Tag: buildable land

Grupo Ibosa Acquires 10,000m2 Plot on Paseo de la Habana for c. €70M

24 July 2018 – El Confidencial

It has undoubtedly become the most expensive land operation since the start of the real estate recovery. Paseo de la Habana, 147 has smashed all records, given that almost €70 million has been put on the table for its 10,000 m2, which represents a repercussion price of between €6,500/m2 and €7,000/m2. That figure is significantly higher than the expectations of the plot’s vendors, which had set a sales price range of between €60 million and €65 million.

Since the real estate bubble burst, no one has paid such a high repercussion price for a plot of land. The figure comfortably exceeds the €5,000/m2 that the builder Rafael Ortiz and the popular shipping entrepreneur Fernando Fernández Tapias paid in 2007, at the height of the boom for a plot located on Juan Bravo 3, where the Spanish capital’s largest luxury development is currently being constructed, Lagasca 99.

Since coming onto the market just three months ago, the plots have passed through the offices of more than a dozen property developers and private investors and, although many of them agree on the high price of the operation, the fact is that the plot has had half a dozen suitors in the end.

The companies that placed an offer on the table include Nozar, Grosvenor, Domo and Pryconsa, although the successful bidder in the end was Grupo Ibosa, according to some of the candidates that have been left out of the process, speaking to El Confidencial. Both JLL, the consultancy firm advising the sales process, and Ibosa declined to comment in this regard.

The plot in question is located in the heart of Madrid, opposite the Cuban consulate, just 700 m from Paseo de la Castellana and 1km away from the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, where the supply of buildable land for sale is very scarce. In fact, the vast majority of the projects in the area are being built in renovated properties.

Five detached homes are currently being constructed on the acquired plot, with surface areas of between 300 m2 and 400 m2 each, which will have to be demolished to make way for the buyer’s future project. All indications are that a luxury apartment development will be built on the plot, which will be added to the high-end projects that Ibosa currently has underway in Valdemarín – on some plots it acquired from Blackstone – and in Aravaca, and marketing of which has just been launched.

The lack of new build product in the area and the high demand explain this pressure on prices. The development will be built in the Chamartín district, which is home to some of the most sought-after residential areas in the centre of the city, such as El Viso, where the Venezuelan investors Miguel Ángel and Áxel Capriles arrived in April last year to purchase Villa San José on Pablo Aranda 3, just opposite Florentino Pérez’s real estate bunker.

In terms of benchmark prices, one example is the 11 homes that are being built on the plots of the former headquarters of RTVE. The Ministry of Finance put that plot up for auction at the end of 2015 and it was awarded to Martell Investment for €10.8 million, which represents a repercussion price of €4,800/m2. Construction of those homes has now begun and the prices fluctuate around €7,000/m2.

Boom in prices

In just two years, the prices in the most sought-after neighbourhoods of the Spanish capital have soared by more than 20% (…).

According to a recent report from Engel & Völkers, maximum prices in this Madrilenian neighbourhood amount to €6,000/m2, although, as sources specialising in the sale of luxury homes at the agency explain, “there are no new build properties in the area, and so the final prices depend a lot on the features of each project”.

In terms of the area, like in the most trendy areas of Madrid, prices have risen sharply over the last year. According to Engel & Völkers, prices have risen by 10% since 2017, “although, at the moment, more operations are being closed than last year because there is greater access to credit, but, nevertheless, prices are barely rising”.

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Habitat to Invest €30M to Build 200 More Homes in Sevilla

4 July 2018 – Eje Prime

The Catalan firm Habitat Inmobiliaria is redoubling its commitment in Sevilla. The property developer is going to invest €30 million in a new development in the Andalucían capital comprising 199 homes. To this end, it has acquired land in Mairena del Aljarafe, one of the most rapidly growing areas in the Sevilla residential market, according to a statement from the company.

In total, the real estate company is going to build the homes on a surface area spanning more than 16,000 m2 on a plot with a buildable surface area of 23,922 m2. When the project starts, it will become Habitat’s fifth development in Mairena del Aljarafe.

In addition to Sevilla, the property developer is also present in the Andalucían provinces of Málaga and Córdoba. Currently, Habitat is marketing three residential developments in the autonomous region, where it plans to continue investing soon.

The Catalan company’s new residential project in Mairena del Aljarafe is located in the Bulevares area. The property developer plans to start marketing the first of the project’s two phases during the second half of 2019.

The land purchase in Sevilla forms part of the land investment plan that Habitat has underway to expand its current residential portfolio under development, comprising more than 1,400 homes. The company’s most recent land purchases have been located in Collado Villalba and Móstoles, in Madrid and, in the Entrenúcleos neighbourhood of Dos Hermanas, Sevilla.

The historical firm Habitat Inmobiliaria, founded in 1953, has handed over more than 60,000 properties in its almost seventy years of life. Of the current developments under construction, comprising more than 780 homes, almost 80% have now been sold.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aedas Expands into Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid) with 100 New Homes

2 July 2018 – Eje Prime

Aedas Homes is extending its tentacles in Madrid and has reached Torrejón de Ardoz with its first residential project. The listed property developer is going to develop 100 homes in that municipality, which will constitute the Lángara urbanisation.

The homes, which include ground floor garden flats and penthouses with two, three and four bedrooms, have already gone on the market with prices starting at €165,000. The promotion will have a garden, a swimming pool, a gym, a children’s play area and a lounge bar in the common areas.

Lángara is designed for both first-time buyers and those looking to reposition themselves on the property ladder, according to Aedas. With more than 1.5 million m2 of buildable land in its portfolio, the property developer still has space to develop around 14,000 homes in Madrid, Cataluña, Sevilla, Costa del Sol, Levante and the Balearic Islands.

The plans of Aedas, in which the US fund Castlelake holds a stake, include reaching a handover rate that exceeds the number of homes under construction by 2022. The company led by David Martínez wants to achieve the break-even point after launching more than 2,000 homes this year: 2,500 in 2019 and peaking with 3,000 homes in 2020 and 2021.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Habitat Inmobiliaria to Build 79 Homes in Collado Villalba (Madrid)

5 June 2018 – El Mundo

Habitat Inmobiliaria has acquired a plot of buildable land in Collado Villalba (Madrid) measuring more than 6,600 m2 on which it is going to build a new real estate development comprising 79 homes and 119 parking spaces distributed over a single 4-storey block. According to a statement from the company, which specialises in the development and construction of residential projects, the two- and three-bedroom homes, will have a useful surface area of between 74 m2 and 94 m2 each, and will all have a terrace. The urbanisation will also have extensive green spaces and a swimming pool.

The future urbanisation is located in Collado Villalba, on Calle Cañada Real, on the corner of Santa Teresa de Jesús and bordered to the south by the Guadarrama River. The area is fully equipped with facilities, schools, nurseries, a doctors’ surgery and supermarkets, and has excellent access to the A6 motorway with connections to Madrid in less than 20 minutes.

The marketing of this new real estate development will begin over the coming months and the scheduled date for the start of the construction work is the third quarter of 2019. In terms of delivery, the homes are expected to be ready by the second quarter of 2021.

Habitat Inmobiliaria indicates that “the acquisition of this plot forms part of the land acquisition plan that the company has launched and which will be added to the more than 1,000 homes that it already has under development”.

Original story: El Mundo (by S.V.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Twin Peaks Buys Plot of Prime Residential Land in Pozuelo (Madrid)

4 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Pozuelo de Alarcón has land for sale and nobody wants to miss out on the chance to acquire a slice of it. The Madrilenian town, the richest in Spain in terms of income per capita, has had a large portfolio of land up for sale for a few months now, and the family office Twin Peaks has opened the bidding in the flurry of purchases that are expected to be signed soon. The family office has acquired a plot of buildable land owned until now by Banco Santander.

The plot in question is included in the Arpo Partial Plan, the name given to the whole portfolio. Definitive approval is expected to be given for the reparcelling and urbanisation of the plots soon, which will allow investors to start building the first homes on the site. As such, the operation by Twin Peaks comes as it tries to position itself ahead of the great appetite from international funds, which are already working on buying plots on this site, according to El Confidencial.

In fact, Oaktree is already very close to sealing two operations with Iberdrola for the acquisition of plots located on the perimeter of Arpo. For Twin Peaks, the land attached to its real estate portfolio will allow it to continue growing in the luxury market in Madrid. In Barcelona, the other major Spanish city in which the firm has a presence, it acquired an asset on the central Paseo de Gracia last November for €25 million.

Pozuelo is a prime and very attractive market for property developers and funds in the residential boom that the Spanish capital is experiencing. Its high rents and ability to generate high yields are a showcase for luxury in the sector, which has seen how in just two and a half years, land prices in this municipality have risen by 20%, boosted by demand and, above all, by the shortage of buildable land available for development in Madrid.

Property developers such as Metrovacesa, which owns land spanning 46,000 m2 in Pozuelo alone worth €25 million, Vía Célere and iKasa already have important projects in place in this prime area of the Spanish residential market.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aedas Acquires a 15,000 m2 Buildable Plot in Valencia

21 May 2018 – Eje Prime

Aedas Homes wants to cause a storm in Valencia and already has plans to build 500 homes in the city, which is famed for its firecrackers and fireworks. Now, the listed property developer is increasing its portfolio of buildable land in the Mediterranean city with the acquisition of 15,000 m2 of land in the Patraix area, split into two plots.

The real estate company in which Castlelake holds a stake could have invested between €5 million and €6 million in these plots, after paying between €350 and €400 per square metre acquired in this operation, according to València Plaza.

The company, which has declined to confirm or deny the information, is whereby adding its fifth project in Valencia, where it already has developments underway in the Quatre Carreres and Nou Campanar districts. Moreover, the property developer recently acquired a plot in Mislata, a town in the capital’s metropolitan area, where it will start building homes next year.

With these operations, Aedas is looking to rival Neinor Homes to become the property developer king of Valencia, a region where, traditionally, investment in the real estate sector always grows early when the Spanish economy is enjoying an upward cycle.

Also in the Community of Valencia, the property developer led by David Martínez has six more projects underway in Alicante, split between the coastal towns of Denia and Jávea and the capital.

Currently, Aedas Homes owns more than 1.5 million m2 of land, almost all of which is buildable. On that surface area, the property developer plans to build up to 13,000 homes in Madrid, Sevilla, Costa del Sol, Cataluña, Levante and the Balearic Islands. Similarly, the company is preparing for its developer break-even point, given that in 2022 it will hand over more homes than it builds.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Metrovacesa Negotiates with Funds to Build New Offices

23 May 2018 – Expansión

Metrovacesa, the property developer in which Santander and BBVA hold stakes, wrote a new chapter in its history on 6 February with its return to the stock market after five years away and with an ambitious growth plan in its sights. Following a lacklustre debut on the stock market and with a land portfolio worth €2.6 billion, the company is now preparing to show the market that it is capable of fulfilling its planned targets for the hand over of homes and generation of returns from its portfolio of non-residential land.

In this sense, Metrovacesa is holding negotiations with international funds in order to create joint ventures to promote offices. “We are holding advanced conversations and we hope to close several joint ventures before the end of the year”, explains the CEO, Jorge Pérez de Leza (pictured above), in an interview with Expansión.

The proposed model involves creating joint ventures in which the financial partner will control 75%, whilst the remaining 25% will remain in the hands of Metrovacesa: “That would allow us to sell land at prices close to the GAV (gross asset value) or higher and to retain a stake in each project”.

Metrovacesa currently owns tertiary land spanning more than 1.3 million m2, which has an approximate value of €684 million.

In addition to the joint ventures with financial partners, the company is planning to sign more turnkey projects, like the one sealed last year with Axiare for the sale of a building under construction located at number 40 Calle Josefa Valcárcel in Madrid, which will be handed over at the end of 2018, for €30 million.

“The aim of the company was to launch 36,000 m2 through turnkey projects and joint ventures in 2018, and we are going to exceed that figure”, said the CEO. In parallel, the firm is continuing to sell tertiary land. In April, it reached an agreement with the property developer La Llave de Oro to sell a plot in the 22@ district of Barcelona for €22 million and it is negotiating other operations worth €14 million, which will allow it to exceed the objective for 2018. With these operations, the company is generating cash, whilst it prepares the launch of its primary business: the development of homes.

Advantage

Pérez de Leza reveals that the company will launch between 3,500 and 4,000 units in 2018, which will allow it to advance in its goal of reaching cruising speed in 2021. According to its initial plans, it will hand over 520 units in 2018 and then 700 and 3,500 units in 2019 and 2020, respectively: “That will allow us to be on track to break even by the end of the year and follow a positive path next year”.

In the opinion of the director, one of the property developer’s competitive advantages is its land portfolio, which has capacity for the construction of 37,500 homes. “We can fulfil our delivery objectives for the next eight years without having to buy any land. That means we can take things calmly compared to our competitors”, he said.

Pérez de Leza also defends the group’s commitment to diversify its portfolio: “There is no buildable land left in Madrid, Barcelona and Costa del Sol. If you want to carry out significant deliveries (of new homes), you need to open yourself up to other markets”. And he also reveals that the firm has received offers to sell non-developable land that it has ruled out until the urban planning permits have been obtained. “Land management is an added-value strategy, we have a team ready to do it and we can obtain higher margins. Selling now would mean losing euros along the way”, he said.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Madrid’s Town Hall Faces Compensation Payments of €1.6bn For Suspending Developments in SE of the Capital

16 May 2018 – El Confidencial

The suspension of the developments in the south-east of Madrid could cost the capital’s Town Hall as much as €1.6 billion, in other words, 34% of its annual budget. That is the calculation that two independent experts have performed on the basis of the execution of the Master Plan for the New Development Strategy for the Southeast of Madrid, which has led to the ‘de facto’ paralysis of all of the areas in the south of Madrid: Los Berrocales, Valdecarros, Los Cerros and Ahijones, the last large block of buildable land to the south of capital, which was destined to bring thousands of homes onto the market at affordable prices.

The report, compiled by Federico García Erviti and Gerardo Roger Fernández Fernández, experts in urban planning valuations, estimates that the indemnity payments for the Compensation Boards of Valdecarros, Berrocales and Los Cerros will amount to €1.58 billion. The Master Plan itself, compiled by the Town Hall, mentions possible compensation payments but does not quantify them.

According to this document, the number of homes will be reduced by two thirds – from 105,000 to 38,708 – ; also, the total surface area will be cut and several other modifications will be made to the plans.

Specifically, according to the report from these experts, we will be talking about a payment of more than €640 million for the Compensation Board of Los Berrocales, another €755 million for Valdecarros, whilst, in the case of Los Cerros, the indemnity payment will amount to €182 million. To all of these figures, possible additional compensation payments to each one of the owners – around one thousand – will have to be made, who may also file claims with the Town Hall of Madrid, for example, for the taxes paid over the last few years for buildable plots, whose classification is now going to change on the basis of this Master Plan.

“The Master Plan does not have any legal validity to make a modification such as the one required”, said Juan Antonio Gómez-Pintado, Chairman of the Association of Property Developers of Madrid (Asprima), who considers that “during periods of real estate activity, such as the one the sector is experiencing at the moment, the effects of these measures and the damage for the city as a whole are irreparable, given that they have paralysed the only block of buildable land with these characteristics, where homes could be built for the lower and middle classes in the capital, driving those who want to buy a home at an affordable price out of Madrid”. Moreover, he considers that “the Master Plan will lead to significant increases in the price of land, whilst the legal uncertainty will scare off investors” (…).

The (Compensation) Boards filed an appeal against the Master Plan, as well as the legality of it, with the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJM), because they consider that “a pseudo planning instrument has effectively been approved. A town hall cannot approve an urban planning instrument”, and they have requested the precautionary suspension of it. The TSJM has admitted the appeal for processing but has not ruled on the matter for the time being.

Since the arrival of the new Government in Cibeles, “developments have slowed down and there have even been written requests for their agreements to be adapted to the Master Plan”, claim sources from Asprima.

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Property Developer Urbas Records a Loss of €354k in Q1

15 May 2018 – Eje Prime

The Urbas Financial Group is in the red. The company recorded a negative net consolidated result of €354,000 during Q1, which represented a decrease from the profit of €1.05 million that it recorded in the first quarter of 2017, according to Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

The Group’s total debt with banks decreased by 2.4% in March to €122.6 million. Urbas’s land portfolio spanned 18 million m2 at the end of the first quarter. Of the real estate company’s total surface area, 73% corresponds to rural land, 25% to buildable land and 2% to urban land.

Most of the land bank that the Group owns is located in the Community of Valencia, which accounts for 34.8% of the company’s portfolio. That region is followed by Madrid with 20.5% of the total; Andalucía with 17%; and Castilla La Mancha with 14%, which are the other three regions where the company’s land is concentrated. It also owns plots in Murcia, Castilla y León and several other autonomous regions.

In 2017, Urbas increased its profit by 8.8% to exceed €5 million. The group recorded revenues of €4.2 million, which represented an increase of 40% with respect to 2016, and also generated positive EBITDA.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aelca Invests €99M in Construction of 468 Homes in Madrid, Cataluña & Andalucía

25 April 2018 – Eje Prime

Aelca is investing almost €100 million to strengthen its portfolio as it prepares for its stock market debut in 2019. The Spanish property developer is spending €99.2 million on the construction of 468 new homes, spread across seven developments in Madrid, Cataluña and Andalucía.

Construction work on all of them already started during the first four months of this year. The land acquired by the property developer spans more than 56,000 m2 of buildable surface area, with the projects that it is going to build in the Community of Madrid standing out in particular.

Not in vain, four of the developments are located on the outskirts of the Spanish capital. In Boadilla del Monte, Residencial Nacari is going to have 96 homes; in Paracuellos del Jarama, Residencial Aquam is going to comprise 36 homes; and in El Ensanche de Vallecas, the Monet and Nueva Gavia urbanisations are going to add 60 and 56 properties, respectively, to Aelca’s portfolio.

Meanwhile, in Cataluña, the property developer is going to build Residencial Aviació, with 42 homes, close to the El Prat Airport, whilst in Andalucía, the company led by Javier Gómez and José Juan Martín Montes is building two projects in the province of Málaga. In the Costa del Sol’s capital, it is constructing the Navis Building with 67 homes and in the town of Torrox, it is working on Duna Beach containing 111 homes.

Currently, Aelca owns a portfolio of finalist land with the capacity for the construction of more than 13,000 homes, after investing €500 million over the last two years. Since its creation in 2012, the property developer has handed over more than 1,200 homes and in 2017, the company generated profits of €25 million.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake