Government of Madrid Moves Ministry of Economy to Prado Urban Business Park

21 June 2018 – Eje Prime

The Government of Madrid is going to be Amazon’s neighbour. Specifically, the Community of Madrid’s Ministry of the Economy, Employment and Finance has decided to move some of its teams to the Prado Urban Business Park, the office complex that is home to the Spanish headquarters of the e-commerce giant.

After the lease contract for its current headquarters, located at number 13 Carrera de San Jerónimo, came to an end, the Community of Madrid decided that the best option for some of its departments would be to move them to the Delicias neighbourhood.

The departments of Trade and Consumption; Industry, Energy and Mining; the Economy, Statistics and Competitiveness; as well as the Invest Office, will occupy the ground, first, second, third and fourth floors of the West Building in the complex, which has a surface area of 14,500 m2.

Ahead of the arrival of the civil servants, there are just 400 Amazon employees working at the Prado Urban Business Park; the complex has capacity for 1,000 people. The lease contract that the Madrilenian Government has signed runs until 31 August 2029.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Zaragoza’s Torre Village Outlet Will Open its Doors at End of 2018

1 December 2017 – Eje Prime

The Pikolin outlet complex has taken its first few steps. On Friday, the Town Hall of Zaragoza definitively approved the Torre Village urbanisation project, whereby firing the starting gun for the construction work to begin on the retail complex, which is going to be built on the site of the former mattress factory. The project has also been declared of regional interest by the General Council of Aragón.

Torre Village is starting to take shape after the Solans family, owner of Pikolin, put the idea (of the outlet complex) on the table at the beginning of 2015. The centre is expected to open its doors during the final quarter of 2018.

The next step is for Grupo Iberebro, the property developer behind Torre Village, to prepare a specific plan for the Ministry of Development, including analysis of the complex’s access routes and consideration of possible objections that its development may generate.

Torre Village will be the first outlet in the Valle del Ebro. With a surface area of 66,000 m2, the shopping centre will contain fashion stores, a restaurant area, cinemas, leisure activities and a space dedicated to cultural activities and concerts, along with 2,000 parking spaces. The retail area will house ninety shops.

The new complex aspires to welcome visitors from Aragón, País Vasco, La Rioja, Navarra, Soria, Lleida and the South of France. Investment in the project will amount to €60 million and around 1,000 direct jobs will be created as a result. The future economic impact of the complex is calculated to amount to €342.2 million per year.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Deutsche Bank Invests €32M On Complete Renovation Of Diagonal Mar

22 September 2017 – Eje Prime

Deutsche Bank is subjecting one of its star assets in Spain to a facelift. The company is going to invest €32 million on the comprehensive renovation of a shopping centre that it purchased last year for €493 million, according to Isabel Bofill, the manager of the complex, speaking to EjePrime (…)

“In accordance with the needs of the market, we have decided to cut the cinema space in half and add an extra 5,000 m2 to retail”, explains Bofill. The complex is already immersed in the construction work and has all of the permits necessary for this new area of the shopping centre to start to take shape.

“It has taken us several years to get to this point, to give the shopping centre a facelift, but Deutsche Bank’s commitment to position Diagonal Mar (in the market) is real”, says Bofill. The first phase of this construction project will involve converting the third floor of the complex, which has been used only for leisure until now, into another floor for retail, together with restaurants and cinemas (…).

Although the decision regarding how many new stores will be created as a result of the construction work has yet to be taken, Bofill says that one of the objectives of this renovation is to respond to the current needs of retail: the megastores. “A shopping centre has to be in constant movement: when an operator disappears, it is not bad, it is simply the end of a phase”.

Bofill was referring to the departure of Fnac from Diagonal Mar, which is due to leave shortly, whereby freeing up 3,900 m2 of space for new players (…).

The comprehensive renovation of Diagonal Mar is expected to be completed by next June. To this end, Deutsche Bank has also committed to carrying out a rebranding of the whole complex and to a general overhaul of the whole centre. “We are going to change the lighting, the floors, the rest areas…we want it to be a completely new commercial thoroughfare”, explains the director.

Perhaps one of the most ambitious proposals at Diagonal Mar, which increased its footfall by 2.5% last year to 17.1 million visitors, is its plan to change the whole façade of the property. “It is old and if we want to project a younger image and appeal to new consumers, we have to make way for a guise that belongs in the 21st century”, explains the director.

Diagonal Mar is currently managed by the real estate consultancy firm CBRE.

Diagonal Mar was designed by Jean-Louis Solal and Robert A.M. Stern and inaugurated in 2001. Located next to the 22@ district in Barcelona, the shopping centre has a gross leasable area of approximately 90,000 m2 and its tenants include brands such as Alcampo, Cinesa, Media Markt, Primark, H&M and the Inditex Group.

Deutsche Bank acquired Diagonal Mar through its real estate arm in Spain, Deutsche Asset Management (Deutsche AM) (…), which has assets under management worth €1,300 million.

The company’s portfolio in the Iberian Peninsula currently comprises 17 real estate assets, specifically: seven shopping centres; seven office buildings; and three logistics assets, with a combined gross leasable area of 420,000 m2 (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Deutsche AM Finances 51% of Neinver & TH RE’s Nassica Purchase

20 December 2016 – Cuatro

Deutsche Asset Management (AM) has granted a loan amounting to €71.5 million to the joint venture between TH Real Estate and Neinver to finance its acquisition of the Nassica shopping and leisure centre in Madrid, whereby contributing 51% of the €140 million that was disbursed for the transaction.

Deutsche AM reported that the financing will be provided through its senior debt real estate fund.

At the beginning of November, TH Real Estate and Neinver completed the purchase of the Nassica shopping centre from the private equity firm KKR for €140 million.

At the beginning of 2015, Neinver and TH Real Estate signed a strategic alliance to create a leading platform of outlet centres in Europe, in which they each hold a 50% stake and through which they own several assets, in addition to the complex located in Getafe.

Constructed in 2002 and located in Getafe, in the south of Madrid, Nassica has a surface area of 53,000 m2, which is divided into 44 spaces for retail, restaurants and leisure.

The property, which was completely renovated in 2015, has a high occupancy rate and a large variety of retail outlets, including a Carrefour, MediaMarkt and Toys R Us, as well as other domestic and international brands.

The shopping centre attracts 6.4 million visitors per year and is easy to access given its strategic location close to two major highways. Moreover, it is next to The Style Outlets, an important shopping centre, which is managed by Neinver. (…).

Recently, Deutsche’s real estate debt investment division completed the €57 million refinancing of a portfolio of investments in Mayfair, London, as well as a new €750 million mandate for a German institutional client.

Deutsche AM’s real estate debt business has a total volume of €2,000 million (as at 7 November 2016).

Original story: Cuatro

Translation: Carmel Drake

Corestate Buys Old Hall Of Residence In Madrid For €14M

16 November 2016 – Expansión

A new investor has made its debut in the Spanish real estate market. The investor is Corestate Capital Holding, a large investment fund headquartered in Luxembourg, which owns a broad portfolio of assets, mainly located in Germany and Austria. Corteste has combined forces with an investment partner to acquire a former halls of residence, located at number 42 on Calle Juan XXIII, in the Moncloa district, the heart of Madrid’s university area.

Corestate arrived in Spain last year when it teamed up with Inmobiliaria Espacio – part of the Villar Mir group – to launch a jointly owned company called Iberian Corestate Capital Advisors. In September 2015, that company announced that it is going to construct a fifth tower in the Cuatro Torres office complex in Madrid, on Paseo de la Castellana.

The owner of OHL was awarded the plot that runs alongside the four Madrilenian skyscrapers back in April, after the city’s Town Hall decided against building a Conference Centre on the site. The company controlled by Juan Miguel Villar Mir was awarded the concession, which gives it the right to operate on the land for 75 years, after it submitted the highest offer. Specifically, OHL agreed to pay an annual fee of €4 million, outbidding the second-best bid, led by Hispania and Ferrovial, who offered around €2.6 million. The Town Hall had asked candidates to submit bids for an annual fee of at least €1.9 million.

In September last year, Corestate announced that it was going to join the project through the company Iberian Corestate.

It is expected that Iberian Corestate will invest €240 million in the fifth tower project, which will involve the construction of a skyscraper that will house an IE Business School campus and a Quiron group medical centre. Corestate declined to comment on the plans for the Castellana project, but did confirm that it has purchased the Madrilenian hall of residence. According to sources in the sector, Corestate paid around €14 million for the property.

Until now, the asset acquired has housed a Spanish-Mexican secondary school – Santiago Galas de Arce. The building, which has been operating for almost half a century (44 years), will undergo a profound transformation with its new owner, given that Corestate is preparing an ambitious plan to restore the property and renovate the 4,022 m2 space, which will house 260 rooms and 302 beds.

Corestate’s idea is to demolish the existing complex and construct a new building that seeks to be one of the best equipped halls of residence in Madrid. The project will include several services such as a reception and concierge, common areas, such as a restaurant, gym and laundry facilities, as well as recreation areas in the form of patios and terraces.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Pierre & Vacances Plans To Double Turnover In Spain By 2020

27 April 2016 – Expansión

The holiday apartment manager and developer, Pierre & Vacances, which has been operating in the Spanish market for 10 years now, has recorded average annual growth of 44% since it launched in Spain in 2005, with a portfolio of 215 apartments. Moreover, it intends to maintain that growth rate over the next few years, and whereby double its presence by 2020.

Specifically, the firm expects to expand its operations from more than 4,000 holiday apartments across 45 complexes in 2016, to 8,000 apartments by 2020, at the same time as doubling its turnover from €50 million to €100 million. In 2016, the group will incorporate five new complexes and 600 apartments. Moreover, it has renovated the Hotel El Puerto in Fuengirola.

Over the last ten years, Pierre & Vacances has invested €70 million in Spain, however, it does not currently own any assets, according to the Chairman of the Spanish subsidiary, José María Pont. One of the group’s business lines involves searching for institutional and private investors willing to purchase real estate assets with lease contracts spanning 10-15 years and returns of between 3.5% and 5% per annum. In addition, the firm has reached agreements with investment funds, which have invested €65 million in assets managed by the firm.

Looking ahead to the future, given the lack of stock in certain areas such as the Costa Brava, Balearic Islands and the Costa del Sol, the group is considering launching projects “from scratch”, including constructing and operating the assets itself. “In certain areas, the circumstances in the market lend themselves to taking on more risk”, says Pont. The Director says that Spain is one of the group’s strategic axes, along with China, where Pierre & Vacances has reached an agreement with HNA to develop five large projects over the next three years.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake