Tag: Deutsche Bank tower

KKH Capital Buys ‘Art Montfalcó’ Building In Barcelona For €24M

13 November 2017 – Eje Prime

New investment operation in the heart of Barcelona. In the midst of the political uncertainty, the real estate market is remaining active. The group KKH Capital has just acquired the Art Montfalcó building, located in the heart of the historical centre of Barcelona, for almost €24 million, according to market sources. The investment fund Medcap Real Estate and the real estate group Castmor had also submitted bids for the property.

The KKH Group has acquired the property through its parent company. Moreover, the company also operates in the real estate sector through KKH Property, a joint venture formed by KKH Capital, the investment group controlled by the former CEO of Renta Corporación, Josep María Farré, and Perella Weinberg, which participates in the partnership through one of its opportunistic funds.

The building, baptised as Palau Castañer in 1906, has been sold by the Güell family; it is currently leased to the Art Montfalcó souvenir shop. The surface area of the property is 2,000 m2. According to the same sources, the objective of KKH Capital is to renovate the retail premises and negotiate with a new operator (…).

KKH Capital, which specialises above all in residential assets, will add this property to its portfolio. The group, through KKH Property, has been acquiring assets over the last few years, including some as iconic as the Deutsche Bank tower in Barcelona, located at number 111 Paseo de Gràcia, which it bought from three Andorran families (the Reigs, the Ribas and the Cerquedas) for €90 million.

After negotiating with the hotel chain Four Seasons, the group has leased that building (the Deutsche Bank tower) to Seat. In total, it will comprise 2,600 m2 spread over four floors: a basement, ground floor and two upper floors. The store will not be a typical concession, but rather is looking to become a point of reference for the city. It will include a gastronomic space and a coworking area, whose features have not yet been defined.

The establishment will open at the end of 2018. KKR will undertake a major renovation of the building, for which it will engage the architecture firm OAB, led by Carlos Ferrater, author of the Olympic Village in Barcelona and the Catalunyan Palau de Congressos, amongst others.

One of its other most recent acquisitions is the Monte de Piedad building, located in Madrid. In that case, the group reached an agreement with the Fundación Montemadrid at the end of last year to buy the property for around €80 million. KKH’s plans for that property involve converting the asset into a luxury hotel.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Barcelona City Hall Suspends Tourist Licences For 1 Year

3 July 2015 – Cinco Días

The mayoress of Barcelona, Ada Colau, has fulfilled one of the promises she made during the election campaign for the municipal elections with the launch of a one-year moratorium for the granting of tourist licences in the city. “Tourism is one of the city’s main assets and we have to take care of it and make it sustainable”, she said.

Colau’s announcement had been expected by the market, since it had been one of her main promises during the election campaign, but it did not take shape until yesterday. Barcelona’s City Council, governed by Barcelona en Comú, has taken the decision to freeze licences for at least one year. The town council’s aim is to submit a Special Plan for the Regulation of Tourist Accommodation during the first quarter of next year, although it does not rule out extending that period by another year.

Some of the most iconic hotel projects being carried out in Barcelona include the conversions of Torre Agbar, the Deutsche Bank tower and the Henkel building. But, according to Janet Sanz, deputy mayoress of ecology, urban development and mobility, the actual list is longer and includes around thirty properties. “We are not saying that none of these projects will go ahead, simply that we are beginning a process of reflection on our tourism model”.

This moratorium, which comes in addition to the one that already exists in the neighbourhood of Ciutat Vella, is intended to allow time for an in-depth analysis of the stock of tourist accommodation in the city, so that the existing supply and the economic and social impact of tourism can be evaluated and diagnosed. The freeze will affect all establishments, from luxury hotels to hostels, so that a “calm debate” can be held about the situation in the city. Plans are afoot at the Deutsche Bank tower, which KKH purchased  last year, to build a five star Four Seasons hotel, costing €150 million, and the plan is to open a Grand Hyatt hotel in the Torre Agbar, which Emin Capital acquired in 2013. Others, such as the property being renovated by the construction company owned by Josep Lluís Núñez, the former President of FC Barcelona, will be excused from the moratorium.

In terms of Spanish hotel chains, the moratorium may affect Barceló, which is planning to open two new establishments in the city: one on Avenida Diagonal, 414 with views of the Casa de les Punxes, and the other, the conversion of the former headquarters of Nubiola Pigmentos, on the corner of Pau Claris and Gran Vía, which is still in its early phases. Nearby, one of Melia’s ME hotels, with 173 rooms, on the corner of Calle Casp and Paseo de Gracia may be affected. (…). Iberostar, Room Mate and Praktik Hotels could also be affected. (…).

The market regards the moratorium as a sign of insecurity for the entry of new investors. “The decision creates legal and administrative insecurity and leaves investors interested in entering the city on stand by”, says Inmaculada Ranero, CEO of Christie + Co for Spain and Portugal. (…).

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake