters, but finally the transaction was put aside. Last February Reyal Urbis claimed insolvency.