Aena Asks Willis to Move Onto Land Next to Jerez Airport

Aena has asked Willis Lease Corporation to move its maintenance and scrapping plant in Jerez onto land near the airport, but which does not belong to the semi-public state company. Aena would bear the connection costs between the land and the airport’s runway.

After the threat made by Willis Lease to the Andalucían Government that it will leave the autonomous region and move to another country, Aena has asked the North American company to move its maintenance and scrapping plant in Jerez onto land near the airport, but which does not belong to the semi-public state company, according to the Diario de Jerez.

Aena would bear the cost of connecting the land to the airport runway by building a taxiway. And by way of example, it points to Airbus’s facilities at Sevilla airport, which are located outside the airport itself and which are accessed through independent access across land that Aena itself gave up.

Aena Reduces the Rent from its Real Estate Assets by 75%

The airport manager, which has suffered an 83% drop in its profits due to coronavirus, has launched a battery of measures to help its tenants.

The airport manager Aena has launched a series of measures to alleviate the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on its clients.

As part of its approach, it has deferred the payment of aircraft parking fees by six months on an interest-free basis and it has established discounts of up to 75% on real estate assets operated by airlines, handling agents and commercial suppliers. It is also going to review current commercial contracts.

The Lack of a Spanish Government Halts Aena’s Real Estate Ambitions

14 October 2019 The airport operator Aena has yet to get approval to go ahead with construction on two residential developments around Madrid-Barajas and Barcelona-El Prat due to the lack of a political agreement to form a new Spanish government. The firm had hoped to start the works in Madrid and Barcelona this year. However, the plots of land are still untouched.

Aena’s project in Madrid will occupy around 200,000 square meters of land in a total investment forecast at €2.997 billion over the next 40 years. Existing plans divide the space into four areas: a logistics hub, airport services, an aeronautical maintenance centre and leisure areas.

In Barcelona, ​​the 300,000 square meter area will have a total investment of €1.264 billion. The project will try to attract technology companies and logistics platforms as well as hotels, restaurants and offices to service the airport.

Funds that invest in the airport operator have been pushing the government to install an independent CEO, separate from any governmental changes, to facilitate work.

Original Story: Economía Digital – Carles Huguet

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

AENA Activates its RE Plan in Palma, Málaga, Valencia & Sevilla

23 May 2019 -. ABC 

AENA is going to become the largest property developer in Spain over the next few years, having launched four real estate mega-projects at its airports in Palma de Mallorca, Málaga, Valencia and Sevilla, in addition to those already underway in Madrid and Barcelona. The airport manager is now looking to engage a consultant to help it decide the uses that will be assigned to the land that it owns in the vicinity of the four airports.

According to sources, AENA and the private partner will identify which plots are “potentially marketable” and will plan their development together. This process will take around a year, with AENA planning to dedicate the first six months to the development of the airports in Palma de Mallorca and Málaga-Costa del Sol, and the second six months to the airports in Sevilla-San Pablo and Valencia.

Madrid and Barcelona

These projects will join those already announced by the company led by Maurici Lucena for the vicinity of Barajas and El Prat airports in Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. There, AENA is planning to build offices, hotels and logistics hubs. In the Spanish Capital, the company is planning to develop up to 2.2 million m2 of land, whilst in the Catalan capital, that figure amounts to 1.1 million m2.

Original story: ABC (by Guillermo Ginés)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Aena Reduces its RE Plan for Barajas & El Prat and Plans to Add 4 Other Airports

9 April 2019 – El Economista

Aena has decided to reduce the surface area to be included in its real estate plan for development at Barajas and El Prat. Following the publication of its strategic plan for 2018-2021, the airport manager has chosen to reduce the amount of land by 73 hectares (or 12%) to 549 hectares. As such, 349 hectares will be developed in Madrid and 200 hectares in Barcelona.

In addition, the company chaired by Maurici Lucena (pictured above) is also considering extending the plan to include four other airports: Valencia, Sevilla, Palma de Mallorca and Málaga, although no final decisions have yet been made.

The real estate plan will be developed in phases and plots of land will be put up for tender in accordance with demand. The first lot will comprise logistics space at Barajas.

Aena also plans to dedicate some of its facilities to solar panels, with the objective of generating 70% of its annual energy consumption through its own photovoltaic plants by 2026.

Original story: El Economista (by África Semprún)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Aena Launches the Largest Real Estate Plan in Spain

5 April 2019 – Expansión

Aena is planning to put up for tender between 160,000 m2 and 200,000 m2 of land at Barajas airport (Madrid) and another 300,000 m2 at El Prat (Barcelona).

The airport manager plans to invest €4.3 billion in the land adjacent to the Adolfo Suárez-Barajas (Madrid) and El Prat (Barcelona) airports and intends to put the first plots up for auction this year, most likely in December.

The firm led by Maurici Lucena has detected interest from funds and Socimis in its plots, which may be used for the development of logistics assets, as well as for hotel, office and commercial use. The plots are very attractive given their unique locations and connections and the three favourite investors at this stage are Blackstone, Segro and Merlin.

