Emesa Segregates its Activity & Creates a Dedicated Real Estate Company

14 May 2018 – Eje Prime

Emesa is showing that it’s serious about its real estate business. The investor group owned by Emilio Cuatrecasas is immersed in a company reorganisation, which will lead him to segregate his business into two: one division will be destined to corporate investment and the other to real estate investment. The group has recently created the first company to this end, Emesa Real Estate, which will have Emesa Corporación Empresarial as its sole shareholder and Ferrán Forrellad as the administrator.

According to the Official Bulletin of the Mercantile Registry, the constitution of Emesa Real Estate is the first step being taken by the group to initiate its corporate restructuring. Although the company already operated its real estate business through the holding company Emesa Corporación Empresarial, from now on, it will channel all of its operations in the real estate sector through one specific company.

Meanwhile, the other arm of Emesa’s business, Emesa Capital, will be managed by Vanessa Llopar, who has served as the CEO of that division since March. Through that subsidiary, Emesa is investing in companies in various sectors, from healthcare companies, such as Devicare, to companies specialising in urban storage, such as Boxinfiniti.

Thus, Emesa’s new plans in the Spanish real estate sector will be conducted directly by this new division. The group is going to invest more than €100 million in Barcelona and its surrounding area, as revealed by Eje Prime, in order to launch new residential projects, office buildings and hotels.

Even so, the company’s involvement in the real estate sector dates back years. Emesa first leapt into the property development world with a building in the heart of Barcelona’s 22@ district, which is now the headquarters of the law firm Cuatrecasas in the Catalan capital.

The group, which has increased its workforce by threefold over the last three years, from seven employees to twenty-one, is now in the preliminary phase of constructing a new office building in the same area, at number 184 Calle Pallars. Designed by the architecture studio BAAS, Emesa is going to invest €25 million in that new asset, which will have an above ground surface area of 9,200 m2 and 5,000 m2 of space below ground level.

Moreover, in recent months, Emesa has starred in several high-profile operations in the Barcelona real estate market, such as the purchase of the Diagonal 444 building, the former headquarters of Cuatrecasas; and of the Diagonal 632 building, which is the headquarters of the Quirónsalud’s Ophthalmological Institute in Barcelona.

And from one side of Avenida Diagonal to the other. As Eje Prime revealed, Emesa acquired 37,000 m2 in Finestrellas, an up and coming area, which will include offices, residential properties and a commercial area. The project in which Emesa is participating involves an office development spanning 90,000 m2, in which it has invested €80 million and which is expected to be fully operational by 2023 (the construction work will begin in 2020).

Emesa also plans to make headway in the residential sector over the next few years. The company is going to build a development containing 40 homes for rent in Badalona after investing €12 million in this project.

Currently, the portfolio of Emesa Corporación spans more than 180,000 m2 and is worth more than €750 million. Emesa Corporación Empresarial generated revenues of €8.07 million last year.

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Domo Gestora Invests €33M to Build c. 100 Homes in Tres Cantos (Madrid)

27 April 2018 – Eje Prime

New challenges lie ahead for Domo Gestora. The property developer has just acquired a new plot of land in Madrid on which it will build around one hundred homes in Tres Cantos, according to sources at the group speaking to Eje Prime. The real estate manager, which specialises in housing cooperatives and delegated management, is going to invest €33 million in this development.

Domo is going to manage the project after one of its cooperatives acquired the plot where it is going to build the development. It will consist of 101 apartments in a gated community with a swimming pool and common areas, whose quality stands out due to the proposals in terms of efficiency, sustainability, child safety and accessibility. Construction work is expected to start in June and all of the homes are expected to be handed over in the middle of 2020.

Domo Gestora is currently operating in the market with a dozen developments. In Madrid, where the group has already handed over more than 500 apartments, the company has 700 homes under development, whilst in Guadalajara, Badajoz, Málaga and Granada, it has 81, 26, 23 and 24 homes under construction.

The most noteworthy developments include one located on Paseo de la Castellana, where Domo is building around twenty terraced homes and one located on Calle Raimundo Fernández Villaverde, which is going to comprise 334 homes.

In addition to the homes under construction, the company has also handed over more than 500 homes in recent years, located in places such as Valdebebas, where it has built 200 apartments; Vallecas, with around fifteen family homes; and Arroyomolinos, with a development of 43 family homes, amongst others.

In total, since Domo Gestora has been active, it has built more than 200,000 m2 of properties, handed over around 1,000 homes and managed more than 2,000 assets. Domo has also managed more than €108 million of contracted work and has accessed more than €300 million of financing.

Domo Activos, the Socimi

In addition to its core business, Domo Gestora has also had to focus on its Socimi in recent months. Last year, the company launched the first property developer Socimi dedicated to medium-sized investors. The business model of Domo Activos involves the acquisition of land for the development of buildings destined for rent, which are then sold off after three years of ownership.

The return on that project, once the divestments have been made could reach 10% per annum, according to the company’s estimates. Until the home is sold and for the period that the building is leased, investors receive the profit resulting from the rental income in the form of a dividend.

Currently, the largest project being promoted by Domo Activos is the development that it is constructing in Madrid, in El Ensanche de Vallecas. This building is going to comprise eighty rental homes, according to explanations from the group.

The next steps for the group are to look for new land on which to build more homes under its Socimi. The company has already identified opportunities in Spain and is now hoping to increase its financial muscle in order to carry out the purchase of the new land through a capital increase of up to €15 million. Domo Activos is going to focus these acquisitions on Madrid, Málaga and Valencia, in the first instance, but is also on the lookout for plots in Sevilla, Córdoba, Granada and Zaragoza.

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

In Tempo’s New Owner will Put its Apartments on the Market this Summer

17 April 2018 – Levante EMV

The new owner of the In Tempo building in Benidorm, the firm SVP Global, is planning to finish the building work over the next 12 months and start marketing the 269 homes this summer. SVP Global is preparing the final plans and marketing approach together with the Valencian investment manager Net de Gerrers. The sales prices of the homes have not been set yet, but they are expected to be in line with the average for the market in Benidorm, which stands at around €2,500/m2.

The Company for the Management of Assets Proceeding from the Restructuring of the Banking System (Sareb) sold the debt associated with the In Tempo building to SVP Global last autumn for more than €60 million. The bad bank took over the loan amounting to €108 million corresponding to the tallest building in the Community of Valencia five years ago. The buyer, which is headquartered in the USA, was advised by Evercore, Gómez-Acebo & Pombo Abogados and Net de Gerrers.

Sources close to the operation indicated that the project was almost finished (93% execution rate) and pointed out that Net de Gerrers is acting as the manager of the investment fund SVP in the operation. The building is in a “perfect condition” despite the fact that four years have passed since the construction work was suspended. The owners have decided to introduce improvements to the original plans to make the homes more attractive.

The owners are going to market the property “using the building’s own brand. It is a common formula that is used for iconic buildings in New York”, said the same sources.

The In Tempo building project, which is the tallest residential property in Spain, was blocked when the Alicante-based property developer Olga Urbana filed for creditor bankruptcy. The suspension of payments left 137 creditors trapped and a bankruptcy liability amounting to €141 million.

Original story: Levante EMV (by R. Ferrando)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Emesa Plans to Invest €100M in New RE Projects Between Now & 2023

13 April 2018 – Eje Prime

Emesa Corporación, the investment company owned by Emilio Cuatrecasas, is committed to the real estate business. The group is going to invest more than €100 million in Barcelona and the surrounding area to launch new projects in the residential, office building and hotel sectors, according to explanations provided by Ferran Forrellad (pictured below), CEO of Emesa, speaking to EjePrime in an interview.

Launched in 1980, Emesa Corporación has been turning its activity, step by step, into a business model in which it can operate comfortably. “The turning point came in 2015 when we went from being a company that bought, managed and operated, into being a company that develops and creates business”, explains Forrellad. “We want to be a player in the real estate sector that controls its projects from the beginning until the end”, he adds.

Emesa, which in addition to its real estate arm also has a business area destined to acquiring stakes in the share capital of companies in full growth (such as the case of the company specialising in storerooms Boxinfiniti), threw itself wholeheartedly into property development with a building in the 22@ district of Barcelona, which is now the headquarters of the law firm Cuatrecasas.

The group, which has multiplied its workforce by three-fold over the last three years, from seven employees to twenty-one, is now in the preliminary phase of constructing a new office building in the 22@ district, at number 184 Calle Pallars. Designed by the architecture firm BAAS, Emesa is going to invest €25 million in the new asset, which will have an above-ground surface area of 9,200 m2, as well as 5,000 m2 below ground. “It will be finished during the third quarter of 2020”, says Forrellad.

“We want to create unique buildings in Barcelona and we are on the lookout for new plots in 22@ on which to build more offices since we firmly believe that it is one of the areas of the future in the city, both for business and homes”, said the company’s CEO.

In recent months, the company has starred in several high profile operations in the Barcelona real estate market, such as the purchase of the Diagonal 444 building, the former headquarters of Cuatrecasas; and the Diagonal 632 building, which houses the headquarters of Quirónsalud Barcelona’s Ophthalmological Institute.

And from one side of La Diagonal to the other. As Eje Prime revealed, Emesa acquired 37,000 m2 of land in Finestrellas, a new development area, which is going to include offices, residential properties and a commercial area. The project in which Emesa is participating constitutes a 90,000 m2 office development, in which it has invested €80 million and which is hopes will be fully operational by 2023 (construction work begins in 2020).

Emesa will also focus on the residential business over the next few years. The company is going to build a development comprising forty homes for rent in Badalona after investing €12 million in this project. According to the forecasts of Emesa, which is on the verge of receiving approval for its licences, the project will be launched in 2020 and has been designed by the architecture firm Barozzi Veira (…).

Last year, the company also purchased the Ullastret Palace in Girona, with the aim of turning it into a high-end hotel, which is going to be the first of a chain of select hotels in El Empordà. (…).

Currently, the portfolio owned by Emesa Corporación spans more than 180,000 m2 and is worth more than €750 million. Emesa Corporación Empresarial generated turnover of €8.07 million last year.

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Octagon & Orion will Invest €400M in Sevilla Park

13 March 2018 – Eje Prime

Sevilla Park has a start date. Construction of the concert venue and shopping centre is going to begin in March 2019 and will involve an investment of €400 million by the promoters of the project, the marketing and entertainment agency Octagon and the investment fund Orion.

The two companies have reached an agreement with the Town Hall of Sevilla to start building work on land in the Port of the regional capital. Nevertheless, the President of Octagons S2, Xavier Bartrolí, said at a press conference that, if the deadlines are not adhered to, it will be very difficult for the project to continue in Sevilla.

“It is not that we lack energy, but there comes a time when you start to feel a little fatigued”, recognised the director, whose plan with Sevilla Park is for it to start operating in 2020, the year in which the first international artists will be hosted in the space following 18 months of construction work, according to ABC de Sevilla.

The obstacle that the property developers had found until now was the transfer of some CLH deposits to another location from the port, a pitfall that has now been overcome, although it has resulted in an extra cost of €30 million for the investors.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Valdebebas, Castellana Norte & Mahou-Calderón Try to Inject New Life into Madrid

2 December 2017 – Expansión

After years of paralysis in the real estate sector, the reactivation of house sales has come at a time when there are hardly any new build homes available in Madrid.

According to calculations by the real estate consultancy CBRE, the municipality of Madrid and its surrounding areas have an absorption rate of around 20,000 homes per year and yet, the output for the region barely reaches 10,000 units.

In this context, yesterday, the Valdebebas Compensation Board, the last major development area in the north of Madrid, approved the economic “reparcelation” of the whole area, which will be the largest process in the history of Spain, with the aim of reactivating the granting of licences in an area where there is still land available for the development of 3,794 homes.

The aim of the economic “reparcelation” is to put an end to the urban planning problems associated with this development, which relate to the commercial area that was initially planned. “The problems date back to 2013, when modifications were made to the general plan, which included the construction of the largest shopping centre in Europe. The plan was modified to make the shopping centre smaller and to add more homes, most of which were social housing properties”, explain sources at the Valdebebas Compensation Board.

The new plan was legally appealed and in May, a ruling overturned the changes. “The legal ruling caused the Town Hall of Madrid to stop granting licences for the whole area. In light of that paralysis, the only option has been this economic “reparcelation” process (…), which will cost more than €5 million, which the Compensation Board will bear in its entirety”(…). “The “reparcelation” will allow the development of the last major PAU in the north of Madrid, given that in the others, such as in Las Tablas, Sanchinarro and Montecarmelo, there are barely any plots left (…).

The lack of supply has already had an impact on prices. “In two years, land prices in Valdebebas have doubled and, that is inevitably reflected in prices. Whilst before you could find a home for €2,400/m2, now you can’t find anything for less than €3,000/m2”.

Operación Mahou-Calderón

Operación Mahou-Calderón represents the last large plot of land in the central district (…). In total, it comprises 147,050 m2 of buildable land, where around 1,200 homes may be built (…) with prices of around €2,950/m2 (…).

Madrid Nuevo Norte

Operación Chamartín is reinventing itself (…). It has been paralysed for more than 20 years, but the new project includes a reduction in the buildable surface area, which will amount to 2.68 million m2, where 11,000 homes will be built, of which 20% will be social housing properties. With an investment of around €6 billion, construction work is expected to begin in 2019.

Berrocales, Valdecarros and Cerros

Meanwhile, the development of the southeast of Madrid has been put on the back burner. The Compensation Boards responsible for the three urban developments there (Los Berrocales, Valdecarros and Los Cerros), have joined forces in a common platform to promote the construction of more than 100,000 affordable homes over the next 25 years in the southeast of Madrid. Meanwhile, the Town Hall of Madrid is proposing a change to its urban development plans, with a maximum of 27,700 homes between now and 2030, to which another 26,000 may be added by 2039, depending on demand (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Merlin to Invest €16M Remodelling Porto Pi Shopping Centre (Palma)

15 December 2017 – Última Hora

Merlin Properties, the listed real estate investment company (Socimi) and largest shareholder of the Porto Pi shopping centre, is going to invest €16 million to remodel and improve the asset’s commercial offer.

The Socimi, in which Santander and BBVA hold a stake, has set itself the objective of improving the centre to bring it into line with current tastes in the market.

Sources at Merlin Properties indicate that in the new era of shopping centres, the aim is to attract the greatest number of visitors “for convenience and experiences”.

The Socimi plans to extend the centre’s areas of activity beyond pure shopping, towards experiences. Moreover, it is keen to integrate the centre with e-commerce, through the constitution of a marketplace and by placing Amazon and Correos e-commerce purchase collection points, as well as pop-up stores and temporary outlets.

Merlin Properties estimates that these improvements, together with the management and natural growth of the assets, will allow it to increase its current annual revenues by 22% and to exceed a country-wide turnover figure of €500 million based on all of its planned projects, without having to buy new properties.

Amongst the most important investments are the €21 million that it plans to spend on the complete renovation of the Larios centre in Málaga and the €16 million that it plans to spend on Porto Pi in Palma.

The shopping centre in Palma receives 8.7 million visitors per year. The different phases of the construction work that are going to be carried out will be completed during the first quarter of 2020 (…).

The final objective is to consolidate Porto Pi’s dominant position at the commercial level in Palma with the maximum variety and diversification of products.

Original story: Última Hora (by J. L. Ruiz Collado)

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

Uniqlo Opens Its Second Store In Spain

8 November 2017 – Expansión

The textile firm Uniqlo, owned by the Japanese group Fast Retailing, is pushing ahead with its expansion plans in Spain. After years searching for a suitable location, the Japanese company is going to open two stores in the country in just a month in a half.

On 20 September, Uniqlo opened its first store in Spain. The chosen location on that occasion was the building at number 18, Paseo de Gracia in Barcelona, opposite one of the country’s largest Zara stores, the main brand of the Inditex group. Measuring 1,730 m2, over three floors, the Japanese brand’s first store in Spain is enjoying considerable success that exceeds expectations, which has strengthened the firm’s commitment to the country.

“We are committed to this new market and we hope to open stores in several of the country’s main cities to bring Uniqlo’s LifeWear to the greatest number of consumers possible”, explain sources at the company.

Proof of this commitment is the opening of its second establishment. Uniqlo has also leased a store in the Gloriès shopping centre in Barcelona, where it will open its second store in Spain on Thursday 9 November. Specifically, the Japanese brand has leased 1,317 m2 in the centre, which is owned by the French-Dutch group Unibail Rodamco.

Uniqlo’s opening will coincide with the inauguration of the expansion of the shopping centre. With an investment of more than €100 million, the expansion works began in 2014. The ground floor was inaugurated in December 2016. Besides Uniqlo, H&M is also going to move into this space; it is going to open its largest shopping centre store in Spain in Gloriès, measuring 3,600 m2. The Swedish brand will also debut its H&M Home brand in Barcelona in this store.

Moreover, the new space will be home to the Mercat de Gloriès – a space with 20 local and international food products -, Fresh! – an area for fresh products that can be cooked on the spot – and La Cuina – an area focused on gastronomic encounters.

Unibail, one of the largest owners of shopping centres in Spain, plans to invest more than €677 million between now and 2024 developing large projects in Spain.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

RIU Starts Work On Edificio España To Open Hotel In 2019

24 October 2017 – Expansión

The Mallorca-based hotel chain RIU has started work to renovate Edificio España, which will house its first hotel in Madrid and which will be the company’s flagship property in the country.

The future RIU Plaza will have a four-star rating and will contain 589 rooms and 15 meeting rooms, with almost 3,000 m2 to be used for events. Moreover, the hotel will have a gastro bar in the reception, two restaurants and a sky bar located on the two upper floors, one of which will have a terrace and a swimming pool.

The hotel chain purchased Edificio España from Baraka back in June in a three-way transaction, shortly after the Murcian group owned by Trinitario Casanova had purchased the property from Wanda for €272 million.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake