Andalusian Government Approves Project for Intu Costa del Sol

18 September 2019 The British firm Intu Properties, together with its partner Eurofund, has received the final approval from the Andalusian government to build its commercial and leisure mega-project, the Intu Costa del Sol. The 235,000-m2 development will involve an investment of 800 million euros.

Intu Costa del Sol, located north of Torremolinos and just three kilometres from the airport in Malaga, will have 142,000 square meters of stores, over 20 different options for leisure activities, two hotels, a beach club and a 5,000-person concert venue.

The developer forecasts 23 million visitors to eventually frequent Intu Costa del Sol per year, of which 12.6 million will be tourists. Construction is expected to begin in 2020, with its inauguration planned for 2023.

Original Story: Expansión – Rocío Ruiz

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Eurofund Finalises the Entry of a Partner into its Project in Lleida & Starts Marketing

25 January 2019 – Eje Prime

Eurofund is taking another step towards making the Torres Salses retail park a reality. The company is finalising the incorporation of a partner into its project in Lleida, which will result in a global investment of between €80 million and €100 million. In parallel, Eurofund has now started to market the retail park.

According to explanations provided by sources in the sector speaking to EjePrime, the group is finalising the signing of an agreement with a capitalist partner to handle the investment that the complex will entail. It is a typical move within Eurofund’s strategy, which typically turns to partners to finance investments whilst the fund manager itself takes care of the management.

In parallel, Eurofund has now started the marketing phase of the retail park in Lleida, which will have a surface area of 56,000 m2. The company has started making contact with operators in the leisure (cinema), restaurant, DIY, furniture, gym and food sectors, typical firms in these types of developments.

The Torres Salses project, whose construction will begin in the autumn (2019), is located between the Magraneres and La Bordeta neighbourhoods of Lleida. The complex will become one of the few commercial and leisure spaces in the area.

Last October, Eurofund received the green light from the plenary of the Town Hall of Lleida to undertake the project. In December, Eurofund Parc Lleida signed an urban management agreement with the Town Hall to execute the widening and lengthening of the Víctor Torres road and the modification of the urban planning order for the Sur 42 sector of Torre Salses.

Subsequently, in the middle of December, Eurofund made effective the purchase from Sareb of 140,000 m2 of land in Torre Salses (Lleida). The purchase, carried out through Eurofund Parc Lleida, was completed after Eurofund successfully navigated Sareb’s processes, in particular, those relating to overseas investments.

Following those processes, Eurofund is now just waiting for the commercial licence to be granted for the retail park.

Grupo Eurofund currently owns retail assets amounting to more than €3.5 billion, including centres that it has constructed, as well as those still under construction. The fund manager was founded in 1994 and its first major development was Parc Vallès, in Terrassa (Barcelona).

The company is the owner of complexes such as Puerto Venecia in Zaragoza, and has an alliance with the British operator Intu to develop new shopping centres in Málaga, Valencia and Vigo. Over the last eighteen months, Eurofund Capital Partners has converted almost €350 million into real estate operations in Spain.

Original story: Eje Prime (by P. Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Eurofund Purchases a 140,000 m2 Plot in Lleida from Sareb

19 December 2018 – Eje Prime

Eurofund’s new macro-project in Lleida is taking shape. The group has completed the purchase from the Company for the Management of Assets proceeding from the Restructuring of the Banking System (Sareb) of 140,000 m2 of land in Torre Salses (Lleida). Eurofund’s plans involve investing €80 million to build a new shopping centre with a gross leasable area of 560,000 m2.

The purchase, carried out through Eurofund Parc Lleida, has been completed after Eurofund overcame Sareb’s processes, in particular, those relating to overseas investments. On 4 December, Eurofund Parc Lleida signed an urban planning management agreement with the Town Hall of the Catalan town to execute the widening and extension of Calle Víctor Torres and the modification of the urban planning order for the South 42 Torre Salses sector. The building work is scheduled to begin in the autumn of 2019, according to Eje Prime.

Grupo Eurofund

Eurofund currently owns more than €3.5 billion in commercial assets, including the centres that it has constructed and those that it has under development. The fund manager was founded in 1994 and its first major development was Parc Vallès, in Terrassa (Barcelona).

The company is the owner of complexes such as Puerto Venecia, in Zaragoza, and maintains an alliance with the British operator Intu for the construction of new shopping centres in Málaga, Valencia and Vigo. Over the last 18 months, Eurofund Capital Partners has co-invested almost €350 million in real estate operations in Spain.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Eurofund Gets Green Light for its Retail Macro-Project in Lleida

8 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Eurofund Group has been given the green light for its macro-project in Lleida. Last Friday, the plenary of the Town Hall of Lleida capital approved the commercial development of the Torre Salses project, a retail park complex with a surface area of 56,000 m2. The construction work is expected to begin in the autumn of 2019, according to comments from sources close to the operation speaking to Eje Prime.

The plots on which Torres Salses is going to be built are located between the Magraners and La Bordeta neighbourhoods and “will involve their integration with the city centre”, explained the spokeswoman for the municipal government, Montse Mínguez, recently.

After passing the Town Hall’s filter, Eurofund is now only awaiting the commercial licence to be able to start work on the development of the land. On 21 September, the Informative Committee for Management and Development Policies in the City and Sustainability for the Town Hall of Lleida reported favourably regarding the urban planning process for Torre Salses. It also endorsed both the execution of the widening and extension of the Víctor Torres road and the modification of the urban development order for SUR 42.

The Town Hall approved those files on the understanding that, amongst other aspects, the construction of the complex would strengthen interest in the area for the development of large areas of amenities in the neighbourhoods of La Bordeta and Magraners. Moreover, Eurofund will bear some of the costs of the work to build the roads to access the future retail park complex.

Similarly, the Town Hall trusts that the commercial macro-project will facilitate the development of residential projects, in particular, those dedicated to social housing units. According to the Town Hall of Lleida, Torre Salses will have an economic impact of €362 million on the city.

Owner of Puerto Venecia and Dolce Vita 

Eurofund currently owns more than €3.5 billion in commercial assets, including developed centres and those under construction. The fund manager was founded in 1994 and its first major development was Parc Vallès in Terrassa (Barcelona).

With the new upward economic cycle, the company led by Ian Sandford (pictured above) reactivated its investment in the commercial real estate market with Puerto Venecia, a mega shopping centre spanning 206,000 m2 inaugurated in Zaragoza in 2012.

Original story: Eje Prime (by J. Iquierdo & P. Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Tomás Olivo set to Acquire El Mirador Shopping Centre in Gran Canaria

13 September 2018- Eje Prime

General de Galerías Comerciales is bidding exclusively for the largest retail space in the Canary Islands. Eroski, the owner of the Mirador de Jinámar, is holding exclusive negotiations with the company owned by the Murcian businessman Tomás Olivo, the Socimi General de Galerías Comerciales, with a view to selling the asset. The offer is expected to amount to around €45 million, according to sources close to the operation speaking to Eje Prime.

Valued at between €45 million and €100 million, General de Galerías Comerciales is not the only company that has expressed interest in the shopping centre in Gran Canaria in recent months. In fact, Eurofund’s investment fund offered €46.6 million in July for the asset, which opened its doors to the public in 2010.

Although sources at General de Galerías Comerciales have indicated to Eje Prime that the process is still “in its infancy”, sources in the sector explained that the operation is causing controversy because the company owned by Tomás Olivo has offered less than Eurofund’s bid.

The Mirador de Jinámar is a commercial area promoted by Eroski and the property developer Ambrosio Jiménez. The shopping centre spans a total surface area of 50,000 m2, of which 11,300 m2 is dedicated to the largest hypermarket that the cooperative distribution company belonging to Corporación Mondragón owns in the Canary Islands.

Since November 2010, the Mirador de Jinámar has been home to a total of 120 stores. Spread over two floors, some of the tenants of the property include firms in the Inditex group (its Zara store has a surface area of 2,000 m2), H&M, the Cortefiel and Primark brands (the latter’s store spans 5,000 m2 making it the Irish company’s largest in the Canary Islands).

The complex is located in Jinámar, a neighbourhood located between the municipalities of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Telde, the two most important cities on the island. The complex also has a parking area with capacity for more than 40,000 vehicles.

In a second phase, which is still pending, the centre is planning to expand its offer to include 45,000 m2 of additional space, which will be allocated to DIY and homeware firms (…).

General de Galerías Comerciales, on the hunt for new assets

Controlled by Tomás Olivo,  General de Galerías Comerciales made its debut on the MAB in July last year, to become one of the largest Socimis by capitalisation in the sector. The company has twenty years of experience undertaking its activity right across the value chain, from the purchase of land to the management of assets.

The main assets in its portfolio are retail parks and shopping centres in Spain, such as La Cañada (Marbella), Mediterráneo (Almería), Mataró Parc (Mataró), Gran Plaza (Almería), Las Dunas and Nevada Shopping (Granada). The company also has an extensive portfolio of residential assets and retail premises, as well as land, primarily in the south of Spain. When the company made its debut on the MAB, its portfolio of assets was worth €1.9 billion (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by B. Seijo and P. Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Patron Capital Acquires Los Alcores Shopping Centre

30 April 2017 – ABC

A constant and silent trickle of investments has seen a significant number of the shopping centres in Andalucía change hands. The latest operation was closed in March, when the investment fund Patron Capital – which is headquartered in London and which has a portfolio worth more than €5,000 million – acquired Los Alcores, the most well-known establishment in Alcalá de Guadaíra (with a leasable area of 124,000 m2). Its tenants include H&M, Lefties, Bershka, Stradivarius and Cinesur.

The shopping centre, located at the foot of the A-92 motorway, has belonged to Incus Capital since 2013, just like El Mirador (in Cuenca) and Alzamora (in Alcoy). Now, these three properties have been acquired by Patron Capital, which has joined forces with the firm Eurofund to invest more than €13 million modernising the properties.

According to the experts, the operation makes sense, “Los Alcores is located in an area that will be served by the metro in the near future and which has large residential projects underway nearby, such as Hacienda Rosario being constructed by Aedas Homes; it is highly visible from the motorway and its tenants include many household names”, said Rosa Madrid, Director of CBRE in Andalucía, the firm that advised the operation.

A report by this consultancy highlights that the shopping centre business has “been recovering for several years and recorded a successful year in 2016”. Behind this rise is “the increase in consumption and, therefore, the good indicators in terms of visitor numbers and sales, which improved by 3.1% and 1.6%, respectively (taking the portfolio of shopping centres managed by CBRE in Spain as a sample)”.

From there, the significant interest from the major commercial brands in growing again, “which has allowed shopping centre occupancy rates to increase at a good pace”. In the CBRE portfolio, “the average occupancy rate rose from 89.6% to 93.9% between 2014 and 2016, figures that illustrate the improvement in the sector”.

If we look at what has happened over the last twelve months, it is clear that this sector “is on a roll”. At the end of 2016, the Via Outlet group – in which the London-based giant Hammerson owns a stake – purchased The Style Outlet in the town of San José de la Rinconada (better known as “The Airport Factory”). Until now, that establishment has belonged to a fund promoted by the Spanish real estate company Neinver (controlled by the Losantos family). Its major rival, the Outlet de Dos Hermanas, had already been acquired by Green Oak, just a few months earlier.

Major sales

These operations joined a long list, which also includes Grupo Lar, which sold the Airesur de Castilleja de la Cuesta shopping centre to CBRE Global Investors. And an Andalucían company has also made money in this wave, specifically, the case of Bogaris, which sold six retail parks in Andalucía and Extremadura to Redevco Iberian Ventures in the middle of last year for €95 million (including Kinepolis Pulianas, las Marismas del Polvorín and the Motril retail park).

And the activity does not end there: Axiare Patrimonio purchased the Viaparck shopping centre in Almería for €20 million; Alpha Pyrenees Trust bought the Connecta shopping centre in Córdoba….and just a few weeks ago, New Winds Group (the owner of the Windsor building in Madrid) purchased Málaga Plaza shopping centre. Just another sign of the good health of a business that is taking off again.

Original story: ABC (by Luis Montoto)

Translation: Carmel Drake