A priori, Aena’s idea is to create companies together with the investing partners who will finance the developments. Prices for the land at Barajas could range between €500/m2 and €750/m2 and for finished products could reach up to €1,800/m2.

In El Prat, the prices are expected to be higher given the space restrictions there, reaching around €2,000/m2 for finished products and between €750/m2 and €1,000/m2 for undeveloped plots of land.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Aena Commissions Real Estate Plans for its Airports in Palma, Málaga, Valencia & Sevilla

7 December 2018 – Voz Pópuli

Aena’s real estate development of its two main assets, the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas and Barcelona-El Prat airports, is going to continue at other major airports in the network where the company has land reserves. At least, that is the intention of the company chaired by Maurici Lucena (pictured below), who has commissioned research to analyse the options for generating returns from its land at the airports in Palma de Mallorca, Málaga, Valencia and Sevilla.

The airport manager, in which the State owns a 51% stake, is going to invest more than €2 million to engage an expert to analyse the options for the plots and, where appropriate, develop the real estate plans, which will follow in the footsteps of those already designed for Madrid and Barcelona, where the combined investment is going to exceed €4.6 billion (most of which is expected to be financed by the private sector).

The strategy involves devising an identical roadmap to the one followed for the plans at the two major infrastructures, namely: engage an external advisor to analyse the plots that Aena has in the area around the four airports and identify opportunities for the development of real estate activities that could be performed on them. Based on the results of the reports, the company will decide whether to go ahead with the operations, as well as on the definitive design of them.

Although the manoeuvre is still at an early phase, all indications are that, in theory, activities relating to logistics and air cargo are those that have the greatest potential for capturing a leading role in the future development of the four infrastructures.

Airports on the rise

Palma de Mallorca and Málaga-Costa del Sol are the two busiest airports with the greatest passenger numbers in the Aena network, aside from Madrid and Barcelona. The former has seen an increase of more than 17% in passenger numbers over the last two years and closed last year with a record of almost 28 million visitors, which could be pulverised in 2018, with a figure that may exceed 30 million.

Meanwhile, Málaga has experienced an increase of almost 30% in passenger numbers over the last two years and is also on track for a record year in 2018, which could close with around 20 million users.

Valencia and Sevilla are in the top 12 of the airport ranking in Spain by passenger numbers although, in their cases, the appeal of their land stems more from their proximity to the two most populous cities in the country outside of Madrid and Barcelona.

1,000 hectares still available

According to the figures presented by the company when the details of its strategic plan for 2018-2021 were published, Aena owns a potentially marketable surface area of around 2,000 hectares, of which 50% corresponds to the airports in Madrid and Barcelona (…).

Aena’s plans were launched during the company’s previous stage, under the presidency of Jaime García-Legaz. The current management team is not only continuing that strategy, but it also seems to be willing to bet decisively on it.

Indeed, the strategic plan emphasises the need for the company to diversify its revenue streams, both through the commercial operation of its airports and through real estate plans designed to generate returns from its land around Madrid-Barajas and Barcelona-El Prat (…).

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Raúl Pozo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aena Mobilises Mega-Investments in Barajas & El Prat Amounting to €4.2bn

29 November 2018 – El Confidencial

The largest property developer in Spain is not a real estate company, it is AENA, a company that does not depend on the real estate sector for its business, on the contrary. It has started a race, together with external partners, to mobilise investments worth more than €4.2 billion focused on two projects: the urban development of Barajas and El Prat, annexes of the airports in Madrid and Barcelona. Together they represent the largest real estate project in Spain, and they are very focused on logistics due to the proximity to both airport centres, but also on offices. In office space, alone, the firm wants to promote almost 1 million m2 across the two urban areas.

This contradiction that the largest property developer is not an agent of the real estate sector is due to the fact that AENA is a very large landowner. For years, all of its plots have aged as if they were wine. The airport city in Barcelona, for example, was projected more than 14 years ago. But only now has Deloitte been engaged to look for international funds to mobilise that investment and Garrigues been contracted for legal advice about the monumental project.

And it is a long-term project. In the case of Barcelona, the most advanced of the two, it plans go out 20 years. In Barajas, the proposal is twice as long, 40 years. Moreover, according to sources in the sector, of the 622 hectares of net plots in Barajas, 396 hectares are awaiting development.

Given that the blocks of land are so close to the airports of the two capitals, logistics is the fundamental basis of the proposals. According to the latest report from Jones Lang Lasalle, logistics assets are generating yields of between 6% and 7%, a high rate when interest rates are so low. In the case of Barajas, for example, the planned logistics development represents the bulk of the project, 1.2 million m2 of constructed space, which will be the largest logistics centre in Spain, with the added synergy of connecting the current airport cargo area with the so-called Corredor del Henares.

In terms of office space, the plans also involve enormous dimensions. At El Prat, 362,000 m2 of constructed space is planned, almost as much as in the whole of the 22@ district promoted to date (…). And in the case of Madrid, it is even larger. At Barajas, the volume of planned offices is triple that figure, although it will have to be constructed over four decades.

In addition, there will be hangars, commercial areas, hotels and cargo services for aeroplanes. In practice, it will be like building two new cities, one in Barajas and the other in El Prat.

The immediate plans

The closest projects are the phases that have been planned for the next five to eight years. At the airport in Barcelona, the phase that AENA has called “catalysing” spans the first five years, during which time €387 million will be invested in total to promote almost 400,000 m2 in different types of urban planning projects.

These investments will run in parallel to the airport projects that have already been approved. In this way, AENA has already committed investments amounting to €690 million in El Prat, which include a new satellite terminal (…), to be carried out over the next four years.

This phase is longer at Barajas. It will last for eight years and will involve a forecast investment of €953 million, according to the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Real Estate Plan. During this phase, more than 500,000 m2 will be constructed (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by Marcos Lamelas)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Major Real Estate Projects in Madrid to Attract €10.5 Billion in Investments

21 August 2018

Some of the outsized projects for the coming years include the northern Madrid construction, the expansion of the Barajas airport and the Canalejas project.

Madrid will soon be the target of multi-billion euro investments in major real estate and urban development projects, upgrading the Spanish capital’s image in the coming years. The investments will lead to the construction of housing, skyscrapers, hotels, shopping centres, university campuses while also renovating some football stadiums and demolishing others.

Madrid Nuevo Norte, under development by DCN; Aena’s real estate project for Barajas; the Canalejas and Caleido project, along with the renovation of the Bernabeú stadium and the Mahou-Calderón development will involve total investments of €10.5 billion.

Four new skyscrapers

Madrid Nuevo Norte is the most ambitious project and the one that has been the longest in the making. Formerly known as Operation Chamartín, the project involves the construction of 365 new buildings in Madrid, including 10,500 flats and three skyscrapers in the vicinity of the Chamartín train station, in the north of the capital.

Construction of the project, which had been paralysed for a quarter of a century, is expected to begin in 2019. If the developer manages to keep to the announced deadlines, reparcelling and development will start by the end of next year or early 2020, and the first homes will be ready by 2021 or 2022.

Considering the sheer magnitude of the project, which will have a buildable area of 2.66 million square meters, construction is expected to last for more than two decades. Madrid Nuevo Norte will require €6 billion in investments and should create roughly 120,000 jobs during the construction phase and 94,000 posts after its completion.

A building known as the fifth tower will be erected in the area surrounding Madrid Nuevo Norte. The Caleido project will involve investments of €300 million and should be ready by the end of next year. Inmobiliaria Espacio, of the Villar Mir Group, was awarded the development and operationalisation of the project on public land in 2014 and is leading the development together with Megaworld, a conglomerate held by the Filipino billionaire Andrew Tan.

The project will include a 36-floor, 165-meter tower, which will house IE’s new, vertical campus, and a second building, 280 meters long and 60 meters wide, that will host a sports medicine centre operated by Quirónsalud.

Aena’s planned project for the land adjacent to the Barajas airport also stands out. The airport manager is forecasting a total investment of €2.997 billion over the next 40 years.

The project, with 2.7 million buildable square meters, will have logistics warehouses, offices, hotels and even a shopping centre. The company chaired by Maurici Lucena is searching for partners to develop its plans and, for now, the Blackstone fund and other major investors have demonstrated interest.

The Canalejas project, under development by OHL and Mohari Limited, a company owned by the Israeli executive Mark Scheinberg, is located in central Madrid. The venture, which will link seven historic buildings, will host Spain’s first Four Seasons hotel, along with luxury homes and a shopping area. The project is expected to involve €300 million in investments and is expected to be ready by 2019.

Madrid’s real estate and urban development plans will also affect the iconic Santiago Bernabéu stadium. In April, the city council gave the green light to a plan for reparcelling land for the new stadium, which will involve an investment of about €400 million.d

Housing at the Calderón

1,300 homes will be built on the grounds of another stadium, the Calderón, the former home of Atlético de Madrid. The sale of the land is expected to raise about €175 million in investments from any future buyers (developers), in addition to the more than €42 million stemming from the reparcelling project for the stadium and the grounds of the old Mahou factory.

Original Story: Expansion – Rebecca Arroyo

Translation: Richard Turner

 

DHL Express Invests €6M in New HQ in Barajas

5 July 2018 – Eje Prime

DHL Express is moving to Barajas. The logistics company is going to abandon its current offices at the airport, located in the Eisenhower Business Centre, to move to the general services building at Aena’s air cargo centre. The investment for this move will amount to €6 million, according to reports from the group.

At its new home in Barajas, DHL is going to occupy a surface area of approximately 5,000 m2. The space is going to be renovated, at a cost of €3 million, so that it can be occupied for the next five years by the German multi-national, which will pay another €3 million to Aena by way of rent.

The logistics company plans to complete its move by September. The new location will be home to the group’s central departments, as well as its customer services platform, which comprises 400 people.

The Barajas operation strengthens DHL’s investment in Spain. The company inaugurated its new facilities at Sevilla airport in February; it spent €4.1 million on that project.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake