Xeresa Golf Completes a €4.7M Capital Increase

12 December 2018 – Alicante Plaza

The company that owns the Villaitana hotel complex in Benidorm, Xeresa Golf, has completed the capital increase that it launched in August, after emerging from creditor bankruptcy by fulfilling the agreement and acquiring the plot on which the resort was constructed, which was initially occupied on a concession basis. Thus, as reflected in the Official Bulletin of the Mercantile Registry (Borme) of Alicante on Tuesday, the company has subscribed a €4.7 million capital increase (the total amount), and so the resulting subscribed share capital amounts to €9.2 million, more than twice the figure before the operation.

It is not the first capital increase that Xeresa Golf has undertaken in its checkered history. In recent years, the firm founded at the time by the entrepreneurial Cremades family from Gandía, has resorted to “accordion operations” to wipe its debt, and to add or expel shareholders (the firm was created with several representatives of the jet set amongst its minority shareholders), and, on the penultimate occasion, to articulate the entry of its current majority shareholder, the hotel management company HI Partners, which owns 80% of its share capital.

Nevertheless, this new increase has basically been covered by its current shareholders (the hotel company owned 80% and the Cremades held onto 20%), according to sources. In fact, the shareholders of Xeresa Golf had preferential subscription rights, which, according to the same sources, they exercised. HI Partners acquired the majority of the company in 2017 (…) by offsetting the loan that the firm owned by the Cremades family held with Banco Sabadell, which was the owner of the hotel management platform at the time (and which was created specifically to manage the hotel assets that the entity had had to assume).

Just a year ago, the bank sold its hotel division to the US fund Blackstone, which is the ultimate owner of the 17 hotels that comprise the portfolio of HI Partners, including the asset in Benidorm (…).

Owner of the plot

This new capital increase comes shortly after Xeresa Golf has become the owner of the plot on which Hotel Villaitana stands (two four- and five-star hotels and several golf courses) in the PEDUI of Terra Mítica. Xeresa Golf submitted the best offer in the auction for the plots convened by the Consell, although in reality only two bids were made and the other one came from HI Partners. In fact, the capital increase was carried out for a similar amount to the price offered by the hotel owner to acquire the land on which it stands: €4.8 million plus taxes.

Similarly, the company that owns the hotel complex managed by the chain Meliá has overcome another milestone in the last year, that of definitively emerging from the creditor bankruptcy that it entered in 2012 (…).

Original story: Alicante Plaza (by David Martínez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

UOC Buys its Home in 22@ from Invesco for €30.6M

7 November 2018 – Eje Prime

The Universidad Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) has acquired Can Jaumandreu. The entity has purchased the iconic office complex, located in the 22@ district of Barcelona from Invesco Real Estate for €30.6 million.

The university institution, which has occupied the property on a rental basis since 2005, together with the public institution of the Town Hall of Barcelona Bagursa, has obtained ownership of the property on a concession basis until 2078. The purchase has been made as a result of the growth of the entity, the consolidation of the district and, above all, the rationalisation of the spaces that it has in Barcelona into a single complex, reported the UOC in a statement.

Can Jaumandreu is one of the most iconic office complexes in the 22@ district. With a surface area measuring 12,284 m2, the property comprises two buildings and has a 7@ certification, which means that only public companies or outreach or training firms may occupy the space.

Alejandro Monge, Director of Invesco Real Estate in Spain, highlighted that “the divestment forms part of the fund’s usual asset rotation policy, given that the complex has been in the portfolio for more than ten years”. Nevertheless, for the company, which has recently acquired three logistics assets in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain is still a priority investment area”, said the executive. “We are still looking for opportunities to invest in high-quality assets and increase our presence in this market”, said the Director.

The 22@ district – all the rage in Barcelona 

The office district of the moment in Barcelona is registering record figures for another year. According to the Marketshot report compiled by Cushman&Wakefield, the consultancy firm that has advised the operation, 86 rental operations were closed in the 22@ district in 2017spanning 101,000 m2, which represents the highest figure in the last ten years and 34% more than in the previous two years (…).

The investment volume, which amounted to €161 million in the 22@ district in 2017, more than tripled the €51 million figure recorded in 2016. In metres squared, the investment volume corresponded to a surface area of 173,000 m2, well above the figure recorded in 2016, of 33,000 m2.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sacyr Claims €518.5M from Government of Murcia for its Ghost Airport

23 April 2018 – El Confidencial

Sacyr wants to take the conflict with the Region of Murcia over the private airport in Corvera to its logical conclusion. The construction company chaired by Manuel Manrique is claiming €518.5 million from the Regional (Partido Popular) government for the suspension of the concession to operate the airport infrastructure, which has ended up in the hands of the public entity Aena. The company in which the Murcian owner of El Pozo also owns a stake is demanding twice the amount that it cost it to construct the property.

According to an internal document from Sacyr, the ‘Concessionaire Company of the Airport for the Region of Murcia’ (‘Sociedad Concesionaria del Aeropuerto de la Región de Murcia’ or SCAM) filed a report on 17 January urging the autonomous government to issue a resolution to award the concessionaire a settlement of €518.5 million. That petition comes almost five years after the Government, now chaired by Fernando López Miras, terminated the contract for an alleged breach and a month after the Murican Executive agreed the management of the private airport with Aena – which is controlled by the State – for the next 25 years.

The claim is based on three concepts. The first relates to the investments and costs incurred by SCAM, in which Sacyr holds an 80% stake, for the development and execution of the concession contract. That sum amounted to €256.69 million as at 22 March 2016, the date immediately prior to when the Region of Murcia took ownership of the asset, plus an additional €1.97 million for the maintenance work carried out by the construction company until 30 September last year.

Sacyr and its shareholders, which include Banco Sabadell and Grupo Fuertes (El Pozo), the largest industrial group in Murcia, are also claiming €35.1 million in extra costs borne by the company resulting from the early termination of the concession contract, amounts that “must also be updated at the date of their reimbursement and/or settlement”. Finally, the company is demanding €224.82 million for the profit forgone or forecast loss, as assessed by an independent expert, whose identity has not been revealed by Sacyr.

The Corvera airport was awarded to Sacyr in 2007 (…). Nevertheless, after construction was completed in 2012, it could not be opened due to insurmountable differences that were so great they even led to the intervention of the Guardia Civil.

After long disputes (…) and some unsuccessful negotiations, the regional Government expropriated the airport and awarded it again at the end of last year. The winner was Aena (…), which undertook to manage the airport in exchange for closing the San Javier military airfield, closer to the Mar Menor and just 30 km from Corvera.

The new airport, which is expected to begin operation in December, is going to be called Juan de la Cierva, in honour of the Murcian man who invented the gyroplane. The infrastructure is expected to receive 800,000 international tourists during its first four years and will be able to handle 3.5 million passengers per year. Initial forecasts indicate sales of €495.8 million during the 25-year concession. Its largest competitor will continue to be the airport in Alicante, which handles more than 12 million users per year.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Agustín Marco)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Mazabi Acquires the ‘Dávila’ Office Building in Santander

22 January 2018 – Press Release

Mazabi Gestión de Patrimonios is continuing to invest in the office segment with the acquisition of Edificio Dávila.

The building is located on General Dávila, 87, in the city of Santander (Cantabria), and has a surface area of 9,585 m2. The property is located in the centre of the Cantabrian capital, approximately 1km away from the Town Hall, and is surrounded by green spaces and public areas in the upper district of the city. It is well connected and has 126 private parking spaces. Constructed in 2013 in a modern and contemporaneous style, the building is characterised by its glass façade and regular shaped floors, with wonderful natural light and views from its upper levels.

The offices are currently leased in their entirety to the Government of Cantabria under an initial 35-year contract and over a concession period of 52 years. They house a number of the regional Government’s social and IT services.

Mazabi manages assets worth more than €1 billion and has investments in 14 countries. With a team of 22 professionals located in Madrid, Bilbao and Málaga, Mazabi considers that investment in Spain continues to be attractive due to the on-going economic growth and the historical influx of tourism (…).

Original story: Press Release

Translation: Carmel Drake

Ifema Wins the Concession to Operate Madrid’s Palacio de Congresos

18 January 2018 – Eje Prime

(…) Ifema has been awarded the concession to operate the ‘Palacio de Congresos‘ in Madrid for the next 50 years, according to confirmation provided on Thursday by the Mayor of the Spanish capital, Manuela Carmena, and the President of the Community of Madrid, Cristina Cifuentes. The public entity will invest more than €50 million to revive the property, which has a surface area of 40,000 m2, and which has been in disuse since 2011.

Coincidentally, the presentation of this agreement was made in one of Ifema’s existing conference spaces in Madrid, where the International Tourism Fair (‘Feria Internacional de Turismo’ or Fitur) was being held. The work that needs to be undertaken on the asset, which is located on Paseo de la Castellana, could take until 2019 when the management firm hopes to be able to restart activity at the venue.

Moreover, Ifema has already confirmed that the space will be occupied by the World Tourism Organisation (‘Organización Mundial del Turismo’ or OMT), as reported by Eje Prime. Ifema’s interest in the space goes way back, given that last summer it was holding negotiations to obtain the concession for its management with Turespaña, the public body responsible for the ‘Palacio de Congresos’.

In recent months, Ifema came up against a competitor in the bid that it had previously been set to win. Not in vain, although the French group GL Events, which manages the Barcelona Convention Centre, amongst others, offered €40 million for the conference space in Madrid, but Ifema, as a public consortium, was not required to participate in an open adjudication process to secure the concession.

Now, with the ‘Palacio de Congresos’ in its portfolio, Ifema now has a monopoly over the conference spaces in Madrid, since it already controls the ‘Palacio Municipal’ and the exhibition venue in the Spanish capital.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Villar Mir & IE To Sign An Agreement For Fifth Tower

26 January 2016 – El Confidencial

Nine months after winning the bid arranged by the Town Hall of Madrid to construct a skyscraper in the capital’s new financial district, Grupo Villar Mir has reached an agreement with Instituto de Empresa (IE) to allow the business school to occupy the majority of the building.

El Confidencial has confirmed with several sources close to the negotiations that the two parties expect to sign an agreement this week. And that signature will signal the starting gun for Madrid’s new skyline, as well as ensuring the viability of the project after several months of uncertainty.

The future picture of the five skyscrapers underwent some serious difficulties last summer when the initial candidate proposed by Grupo Villar Mir, the prestigious Mount Sinai hospital group, decided not to go ahead with its plans to open a health centre in the fifth tower.

In fact, the owner of OHL was awarded the land on the basis of the proposal that it would house a private hospital, with recreation and retail service areas. The plans were presented together with a letter of intent from Mount Sinai, saying that it would occupy the fifth tower, but that ended up being worthless.

Following the exit of the US group, Villar Mir began making contact with several real estate consultancy firms to find a new tenant that would comply with the requirements imposed by the town hall, namely that the property must be used for health or education purposes. Those conversations have ended up with the proposed agreement with the IE Business School.

The prestigious centre, whose MBA has just been chosen as the 12th best in the world and the best in Spain according to the Financial Times, is continuously looking for spaces to expand its educational offering. As such, it is now the neighbour with the most properties in the prestigious neighbourhood of Salamanca, which is home to its different centres, above all, around Calle María de Molina.

With the move to the fifth tower, the educational empire controlled by Diego del Alcázar would expand its classrooms beyond its traditional area of operation, but would maintain its policy of operating within Madrid and in the most representative areas for the business world.

75 year concession

The fifth tower is expected to be completed within four years, by 2020. It is an ambitious plan, which Grupo Villar Mir will tackle in partnership with the Swiss fund Corestate. The two partners have created the company Iberian Corestate, whose first operation will involve the investment of €240 million in the new skyscraper.

On the basis of the original design that won the bid, the new building will have 52,500 m2 of public space and 17,500 m2 of retail space. It will be constructed on land that will continue to be owned by the town hall, but which will be operated by Grupo Villar Mir for the next 75 years.

The group was awarded this concession after committing to pay a fee of €4 million per year to the town hall for the duration of the concession period, a figure that is much higher than the €1.9 million bid starting price.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Qatar “Conquers” Málaga’s Port With A 35-Storey €100M Hotel

26 November 2015 – El Confidencial

Just like in Madrid with the Cuatro Torres and in Sevilla with Torre Pelli. A hotel is going to definitively change the skyline of Málaga. A group from Qatar is going to invest €105 million in a luxury 35-storey five-star hotel in the Port of Malaga. The project, involving 350 rooms, will be modelled on the Sail Hotel in Barcelona, with an average occupancy rate of 80% and an average room rate of €300 per night. On Monday, the Port Authority of Málaga approved the start of the administrative concession to drive the business initiative, led by the company Andalusian Hospitality II SL, whose sole director is Fakhroo Abdulla Darwish AD, according to data obtained from the Commercial Registry in Málaga.

(…). Andalusian Hospitality II SL has already deposited €1.8 million as a guarantee, equivalent to 2% of the value of the construction project. At least one other business group is interested in constructing a hotel in the port area. (…).

However, the process has barely begun. Following the publication of the applications made by the aspiring bidders in the BOE, modifications need to be made to the Port’s Special Plan, which must be approved by Málaga’s Town Hall and by the Council of Ministers, as required by the Ports’ Law, since the process involves the construction of a hotel in the port, as happened in the case of the iconic Sail Hotel in Barcelona and another hotel in Alicante.

The Civil Aviation authority has limited the height of the building to 175 metres. (…).

Málaga’s hotel supply

“The hotel could become a destination in itself”, said Paulino Plata, the President of the Port Authority of Málaga. The head of the Málaga port values the project’s significant potential to generate employment (“double the number of jobs that would be created by a four-star hotel”, he says), although he did not want to give a specific figure. But, is there demand for a hotel like this? Between 2003 and 2013, the supply of hotels in the city of Málaga doubled and the average occupancy rate rose to 66%. The best year was 2014.

The Port Authority of Málaga also views the project favourably as a way of enabling it to avoid the losses that are dragging it down since the decline in container traffic. They calculate that they could receive an annual fee of €1 million, “which could cancel out our losses”, admits Plata.

José Seguí is the architect who has been commissioned by the Qatari company. Sources close to his office stated that it was “too soon” to know any details about his plans for the hotel. (…). “This is just the beginning of a long process”, added the same sources.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Agustín Rivera)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Refurb Of ‘Palacio de Congresos’ Will Cost €90M

13 October 2015 – Cinco Días

Turespaña, which forms part of the Ministry of Industry, has now prepared a feasibility study for the renovation of the Palacio de Congresos de la Castellana. It calculates that the project will cost €90 million and it lowers the height of the adjoining luxury hotel.

The Ministry of Industry calculates that the building work to renovate the Palacio de Congresos de la Castellana in Madrid, and to construct a new hotel with more than 200 rooms, will cost around €90 million and will take approximately three years to complete, whereby generating subsequent employment (directly and indirectly) for more than 600 people.

Those are the findings of the feasibility study that Spain’s Institute of Tourism (el ‘Instituto de Turismo de España’ or Turespaña) has made available for public consultation over the next two months (until 7 December). Its intention is to convince potential investors, which will have to cover the construction costs of the project, in exchange for a concession to operate the complex, about the benefits of the project.

The venue first opened its doors in 1971 and closed them for the last time at the end of 2012, after shortcomings were detected in terms of fire safety and general security, which forced it to undertake a comprehensive renovation of the building. Nevertheless, Turespaña acknowledged that it did not have sufficient funds to undertake this investment and that it must turn to the private sector.

The project will be awarded as a 40-year concession agreement, with an annual fee of approximately €1.25 million. According to the document, the work to construct the new five-star hotel will cost almost €22 million. The Ministry of Industry expects that a new 17-storey tower will house the luxury hotel (six floors less than initially envisaged by the public body). The project must retain the building’s main façade, as well as the façade that looks onto the Paseo de la Castellana, which has displayed a Joan Miró mural since 1980 – the mural is expected to be restored at a cost of €450,000.

Five-star hotel

The aim is to have a five-star hotel with 180 double rooms and 36 junior suites, as well as an executive lounge, gymnasium, swimming pool complex and spa.

The document also includes a forecast for investors about the future operating profits of the complex – it predicts an EBITDA of €7.88 million in the fifth year – the first four years relate to the development phase – and an EBITDA of up to €16.78 million in the final year of the concession. (…).

The next step to be taken by whoever wins the public concession will be to request a building permit from the Town Hall.

Madrid has great potential

The Executive encourages potential investors to participate in the project thanks to Madrid’s “significant growth potential” in the area of business tourism. It also presents other arguments in favour of the project, such as the proximity of the site to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium and the lack of other five-star hotels in the capital, where the Four Seasons hotel chain is hoping to open a hotel in the Canalejas Complex that OHL is currently building.

The Government’s hypothesis is that 65% of the revenues will be generated from conventions, meetings and exhibitions, compared with 20% from the business segment, 8.5% from social events and a further 6.5% from overnight weekend visitors or extended stays following congresses or conferences.

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake

Villar Mir Will Construct A Skyscraper Close To Cuatro Torres

20 April 2015 – Expansión

Project / The owner of OHL and Espacio is going to invest €500 million on the construction of a building behind the Castellana complex in Madrid, which will house a hospital and a shopping centre.

The businessman Juan Miguel Villar Mir (pictured above) is going to promote a new large real estate project in Madrid. The business man, who is in the middle of the construction of a hotel, residential and commercial complex in Canalejas, in the centre of the capital, through his group Villar Mir, has submitted the best offer for the plot of land located just behind the Cuatro Torres Business Area complex.

The land, which has a surface area of 33,325 square metres and a buildable surface area of 70,000 square meters, was originally going house a convention centre. However, in 2010, the Town Hall of Madrid halted the project, despite having already commenced the construction work, due to a lack of funds and, at the end of 2014, it decided to seek an alternative plan. In March, the Government of Ana Botella received several offers – four to be specific.

Other offers

In the end, Grupo Villar Mar has been named as the winner of the tender process, at the expense of the proposal submitted by the Socimi Hispania, which participated with Ferrovial.

Villar Mir made the highest bid, since the group that owns the construction company OHL and the real estate firm Espacio will pay an annual fee of €4 million for the concession, which grants the right to use the plot of land for a period of 75 years. The town hall requested that the winning bidder pay an annual fee of at least €1.935 million. The other bid that was accepted, led by Hispania, offered to pay €2.6 million per year for the plot of land. A third proposal, submitted by Axa, was declared inadmissable due to formal defects and a fourth bid did not meet the minimum fee demanded by the Town Hall, according to sources close to the process.

Villar Mir’s proposal includes a hospital and a shopping centre. The Town Hall of Madrid demanded that around 53,000 square metres of the 70,000 square metres available would be allocated for public use, which will be the hospital area. The remainder, around 17,500 square meters will be turned into a shopping cenetre to provide services for the area.

Villar Mir will place the entire buildable area in a single building, which may have up to 35 floors, similar to Torre Picasso, which is 156 metres tall, compared with the 250 metre high Torre Foster and Torre de Cristal, located next to the future property. “It will be an iconic building”, say sources close to the process.

The company expects to invest €500 million the project, including construction costs, which will amount to around €200 million and the payment of the concession, which will amount to €300 million in total. Villar Mir is negotiating with several hospital groups that already operate in Madrid to become their landlord, although its negotiations with one player in particular are more advanced than with others, explain the same sources.

Currently, the Cuatro Torres complex, located at number 259 Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, has four skyscrapers: Torre Foster, owned by Bankia and leased to Cepsa; Torre PwC, owned by Testa; Torre de Cristal, owned by Mutua Madrileña; and Torre Espacio, owned by the real estate arm of the Villar Mir group.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Green Light Given to ‘La Ciudad de la Justicia’: Madrid Needs €771m For Its ‘Megaproject’

17 February 2015 – El Confidencial

The Official Bulletin of the Community of Madrid reflects the economic conditions that the Government requires of the concession companies that want to bid to construct the future judicial offices in Valdebebas.

On Monday, the Official Bulletin of the Community of Madrid reflected the economic conditions that the Government of Ignacio González is imposing on the companies that want to construct the new judicial offices in Valdebebas. Two months before the regional elections, the Community of Madrid calls for a €771.7 million contract for a “megaproject” that will not see the light until 2019. The initial bidding budget for the works to be built in the North of Madrid will exceed €1,700 million, according to estimates reflected in the public document. The companies that are interested in “bidding” for the project have until 1 April to submit their bids to the Presidential Council, led by Salvador Victoria.

The total estimated cost of the project is divided into two parts. The Community of Madrid has already invested €288 million in the site: on the land, the tunnels that have now been constructed and the Institute of Legal Medicine, which has already been built. Therefore, the chosen companies would only have to contribute the remaining €483 million to take the total to €771 million. Construction of this project is expected to begin in July next year and the site will be operational from summer 2019.

The Community of Madrid will grant a 30-year administrative concession to the winning firm, to whom it will pay a fee of around €45 million, which is the amount it currently pays for the rental of the 28 judicial offices around Madrid and their associated services. The concession will begin from the day that the building work contracts are awarded, which will be in July, and not from its completion date (scheduled for four years later), as is usually the case, which means that the Community will have a four-year grace period and the fee will be paid on a linear basis over 26 years.

(….)

New jobs

With an area of 200,000 square metres, the Ciudad de la Justicia (City of Justice) will be located in the Parque de Valdebebas and will house the 356 courts of the Judicial District of Madrid, 554 judges and magistrates, 202 prosecutors, 362 court clerks, more than 5,000 people in the service of the Administration of Justice, more than 42,000 lawyers and 1,719 barristers, in addition to the citizens. According to the Community of Madrid’s calculations, the building work at the Ciudad de la Justicia will result in the creation of 2,200 jobs and a minimal improvement in Madrid’s GDP.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ana I. Gracia)

Translation: Carmel Drake