Tag: branch

Haya Real Estate Manages the Sale of Bankia’s Branch on Calle Serrano for €59M

6 May 2019 – Eje Prime

Haya Real Estate has managed the sale of Bankia’s former premises on Calle Serrano, 64, to the Prada group for €59 million. The premises have a surface area of 908 m2 and are distributed over three storeys.

Bankia will have to vacate the property within six months of the transaction being formalised and will be replaced by one of the Prada group’s brands: Miu Miu, Church’s, Car Shoe, Prada and Pasticceria Marchesi.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

BBVA Opens 2,000 m2 Multi-Channel ‘Boutique’ Branch on La Diagonal in Barcelona

17 April 2019 – Idealista

BBVA has just signed an agreement to open a ’boutique’ branch spanning more than 2,000 m2 on Avenida Diagonal in Barcelona. The company will take over the premises from the property developer Corp.

The new branch will follow in the footsteps of those already opened by other banking groups such as CaixaBank, which has opened branches offering customised services for clients, including options such as coworking spaces and cafés.

The new spaces integrate the different channels (in person, remote and digital) on offer and provide a better experience for both customers and employees thanks to their open, transparent and better-designed layouts.

Original story: Idealista (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

The Luksic Family will Reopen Hotel Adler in Madrid at the End of 2019

18 March 2019 – Preferente

The Luksic family is going to reopen the Hotel Adler in Madrid with BBVA as its main tenant, after the bank closed a rental agreement to occupy three floors of the property, spanning almost 1,600 m2.

The wealthy Chilean family purchased the iconic property, which is located on the corner of Calles Velázquez and Goya, in the heart of the Salamanca neighbourhood, from the Vázquez family for €27 million.

The new tenant is expected to move in during Q4 2019 since the building work is still in a very initial phase. BBVA is going to open a new multi-functional office/branch in the property.

Original story: Preferente (by R.P.)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Bankia Puts Branch in Barcelona’s Plaza Cataluña Up For Sale for €28M

5 July 2018 – Idealista News

Bankia is replicating in Barcelona what it has already done in Madrid with c/Alcalá 1. The bank has put up for sale the commercial premises in the building that it owns at number 9 Plaza Cataluña, in the centre of Barcelona, for €28 million.

The entity opened the bidding last week and will start to receive offers for the premises, which have a surface area of 1,000 m2, from Friday 6 July onwards. The asset, located between the Apple and Desigual flagship stores, has already attracted several suitors, including retail operators and international investment funds, according to Idealista.

The premises, which Bankia debating whether to put up for sale or lease, was the object of desire of the Japanese fashion giant Uniqlo for its arrival plan in Barcelona. In the end, that firm opened its flagship store close to Plaza Cataluña, at the intersection of Gran Vía and Paseo de Gracia.

This operation follows the deal that Bankia already initiated in March involving c/Alcalá 1 in Madrid, as revealed by Eje Prime. For that central property in the Spanish capital, two real estate funds, Renta Corporación and Arcano, are still the favourites to acquire the asset, which, nevertheless, has not yet been sold for its minimum asking price of €20 million.

Original story: Idealista News

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bankia Relaunches Sale of c/Alcalá 1 With Asking Price of €20M

16 April 2018 – Eje Prime

Bankia can’t make up its mind about c/Alcalá 1, one of its star assets in the centre of Madrid. The Spanish bank has put paid to the first process that it opened at the beginning of the year and is now launching a new round with a minimum sales price of €20 million, according to sources in the sector.

In the previous bid, which several investment funds participated in, the finalists were Arcano and Renta, after both submitted offers amounting to around €18 million, as revealed by Eje Prime.

Despite the offers, Bankia has now decided to seek refuge in a clause that allows it to exit the process if none of the bids proved attractive and has opted to launch a new tender with a higher minimum asking price, whereby taking advantage of the boom in the market.

The asset, which due to its façade would interest restaurant operators more than fashion retailers, has two floors: the first spans 458 m2, whilst the basement measures 405 m2.

The building, constructed in 1880, has a total surface area of 3,209 m2 and has housed the offices of the Community of Madrid’s Ministry of Finance and the Economy. Although it currently houses offices, compatible uses also include a hotel, commercial, administrative, healthcare, education and even residential (…).

Bankia’s other prime assets

In addition to the property on Calle Alcalá, Bankia’s asset portfolio contains a second property located in a prime enclave in the centre of the Catalan capital. That building is the former headquarters of Bankia in Barcelona, located at number 9 Plaza Cataluña. The property has a surface area of 1,000 m2 and has attracted attention from a large number of operators.

Although the objective with the branch in Madrid was to sell it, the strategy with the property in Barcelona is not so clear. According to explanations provided by the entity to Eje Prime, there are several options on the table, including a sale, but also the rental of the building to an operator or even investing in the property to renovate it (…).

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Renta & Arcano Bid for Bankia’s Former Branch on c/Alcalá (Madrid)

5 April 2018 – Eje Prime

The number of parties interested in one of Bankia’s star commercial assets in Madrid is being whittled down little by little. As Eje Prime revealed, last month, the entity opened an auction for its branch located at number 1 Calle Alcalá. After a period receiving offers, Arcano and Renta have been chosen to participate in the final round. Within the coming days, a decision will be taken as to who will end up acquiring the asset, according to sources close to the auction, who indicate that Arcano is currently best positioned in the race.

According to the same sources, a third group reached the final round but then withdrew due to the value that the asset may reach in the last round of offers. Arcano is one of the best-positioned players given the type of property up for sale; in recent months, it has acquired a handful of other assets with similar characteristics, such as the store at number 202 Calle Bravo Murillo that it purchased from Redevco for €12 million.

The highest offers submitted to Bankia for this latest asset amount to around €18 million, with those presented by Arcano and Renta Corporación proving most attractive to the banking institution (amounting to €18.3 million and €18.2 million, respectively, according to sources close to the operation). The asset, which is likely to interest restaurant operators rather than fashion firms given its (limited window) façade, comprises two floors: the first spans 458 m2, whilst the basement measures 405 m2.

In the event that Renta Corporación’s bid proves successful, something that is unlikely according to market sources, it could be the first move in a larger deal to acquire the whole building. Renta Corporación does not specialise in commercial assets but is an expert in the acquisition of entire buildings for their subsequent renovation. Moreover, the building did go up for sale in 2014.

Indeed, following the success of the sale of several assets, such as those located at numbers 18 and 3 Gran Vía for more than €26 million, and at number 8 Plaza Chamberí for more than €40 million, the Community of Madrid decided to try its luck with this property, located on Calle Alcalá, for which it was asking €10.7 million at the time.

The asset, constructed in 1880, has a total surface area of 3,209 m2 and used to house the offices of the Community of Madrid’s Ministry of Economics and Finance. Although nowadays it is used as offices, and its compatible uses include hotel, commercial, administrative, healthcare, education and even residential. Nevertheless, the Community of Madrid pulled out in the end and did not end up selling the building.

Bankia’s other prime assets

In addition to the premises on Calle Alcalá, Bankia’s portfolio of assets contains a second branch located in a prime enclave in the Catalan capital. It is the former headquarters of Bankia in Barcelona, located at number 9 Plaza Cataluña. That property has a surface area of 1,000 m2 and has received attention from a large number of operators.

Sources are Bankia have explained to Eje Prime that whilst the aim with the branch in Madrid was to sell it, the plans for the property in the Catalan capital are not as clear. According to the entity, it is considering several options, including a sale, but it may also lease the property to an operator and even invest in generating value from the asset by undertaking a renovation (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Popular Stakes Its Future On The Segregation Of Its RE Arm

4 November 2016 – Expansión

Banco Popular is in the eye of the storm. The bank’s senior officials are facing the future by effectively placing a firewall between the entity’s normal banking activity and its real estate risk, however, the markets do not seem to be able to trust that they will succeed in finding their way out of the tunnel the entity entered when the real estate bubble was about to burst.

Following two major capital increases, amounting to €2,500 million each, and a third, smaller, capital injection of €450 million, as a result of which a Mexican investment group, led by the Del Valle family, became a shareholder of the group, the value of the bank (based on its share price) currently amounts to less than €4,000 million, making it the domestic financial entity that has seen its market capitalisation decreased by the most this year.

Popular has two lives: one afforded by its traditional business, which focuses on rendering financial services to individuals, self-employed people and SMEs, and where its efficiency and profitability ratios are high; and the other one, linked to the real estate sector, where the cumulative losses due to the impairment of its assets represent a real threat to the rest of its activity. (…).

Although the bank has received several offers to join a larger and more powerful financial group, the Board of Directors and the main shareholders who serve on the Board have categorically rejected them all, preferring instead to continue to lead the entity along its own path. “We do not want Popular’s intrinsic value to benefit others”, the entity has said time and time again, in order to justify its negativity towards a corporate operation in which it would fail to take over the reins. (…).

The two capital increases (the first one was carried out in December 2012 and the second one at the start of the summer) were accompanied by the appointment of Francisco Gómez (a man who has worked at the bank for his entire life) as the CEO (in the case of the first) and by his replacement by Pedro Larena, previously from Deutsche Bank and Banesto (in the case of the second). The aim was the same in both cases: to try to convince the market each time that the change in management was going to effectively deal with the recurrent problems, in other words, to eliminate the real estate risk.

Popular has tried to resolve its problems in the traditional way…by selling off its damaged assets at significant discounts, offset by growing provisions…but this has not proved sufficient, not least because the entry of damaged assets onto the balance sheet has been higher than the volume it has managed to sell through individual sales. (…).

Now, Popular is pursuing a strategy to segregate a substantial part of the real estate risk that it holds on its balance sheet (€6,000 million in book value), by placing it into a company that it will also endow with sufficient capital (around 20% of its liabilities). This capital will distributed free of charge amongst Popular’s existing shareholders in a way that will completely dissociate the entity from the transfer/sale. (…).

However, even once Popular has managed to eliminate a significant part of its real estate risk, the bank’s problems will not be over. That is reflected in the ERE that it is currently negotiating with the trade unions (which should be finalised by Sunday 6 November at the latest), which proposes the closure of 300 branches and a reduction in personnel of around 1,600 people through early retirement and voluntary redundancy packages. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Salvador Arancibia)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Allianz Real Estate Opens Branch In Spain

22 September 2016 – El Economista

The real estate arm of Allianz has arrived in Spain, attracted by the investment opportunities on offer here. Allianz Real Estate has just opened a branch in Madrid to track its operations in the Iberian Peninsula and take responsibility for the management of the properties owned by the group.

To lead the project, the firm has hired Miguel Torres, ex-Arthur Andersen, who has been linked with GE Capital Real Estate since 1995, according to the Commercial Registry. “After the recovery of the real estate markets, Spain and Portgual are once again in the focus of international real estate investors”, explained the CEO of Allianz Real Estate, François Traush, who highlighted that the incorporation of Torres into the team aimed “to identify attractive investment opportunities to allow us to continue constructing a diversified portfolio”, for our shareholders.

With more than 20 years of experience in the real estate and structured financing sectors, Torres joins the company from GE Capital in Mexico, where he served as Director General, leading a team of 50 specialists and an unit with almost €3,500 million in real estate financing. Prior to that, he held various management positions at GE entities in Madrid, New York and Stamford.

Allianz Real Estate’s portfolio contains €41,700 million in assets under management: €29,300 million in direct and indirect investments, plus loans amounting to €12,400 million, based on figures at 2015 year end, when it closed operations amounting to €7,400 million. Its goal is to reach the €60,000 million threshold “within the next few years”.

The company, which has subsidiaries in Germany, France, Italy – into which the operations in Spain will report -, Switzerland and the USA, includes the office in Madrid as part of its regional expansion.

Its investment aspirations cover almost the entire sector: from taking stakes in debt, to investing in listed companies, direct and indirect positions in financing and building a significant property portfolio.

It debuted as a lender in Spain a year and a half ago, with a loan for €133 million that allowed the Socimi Merlin to acquire the Marineda Shopping Centre, which, at the time, was the largest investment in this type of complex since 2008.

The strategic logic is two-fold. The low interest rate environment is causing insurance companies to dust off old commitments to property in light of the meagre returns being offered by public debt and the high capital consumption involved with other investments. Companies such as Mapfre, Mutua Madrileña, Santalucía, Reale and Línea Directa have acquired properties recently and are looking for opportunities, although their involvement as financiers is residual or non-existent, unlike the role performed by multi-national firms such as Axa and Allianz.

The sector hopes that Brussels will smooth the path, easing the burden of callable capital, given that the Juncker Plan itself wants to involve infrastructure projects that Europe needs.

In addition, the real estate sector is presenting itself as an alternative that offers higher returns, especially given the security of their operations. The high expectations of growth in terms of office rents and a notable increase in the number of small operations, is converting this segment of the market into one of the most attractive options. In the case of the most cutting-edge buildings and those located in prime areas, rents may increase by up to 22% over the next three years. For the other more modest assets, the annual yield amounts to around 7%. Similarly, yields of commercial premises amount to around 7.5%,and rents are expected to increase by an average of 2.4% p.a. in Madrid over the next two years.

Original story: El Economista (by Eva Contrerar and Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bankia Sells 500m2 Gran Vía Branch For €20M

5 January 2016 – El Economista

Bankia has recorded income of more than €20 million from the sale of its branch located at number 44 on the Madrilenian street of Gran Vía, which represents a property valuation of €38,779/m2, according to real estate sources.

The sources say that the price obtained in this operation was due to “the property’s excellent location” – it is situated on one of the capital’s main shopping streets and there is a “shortage” of supply in the area.

The branch has a surface area of just over 500 m2, spread over the ground floor (325 m2), basement (167 m2) and other service areas (25 m2).

In order to maximise the transaction price, the bank has conducted a competitive process over the last few months, in which eleven investors have participated. The deal was signed in December.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake

Trinitario Casanova Acquires Gran Vía 44

10 December 2015 – El Confidencial

It was one of the most coveted operations of the summer. The sale of the branch that Bankia owned on Gran Vía 44, awakened the appetite of all types of investors, from Socimis to individuals, whose offers reflected the outrageous interest that exists for the real estate sector, in general and for this thoroughfare in the capital, in particular.

In the end, the victor is a familiar face in the sector, the businessman from Levante, Trinitario Casanova, who has acquired this asset through the company Tecnolandia, after putting an offer for around €20 million on the table.

Although this company actually won the bid in August, the deed is not scheduled to be definitively signed until next week, which means that the businessman has now been dragged out from the shadows. Until now he had depended on the formula known as “blind investor” to maintain his anonymity throughout this process.

This system is being increasingly accepted by purchasers who wish to stay in the shadows, to avoid their real names being used to overheat the process, for example. Asesorama has been the firm that has defended the interests of Trinitario and Tecnolandia, the company through which Casanova has made his offer and which has acted as a screen until the property was awarded, and only then was it revealed who was behind the offer.

With a surface area of 500 m2, covering the basement and the ground floor, the premises that the businessman from Levante has just acquired was formerly a branch of Bankia until this month. The €20 million spent takes the price paid per squared metre to €45,000/m2, an amount that many seem excessive, but behind which a second game is being played.

Technolandia has also acquired the mezzanine floors of number 44 Gran Via, which means that in total, it now owns 900 m2 in one of the best corners of the thoroughfare, which confers it a privileged position to now negotiate a lease contract with a future tenant.

In fact, according to enquiries made by El Confidencial, Trinitario Casanova is currently negotiating with several interested parties, including an English fashion chain, a restaurant group and a renowned childrens’ brand. Whoever the final tenant ends up being, it will have to wait until the Spring to open the doors of the new establishment.

Initially, the businessman was hoping that Bankia was going to close its branch on Gran Via sooner, but the entity has waited until the final stretch of the year, which means that along with the renovation that needs to take place, the new tenant will not be able to begin operations until April or May. (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake