Tag: investment fund manager

Aquila Capital Builds a New 1,300-Home Neighbourhood in Valencia for €350M

19 September 2018 – Valencia Plaza

In case anyone was in any doubt about the exponential growth being experienced in the real estate sector in the city of Valencia, Tuesday saw the announcement of the largest residential project launched in the city to date since the crisis. And the most interesting aspect: it is not one of the long-term investment projects. The new neighbourhood is a PAI (an integrated development plan), which has already been approved and the first homes are expected to be delivered in the Autumn of 2021.

The initiative comes from the property developer AQ Acentor, which belongs to the German investment fund manager Aquila Capital. The firm is going to build a development containing 1,300 homes and 75,000 m2 of tertiary space. “This operation, which exceeds €350 million, will see the creation of the largest residential urban planning development by a single developer in the country in the last decade”, said the company.

The chosen land is the PAI Fuente San Luis, an area that property developers have turned their backs on for years given its complex location, between the V-30 and V-31 motorways and the Nueva Fe train station – right next to the railway tracks that back onto the hospital – but which the resurgent recovery of the sector and the scarcity of land in the city have offered a new opportunity (…).

The space has a staggering 232,000 m2 of residential buildability, of which 130,000 m2 will be used by AQ Acentor to build 9 developments in total (4 social housing blocks and 5 private residential blocks), according to a statement issued by the firm. In total, 544 homes will be built for social housing purposes, according to the company.

15-storey towers

When asked about the project by Valencia Plaza, sources at the company explained that their plans imitate “the successful model of the Engineers Residential Park in Madrid”, another major project promoted by the brand after it acquired a significant portfolio of land from the public company Sepes. All of the buildings will have 15 floors and two of them will form part of a combined complex of 360 homes (180 plus 180, with a private garden area). The rest will be towers, of the same height, containing more than 100 homes each, located around a freely accessible green area.

Moreover, “the complex will have an enormous plot, measuring 79,000 m2, of very versatile tertiary land, which will be dedicated to various uses (commercial, hotel, social…)”, according to AQ Acentor, which explains that it has “several proposals on the table in this regard”. “No decisions have been taken yet, but the complex could be of interest for the creation of a hotel designed to serve people visiting the hospital, for the development of new offices…there is a lot of space, the idea is to achieve an attractive mix”, they say.

The area has 308,000 m2 of public space for green areas, as well as for educational, cultural and sports facilities, which will be completed with a large urban park measuring 33,000 m2. The company owns most of the plots, acquired formally from the firms Analyst and Proalival last July, but the Town Hall of Valencia also owns land in the area (in fact, it is the second largest owner). The rest of the plots belong, for the most part, to the former owners of the allotments on the site (…).

Original story: Valencia Plaza (by Dani Valero)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Invesco Invests €80M in Madrid Logistics Park to be Built by Pavasal

19 March 2018 – Expansión

The Valencian construction company Pavasal and the investment fund manager Invesco have reached an agreement to develop the largest available area of logistics space for rent in the city of Madrid, with an investment of €80 million.

The project will involve the construction, by Pavasal, of a logistics park spanning 90,000 m2, just 8km from the centre of the Spanish capital, which Invesco will subsequently purchase. The operation has been advised by the consultancy firm BNP Paribas Real Estate.

The Madrid M-40 Logistics Park (PAL-40), which is going to be located alongside the M-40, will be built in two phases. The first phase will involve the construction of a building measuring more than 45,000 m2. This property may be leased in modules upwards of 2,500 m2 to several tenants or be occupied by a single logistics operator.

Work on the first phase is scheduled to begin during the second half of 2018 and the keys are expected to be handed over during the third quarter of next year.

Meanwhile, the second phase of the project will include another 45,000 m2 of logistics space, which may be used for turn-key projects adapted to the needs of operators.

Last mile delivery

The park is going to be constructed on the basis of a ratio of more than 2,000 delivery operations per day and will optimise delivery times thanks to its location with respect to the large population nuclei and logistics activity centres. Moreover, it will receive an energy efficiency certificate, according to those responsible for the project.

Specifically, the platform will have a 336-metre long façade overlooking the motorway and will be accessible by vehicle from Avenida de Andalucía, which the logistics sector call the last mile.

In this way, the new logistics park is going to be located less than 8km from Puerta del Sol, close to the Atocha AVE station and 19km from the airport.

The logistics sector was one of the segments that performed the best last year, as shown by the large volume of land that was bought and sold thanks to the growing demand for logistics space by companies dedicated to e-commerce.

Thus, the level of uptake in the sector in the market of Madrid and its area of influence reached historical highs in 2017, with 886,405 m2 of space leased, according to data compiled by BNP Paribas Real Estate.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake