Tag: Antonio Béjar

Distrito Castellana Norte Plans to Start Work on Operación Chamartín in 2020

10 January 2019 – Eje Prime

The countdown to the start of the work on Operation Chamartín could begin very soon. The developer behind the macro urban development project, Distrito Castellana Norte (DCN), is hoping that the Town Hall of Madrid will definitively approve the plan to start construction in 2020.

Antonio Béjar, President of DCN, explained that “it is perfectly possible and expected that all of the administrative approvals will be granted before the elections”.

The director says that it is “a 20- or 25-year project” that will have to survive various governments “at the three levels of administration”. For this reason, Béjar classified Operación Chamartín as a “State Project”.

What will become a new neighbourhood in Madrid will have 10,500 homes and a new large business centre. All of that constructed on 2.66 million m2 of land, which is 26% less than the 3.37 million m2 planned in 2015, when the Town Hall was governed by Ana Botella.

Each of the two sides of the M-30 where the project will be built will have a very different feel. To the north, office skyscrapers are going to be built, whilst to the south, there will be large green spaces and cycle paths, as the backdrop to residential developments.

The office area will be built to the north of Paseo de la Castellana, opposite the Cinco Torres, and will have a buildability of 1.3 million m2, which is 200,000 m2 less than agreed in the previous plan.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

BBVA Reorganises Its RE Team To Accelerate Divestments

27 December 2016 – Vozpópuli

BBVA is reorganising its real estate management team to accelerate the divestment of its property portfolio. The entity chaired by Francisco González has agreed to the early retirement of Agustín Vidal-Aragón (pictured above), the Director who has been responsible for Anida and BBVA Real Estate since 2014. His departure, at 55 years old, comes at a time when the bank wants to shake up its business and make the real estate hangover disappear from its balance sheet as soon as possible, according to financial sources consulted by Vozpópuli. Sources at the bank declined to comment.

Javier Rodrígeuz Soler, Director of Strategy and M&A will take over the reins. He is one of the directors who has gained the most influence in the bank’s organisational chart in recent times. He reports directly into González and comes from McKinsey, like the bank’s number two in charge, Carlos Torres.

Over the last few years, Vidal-Aragón had held several different roles in BBVA, incuding Director of Pensions and Insurance in Latin America and Regional Director in Andalucía, before he was appointed Head of Real Estate in May 2014. At the time he replaced Antonio Bejar, who moved to take over the reins at Operación Chamartín.

Sources in the market consider that BBVA has fallen behind its competitors in terms of divesting its real estate portfolio under Vidal-Aragón’s mandate. According to the most recent publicly available figures, the bank still has more than €22,000 million in real estate exposure in Spain, one of the largest balances in the sector.

Rodríguez Soler is expected to place much greater emphasis on the sale of large real estate packages through the wholesale markets, aimed at large international funds. One example of this is the operation that the bank put on the market two months ago: Project Buffalo, through which it is seeking to remove 4,000 homes from its balance sheet.

Another strategic turn is linked to a change in philosophy. Until now, the culture at BBVA was to preserve the maximum value of its properties on the balance sheet, rejecting offers even if they equated to book value. From now on, they will think about property as an inheritance that they need to get rid of as soon as possible and at the best possible price, in that order in terms of priorities.

New team

Rodríguz Soler has created a team of his own to handle this challenge. The following people will report directly into him: Juan de Ortueta (Foreclosed assets), Juan Pedro del Castillo (Financing) and Ana Fernández Manrique (Strategy and Finance). In addition, he has recruited Pedro Egea from the Secretary General’s team, who will take care of all of the administration and control aspects of the real estate business.

Another change is that Cesáreo Rey, Head of Investments, will report into Rodríguez Soler’s area. He will do so directly to one of his trusted executives, José Ferrís. On balance, the new strategy seeks to get rid of the old inheritance.

Original story: Vozpópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Operación Chamartín’s # 2 Jumps Ship To Castlelake

21 September 2016 – El Confidencial

Just three years ago, BBVA and San José hired David Martínez as the CEO of Duch, the property developer of Operación Chamartín, which was subsequently renamed Distrito Castellana Norte. It was a high profile move, given that Martínez was CEO of Valdebebas at the time, the only large real estate development in the capital that had managed to resist the crisis.

With those credentials, Martínez became the number two in command at Operación Chamartín, behind only the Chairman, Antonio Béjar. He was also the key figure that allowed the project to be relaunched, a year later, with the consent of the three administrations involved: the Ministry of Development, the Community of Madrid and the Town Hall of Madrid.

