Malaysian Investment Fund Looks to Buy into Major Development on the Costa del Sol

6 January 2020 A Malaysian investment fund linked to the country’s sovereign wealth fund is finalising negotiations to become the first investor in a huge residential, commercial and industrial development on the Costa del Sol. The project would be the largest of its kind in the region and one of the largest in Spain as a whole.

The development is mainly set to include residential homes on a 2.6 million square meter plot of land near the Andalusian Technology Park, in Campanillas, Málaga. The development would consist of the construction of 5,000 ‘build to rent’ rental homes slated for professionals working at the technology park.

The land currently belongs to about 700 individual families.

Un fondo de inversión de Malasia vinculado al fondo de riqueza soberana del mismo país está finalizando las negociaciones para convertirse en el primer inversor en un gran desarrollo residencial, comercial e industrial en la Costa del Sol. El proyecto sería el más grande de su tipo en la región y uno de los más grandes de España en su conjunto.

El desarrollo está destinado principalmente a incluir viviendas en una parcela de 2,6 millones de metros cuadrados cerca del Parque Tecnológico de Andalucía, en Campanillas, Málaga. El desarrollo consistiría en la construcción de 5,000 viviendas de alquiler ‘construidas para alquilar’ programadas para profesionales que trabajan en el parque tecnológico.

La tierra actualmente pertenece a unas 700 familias.

Original Story: Vozpópuli – Joaquín Hernández

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

Signs of Over-Development Seen on Spain’s Costa del Sol

12 December 2019 – Development on Spain’s Costa del Sol has taken off since the country has emerged from the housing crash. A boom is underway in the area between Málaga and Estepona where there are more than 200 developments under construction. Some of the developers are finding it increasingly more difficult to maintain the pace of sales, as oversupply, increased prices, and a generalised economic slowdown are beginning to bite.

The number of approvals for construction permits on the Costa del Sol has risen dramatically in the last year, reaching a level that is 50% higher than in Costa Blanca. Also, the issuance of construction permits in 2018 for the Costa de Sol rose by 50%, while there was a 10% drop in Costa Blanca.

The shortage of developable land has caused a sharp increase in the prices for both construction materials and the homes for sale. The price of land has doubled in the last three years, while house prices have been rising at annual rates of 8% and 10%, with even higher rates on the coast.

Original Story: El Confidencial – Elena Sanz

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Arab Investor Acquires 25-Hectare Estate Above Costa del Sol

7 August 2019

Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and half-brother of the current president, has acquired a 25-hectare estate, the Finca Moratán-Bornoque, located less than half an hour from Marbella and nearby a property owned by Julio Iglesias. The estate is 750 meters above sea level, in the town of Monda, between the Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park and the Costa del Sol.

Bonifacio Solís, one of the largest developers in Estepona and Marbella, sold the property to the Arab investor for 14 million euros, after initially having requested €16 million. The transaction was carried out through Al Nahyan’s firm East And West Investment Spain S.L., domiciled in Valencia de Alcántara.

Finca Moratán-Bornoque has a large farmhouse with a ground floor and an upper floor, with a constructed surface area of ​​1,104.71 square meters, a guest house, two guardhouses, three smaller farmhouses and a 72-meter pool with surrounding gardens.

The estate also consists of more than ten buildings for use with cattle and horses, along with a 60-meter dam used for irrigation and fire prevention.

Original Story: La Información – Ana Sánchez Juárez

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Blackstone’s Spanish Hotel Portfolio is Worth €3.5bn

3 June 2019 – La Vanguardia

In recent years, the US fund Blackstone has invested €3.5 billion in the Spanish hotel sector through its specialist manager HI Partners, making it the largest hotel owner in Spain and the third largest in Europe after the Swedish firm Pandox and the French group Covivio.

HI Partners was created four years ago and owned 17 establishments by the time Blackstone acquired it in 2017 for €640 million. A year later, the US fund launched a successful takeover bid for the Socimi Hispania, which gave it control of another 45 hotels.

According to Alejandro Hernández-Puértolas, Partner and CEO of HI Partners, the firm now owns 62 establishments in Spain, with around 18,000 rooms. By region, 53% of its rooms are located in the Canary Islands, where it has 25 establishments, 26% are in the Balearic Islands (18 hotels) and the remaining 21% are located across the Peninsula above all in the Costa del Sol, Valencia and Cataluña.

HI Partners is headquartered in Barcelona and has offices in the Canary and Balearic Islands. It employs 100 professionals and its hotels are managed by 19 different operators including Marriott, Barceló, Hilton, Melià and Ritz Carlton.

Original story: La Vanguardia (by Rosa Salvador)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Kronos Sells 111 Homes During Q1 2019

20 May 2019 – Press Release

Kronos Homes sold 111 homes in Spain and Portugal during the first quarter of 2019 and started work on the construction of a new development, Oasis 325, in Estepona (Málaga).

The company plans to take its total investment to €2.4 billion this year, of which €1 billion corresponds to the planned investment in land in both Spain and Portugal.

By the end of 2018, the property development arm of Kronos owned a portfolio of 12,000 homes across 16 developments, which it plans to increase by 4,000 units during 2019 across 24 developments.

Kronos Homes currently has eight projects under construction: Nature and General Marvà in Alicante; The Edge, Horizonte, Panorámica, La Finca and Oasis 325 on the Costa del Sol and H2O in Badalona. It is planning to start work on another 6 projects in Andalucía, Cataluña and Madrid this year.

All of the projects undertaken by Kronos Homes reflect its #Puredesign philosophy and place a special emphasis on good architecture, unique design and the special integration of the environment, whilst ensuring great finishes.

Original story: Press Release

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Azora Buys Hotel Pez Espada & Hotel Riviera in Málaga from Med Playa

9 May 2019 – Diario Sur

The Azora group has purchased the iconic Hotel Pez Espada in Torremolinos and Hotel Riviera in Benalmádena from Med Playa, as part of a larger operation involving seven establishments located in Benidorm and along the Costa del Sol.

In total, the investment group has added 1,670 rooms to its portfolio as a result of the transaction and it expects to invest €30 million in the repositioning of the seven hotels. The chain Med Playa will continue to manage all of the properties for a period of up to 35 years.

Hotel Pez Espada has 235 rooms, a 4-star rating and was refurbished by Playa Med as recently as 2017. It was inaugurated in May 1959 and was one of the first establishments to be built on the Costa del Sol at the start of the tourist boom. Its clientele included Ava Gardner, Sophia Loren and Brigitte Bardot, amongst others.

Meanwhile, Hotel Riviera, which is also a 4-star property, is located next to Puerto Marina, serves adults only and has a sauna, spa, restaurants, gym and solarium.

From this operation, it is clear that Azora is committed to investing in tourist destinations with assured success, such as the Costa del Sol and Benidorm. It is currently creating a new fund to invest in holiday hotels along the Mediterranean and in hostels in the main European tourist cities.

Original story: Diario Sur (by Pilar Martínez)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Gran Roque Seeks Buyer for its 105-Home Residential Project Next to Operación Calderón

23 April 2019 – El Confidencial

Change is afoot in the real estate sector in Madrid. Several property developers have started to put whole developments up for sale ahead of an increasingly likely change in the cycle.

The phenomenon began on the Costa del Sol, where the experts say there is excess supply and where prices could be peaking; and it is now spreading to Madrid, where developers with plans, building permits and pre-sales in place are keen to divest promotions.

Such is the case of the Venezuelans Miguel Ángel and Áxel Capriles, owners of Gran Roque Capital, who have started to sound out the market regarding the sale of one of their residential projects in the capital: Acacias 51, next to the famous Operación Calderón.

The development comprises 105 homes, which have been on the market for a few weeks (initial phase), with asking prices of around €5,700/m2. Gran Roque purchased the site, which already had the necessary urban planning permission, in 2017, for €25 million, equivalent to around €2,900/m2. Now it wants to sell it for between €28 million and €29 million, with the plans and building permits, which would represent an increase of 16%.

The property developer denies the alleged motive but has chosen not to launch a high-profile competitive process or engage a large consultancy firm to coordinate the sale.

The development comprises four 5-storey buildings and one 4-storey building, containing two, three and four-bedroom homes. 20% of the first phase (55 units) has already been reserved.

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Ministry of Development: Real Estate Activity is Non-Existent in 40+ Spanish Municipalities

21 April 2019 – El Confidencial

There is barely any real estate activity in more than 100 Spanish municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants. In 42, not a single building permit to construct a new home was issued in 2018. Not one. And in another 100, fewer than five permits were issued, whilst in 200, fewer than ten permits were issued.

That is according to data from the Ministry of Development, which reveals the extent of the disparity between the booming areas of Madrid, Barcelona, the Costa del Sol and the islands, amongst others, and the complete dearth of activity in other parts of the country.

Asturias and Murcia are the autonomous regions that are suffering the most where construction activity has been all but suspended. The driving factors are multiple, but a lack of demand is key. Moreover, even where there is buyer interest, there is not enough buildable land to develop, construction costs are high, financing is hard to come by and qualified labour is scarce.

Even at the national level, although 100,000 new home permits were issued last year, that figure is still eight times lower than it was in 2006, when 865,561 new build permits were awarded. And although the experts agree that a healthy market will never see a return to the pre-crisis figures, the volume of new home construction is still well below the 150,000-200,000 benchmark that property developers consider sustainable.

By contrast, in certain parts of the Community of Madrid, lots more building permits were granted last year than during the height of the boom, for example, in Tres Cantos (657 in 2018 compared with 6 in 2006) and Rivas Vaciamadrid (1,345 compared with 831 twelve years ago). There was also a lot of activity in Boadilla del Monte, San Sebastián de los Reyes and Alcobendas. Beyond the capital, more new build permits were granted last year than in 2006 in Pamplona, Lasarte and Santiago de Compostela, amongst others.

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Swedish Firm Quartiers Finalises the Opening of a Luxury Hotel in Marbella

16 April 2019 -Idealista

The Swedish property developer Quartiers Properties is developing a luxury hotel in Marbella. The company, which is listed on the Nasdaq First North stock market in Stockholm, purchased the hotel complex, which is located 200m from the beach, very close to Puerto Banús, in 2017.

Quartiers is going to invest around €8.6 million in the renovation and development of the 5-star hotel, which will be called Boho Club and which will have 50 rooms as well as a restaurant led by the Michelin-starred chef Diego del Río. The restaurant will be inaugurated this summer, whilst the hotel will open its doors at the end of the year.

This is not the only asset that Quartiers Properties owns in Spain. It also has the Hacienda del Señorío de Cifuentes, a complex located in Benahavís (also in Málaga), which comprises 99 rental apartments for vacation and residential use. Nearby it has built another 22 apartments (22 by Quartiers) and next door to that, it owns land for the development of another 60 homes. It is also working on the construction of two luxury villas, both on the Costa del Sol.

Original story: Idealista (by Ana P. Alarcos & P. Martínez-Almeida)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

E&V: The Costa del Sol Enjoys a New RE Boom

12 March 2019 – Europa Press

According to a report about the real estate market for 2018-2019 compiled by Engel & Völkers (E&V), demand is growing along the Costa del Sol from domestic and international investors alike.

The improvement in the economy, better financing conditions, high rental yields and the reactivation of new construction projects all confirm that there is a boom underway on the Andalucían coast once again.

The real estate agency forecasts a moderate increase in prices and transaction volumes of around 7%-10% during 2019. Málaga is the driving force, thanks to its cultural offering and robust infrastructure, but new build projects have resumed all along the coast in recent years.

In this climate, in 2018, 60% of operations were closed by foreigners looking for second homes, with average prices of €3,000/m2 in Málaga capital and maximum prices of €8,000/m2 in the city centre.

Marbella has also re-emerged as an investment destination after years of paralysis, where overseas buyers account for 80% of all purchases. There, clients seek modern villas equipped with the latest technology, which have views of the sea or are located close to a golf course.

Original story: Europa Press  

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake