Tag: Indra

Starwood Finalises the Purchase of 5 Buildings from Oaktree for €150M

4 June 2019 – Eje Prime

Starwood is finalising the purchase of four office buildings in Madrid and one in Barcelona from Oaktree and the German company Freo for €150 million in total.

Together the five buildings span a surface area of 78,428 m2 and have 1,323 parking spaces. They are currently leased to a number of companies, such as Indra, BBVA, Air France KLM and Hoist Finances, amongst others.

Specifically, the properties are located on Calle Julián Camarillo, numbers 4 and 6, Avenida de Manoteras, 44 and Valportillo Primera, 13 in Madrid; and on Calle Samontà in Sant Joan Despí in Barcelona.

The US fund is teaming up with the Spanish real estate company Drago Capital, as it continues to strengthen its position in Spain. In recent months, the alliance has purchased assets worth €400 million.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Goldman Puts the ‘Edificio Mediterráneo’ in Valencia Up For Sale

11 March 2019 – Expansión

Goldman Sachs has put the ‘for sale’ sign up over the building that it owns on Avenida Cardenal Benlloch in Valencia, which used to house Bancaja’s calculation centre (Cemeca) and which has subsequently been renamed Edificio Mediterráneo.

Goldman considers that the recovery of the office rental market in Valencia and the increase in rental prices make now a good time to consider offers.

The US bank acquired the property at the end of 2014 from Bankia as part of a package of 38 real estate assets, which it purchased for €335 million.

Edificio Mediterráneo comprises seven storeys and has a surface area of 10,300 m2, with its own parking lot. Its tenants include Indra, Nedgia Cegas and Haya Real Estate.

Original story: Expansión (by A.C.A.)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Marathon Acquires 2 Office Buildings in Madrid from CaixaBank

14 February 2019 – El Confidencial

The US fund Marathon Asset Management, one of the first to back the recovery of the residential property development sector in Spain, has set its sights on the peripheral office market. According to sources speaking to this newspaper, the firm has purchased a complex measuring 17,557 m2 in Madrid from CaixaBank.

The complex comprises two office buildings and 300 parking spaces, as well as several commercial premises and is located at number 43 on Avenida Institución Libre de Enseñanza in the Julián Camarillo area, which is home to the offices of companies such as Atos, Indra and Prisa.

It is the second operation of its kind that Marathon has carried out in the past three months, given that in November, it acquired a mixed-used complex, also in this area from Credit Suisse. That complex comprised an office building and a hotel managed by Barceló.

Specialising in value-added operations, as demonstrated in the past, with its anticipation of the recovery of the residential property development market with its investments in Habitat and San José Desarrollos (now Vía Célere), the fund is convinced about the potential of the secondary office market in Spain, which it has placed at the centre of its investment target.

In fact, Marathon is interested in closing more acquisitions of this kind both in Madrid, where it plans to continue growing in the Julián Camarillo area, and in Barcelona, where it is looking at opportunities in areas such as 22@.

Last sale by CaixaBank

The fund, which has been advised in its purchase from CaixaBank by Cuatrecasas, Arcadis and Doble Dígito Brokerage, is planning to carry out a comprehensive repositioning of the asset, given that its current occupancy rate amounts to just 30%, according to market sources. They also indicate that the acquisition price will have amounted to around €15 million.

This complex was originally promoted by Grupo Veintidós in 2010, a company that ended up transferring ownership of the complex to CaixaBank, which lodged it in its real estate subsidiary Building Center.

Meanwhile, the bank reached an agreement with Lone Star last year to sell 80% of its real estate business, which means that this could be one of the last operations that the real estate subsidiary carries out under the control of the entity.

Original story: El Confidencial (by R. Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Forcadell: 370,000 m2 of Office Space was Leased in Barcelona in 2018

13 February 2019 – Eje Prime

The office market in Barcelona is breaking records. In 2018, 370,000 m2 of space was leased in the city, up by 8.8% compared to 2017. According to the consultancy firm Forcadell, that trend was due to three main factors: interest from international companies, demand from tech companies and the boom in coworking.

Up to 60% of the surface area leased in 2018 corresponded to companies from overseas. According to the report from the consultancy firm, the interest from those companies in Barcelona is attributed to the city’s “entrepreneurial and innovation eco-system”, which is complemented by a commitment to technology, which has attracted companies such as Everis, Oracle and Indra.

In just one year, coworking operators have doubled the amount of space leased in Barcelona, renting out a surface area of 46,700 m2 in 2018. According to this report, the Catalan capital is the European city that has seen its office space increase by the most in percentage terms.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Is Málaga the Silicon Valley of the South? Its Offices Generate Yields of 7.25%

7 January 2019 – Eje Prime

Málaga is positioning itself as the possible Silicon Valley of the south of Spain. The second most populated city in Andalucía and the only Spanish city in the Top 10 for the best quality of life in Europe, according to Eurobarómetro, has attracted several technology giants in recent years. The interest from these companies in moving to the area and the lack of available space have driven up prime yields in the office market in Málaga to 7.25%, making it the most profitable place to own an office in Spain, according to data from CBRE.

The international consultancy highlights that Málaga is “consolidating its position as a city of reference in Spain in the development of the technology sector”. Oracle, Accenture, Microsoft, Huawei, Ericsson, Indra, Atos and Cisco, amongst others, have all opened offices in the city. The meeting point for these companies is the Andalucía Technology Park (PTA), recently included in the catalogue of European Digital Innovation Hubs, compiled by the European Commission, and which recorded a turnover of €1.9 billion in 2019, up by 8%.

In addition, the province is home to other smaller clusters, such as Málaga SmartCity and the ‘Polo de Contenidos Digitales de Málaga’, the first hub with those characteristics in Spain and which aims to accelerate projects and companies related to the digital sector.

The increase in demand for offices in the city also comes in response to the future forecasts for growth in the region. In fact, Oxford Economists names Málaga as the city where the economy is going to grow by the most in Spain over the next decade. The good connectivity of the province abroad and tourism are some of the factors driving those predictions.

In recent years, Málaga has enjoyed a facelift in recent years with improvements in its infrastructures, and the airport and port as anchors for tourism and business. In addition, the population has increased to 570,000 inhabitants in recent years and there are now more than 40,000 companies, of which 87.1% specialise in services.

These drivers have reactivated the office market, which has taken advantage of the boost in demand, on the rise since 2015. Rentals cost €17/m2/month in the city’s best buildings and the occupancy rate in the prime area exceeds 90%.

The shortage of competitive products in terms of location, finishes and facilities, has driven the increase in yields. In comparison with Madrid and Barcelona, the variation in prime yields is great, improving the yields of 3.25% and 4% that were being registered in the two major Spanish capitals at the end of the third quarter 2018.

Moreover, the office market in Málaga also generates higher yields than the market in Bilbao, although it is not far behind with average yields of 7%, as well as those in Sevilla and Palma, which do not exceed 6.75%. The yields in Valencia and Zaragoza amounted to 5.25% and 6%, respectively, in September last year (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Jabier Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Facebook in Torre Glòries: CCC Will Provide Anti Fake News Services to the US Giant

7 May 2018 – Eje Prime

The US giant Facebook has chosen Barcelona. According to sources in the sector, the California-based company has engaged Competence Call Center, which announced its moved to Torre Glòries two weeks ago, to fight against fake content on its platform. In this space, CCC is going to employ more than 500 people who will work directly for the technology giant in the building owned by Merlin.

CCC is going to occupy 10 floors in the building located in the 22@ district. Facebook has already opened another content control centre in Europe together with CCC in Germany, a model that it is now going to replicate in Barcelona, according to Cinco Dias.

Measuring 142 m tall and with a gross leasable area of 37,614 m2, the building in Barcelona has received investment amounting to €15 million from Merlin. After the departure of the EMA, the Socimi decided to convert the property into a multi-tenant space aimed at the office sector.

The building was designed by the architects Jean Nouvel and Fermín Vázquez and inaugurated in 2005. It has 34 above ground floors and an auditorium with capacity for more than 350 people. In addition, the building has another four floors for parking with 300 spaces. In total, the property spans a surface area of 51,485 m2.

The real estate group acquired the building in January 2017 for €142 million. With this operation, the Socimi avoided the tourist moratorium imposed by the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, which prevented Emin Capital from opening a luxury hotel in the famous tower.

Emin Capital reached an agreement with Agbar at the end of 2013 to acquire the building for €150 million. That commitment materialised at the beginning of 2016 when the group made its first payment of €35 million.

The 22@ district is the main area of growth in the office market in Barcelona, having consolidated its position as a magnet for international innovative companies such as Cisco, Ebay, Yahoo, Deutsche Telekom, Sage, SAP, Capgemini and Indra, amongst others.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sabadell Rents 4,800m2 Of Space From Axiare In Sant Cugats

21 July 2017 – Expansión 

Banco Sabadell is expanding its facilities in Sant Cugat (Barcelona) with the aim of accommodating the growth of its IT services and addressing the challenge associated with the technological integration of the British bank TSB.

The entity chaired by Josep Oliu has leased 4,845 m2 from the Socimi Axiare Patrimonio, owner of the ParCugat building, where it will occupy half of the available floors. Sabadell will transfer 350 employees to the property, of which 40% are employed by the bank and 60% are employed by its subsidiary Sabadell Information Systems (Sabis), the bank’s software factory, which its controls 100%.

Some of these employees used to work in the historical building in the centre of the city of Sabadell (Barcelona), where now, instead of 1,900 people, there will be 1,600 employees, dedicated to both technological functions (800 people) and other departments within the entity.

Following this operation, Sabadell will have three corporate buildings in Sant Cugat. In addition to its main headquarters, known as the CBS building, it will have the building leased from Axiare and Colonial’s offices, which it started leasing last year – and where 800 employees work – to centralise the TSB integration process and the creation of the British bank’s new technological platform, known as Proteo4UK.

In total, Sabadell has assigned a team of 1,500 people to “unplug” TSB from Lloyds’ IT system and connect it to its own network. The process is being led by Sabis, although several technology partners are participating in it, such as Accenture, Everis, Indra, GFT, IBM, HP and BT.

The big bang, i.e. the date on which the integration will culminate, is scheduled for the weekend of 4-5 November. The success of the operation is key for Sabadell, given that Lloyds will pay it GBP 450 million to finance the costs associated with the new platform.

Original story: Expansión (by S. Saborit and M. Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake

 

A Revamp Of Avenida Diagonal Would Boost RE Inv’t

4 August 2016 – Mis Locales

With the debate raging over whether or not to reform Avenida Diagonal, between Paseo de Gracia and La Plaza de las Glorias, real estate investments are firmly under the spotlight. Following the approval of the proposal by the municipal council, planned for next summer, at a cost of around €11 million, the door has been opened to the extension of the prime area, currently centred around the commercial thoroughfares of Rambla de Catalunya and Paseo de Gracia, to other areas of the city centre.

The renovation includes increasing the width of the pavements by up to 40%, moving the tramlines to the middle of the avenue and restricting private traffic to just two lanes in each direction. Those are the main changes of the reform, which would generate 1,000 new jobs, 500 direct and another 500 indirect.

“The renovation of La Diagonal would turn it into one of the state of the art thoroughfares not just in Spain, but in Europe. Moreover, it would generate lots of business opportunities for an area that has historically been regarded as a transit route”, said Gerard Marcet, Founding Partner at Laborde Marcet. The renovation would give priority to citizens and would boost businesses in the area. On the stretch between Paseo de Gracia and Paseo San Juan alone, 100 premises are either vacant or in a precarious situation, which could see their fortunes turned around thanks to this refurbishment.

The project has been prepared on the basis of the city’s urban mobility plan, which forecasts a 20% reduction in private traffic by 2018, which would allow the space designated for bicycles and pedestrians to be increased, and the stretch of La Diagonal between Paseo de Gracia and La Plaza de las Glorias to be converted into a pedestrianized area. (…)

“Investing in La Diagonal means attracting investment and businesses from all over the world, as well as to another main focal point: Diagonal Mar”, said Marcet. The main commercial focus of attraction in the 22@ district has a surface area of 88,000 sqm, contains 200 shops, 40,000 employees and more than 4,800 parking spaces.

Companies such as Sara Lee, ADP, Henkel Ibérica, ISDIN, RBA, Microsoft Ibérica, Telefónica, Indra and Sanofi are some of the companies that are already located in the area.

Original story: Mis Locales

Translation: Carmel Drake

Office Buildings Will Have A Rating On Their Quality

2 February 2016 – Cinco Días

The real estate sector gets ready for a big novelty. Similarly to the debt rating of companies and countries, the office buildings will have a rating to ensure constructive and technical quality to potential investors.

The seal is called Office buildings technical rating. It is driven by the Spanish Association Offices (AEO, in its Spanish acronym), where large landowners, intermediaries and investors are integrated, and it will be voluntary. Although in this entity they believe it will be imposed thanks to the driving companies and because it will become the only guarantee of reference for the real estate market.

The aim of the AEO is to provide all stakeholders an objective and only measure of the quality of buildings. This optional rating system will be approved in two months, as final details are currently being closed. “We are finishing a standard for the technical rating of office buildings, which will be voluntary and will serve to increase confidence and transparency in the Spanish market from the perspective of investment, rental or portfolio analysis” José María Álvarez, AEO Chairman explains.

The first consequence will be knowing the condition of the buildings. Given it is a voluntary act, it is likely that the newest and highest quality buildings will promptly submit to be eligible for this qualification. This organization states that there are 30 million square meters of office space in Spain, with a value of EUR 65,000 million in assets, which generate about 4,300 million in income from leases.

AEO partners

The AEO is composed of more than 60 companies. Among them, large listed companies as BBVA, Iberdrola, Indra, Repsol and Telefonica, which in turn are usually owners of major buildings where their headquarters are installed. Property management companies as Torre Rioja (Angel Soria), Colonial and Pontegadea – family office of Inditex founder Amancio Ortega, also participate.

Listed real estate investment companies as Merlin Properties (of Ibex 35) and Lar España are also partners, as well as intermediaries including JLL, Knight Frank, Savills, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield or BNP Paribas Real Estate. Mutua Madrileña and Mapfre insurance companies are also members.

The objective of this real estate agents group is to give transparency to the sector. Thanks to this seal, an international fund or a company will know what they face when acquiring a property. There will even be investors that will be suspicious of the buildings which do not have the rating. “It will contribute to transparency in the decision-making process,” says Alvarez on how companies will welcome this rating system.

“It will contribute to transparency in decision making,” the AEO states.

With some final details to be confirmed, the rating will have five sections. Outstanding, for those excellent, will be A+ rating. From there, going down, ratings will be A, B+, B y C.

Appraisal criteria

This certificate will be awarded by AEO in order to have a character of neutrality, but different companies and engineering companies will be responsible for the technical work, opening a new market of professional services for rating companies. Once these consultants rate the offices, the association will review the report and confirm the rating. “The AEO will review and audit all assessments by carried out by external companies,” Alvarez confirms. In addition, the certification will be renewed after a given period to assess for deterioration. This revalidation will take place every three or four years, a term not defined yet.

The concepts considered for the report focus on the architecture and facilities of the buildings Evaluators will consider distribution plants and clearances, common areas, exterior envelope and energy facilities, climate system or control. The unique provisions, seniority and energy and sustainability certifications will also be taken into account. Neither location nor aesthetics will be considered.

This association is of the opinion that this audit will also be useful for an owner to know what works and measures they must take, in addition to how much it can cost in order to improve the rating of their property.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Aura Ree