But that consensus broke down with the arrival of Ahora Madrid in Palacio de Cibeles. They reversed the plan and submitted their own proposal, Madrid Puerta Norte, which cut the scope of the original plans in half.

In the middle of this blockade, whose most recent chapter has just been written by the High Court of Justice in Madrid, with the admission of the appeal submitted by DCN against the Town Hall, Martínez has abandoned ship to join one of the major international funds in the Spanish real estate sector: Castlelake.

As El Confidencial revealed, the US firm has reached an agreement with Merlin to launch its own property developer from what was leftover of the former firm Vallehermoso, and the 1 million sqm of land that the fund has been acquiring over the last two years.

New property developer

Martínez said goodbye to DCN on 1 September to join this new company, which is expected to start work in October under the brand, Aedas Home. The firm has offices on Paseo de la Castellana and an 11-man team that used to form part of Vallehermoso, Sacyr’s former property developer subsidiary, which was liquidated two years ago.

Martínez’s recruitment is a statement of intent regarding the plans that Castlelake has for Spain, given that he is one of the most recognised professionals in his sector in Spain – he was at the helm for eight years at Valdebebas and then has spent another three years at Operación Chamartín. In fact, many consider him to be the real brains behind these two developments, on whose future the final configuration of the north of Madrid depends.

With Aedas Home, Castlelake has finished shaping the new map of the largest property developers in Spain, a market whose present and future is marked by the clear commitment that three large international funds, in particular, have made to the Spanish real estate sector: Lone Star, which acquired the developer Neinor from Kutxabank for €930 million two years ago; Värde, which together with Marathon and Attestor has launched Dos Puntos from the ashes of the former San José Desarrollos; and now, Castlelake.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

BBVA Gets Ready To Reactivate ‘Operación Chamartín’

14 September 2016 – Expansión

Antonio Béjar, the Chairman of Distrito Castellana Norte, the company owned by BBVA and Sanjosé, has criticised Manuela Carmena’s team for “turning their backs on locals” and not thinking about Madrilenians.

Operación Chamartín reached a deadlock in May, when the Town Hall of Madrid, with votes from Ahora Madrid and PSOE, decided to deal a blow to Distrito Castellana Norte’s project and present an alternative option, which is unlikely to prosper, as it faces the outright refusal of the Community of Madrid and the Ministry of Development.

One of the biggest victims in this lethargy is DCN, which has seen how a project that had been fallow for decades and that seemed to be on the verge of progressing, following the approval of the final general town plan (PGOU) and the apparent acceptance of the parties involved, is now in danger of becoming little more than ink and paper following the arrival of Manuela Carmena’s municipal government.

Despite the circumstances, the Chairman of DCN, Antonio Béjar (pictured above), said in an interview with Expansión, that he feels “more encouraged than ever”. “This is an initiative that affects 500,000 people (i.e. the citizens who live in and around the affected areas). “We have always thought that it would be impossible to undertake this project behind people’s backs. For this reason, right from the start, we employed means and made efforts to get people to participate and contribute ideas”, explained Béjar.

The Director also explained that, in the face of the flood of suggestions and information requests received, they decided to open an office in Fuencarral a few months ago, and they plan to open at least two more – in Las Tablas and Chamartín – with the aim of maintaining an “open and permanent dialogue with people”. Béjar hopes that the municipal Government will reconsider its decision given the response from locals. “The Town Hall’s blockade against our project is very unpopular”, he said.

Similarly, the Chairman of DCN hopes to be able to resume talks with the Town hall and the other bodies involved to remedy the situation and whereby share the property developers “negotiating spirit”. Nevertheless, he warns that red lines exist, which are not going to be ignored. “We are not willing to be the sponsor of a project that lacks ambition or is associated with low quality. Moreover, we represent investors that have a duty to not, cannot and will not invest in projects that do not have appropriate returns”.

For the Director, the plan proposed by the Town Hall is a “very poor initiative”. “The administrations do not have the resources necessary to cover works that require billions of euros. They propose that the public sector bears the business risk, either through taxes or other items of social spending and they force citizens to pretend that they are entrepreneurs”.

Béjar fears that the unmovable attitude of the Town Hall will continue, at least until a new national Government is formed. “Political priorities should not take precedence over technical matters. We have not even been allowed to negotiate with the Town Hall”.

In the same way, he points out that the concession of land from Adif expires on 31 December and that the option to extend the period “is not currently on the table”. “We cannot keep investing forever without any signs of returns”, he noted.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Operación Chamartín: BBVA Prepares To Denounce Carmena

5 July 2016 – Cinco Días

The President of Distrito Castellana Norte, Antonio Béjar, has revealed that the company’s legal team will present an appeal to the High Court of Justice in Madrid (TSJM) within the next few weeks to denounce the nullity of the decision taken by the Town Hall to reject this project under development, known as Operación Chamartín.

In an interview with Europa Press, Béjar also detailed that “later on” and if the “blocking” situation continues, DCN’s legal team will submit a claim for damage to property and economic losses against the Town Hall after it rejected its plans without any technical basis, even though they fulfil the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU).

The President of Distrito Castellana Norte, the entity driven by BBVA and Grupo San José, expressed his “disappointment” at the position adopted by the Town Hall for denying its development plan based on “primarily political criteria, with no technical or legal basis”.

Regarding whether the outcome of the elections may change the Town Hall’s position and facilitate negotiations, Béjar said that the municipal government team has expressed “publically that its position was going to mainly depend” on the political decision taken by the Ministry of Development (Ana Pastor is a supporter of DCN’s project) in the event that there is a change in government.

“The Town Hall will have to take a decision in this regard. Meanwhile, we will not rest on our laurels, it is our duty to defend our rights when we understand that they have not been adequately addressed”, said the President of DCN.

“We are convinced that the courts will overturn the Town Hall’s decision, we consider that the reasons employed have no legal grounds”, he added to indicate that, according to the criteria set forth in its appeal, the Town Hall may only reject the definitive approval of the plan if it is able to cite reasons of general interest, whereas, in his opinion, the Town Hall has cited “minor formal reasons”. (…).

Meanwhile, Béjar confirmed that the Town Hall’s “blocking” of the development of Operación Chamartín, by rejecting its plan and presenting its own plan for Madrid Puerta Norte, is “detrimental” for Madrilenians. According to him, the municipal alternative is “not feasible and cannot be carried out in practice”.

“Madrid Puerta Norte – the Town Hall’s alternative project – is a proposal designed to drive out private initiatives…and to allow the public administrations to become the next property developers, using taxpayers’ money…” said the President of DCN. (…).

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake

Operación Chamartín: DCN To Build Tallest Tower In EU

14 April 2016 – Expansión

The property developer behind “Operation Chamartín” plans to construct six towers – five will be around the same height as the four already in place and a sixth will measure more than 300m.

Distrito Castellana Norte (DCN) owned by BBVA and the construction group San José, has unveiled some of the plans for Operation Chamartín. The Chairman of the property developer, Antonio Béjar, explained yesterday that the project will include the construction of what will be the tallest skyscraper in Europe, measuring more than 300m tall and spanning 70 floors.

In total, this project will involve the construction of six towers, five of which will be around the same height as the four towers on the Castellana and a sixth, which will be the tallest in the European Union. DCN also said that 80% of the space will be allocated for use as public spaces and green areas and 20% will be used for the construction of homes, businesses and offices.

“The project is alive and kicking. Now we just need to submit it to the Town Hall for final approval”, said Béjar during the Sustainable Urban Development Forum organised by the newspaper El País. According to DCN, the urban plan has been approved by all of the relevant authorities and technicians through 48 favourable sectoral reports. (…).

Ministry of Development

Béjar reiterated that the completion of the process and the approval of the plan no longer depends on the Ministry of Development, but rather on the Town Hall alone.

In terms of his relationship with Manuela Carmena and her team, Béjar made it clear that DCN has not participated in the recent debates organised by the Town Hall to analyse the feasibility of the project…(…).

“At the moment…our intention is not to take this process to court, not at all. We want to reach agreement and consensus with all levels of government. However, clearly, that does not mean that if the project is harmed or damaged by government decisions that we consider do not comply with the law, that we will stop defending our interests….”.

The Chairman of DCN said that his intention was to unveil the details of the plan so as to “clear up unknowns”. In this sense, he denied that the buildability level would be excessive and pointed out that it is “significantly” lower than the levels in well-established neighbourhoods, such as Chamberí (3x higher), and Paseo de la Castellana (2x higher). He also added that infrastructure represents an investment of more than €1,400 million, which will be funded in full by the owners and will represent “zero cost for the residents of Madrid”. “By adopting a public-private partnership model, the infrastructure will be developed by the owners at the request of the various government bodies and for the benefit of Madrid’s citizens. (….), said Béjar.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake