Category: Alternative Assets

Urbania International Builds New Halls of Residence in City Centres

5 April 2018 – Inmodiario

The student hall subsidiary of Urbania International has a brand: Syllabus by Urbania. Under this name, the international property developer’s new firm is already acquiring and developing assets destined for student accommodation in major university cities, not only in Spain but also in other countries in Europe. The company is going to invest more than €200 million in the acquisition and development of these kinds of assets, with the aim of generating 4,000 beds over the next three years.

At the helm of Syllabus by Urbania is Jeffrey Sújar, who was appointed as CEO of the firm in March. According to Sújar, “the aim of Syllabus is to improve the existing student hall supply in the most attractive cities for students, in the best urban locations, creating high-quality spaces, with contemporary designs and a unique supply of services in the sector”.

Strategic alliance with “Mi Casa Inn”

With this in mind, Syllabus has already signed a strategic agreement with the specialist manager Mi Casa Inn for the operation of its properties. Mi Casa Inn (MCI) currently operates seven halls of residence, containing 500 beds, and is the leader and benchmark player in the urban hall segment focusing on international students, where it has been working for more than eight years.

Syllabus and Mi Casa Inn have already started to acquire assets with a flurry of activity in cities such as Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla, Málaga and Barcelona, amongst others, and currently have a portfolio of 1,500 beds under development. They plan to extend their activity to the main university cities in other European countries in the short term.

360º experience

Syllabus and MCI develop a concept that is very different from traditional halls of residence and colleges located on campus or close to universities. The aim of the company is to create spaces where students can live a 360º experience in the heart of cities, where they can mature and develop themselves individually. “It is a more contemporary version of the classic hall of residence”, says Jeffrey Sújar, “adapted to the lifestyle of international young people, giving them a high degree of independence to allow them to meet and live alongside students from very different countries and cultures”.

As such, we have chosen central, urban environments, “where it all happens” and where Syllabus will adapt and construct buildings in which students can live more of a co-living experience than that of a traditional boarder.

Original story: Inmodiario

Translation: Carmel Drake

“There Will be Increasing Concentration Amongst Real Estate Developers in Spain”

26 March 2018 – ProOrbyt Expansion

Interview Adolfo Ramírez-Escudero – President of CBRE Spain: “We always actively analyse opportunities for acquisitions at a local level, but we are more focused on organic growth.”

Adolfo Ramírez-Escudero took the reins at Spain’s CBRE in 2013 with ambitious plans and a firm objective: to get a leg up on its competitors as the real estate market was waking up from a long and fitful slumber. Almost five years after his appointment as president of the consulting firm, and after reaching the end of the first stage of his business plan, Ramírez-Escudero fully intends to keep up the pace.

“In 2013 we started on a very aggressive growth plan. Our ambition then was to double the size of the company in all aspects: turnover, hiring and profits. We achieved that goal before our target of 1,000 days. The current plan entails multiplying the figure we reached by another 150%. Which means we’ll have tripled the size of the company in six years.”

Therefore, CBRE, which ended 2017 with a turnover of 211 million euros and a workforce of more than 1,000 employees, after hiring an additional 200 workers, is expecting annual growth of 13% until the end of 2019.

“In Spain, we have been a leader for years, and though we haven’t rejected the possibility out of hand of acquiring talent or buying companies, we have experienced significant organic growth,” the executive explained.

However, considering the consolidation process that the sector is undergoing, and after the mergers of Aguirre Newman with Savills, and Irea with Colliers, Mr Ramírez is willing to analyse any opportunities. “Our non-organic growth strategy has been more focused at the regional or global level, but we are always actively seeking local opportunities, and one can never know if we may decide to pursue any one of them,” he stated.

Ramírez-Escudero acknowledges that the real estate market’s current momentum has contributed to the group’s growth in Spain but, he points out, “our growth has exceeded that of the market as a whole. We are a global company and are not wholly dependent on Spain. We work with clients from all over the world, as well as with major tenants. Properties do not simply disappear, and we must always manage them. When the market enters a corrective phase, some assets are passed on to the banks, which must manage them. Later they are once again sold off to investors. Obviously, we prefer to operate when the cycle is on the upswing as the market is more amenable to targeting significant growth, but when that is not the case, we can also maintain growth by applying appropriate measures.”

Trends

According to the executive, understanding the market implies being conscious of competing in an environment in which borders are increasingly blurred. “This happens in all sectors and even more in real estate, which is very capital intensive,” he added.

An exception is the development business, which has a more local component. “Economic rationality and the search for advantages in production are telling us that the market is currently highly fragmented, and will likely undergo a measure of concentration,” the executive said.

Changing Landscapes

Mr Ramírez-Escudero also referred to other types of assets such as offices and shopping centres, where the level of supply and demand is changing. In his opinion, offices are increasingly resembling the hotel industry in that a company’s productivity is linked to their employees’ level of satisfaction. For its part, the retail market is also changing, but that there are “opportunities” associated with that. He adds: “People who say that they do not fear a change in the retail sector are misleading themselves in the same way that the people who believe that shopping centres are finished. We are operating in an ever-changing, varied environment and the shopping centres will have to adapt.”

Original Story: ProOrbyt Expansion – Rebeca Arroyo

Translation: Richard Turner

Emesa’s Storage Space Company Boxinfiniti Debuts in Madrid with 5,100m2

22 March 2018 – Eje Prime

Emesa, the investment group owned by Emilio Cuatrecasas, is continuing to grow the businesses in which it operates. Boxinfiniti, which specialises in the rental of storage space and in which Emesa holds a stake, has made its debut in Madrid with the absorption of 5,100 m2 spread over three locations.

Two of the premises are located in the centre of Madrid (in the Cuatro Caminos-Nuevos Ministerios and Pacífico areas, close to Atocha station) and the third is located in Alcorcón. Together, the sites span a total surface area of 5,100 m2.

In Barcelona, with the upcoming opening of four new centres in the process of being implemented, the total surface area under management will increase by 3,650 m2. The new establishments there are located in the neighbourhoods of Eixample, Gràcia and Sants, in Barcelona and in Santa Coloma de Gramenet.

With these openings, Boxinfiniti, led by Luis Casanovas, is expanding its network to include thirteen storage centres in Barcelona and Madrid. “The company is constantly on the lookout for premises in the best locations of Barcelona and Madrid within the framework of its strategic plan”, according to sources at the group.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Medcap Diversifies & Allocates €50M to Alternative Investments & Portugal

19 March 2018 – Eje Prime

Medcap is starting 2018 by making new investments and entering new markets. Diversification and alternative assets are going to be the focus of the group over the coming months, which has just invested €50 million on its entry into Portugal and the launch of a healthcare assets investment division, according to explanations provided by Dimas de Andres, the group’s CEO to Eje Prime.

One of the main operations that Medcap is going to carry out this year, as well as continuing “to keep an eye on opportunities in the prime retail sector, which is one of the fund’s main activities” is going to be the launch of two out-of-town retail parks in the Portuguese market, specifically, in Lisbon and Porto.

The company has invested €30 million in the purchase of 2 plots of land, one spanning 19,000 m2 and the other measuring 27,000 m2, for the complete development of two commercial areas, which are going to be leased in their majority to a supermarket group, according to explanations from Medcap.

Medcap Real Estate, a company owned by the De Andrés Puyol family, has also explained that it is going to back alternative investments this year. The company is currently involved in a healthcare project in the Community of Valencia. With an investment of between €15 million and €20 million, Medcap is going to construct the building with all of the needs that a healthcare operator may have, in order to put it on the market and lease it or resell it.

With these types of assets, the company is going to focus its efforts on Valencia and Cataluña. “We are not afraid to continue buying in Spain: our investments in Madrid and Barcelona are still intact”, explains the CEO of the company. “We are long-termists and we are not afraid of the political situation”, he says.

In addition to its investments, the group is also starting a divestment phase in 2018. The company has already sold the NH Murcia Hotel, located in Cartagena, and a supermarket, also located in Cartagena, for €12.5 million. “At the end of the day, divestment forms part of our business too”, say sources at the company.

MedCap, ten prime assets

At the beginning of 2015, the De Andrés Puyol family constituted Medcap Real Estate to manage its portfolio of assets, formed as a result of the contribution by Inversora del Reino de Valencia of one of its branches of activity, which included all of the urban assets leased or offered as rental properties, as well as all of the shares of the subsidiary specialising in managing operations relating to prime retail.

Medcap’s shareholders have a long history in the real estate business, with extensive experience in the search for, development of and letting of assets. Medcap focuses its activity mainly on the prime segment given the greater stability of that sector. Nevertheless, it also has a portfolio of rental properties for operation such as supermarkets in more secondary areas.

Medcap has a pipeline of assets in different stages of development or study in Spain, the Netherlands and Italy. Its most noteworthy properties include the building at number 80 Paseo de Gracia, where the luxury firm Louis Vuitton has its flagship store in the Catalan capital, as well as the Desigual megastore on Plaza Cataluña and the Apple store on Paseo de Gracia, according to the firm’s annual accounts.

In Madrid, until January, the group was the owner of the Adidas flagship store at number 21 Gran Vía (pictured above), which it sold to Triuvua; and the Louis Vuitton flagship store at number 66 Calle Serrano in Madrid, amongst others. The valuation of Medcap’s prime retail assets exceeds €475 million, according to the most recent valuation performed by the company.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Madrid to Completely Rebuild La Paz Hospital Over Next 10 Years

7 March 2018 – El Confidencial

The Community of Madrid is going to carry out a comprehensive remodelling project of Hospital La Paz. Construction work will begin in 2019 and will involve the expansion of the hospital’s existing surface area by 25% or 50,000 m2, with four new buildings and a hotel for patients’ families. The construction work is going to be performed in four phases and will begin next year, according to the President of the Community of Madrid, Cristina Cifuentes, with the aim of ensuring that La Paz “continues to be the best hospital in Spain and one of the best in the world”. The forecast investment will amount to €359 million and will be paid for by the Community.

The size of the reference hospital in Madrid will thereby be increased from 190,842 m2 to 238,198 m2 following the remodelling project, of which 205,538 m2 will be newly built and another 32,660 m2 will be reformed. New green space spanning 10,250 m2 is also going to be created and new roads will be built. (…). The first phase of work is due to be awarded to the contractor(s) in January 2019. (…). La Paz will not reduce is patient activity at any point during the construction period.

The first phase will begin following the award of the construction work in January and will involve the demolition of the North Building, the Teaching building, generators, the parking lot and the Human Resources department (29,508 m2) to build the new General Hospital and a parking lot for employees (109,967 m2), which will be operational from 2022.

The second phase involves the demolition of the General Hospital (68,680 m2) to make space for ambulatory services, day hospitals, rehabilitation and dialysis services (59,428 m2), which will be completed in 2025.

For the third phase, the General Emergency area and the Traumatology Hospital will be demolished (21,884 m2) and the new Maternity-Children’s Hospital buildings will be constructed with an area for ancillary services (38,278 m2), which will be operational from 2027.

In the fourth and final phase, part of the former Maternity-Children’s Hospital will be demolished and other spaces, such as the Maternity Tower (24,267 m2) and a service area, will be reformed. That final phase will be completed in 2029 (…).

According to the regional Government, the new hospital will provide patients and families with “more comfort, privacy and security, with more individual rooms, larger waiting rooms and the creation of recreational spaces, amongst other benefits” (…).

The Investment Plan for Hospital Infrastructures in the Public Network of the Community of Madrid is going to allocate most of its €1 billion budget to reforming the seven largest hospitals in the region: 12 de Octubre, La Paz, Gregorio Marañón, Ramón y Cajal, Clínico San Carlos, La Princesa and Niño Jesús; on which more than €700 million will be spent.

The plan also includes forecast investment of €250 million to renovate another 14 hospitals: Móstoles, Príncipe de Asturias, Severo Ochoa, Getafe, Fuenlabrada, Alcorcón, Virgen de La Poveda, Virgen de la Fuenfría, Guadarrama, El Escorial, Hospital Central de la Cruz Roja, Santa Cristina, José Germain and Rodríguez Lafora. Moreover, it plans to invest approximately €42 million to convert the former Hospital Puerta de Hierro into a new and modern hospital centre for the care and functional recovery of patients.

Original story: El Confidencial (by I. G.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

French Group Primonial Buys 6 Nursing Homes in Spain for €35M

5 March 2018 – Eje Prime

Primonial is buying more assets in Spain. The French fund manager has signed an agreement with the nursing home management group La Saleta Care (owned by the Belgian group Armonea) to purchase six of its nursing homes in the Community of Valencia for €35 million, according to explanations provided by the group in a statement.

The fund has acquired six La Saleta nursing homes, containing 800 beds and day places in total, in the Community of Valencia, with a combined surface area of almost 21,500 m2. The six centres are going to continue to be leased to the operator La Saleta Care, through a new commercial lease with a fixed duration of 25 years.

This is the second operation that the group has signed in Spain. The company, which owns a portfolio containing more than €10.7 billion of assets under management, purchased the Sant Antoni Clinic, located in La Marina del Port, in Barcelona, last September, for €20 million.

Both operations form part of the trend by international funds to acquire alternative assets in Spain. In each case, the real estate consultancy JLL has brokered the operations.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Socimi Elaia Buys Former Staff Residence from BBVA for Hotel Conversion

12 February 2018 – Idealista

Real estate investment companies are continuing to star in real estate operations in Spain. On this occasion, the protagonist has been one of the latest companies to have debuted on the stock market: Elaia Investment Spain.

That vehicle, controlled by the Ruggieri family, one of the most wealthy in France, started trading its shares in October with a market value of €120 million. It specialises in assets linked to tourism and holds residential buildings, tourist apartments and hotels in its portfolio.

And it is in that sector that the Socimi plans to continue investing. On 7 February, it reached an agreement with BBVA to purchase the entity’s former employee residence in the town of Alfaz del Pi, in the province of Alicante.

The operation has been signed for €8.7 million and allows the Socimi to add more assets to its portfolio. The property has 140 rooms and spans a constructed surface area of more than 12,000 m2, located on a plot measuring 30,000 m2.

In this way, the complex has a large garden area, swimming pool, solarium, parking, tennis and frontón court, as well as a Social Club measuring almost 350 m2. With these facilities and its good location already in the bag (the residence is located just 200 metres away from the Playa del Albir, one of the most touristy municipalities in the Costa Blanca), the aim of the Socimi is to convert the property into a hotel complex.

According to confirmation provided by the French-controlled company to the Alternative Investment Market (MAB), the Socimi is in the process of marketing the property for its lease and the refurbishment work is in the process of being prepared.

According to explanations given by Manuel Climent, Director of transactions at JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, who has acted as the advisor to the selling bank, “this operation confirms the interest from international investors in Spain and more specifically in holiday destinations. In 2017, more than 62% of the total transacted volume in holiday locations involved operations whose buyers were international. We expect this trend to continue during 2018, taking into account the strong operating results in the market and the growth forecasts”.

Original story: Idealista

Translation: Carmel Drake

Co-Working Operators Leased 5-Times More Office Space in 2017

8 February 2018 – Expansión

Operators of co-working offices are gaining strength in Spain and multiplied by five times the space leased in 2017, to 40,500 m2.

The international co-working giants –WeWork, Regus, Glue Concept and Busining– are claiming their space in Spain and have recorded a milestone in the leasing of co-working office space in Madrid and Barcelona.

Last year, 40,500 m2 was leased for use by these kinds of work spaces, which represents a five-fold increase in the figure recorded the previous year, according to explanations provided by the real estate consultancy firm Savills Aguirre Newman.

Sources at the consultancy firm explain that the arrival of international operators has definitively reactivated the so-called serviced office sector in Spain, which includes business centres and co-working spaces.

Specifically, Regus, WeWork, Busining and Glue Concept closed 15 office space rental operations in Spain last year. Those operators opted for new and renovated buildings, with large and bright spaces, locations that are well-connected by public transport and with excellent services for their users in the vicinity of the offices, explained Ana Zavala, National Director of the Offices Agency at Savills Aguirre Newman.

By city, Madrid accounted for 82% of the surface area leased, whilst Barcelona represented 18%. By number of operations, 53% corresponded to Madrid, compared with 47% to Barcelona.

For the consultancy firm, the participation of this new model in the global office calculation for Madrid and Barcelona still has room for growth, as it currently accounts for around 5%. Thus, whilst in Madrid and Barcelona, the leasing by these types of business accounted for 3% in 2016, in London, they represented 10%.

“The growth in terms of leasing has been very significant in 2017, but the model is still very new in Madrid and Barcelona, and will depend on the success and demand that is generated. London is a much more mature market in terms of co-working in Europe and there the market share has amounted to around 9%-10% of the volume leased over the last two years”, said Zavala.

For the National Director of the Offices Agency at Savills Aguirre Newman, the benefits of these spaces are attractive for SMEs and micro-companies used to working in a collaborative way (…).

New players

In an effort to take advantage of the new needs in the market, the large Spanish Socimis Colonial and Merlin have also taken their first steps into this business. In this way, in October, the Catalan Socimi closed an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in the co-working platform Utopic_US. That agreement also includes the development of a strategic plan through successive capital injections by Colonial. Utopic_US, founded by 2010, has three centres in Madrid and will open another one in Barcelona within the next few weeks.

Also in October, Merlin announced the purchase of a stake in Loom House. In the case of the Socimi led by Ismael Clemente, its alliance with Loom House involves jointly converting some of the buildings in Merlin’s portfolio into co-working office spaces. Loom House currently has two co-working centres in Madrid, one in the Atocha area and another on Calle Huertas.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

ASG Purchases 19 Gas Stations in Northern Spain from Axa

6 February 2018 – Eje Prime

Activum SG is backing alternative investments. The company, which operates in Spain under the name ASG, has acquired 19 gas stations in the north of Spain, which had been owned until now by Axa Real Estate.

The assets are located in areas adjacent to large shopping centres and hypermarkets and are linked to long-term lease contracts with Eroski and Carrefour. The purchase has been carried out through Fund V, which ASG has just closed and which forms part of its diversification strategy, according to El Confidencial.

In 2011, Axa Real Estate acquired a portfolio of 28 gas stations from Eroski for €55 million. Following that operation, the supermarket group continued its gas station activity on the basis of a 20-year rental regime.

ActivumSG is expanding rapidly in Spain. At the beginning of the year, the company announced the creation of a new €500 million fund for real estate investments across Europe, as Eje Prime revealed. Of those, three are located in the Spanish market.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Healthcare Activos Acquires 3 Nursing Homes for €40M

7 February 2018 – Eje Prime

The assets in question are located in Gijón, Burgos and Valladolid. For this operation, the group has teamed up with La Saleta Care, which will manage the nursing homes for the next 25 years.

Healthcare Activos is continuing to expand its portfolio of investments in Spain. The fund’s latest operation has involved the purchase of three nursing homes for the elderly in Gijón, Burgos and Valladolid, for which it has paid €40 million. With this disbursement, the fund has now invested €102 million since it started operating in 2016.

To date, Healthcare’s new assets were owned by Baugestión, a group that has now been integrated into La Saleta Care. To seal the operation, the company has teamed up with that Valencian group, which has signed a contract to be the tenant of the three nursing homes for the next 25 years.

This portfolio of alternative assets spans a surface area of 22,000 m2 and operates in a market that has recorded a significant increase over the last year. Nevertheless, these kinds of residential properties, be they for the elderly or for university students, are attracting a great deal of interest, primarily from international funds.

Under the leadership of Jorge Guarner, its founder and CEO, and Oaktree, Healthcare Activos now owns a portfolio that has reached a dozen assets in just two years. Headquartered in Barcelona, the fund started to acquire properties in 2016 with three centres in Amma, for which it paid €25 million. A few months later, it added two assets in Logroño and one in Barcelona, for which it paid €16 million.

Healthcare Activos’ plans for 2018 include investing €150 million during the course of the year to reach a size of €450 million over the next few years. All of this, without leaving the domestic market, for the time being.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake