Tag: façade

Merlin Invests €55M to Reposition its Assets in Azca (Madrid)

24 May 2018 – Expansión

Merlin has launched an ambitious renovation plan for two of its buildings located in the heart of Madrid’s financial district, the Azca complex, one of the capital’s most important commercial and business areas.

Specifically, the Socimi led by Ismael Clemente is going to invest €55 million to refurbish the building located at number 83 and 85 Paseo de la Castellana and another property located in Plaza Ruiz Picasso. The company plans to start the renovation work in 2020.

In the property located at numbers 83 and 85 Paseo de la Castellana, the company is planning a complete renovation of the façade and entrance lobby, which will have a triple height ceiling. Similarly, the refurbishment of the building will include the common areas and other installations.

This building, the current headquarters of Sacyr, has a surface area of 15,254 m2 spread over the ground floor, 11 above ground floors and two underground floors. The aim of the Socimi is to strengthen the space dedicated to retail.

Comprehensive renovation

The Socimi will invest €25 million in that renovation project, which will require almost the entire building to be vacated. “It is one of the best buildings in Madrid and we hope that it will be the doorway to the future reconfigured Azca that we are working on”, said Ismael Clemente, CEO of Merlin, speaking a few days ago at the General Shareholders’ Meeting. In addition, Merlin will invest €30 million to reposition the property in Plaza Ruiz Picasso and to create a building with “the most extensive and best-equipped floor space in all of Azca”.

That asset, which has a surface area of 31,576 m2, will have dual access, from Calle Trías Bertrán and Plaza Ruíz Picasso, and will contain various retail spaces. “This building is almost invisible at the moment but that situation will change after the renovation. The location is crying out for it”, said Clemente.

The director explained that the property has an “exceptional” parking provision for an office building, given that, initially, it was conceived as a shopping centre. Merlin is working with the Spanish architecture studio Fenwick Iribarren to renovate this building (…)

These two buildings owned by Merlin live alongside Torre Titania, the skyscraper owner by El Corte Inglés (…). Meanwhile, Castellana 81 and Torre Ederra, located at number 77 Paseo de la Castellana, are owned by the Socimi GMP; Torre Europe is controlled by Infinorsa; whilst Torre Picasso belongs to Pontegadea, the investment vehicle owned by Amancio Ortega (…).

The Landmark I Plan

The renovation of these two properties forms part of a larger project, the Landmark I Plan, which comprises a total investment of €250 million in office buildings over the next four years.

Within the framework of the Landmark I Plan, Merlin is going to handover Torre Glòries in Barcelona and Torre Chamartín. Over the next few years, the Socimi is also going to renovate the properties located at numbers 38 and 40 Calle Alcalá, Castellana 93, Alfonso XI and Princesa 5-7 in Madrid;  as well as Diagonal 605 in Barcelona; and Monumental and Marqués de Pombal 3 in Lisbon.

“Over the next 12 to 18 months, there is going to be more demand than supply in the market due to the volume of obsolete products. At that point, rents will enjoy a sweet moment, and will move significantly upwards”, say sources at the Socimi.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

The Owners of Sambil Outlet Enter Spain’s Luxury Residential Market

4 April 2018 – Expansión

Having arrived in Spain in December 2012, the Venezuelan group Sambil, controlled by the Cohen family, has just launched its second project in the country. Whilst in the case of the first, its activity involved the purchase and subsequent transformation of the M-40 shopping centre – located in the Madrilenian town of Leganés and closed after it filed for bankruptcy – into the largest shopping outlet in Spain, it is now placing its focus on the luxury residential market.

Sambil has purchased a building located on Calle Ramón de la Cruz, in the heart of the Salamanca neighbourhood of the Spanish capital. After investing €11.5 million on that acquisition, the Venezuelan group has just launched its plans to create 14 luxury homes, with between two and four bedrooms.

“A year and a half ago, we purchased this small building, as a taster, to gain knowledge about the market. There we are going to build 14 luxury apartments, with a total investment of €24 million”, explains Alfredo Cohen, Director General of the Sambil group.

For its design, the company has engaged the architect Carlos Calero and the interior designer Ricardo de la Torre, whilst the marketing will be led by The Corner Group. “We expect the construction work to begin in May and to be completed two years later”, say sources at the company. The work will include the comprehensive renovation of the building, preserving the protected features such as the façade and the stairway. “We will undertake the construction work ourselves, given that we are builders”, said Cohen.

The homes will have a minimum surface area of 160 m2 and will span up to almost 300 m2 for the largest properties; they will cost between €1.5 million and more than €3 million for the penthouse. “There are going to be 14 super-luxury homes with common terrace areas with a jacuzzi, gym, sauna and robotic parking, amongst other services”.

A real estate giant

Founded 40 years ago by Salomon Cohen Levy and led today by his children, Sambil is one of the largest owners of shopping centres in South America. Most of its establishments are located in Venezuela, where the company is still working despite the problems in the country (…). Outside of Venezuela, the company, which has also developed hotels and other real estate complexes, has projects in Puerto Rico and on the Caribbean island of Curaçao.

In addition to the project in the Salamanca neighbourhood, Sambil is working on new opportunities in the Spanish market, both in the commercial and residential segments. “As a construction company we look at everything, but what we would most like to do is to build more Sambil centres”, said Cohen.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Invesco Invests €80M in Madrid Logistics Park to be Built by Pavasal

19 March 2018 – Expansión

The Valencian construction company Pavasal and the investment fund manager Invesco have reached an agreement to develop the largest available area of logistics space for rent in the city of Madrid, with an investment of €80 million.

The project will involve the construction, by Pavasal, of a logistics park spanning 90,000 m2, just 8km from the centre of the Spanish capital, which Invesco will subsequently purchase. The operation has been advised by the consultancy firm BNP Paribas Real Estate.

The Madrid M-40 Logistics Park (PAL-40), which is going to be located alongside the M-40, will be built in two phases. The first phase will involve the construction of a building measuring more than 45,000 m2. This property may be leased in modules upwards of 2,500 m2 to several tenants or be occupied by a single logistics operator.

Work on the first phase is scheduled to begin during the second half of 2018 and the keys are expected to be handed over during the third quarter of next year.

Meanwhile, the second phase of the project will include another 45,000 m2 of logistics space, which may be used for turn-key projects adapted to the needs of operators.

Last mile delivery

The park is going to be constructed on the basis of a ratio of more than 2,000 delivery operations per day and will optimise delivery times thanks to its location with respect to the large population nuclei and logistics activity centres. Moreover, it will receive an energy efficiency certificate, according to those responsible for the project.

Specifically, the platform will have a 336-metre long façade overlooking the motorway and will be accessible by vehicle from Avenida de Andalucía, which the logistics sector call the last mile.

In this way, the new logistics park is going to be located less than 8km from Puerta del Sol, close to the Atocha AVE station and 19km from the airport.

The logistics sector was one of the segments that performed the best last year, as shown by the large volume of land that was bought and sold thanks to the growing demand for logistics space by companies dedicated to e-commerce.

Thus, the level of uptake in the sector in the market of Madrid and its area of influence reached historical highs in 2017, with 886,405 m2 of space leased, according to data compiled by BNP Paribas Real Estate.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Colonial To Build 24,500 m2 Office Skyscraper In 22@

16 February 2017 – La Vanguardia

Colonial has started construction of the largest turnkey office building in the Catalan capital in recent years in the 22@ district of Barcelona. The office will have a surface area of 24,500 m2, distributed over 17 completely open-plan floors – there will not be any pillars – measuring around 1,800 m2 each. The real estate company will invest €77 million in the project and construction is expected to be completed by the middle of 2018.

At a press conference on Monday, Colonial’s Director of Business, Alberto Alcober, explained that this building will seek to offer the highest qualities in terms of spatial and environmental design – it will become the first office building in the city of Barcelona to receive the LEED Platinum certificate – whereby allowing it to differentiate itself from the existing supply of office buildings in the city.

The property is located on Calle Ciutat de Granada, 150, next to Plaza de Glòries; it will have a 100m long façade covered with ceramic tubes in green and natural tones, and the façade that overlooks the interior of the block will be covered with vegetation to help it blend in with a municipal park that is due to be built there.

The property, whose design is being led by the studio Batlle i Roig Arquitectura, will also have garden terraces. It is being marketed exclusively by Cushman & Wakefield, which has already secured a pre-lease contract with the Norwegian group Schibsted to occupy 10,200 m2 – 9,400 m2 of office space and 800 m2 of terrace – spread over six floors, to house between 700 and 800 employees.

Schibsted will hereby bring together the workforce that currently occupies three buildings in the Barcelona area – two in the capital and one in Sant Cugat de Vallès – and increasing its surface area by 30%. To this end, it has signed the largest pre-lease agreement in the city in the last 10 years for a building under construction. (…).

Besides Schibsted, which owns websites such as Infojobs, Vibbo, Fotocasa, Habitaclia, Milanuncios and Coches.net, the future office building is receiving lots of interest from other potential tenants, according to its promoters.

This project forms part of the investment plan announced by Colonial in 2016. The real estate group acquired it from the fund Benson Elliot for €45 million and will spend €32 million on the construction work.

Original story: La Vanguardia

Translation: Carmel Drake

French Group Sermeta Buys Gran Hotel de Sóller For €10M

4 January 2017 – Última Hora

The French business group Sermeta, led by Joseph Le Mer, has just acquired the centrally located and iconic Gran Hotel Sóller (on the island of Mallorca) for €10 million from the Sóller-based businessman Andreu Gelabert.

Gelabert confirmed that the completion of this operation will ensure the continuity of this luxury establishment, located just a stone’s throw from Plaza Constitució and the municipal market. He also reported that he will continue to be involved with the property as advisor to the new owner. According to Gelabert, “the good news is that all of the staff at the hotel will continue at the establishment, working for the new owner”.

It has long been rumoured in Sóller that the Gran Hotel may be sold and Andreu Gelabaert himself said just a few days ago that “offers had been received and were being considered”. On Monday, he confirmed that a deal had been reached, along with its price. “The new owners intend to acquire three more hotels on the island (of Mallorca)”, said the Sóller-based businessman “and expansion plans are in the pipeline for the Gran Hotel, but I cannot reveal any more details for the time being”. Even so, Gelabert reported that the property “will open for business on 10 February 2017, like it does every year”.

The building

The Gran Hotel Sóller occupies a single historicist-style building – known as Can Cremat – whose façade was designed by the architect Joaquim María Pavía Birmingham. Built at the end of the 19th century, the property was originally a residential building and then used for industrial purposes until Josep Maria Vicens Casasnovas turned it into a B&B in the 1960s and then into Hotel Sóller.

Andreu Gelabert acquired the property in 2002 after it had been closed down for years. He undertook a comprehensive renovation to turn the building into the first five-star rated property in the area; it re-opened in 2004 with 38 rooms. Gelabert is a highly valued businessman in Sóller. In 2007, the Town Hall awarded him the Escut d’Or for his entrepreneurship and support for tourism and sport.

Original story: Última Hora (by Lluc García)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Baraka Wants To Double Edificio España’s Value In 3 Years

19 December 2016 – El País

The Murcian group Baraka, led by the businessman Trinitario Casanova, has completed its purchase of Edificio España from the Chinese group Wanda. The historical property, located in Plaza de España in Madrid, will be sold for €272 million, which is €7 million more than the Asian firm paid Banco Santander for the property back in 2014. Nevertheless, following the renovation work, the building is expected to be worth €532 million, according to a report by JLL filed with the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The owner of Baraka, Trinitario Casanova, will hand over a cheque amounting to €272 million, within the next three months (before 31 March) for the building, which the Chinese group Wanda is selling for almost the same price at which it purchased it from Banco Santander (€265 million). (…).

The President of the Chinese group, Wang Jianlin, who is the richest man in China, decided to sell the building to Baraka because the Murcian holding company promised that it would make a fast and secure payment to ensure the quick sale of the building, according to several sources.

Under the terms of the operation, Baraka has now paid Wanda €6 million by way of deposit and has made the commitment to pay another €14 million by way of guarantee when the public deed is signed before the notary. It will then pay the remaining €252 million.

Meanwhile, the consultancy firm Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL), which led the negotiations between the two companies, submitted a technical report to Wanda, which the Chinese Group has sent to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The report explains that, following the renovation work, the building will be worth €532.5 million. If this is the case, Baraka will earn almost twice as much as it spent to acquire the building in just three years, which will represent a profit of almost 100% of the capital employed for the purchase.

The Murcian businessman Casanova, who has been investigated for an alleged fraud of €6 million against the Tax Authorities and who was sentenced to one year in prison in 2008 for altering the value of shares in Banco Popular, is keen to renovate both the outside and inside of the building. Its architects have been working on the plans for months and the construction work will begin at the beginning of January, said Casanova in October.

The façades of Edificio España will remain in tact, as required by the Town Hall of Madrid, whilst the changes to the interior will serve to accommodate a large luxury hotel from 2019 onwards (probably operated by the Hard Rock Café chain). This hotel will have 600 rooms and a lease contract of 30 years. Those are Baraka’s intentions at least.

The first three floors and the basement (a space measuring up to 15,000 m2, of the building’s total surface area of 71,000 m2) will be let to retail groups.

Few changes

“The building will remain practically the same as it used to be. It will be cleaner, more beautiful and restored, but aesthetically it will be the same”, said the businessman in his most recent official appearance before the press. (…).

Original story: El País (by Luca Constantini)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Baraka Makes A Second Payment To Wanda For Edificio España

3 November 2016 – Expansión

The Baraka Group, owned by the businessman Trinitario Casanova, has made another payment to the Chinese group Wanda for Edificio España. With this payment, which will be added to the amount that the Murcian group handed over in July, another step is taken in the negotiations. The transaction is expected to close at the end of 2016 or during the first few months of next year.

Wanda, which acquired Edificio España from Banco Santander for €265 million in July 2014, decided to abandon the project following disagreements with the Town Hall of Madrid regarding the conservation of the exterior façade. It signed an agreement in principle with the Baraka Group in July 2016 to sell the property for €272 million.

In July, Baraka paid a deposit of €1 million and so Wanda promised to not negotiate the sale of the property with any other candidate at least until the middle of October. Casanova’s offer for Edificio España specifies that the acquisition will be made using the group’s own funds, although Baraka is now looking for financing in order to undertake the subsequent renovation of the property.

In parallel, the Baraka Group’s holding company is making progress in its conversations with the Hard Rock hotel group, which has expressed interest in operating the hotel that will occupy most of the building. Specifically, the Baraka Group’s plans involve opening a retail space on the first few floors of the building, and using the rest of the property to house a luxury hotel with 600 rooms, which will open its doors between the end of 2018 and the middle of 2019.

The property has a surface area of 71,000 m2, of which 15,000 m2 will be used for the retail space between the first basement floor and the third floor, and the rest will converted into the five star hotel.

Casanova has promised to conserve the main façade and the rest of the building’s external structure and whereby comply with the demands imposed by Madrid’s Urban Development team.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Edificio España Hotel: Baraka Negotiates With Starwood, Hyatt & Meliá

20 September 2016 – Expansión

Edificio España will not contain any homes, but it will house a luxury hotel and shopping centre. The Murcian group Baraka, owned by the businessman Trinitario Casanova, is pushing ahead with its new project in Madrid.

In July, Baraka reached an agreement with the Chinese group Wanda to buy Edificio España. The company, controlled by the magnate Wang Jianlin, will sell the Madrilenian skyscraper for a similar price to which it bought it – around €270 million, compared with the €265 million that it paid – two years after acquiring it from Banco Santander, after it ran into problems with the Town Hall of Madrid regarding the renovation of the building.

The new owner, which plans to complete the purchase of the property on 15 October, has decided to eliminate the 300 homes that were included in the original plans and construct a 22-storey hotel, as well as a shopping area, which will occupy the first three floors of the 117m tall building, which has a surface area of 76,000 sqm, according to El Mundo.

In fact, Baraka is already negotiating with several international hotel chains, including Hyatt, Starwood and Meliá, for the rental contract of the future hotel space. The new operator will replace Wanda Hotels & Resorts, the chain that Jianlin was going to open in the middle of 2019, his first property in Spain in the iconic Madrilenian building.

The Town Hall

Whilst Baraka negotiates with the hotel operators to lease more than 67,000 sqm of space, it has also made contact with the Town Hall of Madrid, filing an urban planning consultation regarding the construction work that it may undertake at the property.

The new owner must maintain the façade of the building in tact, something that went against Wanda’s plans, which sought to dismantle the façade of Edificio España “brick by brick” and subsequently reconstruct it using more modern materials.

The inability to develop his plans led Wanda to instruct the property consultancy JLL to sell the building. In the end, the Chinese group opted for the bid submitted by Baraka, and the operation will be completed next month.

Other funds were interested in acquiring this property, which used to belong to Metrovacesa before Santander, including the US fund Hines, the housing manager Domo, the real estate fund of Axa and the Philippine group Emperador, the owner of another skyscraper in Madrid, Torrespacio, located in the Cuatro Torres complex.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Deutsche Bank Buys Diagonal Mar For €495M

2 August 2016 – Expansión

Yesterday, Deutsche Bank completed the purchase of the Diagonal Mar shopping centre from Northwood for around €495 million, making it the largest shopping centre transaction in the history of the Spanish market.

In this way, although the final price has been adjusted downwards with respect to the non-binding offer presented by the entity (which valued the asset at €505 million), it still exceeds the €451 million that Intu Properties paid for Puerto Venecia (Zaragoza) and the €375 million that Klépierre spent on the acquisition of Plenilunio (Madrid).

The operation also generates significant capital gains for Northwood, which acquired the property from the Irish bad bank Nama for €150 million in 2015. CBRE has advised this operation on the sell-side, whilst Deloitte advised the buy-side.

Background

The shopping centre, located in district 22@ in Barcelona, has passed through many hands since the real estate company Hines was awarded the mixed use project at the end of the 1990s. The project included a residential area, offices, hotels and a large shopping centre, with a constructed surface area of 100,500 sqm and a gross leasable area (GLA) of 87,000 sqm, as well as 5,000 parking spaces.

In 2002, the German investment fund Deka paid around €240 million for the property, which, was subsequently sold, in 2006, to the Irish investment group Quinlan for €300 million, in its first operation in Spain. Nevertheless, following the burst of the Irish bubble, the asset was taken over by the banks.

Three years after that operation and in a very different economic environment, the property has generated a lot of interest. Specifically, 18 candidates submitted non-binding offers for the property, including Axa, Invesco, Hines, Unibail, the Singapore sovereign fund GIC, Blackstone and the Socimi Merlin, which was the only Spanish company that submitted an offer, for less than €450 million. Only four candidates participated in the final phase: CBRE Global Investment, ECE, Henderson TH and Deutsche Bank.

In order to reposition the asset, Deutsche Bank plans to invest €30 million over four years in a project that includes restructuring the top floor of the shopping centre to create more space for high-end fashion brands (€15 million), refurbishing the other floors with a budget of around €8 million and renovating the centre’s exterior façade for almost €7 million.

With this renovation, the purchaser expects to strengthen Diagonal Mar’s competitive position and increase its gross operating profit (EBITDA) over five years from €20 million in 2015 to more than €26 million.

Impact

The shopping centre, opened in November 2001, was designed by Jean-Louis Solal and the architect Robert A.M. Stern. Diagonal Mar is located in a prime spot, approximately five kilometres north east of the city centre. With more than 200 outlets dedicated to fashion, restaurants, leisure, a bowling alley and other services, the centre has 4,800 parking spaces and an outdoor space: La Terrassa del Mar. Diagonal Mar received 16.7 million visitors last year, up by 2.3% and generated net sales – excluding Alcampo (which falls outside of the transaction perimeter) – of €210 million, up by 8.5%. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Wanda Confirms Sale Of Edificio España To Baraka For €272M

26 July 2016 – Cinco Días

The Wanda Group has confirmed that it has reached an agreement with the Murcian group Baraka (the investor group owned by Trinitario Casanova) to sell Edificio España for €272 million, but it has made it clear that the deal has not been formalised yet, according to a statement presented to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The price represents €7 million more than the €265 million that Wanda spent when it acquired the property in 2014.

In its statement, Wanda echoed the information circulating in the press that the Group owned by Wang Jianlin has reached an agreement with Baraka to sell Edificio España and it detailed the terms of the sales agreement reached with the Spanish group.

The company owned by Wang Jianlin stated that on 12 July, Wanda European Real Estate Investment and Baraka Global Invest signed a “memorandum of understanding” relating to the negotiation and possible sale “of all of the issued shares, amounting to €272 million.

Under the framework of this memorandum, continued Wanda, Baraka has paid €1 million as a deposit to the Chinese group, which grants the buyer exclusive rights to proceed with the sale until 15 October 2016. Next, it added that the sale is still “under discussion and consultation and is subject to a final agreement between the parties”.

For this reason, it warned that “investors should pay attention to the possible sale, which may or may not go ahead”.

Abandoned plans

The Chinese group put Edificio España up for sale after giving up on its plans for the property, citing technical difficulties. Wanda had wanted to remodel the building to construct a hotel, shopping centre and luxury homes.

The main obstacle was that the Town Hall required the Wanda Group to maintain the façades of the original building.

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake