Corestate Buys Old Hall Of Residence In Madrid For €14M

16 November 2016 – Expansión

A new investor has made its debut in the Spanish real estate market. The investor is Corestate Capital Holding, a large investment fund headquartered in Luxembourg, which owns a broad portfolio of assets, mainly located in Germany and Austria. Corteste has combined forces with an investment partner to acquire a former halls of residence, located at number 42 on Calle Juan XXIII, in the Moncloa district, the heart of Madrid’s university area.

Corestate arrived in Spain last year when it teamed up with Inmobiliaria Espacio – part of the Villar Mir group – to launch a jointly owned company called Iberian Corestate Capital Advisors. In September 2015, that company announced that it is going to construct a fifth tower in the Cuatro Torres office complex in Madrid, on Paseo de la Castellana.

The owner of OHL was awarded the plot that runs alongside the four Madrilenian skyscrapers back in April, after the city’s Town Hall decided against building a Conference Centre on the site. The company controlled by Juan Miguel Villar Mir was awarded the concession, which gives it the right to operate on the land for 75 years, after it submitted the highest offer. Specifically, OHL agreed to pay an annual fee of €4 million, outbidding the second-best bid, led by Hispania and Ferrovial, who offered around €2.6 million. The Town Hall had asked candidates to submit bids for an annual fee of at least €1.9 million.

In September last year, Corestate announced that it was going to join the project through the company Iberian Corestate.

It is expected that Iberian Corestate will invest €240 million in the fifth tower project, which will involve the construction of a skyscraper that will house an IE Business School campus and a Quiron group medical centre. Corestate declined to comment on the plans for the Castellana project, but did confirm that it has purchased the Madrilenian hall of residence. According to sources in the sector, Corestate paid around €14 million for the property.

Until now, the asset acquired has housed a Spanish-Mexican secondary school – Santiago Galas de Arce. The building, which has been operating for almost half a century (44 years), will undergo a profound transformation with its new owner, given that Corestate is preparing an ambitious plan to restore the property and renovate the 4,022 m2 space, which will house 260 rooms and 302 beds.

Corestate’s idea is to demolish the existing complex and construct a new building that seeks to be one of the best equipped halls of residence in Madrid. The project will include several services such as a reception and concierge, common areas, such as a restaurant, gym and laundry facilities, as well as recreation areas in the form of patios and terraces.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Villar Mir Joins Forces With Corestate To Fund Fifth Tower

24 September 2015 – Expansión

The company led by Juan Miguel Villar Mir has signed an agreement with the Swiss fund Iberian Corestate to jointly develop the plot of land next to the Cuatro Torres complex, on the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, following the problems he encountered trying to finance the project by himself.

Grupo Villar Mir decided to look for a partner to reactivate the project to construct a new building on the plot of land located behind the Cuatro Torres complex, following the difficulties it faced tackling the construction alone, due to the need to inject €500 million into OHL. To this end, Villar Mir has signed an agreement with the Swiss fund Corestate, a real estate investment specialist, to invest €240 million in the project through its company Iberian Corestate Capital Advisors. (…).

Last year, Villar Mir was awarded the concession to operate the plot of land, which is owned by the Town Hall of Madrid, after it agreed to pay a fee of almost €4 million per year for the next 75 years. Villar Mir’s company, Espacio, had planned to construct a tower on the site, of a similar height to the other four skyscrapers (the tallest one measures 250m), which would require an investment of around €450 million.

That is not the only asset that Villar Mir owns in the complex. The company invested €400 million in Torre Espacio, an office building that was inaugurated in 2007, of which €187 million was used to purchase the land.

Tenant

(…). Following the failed negotiations with the Mount Sinai hospital group…Villar Mir is now studying other options, including the option of signing a deal with a tenant form the world of academia or changing the structure of the building to make it more suitable for the operations of a hospital company.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz and Carlos Morán)

Translation: Carmel Drake