Tag: Diagonal Mar

British Fund Intu Finalises Purchase Of Xanadú For c. €520M

10 March 2017 – Expansión

The British private equity fund Intu is finalising the completion of a record deal in the Spanish real estate market with the purchase of the Xanadú shopping centre (in Arroyomolinos, Madrid) from Ivanhoé Cambridge for around €520 million, according to market sources.

The purchase – which the fund has been negotiating in exclusivity since January – will represent the largest operation involving a shopping centre in the history of the Spanish market, whereby exceeding the €495 million that Deutsche Bank paid for Diagonal Mar (Barcelona) last August, the €451 million that Intu paid for Puerto Venecia (Zaragoza) and the €375 million that Klépierre paid for Plenilunio (Madrid).

CBRE and the law firm Clifford Chance have advised Intu during the operation, whilst Eastdil has advised Ivanhoé, which bought Xanadú from the Mills Corporation in 2006, along with two other shopping centres, one in Canada – Vaughan Mills (Ontario) and one in Scotland – Saint Enoch (Glasgow) – for a combined value of around €770 million.

The operation will be financed by Santander, Crédit Agricole, CaixaBank and BBVA with a loan to value (percentage value of the asset that is covered by the loan) of 40%.

In parallel, Intu is looking for a partner to whom to transfer 50% of the share capital in Madrid Xanadú 2003, the company that owns the shopping centre. Market sources point to the Canadian fund CPPIB as a possible ally. Both firms are already partners in two other Spanish shopping centres owned by Intu: Puerto Venecia (Zaragoza) and Parque Principado (Asturias).

One of the other candidates interested in acquiring the asset was TH Real Estate, but it was pipped at the post a few months ago by Intu, as revealed by Expansión on 31 January.

With this operation, Intu, which has plans to develop new shopping centres in Málaga, Valencia, Mallorca and Vigo, is strengthening its position in Spain and picking up one of the trophy shopping centres in Madrid to boot.

The shopping centre, constructed in 2003, has a total surface area of 153,695 m2 spread over two levels and 220 stores. Its tenants include Inditex, El Corte Inglés, Hipercor, Bricor, Decathlon, Primark and Apple.

Xanadú Madrid receives almost 13 million visitors per year and generates sales of around €230 million.

The shopping centre houses an indoor ski area – the only one in Spain and the largest in Europe – covering around 18,000 m2, as well as 15 cinema screens, a mini-golf course, a mini theme park, themed restaurants and a bowling alley.

In addition, Ivanhoé signed an agreement with Parques Reunidos last summer to construct an aquarium in Madrid Xanadú. Both companies reached an agreement with Viacom International Media Networks, a division of Viacom, to construct a theme park based on Nickelodeon characters in Xanadú.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo and R. Casado)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Intu To Buy Xanadú Shopping Centre In Madrid For €500M

1 February 2017 – Real Estate Press

Intu has put the highest offer on the table for the Xanadú shopping centre and, although the final terms of the deal have not yet been agreed, all indications suggest that the British group will end up acquiring the sought-after asset.  

Market sources say that the price of this operation (…) could reach as much as €500 million, with an initial yield of almost 4%. That figure would represent a milestone for the market and represents yet another example of the high degree of interest being shown in this kind of asset.

A price of €500 million would exceed the €495 million paid by Deutsche Bank when it purchased Diagonal Mar in Barcelona last year and would make it the largest shopping centre transaction ever closed in Spain.

The Xanadú shopping centre, which is located in the Madrilenian municipality of Arroyomolinos, was inaugurated in May 2003 and is owned by the Canadian group Ivanhoé Cambrdige, the real estate division of Caisse de Dépôt et placement du Québec, one of Canada’s largest institutional funds.

Ivanhoé bought Madrid Xanadú in 2006 from Mills Corporation, together with two other shopping centres, one in Canada – Vaughan Mills (Ontario) and one in Scotland – Saint Enoch (Glasgow) – for a combined value of around €770 million.

The shopping centre in Arroyomolinos has a total surface area of c. 180,000 m2, as well as almost 10,000 parking spaces, of which 500 are indoors.

Madrid Xanadú houses almost 220 stores, leased to tenants such as Hipercor, El Corte Inglés, Bricor, Apple, Hollister and Decathlon. It also offers leisure facilities, oriented towards families and young people, including a 15-screen cinema, a mini-golf course, a mini theme park, themed restaurants and a bowling alley.

The shopping centre also has an indoor ski area, the only one in Spain and the largest in Europe, with almost 18,000 m2 of slopes.

Moreover, last summer, Ivanhoé signed an agreement with the attraction park manager Parques Reunidos to construct an Aquarium in Madrid Xanadú. Both companies reached the agreement with Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), a division of Viacom to construct a leisure centre with characters from Nickelodeon at Madrid Xanadú.

The aquarium, which will open its doors in 2017, will be the first in Madrid and the first in a shopping centre in Spain, whilst the Nickelodeon leisure centre will open its doors at the beginning of 2018 and will be the first of its kind in Madrid. Madrid Xanadú is located fifteen minutes from the centre of the capital by car and is well connected to all points in the Community of Madrid.

Original story: Real Estate Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

Deutsche Bank’s Socimi To Buy Alcalá Magna Shopping Centre

23 January 2017 – Cinco Días

The Socimi Trajano, managed by Deutsche Bank, is finalising what will be its largest purchase since its creation in 2015. It is planning to acquire the Alcalá Magna shopping centre (Alcalá de Henares, Madrid) for €100 million.

Deutsche Bank is investing in Spain again and in a shopping centre once more. Whilst last year, it broke records through its vehicle Deutsche Asset Management’s purchase of  Diagonal Mar in Barcelona for €493 million, now it is planning to close its Spanish Socimi Trajano’s largest operation to date, by acquiring Alcalá Magna for around €100 million.

This shopping centre in Alcalá de Henares is currently owned by the Spanish fund Incus Capital, whose shareholders include Estanislao Carvajal, Álvaro Rivera and Alejandro Moya. The investment vehicle has assets amounting to €600 million in its portfolio and it spent €200 million on a dozen operations in 2016. In turn, Incus acquired Alcalá Magna from CBRE Global Investors two years ago.

Alcalá Magna was inaugurated in 2007, has a gross leasable area of 34,165m2 and employs around 500 people. It has 1,265 parking spaces and 94 stores, including H&M, Zara, C&A, Sfera, Cortefiel and a Mercadona supermarket. Moreover, almost 25% of its space is used for leisure and restaurant purposes.

For Trajano, the Socimi managed by Deutsche Bank, this will be its largest acquisition. Last October, the company successfully completed a €47 million capital increase “to be able to undertake additional investments amounting to between €95 million and €100 million”, according to reports by the company in a statement.

The company’s investment strategy focuses on: offices located in peripheral areas of Madrid and Barcelona and in prime areas of other cities; shopping centres that are in leadership positions and that generate recurrent cash flow; as well as logistics parks, primarily in Madrid, Barcelona, País Vasco and Valencia.

Trajano already manages €181 million in four assets, with a total managed surface area of 117,000 m2. It closed its last transaction at the end of last year, with the purchase of four logistics warehouses in Zaragoza for €42.9 million.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz and Pablo Martín Simón)

Translation: Carmel Drake

JLL: RE Inv’t Amounted To €8,757M In 2016

13 January 2017 – Expansión

Between January and December, investors spent €8,757 million buying tertiary assets, according to data from the real estate consultancy JLL. This figure is the second highest in the last decade, and is €650 million below the volume of sales and purchases recorded in 2015. That was the year when the invasion of international funds into Spain and the consolidation of the Socimis took the real estate market to figures never seen before, with a volume of investment upwards of €9,400 million.

But, unlike the previous year, 2016 saw the rise of commercial assets (primarily, shopping centres and high street premises) to lead the ranking in terms of real estate investment by segment, accounting for almost €3,000 million (€2,977 million, according to JLL) compared to €2,806 million spent on offices.

Two operations, the purchase of Torre Foster by Amancio Ortega, for €490 million and Merlin’s acquisition of Parque Adequa for €380 million, boosted the investment figure in the office segment, which, although hasn’t completely lost its appeal for buyers, has been relegated to second place due to a shortage of available prime space. (…).

Funds are selling off assets

The opposite is happening in the case of large commercial establishments. International funds’ interest in selling the properties that they bought during the crisis led to a boom in major operations last year, including the sale of the Diagonal Mar shopping centre by Northwood, which was acquired by one of Deutsche Bank’s real estate funds for €493 million; and the sale of Gran Vía de Vigo, for which the Socimi Lar España paid the fund Oaktree €145 million. (…).

In the case of hotels, despite significant one-off sales, such as the operation involving Hotel Villamagna, which was acquired by the Turkish group Dogus for €180 million, overall the investment volume fell from €2,739 million in 2015 to €2,155 million last year. Even so, the figure for 2016 exceeds the investment volume recorded in 2006, which previously held the record, when hotel sales amounted to €1,600 million (out of a total non-residential investment volume of €8,482 million).

Although commercial properties led the ranking as the preferred asset for investors, logistics assets also performed very well. Between January and December, €819 million was invested in logistics warehouses, platforms and centres, according to JLL. This figure practically doubles the purchases completed in 2015, when investors disbursed €434 million on these types of properties, according to the consultancy.

The key behind this success is due to the fact that logistics assets still offer high returns, compared with other properties, such as offices and shopping centres, which have lost some of their investment appeal, due to the high degree of interest in these assets in Spain.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aguirre Newman: RE Inv’t In Barcelona Amounts To €2,500M In 2016

19 December 2016 – La Vanguardia

The real estate market in Barcelona is on course to break records again this year. It is expected to end 2016 with total investment operations amounting to €2,500 million, compared with €1,978 million last year, according to data presented by the real estate consultant Aguirre Newman on Thursday.

2016 will also be a “historical” year for Spain as a whole, with investment figures once again exceeding the level recorded in 2007, the year before the outbreak of the crisis. Investment operations worth almost €14,000 million are forecast to be closed.

Cataluña accounts for 20% of Spain’s total investment in this sector, although that figure is set to increase to 25% in 2017, given the significant potential of Barcelona.

The Director General of Aguirre Newman in Barcelona, Anna Gener, explained that; demand in Barcelona is still very active; there is still a lack of available land for sale; international demand is very active; and the real estate market is regarded as an attractive sector for investment.

Of the total investment volume expected this year, €860 million correspond to offices, down by 2.8% compared to last year, given that 2015 was a year of “blossoming”, when several major corporate operations were recorded after years of crisis.

The residential market will reach €120 million this year, shopping centre investment will amount to €865 million, retail investment will reach €100 million and investment in the industrial sector will amount to €144.1 million, up by 61%, due to the scarcity of land.

Around 80% of the investment volume has been made by international buyers; and domestic investors “are back again” after years away, according to Hipólito Sánchez, Director of Investments.

57% of the investments were made by funds, 26% by Socimis, 10% by private equity firms, 3% by institutional investors and 2% by insurance companies.

The leasing of office space continues to be a very active market; the availability rate has been decreasing since 2012 and now stands at 9.9%.

Construction activity is continuing to recover, with a 40% increase in the number of new construction permits compared to 2016.

The average price of free (unsubsidised) housing increased by 9% in Barcelona this year and by 4.5% across Cataluña. There was also a great deal of interest in renovation projects and in changes of building use status towards high standing residential properties in the centre of Barcelona, where more than 60% of buyers are foreign. (…).

The retail sector has continued to receive interest from investment funds and private equity firms in the main areas of the centre of Barcelona.

La Diagonal has established itself as an area of expansion following its renovation, with a 30% increase in rental income in just two years and the opening of megastores by certain brands, such as Massimo Dutti, Zara, Uniqlo and H&M.

The most important operation in the shopping centre sector was the sale of Diagonal Mar to Deutsche Bank for €495 million.

Another sector that continued to attract investors was logistics, whose investment volume increased by 60% with respect to last year, due to the shortage of land. (…).

The hotel sector has also continued to perform very well, given that prices per room have increased, thanks in part to the fact that there are no new competitors.

The forecasts for 2017 indicate that the real estate sector will continue to attract international investors, demand will continue to be very active, and products will continue to be scarce, although prices are not predicted to rise by very much.

Original story: La Vanguardia

Translation: Carmel Drake

Deloitte: 29 Shopping Centres Worth €1,531M Are Up For Sale

13 December 2016 – Expansión

Between January and October, investors spent €3,028 million buying shopping centres in Spain. That is a historical figure, which pulverises the volume registered in previous years. For example: in 2015, a record year in terms of real estate investment, investors spent 60% less on shopping centres than they did during the first ten months of 2016.

And this strong performance in the retail investment market looks set to continue, given that 29 more properties, with a combined value of €1,531 million, are expected to be sold during the final stretch of the year, according to Deloitte. (…) Of those, four have already changed hands, specifically, the outlet centres located in San Sebastián de los Reyes, Las Rozas and Getafe, which the joint venture owned by Nienver and Tiaa purchased on 23 November, as part of a wider European portfolio that also included three other centres in Italy and Poland, worth €700 million in total. Moreover, the same partnership completed the acquisition of the Nassica shopping centre in Getafe on the same day.

And these are not the only shopping centres that will be changing hands over the next few months, given that other new assets are expected to come onto the market next year, including the Madrid Xanadú shopping centre in Arroyomolinos.

In total, forecasts indicate that transactions amounting to almost €2,000 million (specifically, €1,932 million) will be closed in 2017, with another €604 million worth of shopping centres expected to be sold in 2018, according to sources at the professional services firm.

Gains

Most of the shopping centres that will have new owners over the next 18 months belong to overseas funds that bought these assets before the recovery of the sector, and which now have the opportunity to unwind their investments with significant gains just a few years after they bought them. “The decrease in the risk premium and the recovery in consumption are some of the reasons behind the 16% appreciation in this type of asset over the last 12 months”, said Javier García-Mateo, Financial Advisory Partner at Deloitte.

In fact, we have already seen operations of this kind in 2016, such as the sale of the Gran Vía de Vigo shopping centre, which the fund Oaktree sold in the summer to the Socimi Lar España for €145 million. The US fund had acquired the centre two years earlier for €115 million. (…). Meanwhile, Northwood sold Diagonal Mar for €495 million after buying it two years ago for around €150 million.

“Above all, the buyers of the shopping centres that will come up for sale in the short term will be core and core plus funds, which will take over from the more opportunist (distress) investors, which made their purchases during the previous period”, said García-Mateo. In this way, transactions amounting to €4,067 million are expected to be closed over the next two years; more than €1,200 million will be invested by institutional funds, insurance companies, and more risk-averse investors, followed by core plus investors, which will account for almost 40% of the total investment volume, compared with €108 million that opportunist funds are expected to invest in shopping centres, according to Deloitte.

Financing

Along with the improvement in the Spanish economy, another question that will help this investment volume will be the better access to financing for this kind of operation.

In this sense, more than 55% of the €4,067 million that is expected to be invested in shopping centres between now and 2018 will benefit from financing, for more than 50% of the total asset value, compared with 16% that will not be financed by any kind of loan.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

C&W: RE Inv’t Amounts To €5,500M During YTD Sept 16

30 November 2016 – Expansión

Change in the trend / Investment fell by 25% during the first nine months of the year, excluding Merlin’s purchase of Metrovacesa’s assets.

During the first nine months of 2016, real estate investment in Spain (excluding the purchase of residential and corporate assets) amounted to €5,500 million, down by 25% compared to the same period last year, but in line with the first three quarters of 2014.

If we include Merlin’s integration of Metrovacesa’s assets, this figure increases by €1,000 million, explain sources at the consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) in their latest report.

By type of buyer, international funds lead the investor ranking, accounting for 57% of all investment, however, Spanish firms, led by the Socimis and in some cases privately owned firms such as Pontegadea, are starting to bring domestic capital into line with overseas capital as we head into the final month of the year. In 2015, domestic buyers accounted for 57% of all operations.

The decrease in investment volumes in 2016 is explained by a reduction in purchases during the first six months of the year, given that, during the third quarter, several large operations have been signed, including the acquisition of the Diagonal Mar shopping centre in Barcelona, by Deutsche Bank’s real estate fund, which paid €495 million for the property; and Torre Foster, which was acquired by Amancio Ortega’s real estate company (Pontegadea) for €490 million.

Excluding these operations, the average volume per acquisition has decreased this year, from €55 million to €40 million, say sources at Cushman & Wakefield (C&W). The average over the last decade stands at €50 million.

Shopping centres

By type of asset, the large shopping establishments (centres, retail parks and flagship stores) have been the stars of the investment market so far in 2016, accounting for 44% of the total, according to the report. In this way, in addition to Diagonal Mar, the following establishments have changed hands: the ABC Serrano in Madrid and the Gran Vía in Vigo. “Investment in retail in Spain is much more oriented towards foreign capital, above all, in the case of shopping centres”, say sources at the consultancy firm.

Meanwhile, offices have accounted for 25% of the total investment volume, compared with 30% on average over the last ten years.

Purchases of logistics assets are recovering well, thanks to the high returns that they now offer compared to other types of properties, whose returns have started to decrease due to high demand. One of the most important operations of the year saw the fund CBRE Global Investors purchase 16 logistics centres from Metrovacesa.

By location, Madrid maintained its position as the leading destination for real estate investment in Spain, accounting for 30% of the total.

After a strong third quarter, the forecast for the end of the year is positive, but lower than the figure recorded in 2015. “We estimate a total spend of around €8,000 million for the full year (excluding Metrovacesa’s office portfolio, worth €1,000 million), compared with €8,600 million last year”, say C&W.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Deloitte Is The Leading Advisor Of Shopping Centre Deals

20 October 2016 – Expansión

The Big Four are positioning themselves as major players in the market to advise real estate operations and are gaining ground in a segment that has been dominated by other players until now. The professional services firms are looking for new business niches in order to generate returns and strengthen their audit businesses, which generate significant recurring income for their balance sheets, but which are now mature markets, with limited margin for growth.

This effort has led the Big Four to dominate the transaction advisory sector and, in the case of Deloitte, it has managed to gain a foothold in the market that has been particularly dominated by real estate consultancy firms until now: the shopping centre segment.

Specifically, the company chaired by Fernando Ruiz now leads the ranking after participating in almost half of the major operations closed in 2016 to date. So far this year, transactions amounting to almost €2,000 million have been signed in the shopping centre segment, which has become one of the star products of the real state market, boosted by the economic recovery and improvement in consumption.

In this growing market, which still has further potential for growth, Deloitte has earned its place as an advisor of choice. Specifically, the professional services firm achieved a market share of more than 50% of the transaction volume, outperforming CBRE, with 32%, PwC, with 7% and JLL and Savills, with 4% each.

Deloitte participated alongside CBRE in the largest operation of the year so far in the shopping centre segment: Diagonal Mar (Barcelona). The asset was acquired by Deustche Bank from Northwood over the summer for almost €500 million. Deloitte advised the buyer whilst CBRE advised the seller.

The professional services firm has also advised Carrefour on its purchase of 36 supermarkets from Eroski for €205 million and TPG’s acquisition of the L’Aljub shopping centre in Elche (Alicante) for €100 million. Another major operation closed this year in this segment involved the Gran Via de Vigo shopping centre, which was acquired by Lar España in a deal advised by another Big Four firm, PwC.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

CBRE: RE Inv’t Amounted To €6,191M In YTD Sept 2016

3 October 2016 – Expansión

After two years of record breaking figures, the Spanish real estate sector is heading into the final stretch of the year with more modest forecasts. According to a report prepared by the real estate consultancy CBRE, investors spent €6,191 million buying real estate assets during the first nine months of 2016. That figure represents a 21% decrease compared to last year and is 11% lower than the level recorded during the same period in 2014.

Nevertheless, the amount has been very well received in the sector, given that the last two years have been regarded as “exceptional”. “The trend is still very strong, investors are still putting their faith in the Spanish real estate sector, given the lack of other types of alternative investment options and because real estate in the rest of Europe is very expensive”, said Lola Martínez, Director of Research at CBRE.

This optimism is reflected in the forecasts for the year end close, which are expected to amount to between €8,500 million and €9,000 million. “If we exclude the value of Metrovacesa’s assets to be included in the upcoming merger with Merlin, the year will close in line with the forecasts, thanks to several large-scale operations that are expected to be signed during the last quarter”, said sources at the consultancy firm.

Operations in the pipeline

In this sense, they highlighted Amancio Ortega’s purchase of Torre Cepsa on Friday for €490 million; the sale of the Adequa business park in Las Tablas (Madrid), which the Socimi Merlin will acquire in December for €380 million; and the sale of Edificio España, which the Murcian group Baraka, led by Trinitario Casanova, is due to sign on 15 October, for around €272 million.

Alongside them, experts expect El Corte Inglés to close the sale of its logistics portfolio for between €250 million and €300 million and for Gas Natural to sell several corporate buildings and remain as the tenant (in an operation known as sale & leaseback) for another €200 million.

These five operations alone amount to more than €1,500 million. “If we add up only the transactions that have already been announced, then we reach the forecast figure; and other deals may come up – there is always activity during the final quarter of the year”, said Martínez.

By type of property, commercial assets have taken over the number 1 spot from offices, which traditionally accounted for most of the investment in Spain. “The sales of Adequa and Torre Cepsa mean that the office market is going to make a come back. Nevertheless, we have just had two years of madness, with the Socimis proving themselves to be particularly active in 2015; now, there are fewer products, and prices are not as attractive for the experts”.

In the case of shopping centres, forecast indicate a slightly lower volume than recorded in 2015, despite the signing of major operations such as the purchase of Diagonal Mar in Barcelona, for around €500 million by Deutsche Bank and the acquisition by the Socimi Lar of Gran Vía de Vigo for €141 million.

In the case of the logistics business, “until the first half of the year, it was the best performing segment compared with 2015, but, it lost strength to the commercial segment during the third quarter. Nevertheless, operations such as the sale by El Corte Inglés will help it recover”.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Ivanhoé Puts Madrid’s Xanadú Shopping Centre Up For Sale

14 September 2016 – Cinco Días

It is going to be one of the largest operations in the real estate market. The Canadian giant Ivanhoé Cambridge has begun the process to prepare the sale of the Xanadú de Arroyomolinos shopping centre (in Madrid), one of the largest five shopping centres in Spain. The aim is to close the transaction during the first half of 2017.

Several real estate brokers have already registered their interest and, in turn, have started to sound out potential investors with high purchasing power, given that it is expected that the operation price will exceed €500 million; that would represent a record figure for a transaction involving a shopping centre in Spain.

Madrid Xanadú was inaugurated in 2003. The property was developed by a joint venture between the US multi-national The Mills and the Spanish company PGC (Parcelatoria Gonzalo Chacón), which sold its stake to its American partner a year later. The real estate company Ivanhoé Cambridge acquired the centre in 2007 for €770 million, in an operation that included two other retail complexes in the UK and Canada.

Located 29 km away from the centre of Madrid, Xanadú was an innovation more than a decade ago as it included an artificial ski slope, open all year round. The centre has a gross leasable and leisure area measuring 152,000 sqm, exceeded only by Puerto Venecia (Zaragoza), Marineda City (A Coruña) and Parquesur (in Leganés, Madrid), according to data from the Spanish Association of Shopping Centres and Retail Parks (AECC). The centre is home to range of stores including the Inditex group, H&M, Apple and Primark. Hipercor and El Corte Inglés also have shops there, although those assets would fall outside of this transaction.

The search for investors

Various source in the sector have confirmed that Ivanhoé Cambridge has commissioned the US real estate broker Eastdil Secured to start designing the sales process. It is likely that the firm will look for a partner with a presence in Spain (one of the large specialist consultancy firms) with more knowledge of the local market. The aim is that the process to look for possible buyers will begin between October and November so that an agreement can be reached from the beginning of next year onwards.

Eastdil Secured was in fact responsible for selling the Diagonal Mar shopping centre in Barcelona this summer to Deutsche Bank for €493 million, in a record deal that demonstrated investors’ confidence in the economic recovery in Spain and in the local real estate sector after the harsh years of the crisis, which began in 2008.

Expected to fetch at least €450 million

The various sources disagree with respect to the possible price of this asset, saying that it could range from €450 million to more than €500 million. In its favour, this shopping centre is one of the largest in the country, it houses many of the major retailers, and it also offers a vast leisure space. But, unlike Diagonal Mar, it is a long way from the city centre. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Ivanhoé Cambridge explained that the firm does not comment on “market speculation” about the investment strategy.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake