Tag: Calle Atocha

MAB Approves Debut Of Hotel & Tourist Apartment Socimi Elaia

31 October 2017 – Eje Prime

The hotel and tourist apartment Socimi Elaia has received the green light from the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) to make its stock market debut. The company will make its debut with a market valuation of €119.1 million, equivalent to €10.55 per share.

The firm just received a favourable assessment report for its debut on this market, through which it is seeking to increases its capacity to capture resources and provide liquidity to its shares, as well as to comply with its legal requirements as a Socimi.

Elaia owns a real estate portfolio comprising two residential buildings in the centre of Madrid, as well as five tourist apartment buildings and five hotels, all of which are located in Gerona, Málaga, Barcelona and Mallorca. The Socimi has made a total investment in these assets of €145 million.

The company is currently embarking on the comprehensive renovation of its two buildings in Madrid. In both cases, the properties date back to the nineteenth centre and are located in the centre of the Spanish capital (on Calle Bailén and Calle Atocha, respectively). The Socimi will invest €9.6 million and €5.2 million, respectively, on the work to improve the two properties, which will subsequently be used as rental apartments.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Axel Hotels Plans To Triple In Size In 5 Years & Enter US Market

5 October 2017 – Expansión

Axel Hotels, the gay-oriented hotel chain, has just opened its first hotel in Madrid together with HI Partners, the subsidiary of Banco Sabadell, and is now preparing to enter new markets in Europe, as well as branch out into the United States of America.

The firm, founded in 2003 by Juan Julià with its first hotel in Barcelona, has almost doubled in size in the last year, from four hotels to seven and from a turnover of €16 million in 2016 to €23.5 million, the forecast full-year figure for 2017.

Currently, the group has a presence in Barcelona, Berlin, the Canary Islands, Ibiza and Madrid and it expects to close four new projects this year.

“We are analysing the East Coast of the USA, which is currently our largest source market, as well as France, the UK, the Netherlands and Italy”, explains the President and founder of Axel, Juan Julià, to Expansión.

Specifically, the group’s expansion plans include adding ten more hotels to its portfolio over five years and reaching a turnover of €70 million by the end of that period.

Last year, the company welcomed the investment firm Aristaeus into its share capital; that firm, which is a subsidiary of Global Investment Holdings, injected €11 million and now controls a 35% stake. “In theory, we are not planning to receive any new investors. The contribution from our shareholder will allow us to open one or two hotels in first-rate cities and with the cash generated from those, we will have the resources necessary to strengthen our growth”.

Julià is also open to strengthening its relationship with HI Partners, with which it has signed a management agreement for the new hotel in Madrid. Located at number 49 Calle Atocha, this building, converted into a hotel, has 88 rooms and Sabadell’s subsidiary invested €9 million on its launch. To supply the gastronomic offer, the hotel restaurant has engaged Grupo Iglesias, owner of Rías de Galicia.

Axel’s business model includes closing rental and management agreements with the owners of hotels and implementing its “hetero-friendly philosophy”. “This is a niche business with great potential and we do not have any real competitors. According to data facilitated by LGTB Capital, gay tourism generates more than €6,300 million in Spain, almost 40% more than business tourism. It is a public that travels four times more and that also spends more than its heterosexual counterparts”, he explains.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sabadell & Axel To Open 1st Hotel In Madrid Aimed At LGBT Community

26 October 2015 – Expansión

HI Partners, a subsidiary of Banco Sabadell, and Axel Hotels, have joined forces to open the first hotel in Madrid aimed at the LGBT community. The hotel will be located at number 49 on Calle Atocha, in a building owned by the bank that has a surface area of 5,375 m2. The financial institution will invest between €9 million and €10 million to convert the property into a 4-star hotel with 87 rooms.

The hotel chain Axel Hotels, owned by the Julià family, will sign a management contract with HI Partners, and will take care of marketing the establishment, which is expected to open in June 2017, just in time for World Pride Madrid.

The property on Calle Atocha is a historic protected building. It used to contain homes and now Sabadell, which repossessed it during the crisis, will renovate it for use as a hotel. (…).

In May, Sabadell transferred ownership of a portfolio of 22 hotels (1,600 rooms in total) located all over Spain to this company. Moreover, HI Partners manages €800 million of the bank’s hotel debt. The entity’s objective is to actively manage the properties that it has acquired through repossessions and to become one of the leading companies in the Spanish market for hotel management and investment.

The opening of Hotel Axel in Madrid is one example of the type of operations that Sabadell is launching to generate returns from its properties. HI Partners, led by Enric Rovira, is also involved in the improvement and management of hotels in its portfolio. The company is owned jointly by the bank (99%) and the management team (1%), comprising Alejandro Hernández-Puértolas, Sergio Carrascosa and Santiago Fisas. The three businessmen have extensive experience in the hotel sector, having worked for Reig Capital – the company that owns the Mandarin Hotel in Barcelona – and for companies such as MedGroup, Soros Real Estate, Stein Group and Westwing.

A desirable destination

Axel Hotels has been trying to enter the Madrid market for several years, as it sought to build on the success it has had in Barcelona, Berlin and Gran Canaria. (…). According to Juan Julià, the President of the company, Axel Madrid will be the first hotel in the capital directed specifically at the LGBT community. “There are hotels in Chueca that receive LGBT customers due to their locations, but they are gay friendly hotels; we define ourselves as hetero friendly”.

The hotel chain, which opened its first hotel in 2003, operates four establishments, with an average occupancy rate of 97%. “We operate destination hotels and have a very loyal client base”, says the owner of Axel. The company expects to generate turnover of €12.5 million in 2015, up by 20%, thanks to the opening of its second hotel in Barcelona. In the Catalan capital, the prices of Axel’s rooms range between €105 and €120; in Berlin, the average price is €90; and in Playa del Inglés, it is €70. The objective is to market Axel Madrid with average room rates of between €105 and €110, revealed Julià.

Original story: Expansión (by Sergi Saborit)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Saint Croix Sells Hotel Tryp Atocha For €27.8M

15 July 2015 – Cinco Días

The company Ibérica de Bienes de Raíces, which is 100% owned by the Socimi Saint Croix Holding Immobilier, has completed the sale of the building that houses the Hotel Tryp Atocha for €27,750,000, according to the company’s own statement to Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

The property is intended for use as a hotel and is currently leased to the hotel chain Melia Hotels International. The building is located in Madrid on Calle Atocha, number 83 and Calle Moratín, number 10 and 12.

The 4-star hotel has 150 rooms, with capacity for 250 people – and is equipped with advanced technology. The property also has six meeting rooms.

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake