Kronos Forces the Auction of Salvador Vila’s Star Plot in Valencia Worth €67M

20 February 2019 – Expansión

The court has approved the execution requested by the fund (Kronos), which purchased the debt associated with the plots on Avenida de las Cortes Valencianas, opposite the former Hilton hotel, from Sareb and is claiming €47 million from the Valencian property developer (Salvador Vila).

One of the last undeveloped plots on Avenida de las Cortes Valencianas has just gone to judicial auction. It is the plot of land located opposite the Hotel Meliá Valencia (formerly the Hilton), where the plan was to build a 114-metre tall tower containing homes. It was set to be a genuine icon but was never constructed because of the real estate crisis.

The land still belongs to one of the large Valencian property developers, Salvador Vila Soria, who also constructed several of the large towers located on the same avenue. Nevertheless, a change of hands appears imminent, given that the Court of First Instance number 27 of Valencia has approved the mortgage auction of the property at the request of Vistanova Developments, a company linked to the manager Kronos, which through Kronos Homes is one of the new large operators in the residential market.

Kronos acquired the debt that Salvador Vila held with Sareb and which included the mortgage secured by this land as collateral. In fact, the Managing Director of Kronos, Saïd Hejal, explained to Expansión in May his firm’s intention of starting construction on a 34-storey residential tower this year, which was going to be the tallest in Valencia, after taking over the debt from Sareb.

The legal auction officially started on 8 February and the period to submit bids ends at the beginning of March. According to the court, the debt claimed from Salvador Vila in the mortgage foreclosure lawsuit amounts to €47.62 million, of which €40 million proceeds from the principal and the rest from interest.

The value of the property for the auction is set at €67 million. The plot spans 6,926 m2 and has a buildability of 20,900 m2 (residential use) and another 3,100 m2 for tertiary use (…).

Original story: Expansión (by A.C.A.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Fadesa’s Former Owner Returns to Real Estate

24 August 2018 – Eje Prime

Manuel Jove has returned to the Spanish real estate sector. The Spanish businessman, once the owner of the ill-fated real estate giant Fadesa, is determined to generate a profit from the land worth €540 million that he owns through his holding company Inveravante.

The executive from A Coruña, one of the 15 wealthiest people in Spain, is starting to move away from his businesses relating to renewable energy to return to the fold of real estate development, according to reports in El País.

Jove has worked in this vein for the last five years and in 2017, he managed to sell the vast majority of the 264 homes that he brought onto the market. So far in 2018, the businessman has already started work on new urbanisations in Madrid, Andalucía, the Canary Islands and his native Galicia. Jove still has a lot of work to do, thanks to the plots of land that he owns all over the country.

In addition to the residential market, the executive has a considerable presence in the hotel sector. His chain, Attica 21, improved its turnover last year, whilst the residential complex that Jove owns in Tánger (Morocco) comprising 800 homes has recently incorporated the operation of a five star Hilton hotel. As a result, the real estate arm of Inveravante is growing at a rate of 35% and now accounts for 34% of sales.

In 2017, boosted by the wind farms, which accounted for 57% of turnover, as well as a small wine and food products division, Inveravante recorded revenues of €184 million, up by 22% compared to the previous year.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Meliá Finalises Sale & Leaseback of Palacio de Congresos Hotel in Valencia

20 July 2018 – Las Provincias

The tallest skyscraper in Valencia is on the verge of changing hands. The sale of Meliá’s Palacio de Congresos Hotel, located on Avenida de las Cortes Valencianas, number 52, is being finalised for €50 million, according to sources speaking to Las Provincias. The operation is expected to be signed in September and several investors have expressed their interest in acquiring the former Hilton Hotel.

The owner of the iconic property, the fund Colony Capital, took just two months to put it on the market after acquiring it in February when it purchased the fund Continental Property Investments (CPI), the former owner of the hotel. According to the same sources, the candidates to acquire the building now include Socimis, institutional investors and family offices, such as the Valencian Zriser group, the firm owned by Pablo Serratosa. Another interested player is AXA Real Estate, the company that acquired the Hilton Hotel Diagonal Mar in Barcelona last year.

Despite the change of owner, the management of the hotel will continue to be entrusted to Meliá, which signed an extendable 10-year operating contract in 2011. It is a strategic asset for the hotel group, given its location next to the Palacio de Congresos, which makes it the best-positioned accommodation on the market for business people and guests of events organised in the Valencian enclave.

A yield of 5%

According to sources familiar with the operation, the asking price for the hotel was €45 million, which was the “minimum to make an offer”. Nevertheless, the market was pricing it at around 10% more, approximately €50 million and some even think that it will be sold more than that. “Socimis and institutional investors look for yields of 5% per year”, they reveal.

In addition, the sale price per room will range between €165,000 and €175,000. In terms of the price per overnight stay, hotels of this kind with an occupancy rate of 80% typically range between €90 and €95 per room. The expectation is that the former Hilton will cost around €100 per night in five years time.

The former Hilton is a 5-star hotel that opened its doors to the public in May 2007. It stands 117 m tall and has 29 storeys, with 269 rooms, 33 suites and two presidential suites. Moreover, it has a convention room and 18 meeting rooms. The building was constructed between 2002 and 2006 at a cost of €110 million, double the price at which the owners want to sell it for now. It was in 2010 when the owner company, the firm Hotel Palacio de Congresos SL, sold the property to CPI to avoid its definitive closure after that company filed for voluntary creditor bankruptcy.

Original story: Las Provincias (by Elísabeth Rodríguez)

Translation: Carmel Drake