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

Savills: Logistics Leasing in Madrid Rose by 2% in 2018 to Exceed 935,000 m2

14 January 2019 – Savills Aguirre Newman

The logistics market in Madrid has registered a new leasing record. The boost from e-commerce has been the main driver behind the absorption of 935,000 m2 of space in 2018, which represents an increase of 2% with respect to the historical record figure in 2017, according to data from Savills Aguirre Newman.

During the last quarter, 23 operations were signed involving more than 300,000 m2 of space, compared with 24 operations and 308,000 m2 of space during the same period in 2017. During the year as a whole, 77 operations were registered in 2018, compared with 70 during the previous year. It is worth highlighting the importance of the cross-docking activity during 2018, where seven operations were closed.

In terms of rental prices, the €8/m2/month peak that established the annual maximum was recorded at T4 (Airport) in Barajas. Excluding that figure, due to the uniqueness of the Barajas market, maximum rents exceeded €6/m2/month in a cross-docking operation in San Fernando de Henares. The incorporation of new high-quality projects that are adapted to the requirements and expectations of the operators have favoured an increase in prime rents to €5.5/m2/month (+7% YoY).

In terms of the size of the operations, almost 50% of the space leased during the last quarter of the year was concentrated into four operations spanning more than 30,000 m2 each, all of which were signed in the third ring.

By area, the distribution of the surface area leased between October and December was very homogeneous, with 55% and 45% registered in the Corredor del Henares and the southern area, respectively, although the Corredor del Henares continued to capture the most demand. The distribution in terms of the number of operations clearly showed the superiority of Corredor del Henares, which accounted for 70% of all activity (16 operations).

The annual analysis by area reveals a similar picture. The volume of surface area leased was very similar (>495,000 m2 in Corredor del Henares and >408,000 m2 in the southern area), but by number of operations, Corredor del Henares again accounted for the bulk of activity (48 operations versus 22 in the south).

Activity in the land market is continuing to gain weight. During 2018, 34 operations were signed in total spanning 1,800,000 m2 (+60% YoY). It is worth highlighting the three areas that accounted for almost 50% of the land surface area operations: Guadalajara (>350,000 m² in 2 operations), Illescas (>326,000 m² in 4 operations) and Torija (>279,000 m² in 4 operations).

The year closed with an availability rate of 6.9%, which represents a decrease of almost two points with respect to 2017. During 2018, more than 650,000 m2 of space was incorporated into the market, of which 67% was already committed. The future supply for 2019 will exceed 1,500,000 m2, of which 30% already have pre-rental contracts.

The dynamism in the market for users of the logistics sector during 2018 has been reflected in the investment market, with 45 operations exceeding €1.3 billion. Those figures mark new records in the historical ranking. The number of transactions involving individual assets stood out since it exceeded the figure recorded in 2017 by three times.

Original story: Savills Aguirre Newman 

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

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

Merlin Expresses Interest in Aena’s RE Plans for Madrid & Barcelona Airports

7 May 2018 – La Vanguardia

Merlín Properties is interested in participating in the real estate development plans that Aena is going to develop in the vicinity of the airports in Madrid and Barcelona, according to the CEO of the company, Ismael Clemente.

The Socimi is going to place its focus on the development of logistics centres and office buildings included in these two plans, according to details provided following the company’s General Shareholders’ Meeting.

“We are interested and we will look at them (the plans) with all the interest in the world”, said Clemente. “When they launch the project, we will be there”, he said.

By virtue of these plans, Aena is looking to develop 2.7 million m2 of land around the Barajas aerodrome, which will require a total investment from the private sector of around €3 billion and which will constitute one of the largest urban development operations in Europe. In the case of El Prat, the land spans around 1.84 million m2 and will involve an investment of €1.3 billion.

On the other hand, during his speech at Merlin’s General Shareholders’ Meeting, the CEO expressed the company’s intention to sell the entire 17% stake that it holds in Testa Residencial, the largest rental home company in the country, when that firm makes its upcoming stock market debut. The Socimi expects to obtain proceeds of around €300 million from that transaction.

“The reasonable thing would be for us to sell the entire stake if the transaction price is reasonable”, said Clemente, who attributed this decision to the fact that the Socimi’s investment in Testa “brings down the average return of the company” because it is a housing company.

Original story: La Vanguardia

Translation: Carmel Drake

Merlin to Spend €250M Developing New Logistics Assets

8 May 2018 – Expansión 

The Socimi Merlin plans to spend €250 million launching new logistics assets over the next four years. “We are continuing with our ambitious expansion plan, primarily through the development of land and the construction of turnkey projects”, said Merlin’s CEO, Ismael Clemente (pictured below), speaking yesterday at the company’s General Shareholders’ Meeting.

The director explained that Merlin is going to add another 500,000 m2 of space to its existing portfolio to exceed “by far and in record time” the 2 million m2 of logistics space that it currently manages. “That will place us in a clear position of leadership with respect to our competitors”, he said.

This investment will be made in addition to the €370 million that the real estate company is going to use to reform and reposition its portfolio of offices and shopping centres.

Clemente explained that the intense investment activity in which Merlin has been immersed since its creation was obeying a “strategic vision”. “We were living through the start of the upward trend of a new real estate cycle and there was a window of opportunity open to buy some very high-quality assets and companies at very attractive prices. That quality and those prices will not be seen again until the next cycle comes around”, he said.

The director reiterated the “outstanding” return to shareholders of 21.6% in 2017. In this sense, yesterday, the shareholders approved a 9% increase in the dividend, to be charged against the results for 2018, to reach €235 million.

Clemente also revealed that his firm will be looking carefully at the real estate plans designed by Aena for the airports in Barajas and El Prat. Aena is planning to market 2.7 million m2 of buildable space for logistics, hotel and office use on land that it owns at the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport and another 1.85 million m2 of land at Barcelona-El Prat airport.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aena: Countdown to the Real Estate Megaplan

1 March 2018 – Expansión

Business / Aena is going to market 2.7 million m2 of land in Barajas over 40 years and 1.8 million m2 of land in El Prat over 20 years.

The starting gun has been fired for Aena’s real estate megaplan. The President of the firm, Jaime García-Legaz, confirmed the details of the project yesterday to analysts. It forms one of the pillars of the new strategy that the group is preparing for the period 2018-2021, which will be published within the next few weeks. Aena is going to launch a tender to hire an investment bank to design the process and determine the capex required and the formula to maximise the value. The airport manager, which spent €1.4 million in 2017 on the development of its plans for the project, will kick off in Madrid and Barcelona, where it owns the majority of its plots.

In Barajas (Madrid), it is going to market 2.7 million m2 of land over 40 years for a mixture of uses. According to its estimates, the maximum development potential is 3.6 million m2. Meanwhile, in El Prat (Barcelona), the term will last for 20 years and will span 1.8 million m2 of land, also for various uses, and including the construction of loading and logistics areas. According to the first estimates in the market, the capex associated with this project is going to amount to several hundreds of millions of euros per year.

“Real estate development is one of the main strands of the strategic plan together with the internationalisation of Aena and the dividend policy”, confirmed García-Legaz yesterday. On Tuesday, to coincide with the results announcement, the group announced the distribution of a dividend amounting to €6.50 gross per share, 80% of its profits in 2017, up by 69.7% compared to the previous year. “The Board considered what was appropriate, taking into account the increase in cash generation and the leverage level; and it is applicable to 2017”, he said. And for the future? “The policy will be reviewed with the new roadmap, but the Board’s philosophy involves returning to shareholders all of the free cash flow that is not required for operations overseas or capex over the next few years”, he said. The State is the primary shareholder of Aena with a 51% stake.

The K Factor

Meanwhile, the results for 2017 include a difference amounting to €57.8 million between the maximum annual revenue per passenger set by Dora – the airport framework applicable until 2021 – and actual revenues. That adjustment, known as the K factor, is going to have to be incorporated into the review of the tariffs for 2019. As a result, “the airport charges could be flat” when the forecast was a decrease of 2.2%. This year, Aena forecasts that air traffic is going to continue to rise, with growth of 5.5%.

Original story: Expansión (by Y. Blanco)

Translation: Carmel Drake

“Valdebebas Is Ready To Welcome Companies Post-Brexit”

27 June 2017 – Expansión

Valdebebas – one of the largest urban planning projects in the Community of Madrid, with a land surface area of 10.6 million m2 – has fired the starting gun for what is expected to become the city’s “new financial and technological district”.

“We have land spanning more than 1 million m2 (equivalent to the surface area of almost 140 football pitches) available for tertiary use. People talk about Castellana Norte, but there is no development in Spain quite like Valdebebas. It is already ready to welcome companies from London searching for new locations after Brexit and any other multi-national companies”, explains Marcos Sánchez, Managing Director of the Valdebebas Compensation Board, which represents the owners of the land. Market sources indicate that the land owners include Monthisa, Bisbel, Vivienda Económica, Celteo, Coindeco and Inmobiliaria Espacio.

This business park will comprise twenty blocks, with buildabilities ranging between 9,000 m2 and 110,000 m2. It will house buildings that have between five and fourteen storeys.

The director said that, although they have not yet started “to sell” Valdebebas as a destination for companies, international investors, funds and hotel chains have already expressed their interest in the development: “We are still in the preliminary conversation phases. Until now, contact has been made because interested parties have been approaching us”.

For Sánchez, the aim of Valdebebas is to attract fin-tech companies and others relating to that sector. Moreover, it has the capacity to accommodate between three and four hotels and restaurant brands. “We have direct access to the airport and are well connected to the city centre. It is an unbeatable location in Europe and the world”.

In this sense, it is worth remembering that a bridge is being constructed to connect this area with Barajas Airport – T4, with a forecast investment of more than €20 million. “We have already moved earth and started building the foundations on both sides. The work, which was started in February, is going well and will be finished within two years”, he said.

Valdebebas has several advantages over the potential Operación Chamartín: the immediacy – with “windows of opportunity that can be benefitted from now” – its size and location, according to Sánchez. “Castellana Norte is our natural competitor; despite that we want that site to be developed as soon as possible and in the best way possible because we will all end up winning as a result”, he said.

Legal journey

In terms of the legal position, Sánchez acknowledges that, although Valdebebas has always been very judicialised – construction of between 800 and 1,000 homes has been suspended following a ruling by the Supreme Court – almost 100% of the residential property has been sold, the population already stands at 10,000 people and is set to reach 18,000 by the end of the year. In his opinion, it is “perfectly feasible” to reach agreements before the urbanisation is completed. “All of this administrative and judicial chaos will end when the urbanisation is handed over in two years time”, he said.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake