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AEW Purchases Office Building In Alcobendas For €39M

9 December 2015 – Expansión

The investor furore for properties in Spain and for office buildings in particular, has resulted in record figures for this business in 2015 and has led to a fierce struggle for the best buildings in the major markets, such as Madrid and Barcelona.

This fight for the real estate gems in the centre of large cities has left many investors unable to close all of the operations they want to in Spain, and for this reason, they have started to look for opportunities beyond the established areas. Such is the case of the fund AEW Europe. The firm, one of the largest real estate investment managers on the continent, is finalising its purchase of an office building, known as the Amura building, in the Arroyo de la Vega area of the Madrilenian suburb of Alcobendas. The area is a long way from the financial centre of Madrid but it is the location of choice for several multinational companies, such as Citibank, Procter & Gamble, Pfizer and Bankinter.

Amura has several features that make it attractive to investors. The building, measuring 18,177 m2 over four levels, has an occupancy rate of 75% with very affordable rents, of around €10/m2/month.

Its main tenant is the Ricoh group, the manufacturer of digital equipment for office use. The Spanish subsidiary of Ricoh opened its headquarters in this building in 2008, leasing an area measuring 1,700 m2, which it increased by a further 800 m2 three years later.

Until now, the property formed part of Union Investment Real Estate’s Spanish portfolio. Union Investment is one of the largest fund managers in Germany, with assets worth €220,000 million under management.

Yields

Union Investment will sell the property to AEW for €39 million, according to real estate sources, which represents a yield of around 5%; that is low for the area, but reflects the furore that exists for these types of properties.

In Europe, AEW owns a portfolio of assets worth more than €16,600 million and it has now set its focus on the Spanish market. “Spain has gone from not existing (for us) to being a key priority market”, said Russell Jewell, the Director of PE funds in Europe for AEW.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake