Tag: high quality

French Fund Corum AM Acquires Hotel Cartagonova in Cartagena

6 December 2017 – La Verdad

One of the flagship hotels in the Murcian city of Cartagena is changing hands. The French investment fund Corum AM has acquired the 4-star Hotel Cartagonova, located on Calle Marcos Redondo. The property is going to be operated by B&B Hotels on a lease basis for at least fifteen years, according to a statement issued yesterday by the international chain.

The amount paid for the economic operation has not been disclosed. The establishment is going to be renamed B&B Hotel Cartagena and will see 100 rooms of varying sizes go on the market, ranging from individual rooms to suites and family rooms – all of them have been redesigned and modernised in recent years. Moreover, the hotel has a lobby, a meeting room, 31 underground parking spaces and several free services for its guests. According to the buyers, the condition of the facilities is very good, and so they only plan to carry out minimal changes to bring the property in line with the standards of B&B Hotels. The company defines itself as a specialist in “comfortably designed accommodation, offering select high-quality services, at an attractive price”.

The interest from the hotel company in establishing a presence in the tourist city, which is “growing fast” and benefits from a strategic location, has been key to the success of the operation. Its executives have not failed to notice that the port of Cartagena is the country’s fourth busiest in terms of goods traffic. Moreover, the hotel is positioned in a very central location, both for those travelling for pleasure and for business.

“The new B&B Hotel Cartagena has excellent facilities and an unbeatable premium location. It has been designed carefully and will allow us to continue offering our guests high-quality accommodation at an unbeatable price across Europe”, said the chain’s Director of Expansion in Spain, Teresa Pérez.

The company that operates the property formerly known as Hotel Cartagonova owns twenty establishments all over Spain. It closed the first half of this year with a turnover of €13 million. In recent months, it has opened hotels in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol and in the city of Vigo.

Original story: La Verdad (by Gregorio Mármol)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Emerige Will Build 200 Homes In Spain In 2017

18 May 2017 – Observatorio Inmobiliario

The French real estate developer Emerige, which has been operating in Spain since 2013, is going to build 200 homes in Spain during 2017, according to a statement made by the company’s Deputy Director General, Yann Bloch.

At the same time, the head of the French real estate company announced the marketing of its latest development in Madrid, by Proel Consultoría, which will be officially unveiled at SIMA. It is a 105 home development – also containing one commercial unit – located on Calle General Yagüe 37, in the immediate vicinity of the Paseo de la Castellana business district. The development, which is under construction, will feature the high quality and design standards that characterise Emerige.

The French real estate company, founded in 1989 by Laurent Dumas, is one of the major property developers in Paris and the surrounding region. It specialises in the development of offices and homes, as well as in the restructuring of real estate assets. In 2017, it has more than 1,500 homes under construction and more than 200,000 m2 of tertiary space.

Emerige is characterised primarily by its special dedication to aesthetics and the design of its buildings, for which it collaborates with the best international architectural firms (David Chipperfield, RCR, Rafael de la Hoz, Factoría UDA, Antonio Ruiz Barbarín…). Another defining element is the firm’s attention to contemporary art, through patronage work, as well as by incorporating works of art into its projects. “We work in all segments of the market, but always with a special care and requirement for quality. We pay more attention to the quality of our operations than to the quantity”, said Yann Bloch.

This philosophy has been translated into projects that Emerige is constructing in Spain “where we are working only with Spanish collaborators, from the project manager to the architects, always with high levels of quality and demand”.

In theory, Emerige will limit its operations in Spain to central locations of Madrid and Barcelona. In this latest project, it began the journey with a project to renovate a 3,000 m2 property containing 29 homes, which has already been finished and sold in its entirety.

In Barcelona, the firm is currently marketing a project under construction, comprising the transformation of an office building into 24 apartments, located on Calle Montaner. In Madrid, it is currently working on the aforementioned project on Calle General Yaguë and is now at a very advanced stage on another 61-home property on Calle Garibay, 3, in conjunction with the firm Rafael de la Hoz, which it will start to market at the end of the year.

Original story: Observatorio Inmobiliario

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain’s Newest RE Companies Have Assets Worth €4,900M+

24 April 2017 – Expansión

The Spanish real estate sector is enjoying a new phase of growth following its unprecedented crisis. Whilst over the last two years, we saw the boom of the Socimis, specialising in rental properties, 2017 looks set to become the year that the property developers bounce back.

Or at least that is according to the ambitious business plans that the six large companies –Neinor Homes, Aelca, Vía Célere, Aedas, Kronos and Metrovacesa Promoción y Suelo – have put in place, with the aim of benefitting from the growing increase in house sales, and the significant demand from buyers.

To that end, the companies have not hesitated to invest several thousands of millions of euros to create portfolios of land on which to begin their developments. These six developers alone now own assets worth €4,924 million, mostly buildable land, ripe for development. In total, these companies own 6.9 million m2 of land.

Leadership

The entity Metrovacesa Promoción y Suelo stands out on this list of new property developers. The real estate company is looking to recover its sceptre as the Spanish real estate king, after selling its property portfolio to the Socimi Merlin Properties. Owned by Banco Santander, BBVA and Popular, the company currently has 472 homes under construction across 17 developments. Nevertheless, its greatest strength lies in its portfolio of land, which, spanning 2.3 million m2, makes it the largest owner of that type of asset in Spain. Moreover, sources at the company state that its portfolio may increase “considerably this year”, following the contribution of “high-quality land” by the shareholders.

Currently, the land allocated for residential use only is worth €1,050 million. Moreover, it has a portfolio of tertiary land (for offices and shopping centres) worth €325 million and it is already developing a 10,000 m2 office building in Madrid.

Meanwhile, Neinor Homes stands out for its asset value and because it has the largest volume of development activity. Last month, the company, led by the investment fund Lone Star, became the first real estate developer to debut on the stock market in a decade. It did so with a portfolio of assets worth €1,120 million, including land with a surface area of more than 1 million m2. The bell first rang on 29 March, with 4,002 homes under construction across 60 developments.

Vía Célere is following a similar strategy to Neinor. The Madrilenian real estate company is set to become one of the large property developers after it was acquired by five funds, led by Värde Partners, and following its merger with its counterpart Dos Puntos. The new Vía Célere has a portfolio of land spanning more than 1 million m2, with 2,494 homes under construction.

Meanwhile, Aedas Homes, with 1.35 million m2 of land and assets worth €1,100 million, has positioned itself as one of the leading players in the sector after just a few months of life. Led by the fund Castlelake and advised by the team at Merlin, Aedas is currently building 1,510 homes. This year, Aedas has set itself the objective of launching 28 developments and continuing to invest in land purchases. (…).

Another one of the new companies aspiring to the throne of the large property developers is Aelca. Created in 2012, the fund Värde owns a 75% stake in this property developer, which, in turn, owns a portfolio of land measuring between 700,000 m2 and 800,000 m2. Aelca currently has 2,200 homes under construction across 43 developments.

Finally, Kronos Homes is, currently, the company with the smallest portfolio of land. Nevertheless, its shareholders (a group of overseas investors) plan to invest €1,000 million before the end of the year purchasing land on which to build 4,000 homes.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

P3 Acquires 11 Logistics Assets From Gore Spain For €243M

10 April 2017 – P3 Press Release

Pan-European logistics property investor-developer P3 has started its latest phase of expansion with the acquisition of a 322,500 m2 portfolio of 11 logistics and distribution warehouses in Spain from Gore Spain Holdings SOCIMI I, S.A.U. The purchase price was agreed at €243.35 million.

The portfolio includes assets in key strategic logistics locations around Madrid, Zaragoza, Toledo and Guadalajara as well as the coastal cities of Valencia in the east and Biscay (near Bilbao) in the north.

The purchase, which comes shortly after P3 announced a record performance across Europe in 2016, takes P3’s asset base in Spain from just over 70,000 m2 to nearly 400,000 m2 and is one of the largest portfolio transactions in Spain in recent years.

David Marquina, P3’s Managing Director in Spain, said: “This is a good opportunity to reinforce our footprint in Spain’s central logistics corridor, which connects Madrid, Zaragoza and Barcelona. Our next target is to increase our presence in the Mediterranean corridor, around Barcelona & Valencia and expand to Málaga. We will be focusing on acquiring institutional-quality logistics assets and off-market deals, where P3’s long-term investor-developer approach can make a real difference.

“There are several Build-to-Suit projects and single asset acquisitions in the pipeline, which will allow us to grow to 500,000 m2 of high quality, well-located logistics space under management in Spain before year end.”

The properties range in size from just over 7,500 m² in the Getafe area of Madrid to over 80,000 m² in Zaragoza. They are all fully let to blue chip domestic and international companies including DHL, which is also a P3 customer on seven other parks in four countries, Orangina Schweppes Espana and the office products retailer Staples.

In addition to the built assets, two of the warehouses have adjacent land totalling over 26,000 m², with potential for P3 to develop.

Commenting on the purchase, P3 CEO Ian Worboys said: “The Spanish economy is expanding and we identified the country as a key target for P3 in 2017. We’re delighted to have been able to acquire this portfolio which makes us one of the leading players in Spain and is in line with our growth strategy across Europe as a leading property investor-developer.”

P3 was advised on the purchase by CBRE, legal consulting was provided by Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF).

Original story: P3 Press Release

Edited by: Carmel Drake

Who’s Buying A Home In The Exclusive Lagasca 99 Building?

7 April 2017 – ABC

The structure has not even been erected yet (it is due to be finalised at the end of the month) and yet half of the 44 homes, distributed over eight floors plus the penthouse level, have already been sold. The smallest properties have a surface area of 330 m2 and the largest span 700 m2. They are the most expensive new build homes on the market and their asking prices range between €10 million for the smallest and more than €16 million for the largest, such as the case of one of the six duplex penthouses located on the eighth floor, which has already been sold, exceeding all expectations. That sale significantly beat the record in terms of the price per m2, paid 7 years ago for a home on Calle Serrano (€15,000/m2). Nevertheless, the average asking price for homes in this property ranges between €10,000/m2 to €14,000/m2).

The building, measuring 26,203 m2, belongs to the Lagasca 99 development and is located in the heart of the Golden Mile, on the only available plot, which makes it the most sought-after in the neighbourhood of Salamanca. It is located between Calles Juan Bravo, Maldonado, Claudio Coello and Lagasca. And 51% of the total volume has already been sold, including the two commercial premises, to domestic firms: Banca March and Actiu, a company that specialises in designer furniture.

On the one hand, the buyers are wealthy Latin American families from Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico, in line with the trend in the luxury real estate market in Spain (…). The remainder are Spaniards. The percentage varies, but on average the split is around 50-50%, said Antonio Pan de Soraluce yesterday, Director at Colliers Internacional in Spain, the entity responsible for marketing the development.

Freedom in terms of design

“Now is a great time to invest. Lagasca 99 is incredibly appealing and so the development is attracting interest from buyers at home and overseas, as well as from business people and firms interested in living in Madrid”, he added.

Word of mouth has played an important role amongst the potential buyers of these luxury homes and the hope is that when the construction work is completed and these homes are handed over, in August 2018, they will have all been sold. For the time being, the commitment is to high quality rather than to worry about the rate of sales, concluded the Director of Colliers. (…).

Original story: ABC (by M. J. Álvarez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Santander & BNP Put €319M Of Mortgages Up For Sale

19 October 2016 – Expansión

Unión de Créditos Inmobiliarios (UCI), the financial credit company owned jointly by Santander and BNP Paribas, has packaged up 3,850 residential mortgages in Madrid, Andalucía and Cataluña to sell them in the market. To this end, it has structured a securitisation fund amounting to €420 million, of which €319 million will be placed with final investors, a tranche that has been assigned a high quality AA rating by Standard & Poor’s.

It is the third operation that the entity has undertaken in less than a year, as part of the Prado series. Given that UCI is regarded as a special lender, it is not able to approach the European Central Bank in search of financing, and so it is taking advantage of the reactivation of the securitisation market. In total, it has launched three securitisation funds amounting to €1,410 million during this period and a large part of the debt has been sold to investors. On this occasion, UCI is paying competitive prices, of 65 basis points above 3-month Euribor.

According to financial sources, the types of clients involved in this specialist kind of mortgage transfer tend to be those who are unable to access a normal bank, in other words, those who have more risky profiles. But in this securitisation, as S&P has highlighted, the loans are more robust than in standard securitisations because they have lower loan to values (loan amount over appraisal value).

Original story: Expansión (by D. Badía)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Prologis Buys Land In Valencia To Build 2 Logistics Warehouses

4 August 2016 – Mis Naves

Prologis Inc. has acquired land measuring 70,000 sqm in Valencia.

Prologis will build two leasable logistics buildings, measuring 23,000 sqm each, on the land and expects to begin construction during the third quarter of this year.

The land is located in the PLV de Ribarroja de Túria, a ideal location for the implementation of logistics activity. The two new properties will have cutting-edge facilities, including a minimum storage height of 11m, allowing them to increase storage volumes by 20% compared to a standard warehouse.

In addition, the warehouses will be equipped with LED lighting in the storerooms and offices, which will result in savings of around 40% in terms of electricity consumption, as well as the most efficient fire prevention system in the market.

“Our idea is to offer our clients a high quality product, based on design and efficiency, that highlights all of the features currently being offered in the logistics real estate market in Valencia”, said Cristian Oller, Director of Development and Projects at Prologis in Spain. “For us, this represents an interesting challenge to put into practice our model for the development of new buildings in a market as important for the logistics sector as Valencia”.

“We are very proud to return to Valencia and to start new developments in this market, which is becoming increasingly important in the logstics sector in Spain and Southern Europe”, said Gustavo Cardozo, Senior Vice-President at Prologis Iberia. “Our strategy for the next few years involves growing our business in Valencia and consolidating our position as a supplier of cutting-edge logistics warehouses in this market”.

The real estate consultancy Inmoking Real Estate was responsible for advising this operation. The marketing of the properties will be carried out jointly by the real estate agencies Inmoking Real Estate and BNP Paribas Real Estate.

Original story: Mis Naves

Translation: Carmel Drake