Increasingly More Flagship Stores Remain Empty in Madrid & Barcelona

7 January 2020 – Eje Prime

There are an increasing number of large, vacant stores on the high streets of Madrid and Barcelona. Preciados 13, Sol 9, Paseo de Gracia 9, and Paseo de Gracia 77, to name just a few.

After several years of high demand for flagship stores in the two cities, when larger spaces become available, they are now standing empty. Operations have come to a standstill and real estate consultants are forecasting a decrease in rents.

Domestic and international retailers alike, particularly those in the fashion industry, such as Inditex, Mango, H&M and Primark, have taken the high street by storm in recent years, in their efforts to offer consumers a comprehensive experience.

In that context, demand has exceeded supply, and large premises have become the most sought-after. As such, prices have been rising and the family offices, which had traditionally owned the properties in the retail sector, were joined by large funds.

But now, the situation has changed. E-commerce is growing rapidly and most of the major operators have now opened flagship stores. With an excess supply in the market and fewer operators demanding large spaces, prices will have to decrease. Real estate investors are proving to be more flexible than opportunistic funds in terms of agreeing reasonable rental prices. Rental prices have not fallen yet, however, according to several sources, it is only a matter of time.

Meanwhile, a few months ago, H&M sent a letter to several of the owners of the premises it occupies in Spain (e.g. on Portal de l’Àngel in Barcelona and Gran Vía in Madrid) terminating their contracts. According to sources in the sector, “they sent those letters knowing that they would be able to stay in the premises paying half the rent”.

Original story: Eje Prime (Pilar Riaño)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

GGC Acquires El Mirador de Jinámar Shopping Centre for €45M

30 November 2018 – Eje Prime

General de Galerías Comerciales is now the owner of El Mirador de Jinámar. The Socimi led by the Murcian businessman Tomás Olivo has acquired the commercial complex located in the Canary Islands for €45 million. The company has been advised by Cushman & Wakefield during the operation.

El Mirador de Jinámar is the largest retail space in the Canary Islands. The asset has a total surface area of 50,000 m2, of which 11,300 m2 is dedicated to the first hypermarket that Eroski opened in the region. In fact, the Spanish supermarket chain is one of the drivers of the complex, together with the property developer Ambrosio Jiménez.

Since November 2010, the Mirador de Jinámar has housed a total of 120 establishments in its commercial area. Distributed over two floors, some of the tenants of the property include firms from the Inditex group, as well as H&M, Cortefiel and Primark (whose store exceeds 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 (…).

Meanwhile, General de Galerías Comerciales made its debut on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) in July 2017. 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 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Finestrelles Shopping Centre Opens with a 98% Occupancy Rate

27 November 2018 – Eje Prime

The Finestrelles shopping centre has fired the starting gun. The complex, located in the Catalan town of Esplugues de Llobregat, on the outskirts of Barcelona, has opened its doors today after two years under construction.

Finestrelles, which has a commercial surface area of 40,000 m2, spread over five floors, has opened with an occupancy rate of 98%. The complex contains 110 stores, with tenants of the calibre of JD Sports, Mango, H&M, Zara and other Inditex chains.

For the construction of the shopping centre, which is owned by the Belgian real estate firm Equilis, an investment of €120 million has been made and 1,500 direct and indirect jobs are expected to be generated. Moreover, the complex is expected to attract 8 million visitors during its first year given that it is located along one of the main entrances into Barcelona.

Initially, Finestrelles was scheduled to open at the beginning of October, but according to the construction firm, due to the poor meteorological conditions, a decision was taken to delay the opening until the end of November.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Mountpark to Build its 4th XXL Warehouse in Madrid

21 November 2018 – Eje Prime

Mountpark is getting a taste for the Iberian Peninsula. The logistics vehicle, specialising in the development of XXL assets, is going to start work on its fourth warehouse in Madrid in the middle of 2020, on a site spanning 100,000 m2, located in the south of the Spanish capital.

Including that plot, the company currently has a portfolio of land in the country that exceeds 330,000 m2, which it expects to expand very soon with new purchases in Barcelona and Valencia, according to explanations provided by John Derweduwe, the Director General of Mountpark for Spain and Portugal, to Eje Prime.

The group does not want to delay its entry into Portugal any longer. “We are on the verge of closing the purchase of a new plot in Lisbon”, said the Director, who added that his firm has been preparing its debut in the Portuguese market for some time. The delay has been due to the difficulty in finding the right plot to develop warehouses measuring between 80,000 m2 and 100,000 m2, which has been Mountpark’s main objective since its creation in 2017.

Whilst it continues to identify new plots on the Peninsula, the company is focusing its efforts on the development of three of the assets that it already owns in Madrid: two spaces in the Iberum Central Platform in Illescas (Toledo), which span almost 135,000 m2 and a third site in Alcalá de Henares, measuring 100,000 m2.

In fact, yesterday, the first brick was laid in Mountpark II, the e-commerce logistics platform measuring 44,000 m2 that the group is building for the logistics operator XPO, with an investment of €30 million.

The space will be leased to the Swedish fashion retail giant H&M from June 2019 and represents a “great opportunity for economic growth in the region”, according to the President of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, on the first day of construction at the complex (…).

In search of the giants of the future

Mountpark is on the hunt for buyers for its projects in Spain. After signing its first contract with XPO Logistics, the company now has several firms interested in Mountpark I, the second logistics platform that it owns in Illescas, measuring 90,000 m2, as well as the complex that it is planning to construct in Alcalá de Henares.

“Our potential clients fit one of three profiles: logistics operators, large companies in the world of technology and the automotive industry, and retail giants who want to commit heavily to e-commerce”, explained John Derweduwe (…).

The parent company of the Iberian subsidiary led by Derweduwe is Mountpark Logistics, a joint venture between Usaa Realco-Europe Holdco, the Dutch subsidiary of Usaa Real Estate and Mountpark Finco Sarl (Mountpark). The joint venture promotes large logistics buildings across Europe, but with the focus placed primarily on the United Kingdom, Western Europe and Central Europe. Mountpark owns a portfolio comprising 16 assets with the potential to offer more than 1.85 million m2 of logistics facilities in the continental market.

Original story: Eje Prime (by B. Seijo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Urban Outfitters to Open Spain’s First Anthropologie Store in Barcelona

25 October  2018 – Eje Prime

The Spanish retail sector is welcoming a new international operator. After an arduous two-year search for premises on the prime high streets of Madrid and Barcelona, Urban Outfitters has found a space to launch its first Anthropologie store in the country. This debut comes four years after the US fashion group first opened its doors in the heart of the Catalan capital.

Anthropologie is soon going to open at number 27 Paseo de Gracia, in a store measuring almost 780 m2, distributed over two floors and owned by a family office. The chain is going to take over from the Italian firm Twinset Milano, which will shut down in the next few days. The rental operation has been brokered by the real estate consultancy firm Aretail.

Specifically, the ground floor of the future Anthropologie establishment has a surface area 365 m2, whilst the basement spans 414 m2. The company will share the street with luxury operators such as Fendi, Céline and Kenzo, as well as with major distribution groups such as Inditex, Fast Retailing, H&M and Mango, amongst others.

Urban Outfitters arrived in the Spanish market in May 2014, when it launched a subsidiary to manage its business in the country. That same year, the group opened the first store of its homonymous chain in the El Triangle shopping centre in Barcelona, where it replaced the home décor firm Habitat.

Two years after its first opening, the US company started to search for new locations both in the Catalan capital and in Madrid to open its first points of sale for Anthropologie and Free People, the other chain owned by Urban Outfitters. In the spring, rumours of the imminent closure of an operation were revived.

Anthropologie is the group’s largest division by turnover, ahead of Urban Outfitters itself. The female fashion chain closed 2017 with sales of $1.4 billion (€1.2 billion), up by 1.9%. That figure accounted for 39.4% of the group’s total revenues.

At the end of its last financial year (31 January 2018), the chain operated 226 stores in the USA, Canada and Europe. The company is immersed in an international expansion process, which includes an overseas growth strategy. For that reason, Anthropologie appointed Peter Ruis, the former director of Levi Strauss, as the senior director of the international business in July.

Original story: Eje Prime (by L. Molina and P. Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Mountpark to Invest €30M in a Macro-Warehouse for XPO in Toledo

23 October 2018 – Eje Prime

A new macro-operation is on the cards for Plataforma Central Iberum. The logistics developer Mountpark is going to invest €30 million in the development of this enclave to the south of Madrid in an asset measuring 44,000 m2 for XPO Logistics. In turn, the logistics operator has already agreed to rent the space to a large fashion chain, according to explanations provided to Eje Prime by the Director General of Mountpark for Spain and Portugal, John Derweduwe.

This warehouse is being promoted under the turnkey model and it is scheduled for completion and opening in June 2019. The latest-generation asset is going to be located 35 km from Madrid, in the municipality of Illescas, in Toledo. The real estate consultancy Estrada&Partners has been responsible for advising this operation.

The future tenant of the warehouse of Mountpark and XPO, is going to be the Swedish fashion retailer H&M, which will use the platform for its e-commerce logistics. The boom in e-commerce is also the reason why other overseas giants have also set up shop in Plataforma Central Iberum, which has converted the park and its surrounding area into the new prime axis of the real estate logistics market in the centre of the country.

Mountpark is entering a platform where Amazon, Airbus, Michelin and Toyota, amongst others, are already present. Located on a plot spanning more than 3.5 million m2, Plataforma Central Iberum is also the largest eco-industrial park in Spain.

The platform that it is building for XPO will not be the only one that Mountpark is promoting in this park. The company owns a second plot measuring 89,000 m2 in Illescas for which it is currently finalising a rental agreement with a high-profile domestic retailer.

“This project is just the start of an ambitious future for Mountpark in Spain” highlighted Derweduwe. The director, formerly the Vice-President and Administrator of Prologis Spain between 2002 and 2006, is “heavily committed to the south of Madrid”, where he plans to constitute a “significant” land bank to be able to respond to “the new logistics needs of the 21st century”, added the executive.

Specialising in the construction of so-called XXL assets (those spanning a surface area of more than 40,000 m2), Mountpark already owns a 99,000 m2 plot in Alcalá de Henares and is working on another land bank spanning several million square metres.

Changing trend in Madrid

Regarding the arrival of giants such as Amazon to Illescas, Derweduwe points to the “saturation” of the Corredor de Henares thoroughfare, which is leading to a “change of trend” in which the province of Toledo is gaining a lot of notoriety due to its proximity to Madrid and because “being located in Castilla-La Mancha also has benefits for tenants”, said the executive.

As well as the central area, Mountpark is also looking “seriously” at Cataluña and Valencia (…).

The parent company of the Iberian subsidiary led by Derweduwe is Mountpark Logistics, a joint venture between Usaa Realco-Europe Holdcom, the Dutch subsidiary of Usaa Real Estate, and Mountpark Finco Sarl (Mountpark). The joint venture promotes large logistics buildings all over Europe, but with the focus primarily on the United Kingdom, Western Europe and Central Europe. Mountpark has a portfolio comprising 16 assets with the potential to offer logistics facilities spanning more than 1.85 million m2 in the continental market.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Jabier Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Redevco & Ares Invest €45M in the Renovation of Parque Corredor

26 September 2018 – Eje Prime

Redevco and Ares are pampering their new asset. Redevco Iberian Ventures, the joint venture between the two companies, is going to spend €45 million on the renovation of Parque Corredor, the retail complex in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid) that it purchased at the beginning of the year.

The owner expects the work to completely renovate the asset, which spans a surface area of 123,000 m2, to begin in 2019. Moreover, the company has already signed the renewal of Primark’s rental contract in the centre and is closing agreements for the incorporation of new chains.

The project will focus initially on the fashion area, creating new façades and accesses. It will also modernise the parking lot, which contains 4,000 parking spaces, and will renovate the common areas and the lighting.

The new design has been created by the architecture studio Chapman Taylor. The execution of the project will be led by the architecture studio Arpv and coordinated by Gleeds. Cushman&Wakefield is managing and marketing the retail spaces.

Redevco Iberian Ventures acquired 70% of Parque Corredor in February for €140 million. Another 20% is controlled by Alcampo and the remaining 10% is in the hands of small owners. Over the last twelve months, the complex has received 11 million visitors, 4% more than during the same period in the previous year. Its offer includes several Inditex chains, H&M, Mango, Kiabi and C&A.

Original story: Eje Prime

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

Torre Sevilla Shopping Centre Will Opens Its Doors on 26 Sept

10 September 2018 – Eje Prime

Torre Sevilla has set a date for its opening to the public. The shopping centre, which completes the architectural complex of the same name, will open its doors on Wednesday 26 September.

The opening of the complex will complete the Torre Sevilla architectural complex, a project in which CaixaBank has invested more than €320 million. Besides the shopping centre, Torre Sevilla is also home to an office block, the Eurostars Torre Sevilla hotel, CaixaForum Sevilla and the Parque de Magallanes.

Designed by the Argentinian architect César Pelli, the commercial complex comprises two large buildings, one with three floors and the other with four, which span constructed gross leasable areas (GLA) of 26,700 m2 and 43,000 m2, respectively. Moreover, the complex is located at the intersection that joins the Triana neighbourhood with the Isla de la Cartuja and the centre of Sevilla, the so-called “golden triangle” of the city.

The complex expects to attract 8 million visitors a year and will be home to operators such as Primark (its first store in Sevilla), Ikea, Fnac and H&M, amongst others. The initial space in the shopping centre has capacity for a total of 80 stores accessible along external walkways.

On the other hand, Torre Sevilla will also have a gastronomic space measuring 6,000 m2 and a fitness area whose facilities will occupy a surface area of 2,500 m2.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sfera Leaves Gran Vía & Frees Up 1,000 m2 of Prime Retail Space

23 August 2018 – Eje Prime

Sfera is freeing up 1,000 m2 of space in the centre of Madrid. In September, the fashion chain owned by El Corte Inglés is going to abandon the store it currently occupies on Gran Vía, with a useful commercial surface area of 600 m2. The company has decided not to renew the rent that tied it to the recent purchaser of the building, the US fund Thor Equities.

Located at number 30 on the Spanish capital’s main commercial thoroughfare, surrounded by competitor brands (Inditex, H&M, Tendam and Primark, amongst others), the store is no longer of interest to Sfera, which has justified its departure on the basis of the small size of the store for the exhibition model that it is developing, according to Cinco Días. The chain has occupied this three-story establishment (comprising the first, ground and basement floors) since 2005.

Sfera is immersed in a process to renovate and reorganise its business plan for its commercial activity in the centre of Madrid. The company recently remodelled its store at number 4 Calle Preciados, which has a surface area of 2,500 m2 spread over five storeys.

The objective of the chain is to strengthen the presence of its store on Preciados so that it will become the firm’s flagship store in the centre of Madrid. Similarly, Sfera is going to start work soon on the renovation of its store at number 56 Calle Fuencarral. The company’s portfolio of retail assets in the centre of the Spanish capital is completed by a second establishment at number 118 Calle Fuencarral and the concession stands it has in the El Corte Inglés stores in the area.

In total, Sfera renovated 26 of its stores in Spain in 2017. With a presence in 15 countries besides Spain, where it opened its newest store just a few months ago in Fuengirola (Málaga), the chain is investing considerably in the international real estate market. The clearest example is Mexico, where the firm has 45 stores, all operated as franchises.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake