Tag: Ada Colau

Barcelona Accepts Seven Exceptions To The Hotel Moratorium

13 February 2016 – Expansion

Ada Colau´s  moratorium applied to the hotel sector in Barcelona in July last year did not catch the market by surprise, since a stoppage on the granting of new licenses was foreseen on her electoral program, while the hotel industry of the city was being reassessed. What surprised and angered the industry was the fact that the measure would affect projects already underway. 
Drivers of these establishments were quick to wield legal certainty to carry out their plans and threatened the City Council with highly expensive sues. 
The moratorium affected more than forty projects, some of them at a very early stage but others whose paperwork had been worked for months. Many of them alleged back then that they held a urban  certificate legally binding the council to accept licenses for processing and stating they were allowed to carry on with the project. 
The City Council, which at first denied this, has been six months later forced to accept these license applications. In total, seven requests have been accepted for processing, which will now come under consideration for compliance with the regulations. Among these seven projects we find Emin Capital, which bought Torre Agbar to open a Grand Hyatt, and Me que projects by Melia at Caspe Street. Two months earlier, Colau team had already unlocked Meridia Capital project in the former headquarters of Henkel and that of Amancio Ortega in the old headquarters of Banesto, where the opening of a hotel with Iberostar is planned. 
In addition to the ongoing projects that were affected by the measure, the moratorium adopted by Barcelona en Comú has stopped the investments in new hotel projects. Another immediate consequence was the rise in the value of existing establishments. Unable to open new hotels, investors have directed towards those which already had a license, those which have raised their sales expectations.

Concern     

The sector is now awaiting the development of the plan being made by Ada Colau on hotel regulation by neighborhood. Hotel entrepreneurs are worried that Mayoress has spoken of a possible “decrease” in some areas.

Original story: Expansion (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Aura Ree

Colau Launches A Plan To Become The Largest Housing Developer In Barcelona

15 February 2016 – El Confidencial

The plan of Barcelona Mayoress of “Barcelona en Comú” is very ambitious: to promote a large park of affordable rental flats during his tenure, a public investment of around 500 million.

Ada Colau wants to change the game rules.  And housing development will be field chosen to do it, consistent with her past as an activist of the Platform of People Affected by Mortgage  And housing development is the field chosen to do it, consistent with her past as an activist of the People Affected by Mortages Platform (PAH). The plan is very ambitious: building 2,365 homes during his tenure, a public investment of around EUR 500 million and which would be taken on by Barcelona Municipal Housing Agency, a City Council´s body. With the project start, Colau will become the biggest Barcelona promoter.

The plan, to which “El Confidencial” has had access El Confidencial, is being currently presented by the new Manager of the Housing Agency, Javier Burón, in multiple rounds with developers, entrepreneurs and different social agents. Barcelona City Council, one of the few in Spain with a surplus, has sufficient funds to do it But as the project points out, funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB) is planned to be used to create a public park of rental housing in Barcelona similar to that of any European city. The EU rental home average is around 15% in an medium sized city. In Barcelona, this percentage is only around 1.5%.

Given that in 2015 all private developers built 3,000 homes in the Catalan capital, a drive this size would make the City Council become teh first Real Estate engine in the city.

Out of the 2,365 homes Ada Colau wants to promotr, almost 800 homes are already being built, by the Agency, most of them (a total of 105)  in Glòries district. Of the remainder, some 518 are in the process of getting licensed, half of them in the district of Sant Andreu.

And the rest is Colau´s flagship project: 10 real estate developments in the same number of sites, of which the City Council´s Agency will take care.
This part totals 1,145 homes spread over ten areas, defined in Buron´s  draft as “public and affordable land in the metropolitan area of Barcelona”.

Free Trade Zone commitment

Colau´s bet for the free zone is clear. Of the new projects, two promotions add 534 homes for the new Marina District in that part of town to be started.

But the new housing is only part of the bet, although the most important from the point of view of the City Council economic effort. Colau also plans taking measures such as a “future housing mapping and mobilization (empty homes) to guide them towards an affordable rent”, “bargaining, purchasing and refusal and preemptive rights with financial institutions” and apply a “procedure of penalties and tax measures against underuse “, e.g. penalizing empty flats, as stated in the project named ‘The local public action in Barcelona housing’.

As reflected in a study conducted in April 2015, in Barcelona there are 31,200 empty homes, of which about 2,592 are owned by financial institutions, appearing in the registry created by the “Generalitat”, as evidenced on Colau´s draft. The Mayoress wants to reach agreements with banks to transfer these properties in order to be also used in social rent.

Original story: Expansion (by Marcos Lamelas)

Translation: Aura Ree

RE Funds Puts Their Investments On Standby

27 January 2016 – Expansión

The major European real estate funds have strict internal rules and so are not willing to make political assessments. But the firms that work with them confirm that these funds demand the same rigour that they apply internally from the governments in the countries in which they invest. Investors need stable legal frameworks and “are starting to feel nervous”, say their intermediaries in Spain.

Juan Antonio Gómez Pintado, President of the property developer Vía Célere, which has recently invested in Spain in partnership with several overseas funds, says that “operations are currently on standby”. “Given their Anglo-Saxon mentality” he says “since 20-D, investors think that the parties that received the most votes will join forces, but the issue is getting more complex and so they are getting nervous”.

The President of Vía Célere says that “the funds are extrapolating what has happened in Cataluña. “It is not that they doubt Spain’s economic viability, they are still evaluating operations, but they are waiting to see what the outcome of the (latest political) agreements will be”, he said.

And this question mark over the future Spain’s government is just one of several uncertain scenarios affecting the country, such as the Catalan independence process and the change in the local governments in Madrid and Barcelona.

The Managing Partner of Cushman & Wakefield in Spain, Oriol Barrachina, said that the political change that has caused the greatest concern for overseas investors has been the change in local governments. The arrival of Manuela Carmena and Ada Colau (last May) stalled projects, such as Operación Canalejas in Madrid and the (renovation of the) Deutsche Bank building in Barcelona.

The Vice-President of CBRE in Spain, Enrique Martínez Laguna, says that “any situations involving uncertainty, such as the one we are currently experiencing, impacts investor confidence, both in the real estate market as well as in other sectors. And the CEO of Neinor, Juan Velayos, says that “it would be much simpler and better for everyone if we could work in a more certain (political) environment”.

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb Grants Colau 200 Flats For Families In Need

17 December 2015 – La Vanguardia

Sareb has granted 200 flats to the Town Hall of Barcelona, which will be allocated under the social housing regime to families that are unable to access housing through their own means. The municipal housing services will receive the keys to the first 50 homes today, which will be included in the Emergency Social Committee’s list of available properties to be awarded to families in need.

“We were appointed to the municipal government to make things like this happen”, said the mayoress Ada Colau yesterday, as she announced that an agreement had been signed with Sareb, also known as the “bad bank”. Colau did not hide her satisfaction about the agreement, which was “achieved through good faith and not through the enforcement of any laws”, although she added: “It is a very important first step, but we are not satisfied yet; we need many more properties for use as emergency homes”.

The agreement was signed last Thursday by the Housing Councillor Josep María Montaner and Sareb’s Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, Gaspar Gonzálex Palenzuela. It is the first agreement of its kind to be signed between the entity and a town hall. “Our objective is to reach agreements with other large owners of empty flats”, said Colau. In other words, to acquire flats “in good faith”.

The other route, “the hard way”, involves imposing sanctions on owners who keep flats empty for more than two years. A few months ago, the Town Hall of Barcelona imposed around twenty sanctions on banking institutions. Seven of the sanctions related to Sareb, including those relating to three of the flats that have now been ceded.

Most of the flats are in Nou Barris and are illegally occupied

The first 50 empty flats granted by Sareb are located in six of Barcelona’s ten districts: Nou Barris (16 flats), Sants-Montjuïc (5), Sant Martí (4), Sant Andreu (12), Horta-Guinardó (10) and Ciutat Vella (3). The effective use of these homes will be actioned in a matter of days, according to the Town Hall, although some of the properties need minor repairs and must be connected to the utility networks. The 200 homes will be ceded for eight years.

Half of the homes are currently occupied, illegally or irregularly, and for that reason, the situation of the occupants will be analysed on a case by case basis to determine whether they should be included in the list of applicants for social housing. “We suspect that the majority involve cases of socially vulnerable people”, confirmed the mayoress, but “existing occupants will not receive preferential treatment”.

During the eight-year period, the Town Hall will pay Sareb small amounts (between €75 and €125 per month per home). It will also bear the cost of taxes such as the IBI. The recipients of the homes will be charged a nominal rent on the basis of their income.

On 15 January, the Town Hall will take over the management of another 50 flats (currently occupied); on 15 February it will take over another 50 (also occupied) and in March, it will take over the final 50 (empty) homes subject to the agreement. Colau revealed that she hopes to soon be able to announce more new achievements in her strategy to increase the public stock of social housing, with Sareb and other entities. She specified that the government committee will today approve the acquisition of three homes from Bankia (at prices well below their market values), with whom it has agreed to purchase around twenty homes. (…).

Original story: La Vanguardia (by Lluís Sierra)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Colau Approves 6% Rise In IBI For Homes Worth >€300k

18 November 2015 – El Economista

The fiscal policy of the mayoress Ada Colau has been up in the air since her victory at the municipal elections in May. But yesterday, Bcomú’s representatives approved new tax regulations, with votes form the PSC and the CUP, and despite opposition from CiU, the PP and Ciutadens, which initially resulted in a tied vote. Nevertheless, the mayoress’s casting vote allowed the regulations to go ahead.

The main impact of these new tax measures is a 4% increase in the rate of Property Tax (‘Impuesto de Bienes Inmuebles’ or IBI) for homes with a cadastral value of more than €100,000 and a 6% increase for homes worth more than €300,000. The Town Hall explained that 79% of the buildings in Barcelona are worth less than €100,000 (and will be unaffected by the measure).

Although the first fiscal policy adopted by Bcomú was to revoke the 10% increase in IBI that the previous municipal government, led by Xavier Trias, had proposed; shortly afterwards, Colau’s team proposed a property tax freeze. But following criticism from all of the opposition groups, Bcomú decided to negotiate with the other parties, ahead of the new cadastral review, which will apply from 2017. The Town Hall expects to raise €633 million through IBI.

Original story: El Economista (by Iván Gutiérrez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Colau Suspends 35 Hotel Projects In Barcelona

26 October 2015 – Expansión

On Friday, the Town Hall of Barcelona revealed the final impact of the hotel moratorium in the Catalan capital. The mayoress Ada Colua’s star initiative has left 35 projects up in the air, although it will not effect some of the most iconic projects, such as the hotel that Amancio Ortega is planning to build in Plaza Catalunya or the project proposed by Meridia Capital for the former Henkel headquarters.

The future of the 35 projects now depends on the special urban plan for tourist accommodation (Peuat or ‘plan especial urbanístico de alojamiento turístico’), the regulatory framework that governs the (tourism) sector in the city. The town hall expects to approve the framework in March, just before the suspension of the licences expires. “We still have time to put in order and regulate tourism”, said the fourth deputy mayoress, Janet Sanz, at a press conference.

The 35 projects affected include 30 hotels, three youth hostels and two halls of residence. Some of the most well known projects include the property that the Hotusa group, owned by Amancio López, plans to build on Avenida Vilanova (close to the Arc del Triomf) and the building that Meliá wants to convert on Calle Casp.

During the press conference, the councillor revealed that 51 projects have run their course unaffected by the moratorium, since they were approved when the previous government was in office, i.e. when CiU led the Town Hall. Those 51 projects include 36 licences, 9 obtained due to non-opposition and 6 that have urban use certificates (a document that allows a licence to be requested during a six-month period).

The opposition, led by CiU, criticised Colau’s policy and accused her of making a lot of fuss and then taking little action. They asked the mayoress to show “rigour and seriousness”.

Original story: Expansión (by Gabriel Trindade)

Translation: Carmel Drake

No Progress Re Sale Of 49% Stake In Saba

13 October 2015 – Expansión

At the beginning of the year, KKR, Torreal and the fund ProA Capital, the minority shareholders that together own 49% of the share capital of Saba Infraestructuras, engaged Citi to manage the sale of their stakes.

Since then, the car park group controlled by Criteria (50.1%), La Caixa’s industrial holding company, has significantly increased in size, through the acquisition of new businesses, and so the company’s valuation could now amount to around €1,200 million. However, five months after the municipal elections, there has not been any progress in terms of the original operation for various reasons, including, the uncertainty caused by the arrival of the new mayoresses in the two cities that are critical for Saba.

The most significant case is Barcelona, where Saba was awarded the privatisation of 26 car parks in the city, managed through the mixed municipal company Bamsa under the former legislature, led by the government of Xavier Trias. Following the arrival of Ada Colau, the criticism regarding the paralysis of this and other municipal companies is growing. Saba’s revenues amounted to €190 million in 2013 with an EBITDA of €77 million.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Núñez’s Complaint Against Colau’s Moratorium Deemed Admissible

7 October 2015 – Orbyt

The High Court of Justice in Cataluña has declared admissible a complaint filed by the construction company Núñez y Navarro against the Town Hall of Barcelona. Specifically, the company has denounced the moratorium that the municipal government team, led by the mayoress Ada Colau (pictured), approved at the beginning of the summer. The moratorium has resulted in the suspension of more than 40 hotel projects that were underway in the Catalan capital, for at least one year.

Núñez y Navarro, which has registered the complaint through one of its subsidiaries, is currently building a new hotel on Calle Rec Comtal, in the historical centre of the city. The Town Hall approved the project eight years ago, and given that it had already been granted the necessary permits and licences, the moratorium was not meant to affect it.

Nevertheless, at the beginning of the summer, the district counsellor of Ciutat Vella, Gala Pin, reported that an investigation had been opened to check whether there had been irregularities with the processing of the urban planning application. At that time, the municipal government did not rule out that the opening of this establishment could ultimately be suspended, in the event that it was able to prove that there had been malpractice in the rezoning of the site.

Overall balance

Yesterday, municipal sources refused to comment on the news that Núñez y Navarro’s complaint had been declared admissible. However, they did say was that the period (of two working months) during which companies affected by the moratorium are permitted to file complaints with the courts will come to an end shortly. Only then will the Town Hall provide an overall assessment of the impact of the measure.

The first consequences of Ada Colau’s moratorium have already been felt. At Deutsche Bank’s former headquarters, located on the corner of Avenida Diagonal and Paseo de Gracia, the existing building will no longer be demolished to construct a hotel, instead the property will be renovated and converted into luxury homes. By contrast, another iconic project will go ahead, namely the conversion of Torre Agbar into a luxury hotel to be operated by the US chain Hyatt.

Original story: Orbyt

Translation: Carmel Drake

Colau Convinces KKH To Abandon Luxury Hotel Project In BCN

2 October 2015 – Expansión

The real estate fund KKH, which owns the Deutsche Bank building in Barcelona, has agreed not to expand the property and convert it into a luxury hotel, as it had planned, after running into strong opposition from the new mayoress of Barcelona, Ada Colau.

The project has been affected not only by the moratorium imposed by Barcelona en Comú, but also by the fact that its suspension was one of Colau’s election promises.

KKH required permission from the Town Hall to demolish the building and construct a larger one, measuring 5,000 m2 more. In exchange, it has agreed to purchase the ‘Taller Masriera’ for €10 million and cede it to the Town Hall for public use, as well as to acquire the construction rights from Los Lluïsos de Gracia, who were willing to transfer the building rights in exchange for financial compensation.

The fund led by Josep Maria Farré has thrown in the towel and announced that it will renovate the existing building to convert it into luxury housing. In this way, the city bids farewell to a project that would have involved the entry of the hotel chain Four Seasons into Barcelona and the creation of 380 direct jobs.

Yesterday, the deputy mayoress for town planning, ecology and mobility, Janet Sanz, said she was pleased that the developers “had understood the extent of the fatigue that is affecting the city and its residents, regarding the cost and impact that certain operations may have in specific areas”.

Original story: Expansión (by M.A.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb Unlikely To Meet Its Property Sales Goal In 2015

14 July 2015 – Expansión

The President of Sareb acknowledged today that the bad bank will probably need the entire 15-year period originally granted to it, to sell all of its assets.

Speaking at a briefing organised by Europa Press and Servihabitat this morning, Jaime Echegoyen recognised that it will be hard for Sareb to meet the goal it had set for 2015 of selling 15,000 properties to individuals. During the first half of the year, the bad bank only sold 5,400 homes, i.e. 33% fewer than during the same period in 2014.

Sareb’s President insisted that the entity is selling its assets slowly (on purpose) to protect the capital of its investors. 51% of the bad bank’s capital is owned by private investors – all of the major banks except for BBVA, insurance companies and other entities – and the remaining 49% is held by the State.

Echegoyen has said that Sareb will probably need the entire 15-year period originally granted to the entity to sell all of its assets. “I would go as far as to say that we will end up needing all of the time originally granted to us. We are planning to use up the entire period, but if we manage to sell all of the assets sooner, then we will”, he said.

Carmena and Colau

The head of the bad bank also said that he wants to hear the proposals that the mayoresses of Madrid and Barcelona, Manuela Carmena and Ada Colau, respectively, are going to make. Echegoyen confirmed that he is meeting Carmena tomorrow and Colau next Friday and that his position ahead of those meetings is to be “flexible and listen carefully”.

Echegoyen also repeated the message he delivered to Congress’s Economic Committee last week, saying that Sareb has made 2,000 (social housing) homes available in several autonomous communities, and he reaffirmed that he hopes to sign more agreements in more regions soon.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake