Tag: Julian Camarillo

Caser Buys an Office Building in Central Madrid

14 December 2018 – Eje Prime

Caser has acquired a prime asset in Madrid. The Spanish insurance company has purchased a building on Calle Velázquez measuring 5,460 m2. The property, which is occupied in its entirety, is home to commercial premises and offices, according to a statement issued by the company.

The property is located at number 94 of the central street in the Spanish capital and its surface area is distributed over the semi-basement floor, the mezzanine floor and six upper floors. The amount of the operation has not been disclosed and the deal has been advised by the consultancy firm Savills Aguirre Newman.

The building, which dates back to 1920, is being incorporated into Caser’s real estate portfolio, which comprises assets located in Madrid as well as in other cities around the country. Of the properties in the Spanish capital, the firm’s headquarters in Las Tablas stand out, as do the assets distributed in strategic locations such as Calle Alcalá, Plaza de la Lealtad and Julián Camarillo, where Eurovision has just leased offices, as revealed today in Eje Prime.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Barings Finalises Purchase of 5 Office Buildings in Madrid from Meridia

27 July 2018 – Eje Prime

The office market in Madrid is just a few days away from seeing the completion of a deal that is shaping up to be the largest operation of the summer. The British fund Barings is finalising the purchase of five office buildings owned by Meridia Capital in the Avalon business park, which have a total surface area of 25,785 m2, according to confirmation provided by sources close to the operation speaking to Eje Prime.

The American fund Starwood Capital was also a finalist in the bid for this portfolio of assets, but in the end, Barings has fought off the competition to seal the deal. The total amount of the operation has not been revealed, but the transaction is expected to be signed within the next few days. The real estate consultancy firm Savills Aguirre Newman is advising Meridia on the sale.

Located in the Julián Camarillo district, the new tech area of the Spanish capital, the Avalon business park comprises nine buildings and spans a total surface area of almost 47,000 m2. The rest of the properties in the complex are owned by GreenOak, which purchased its four assets from Banco Santander in 2015 for €40 million.

That same year, Meridia also completed its entry as an owner of the Avalon properties. In May 2015, the Catalan fund, led by the businessman Javier Faus, acquired the five Madrilenian buildings, as part of its purchase for €60 million of 33 assets from Naropa Capital, the family office owned by the Fernández Fermoselle family. The offices in Julián Camarillo were the main assets in the portfolio, but it also included commercial premises, residential properties and even a plot of land in Valencia.

With this operation, Barings is acquiring five assets that, in addition to a vast office space, have 423 parking spaces in a highly sought-after area of Madrid, close to the Adolfo Suárez-Barajas airport.

Diversification: after logistics and retail come offices

Barings is on fire in the Spanish real estate market. This latest operation that it is on the verge of signing in Madrid follows several others that it has closed over the last year, to take advantage of the new upward cycle in the real estate sector.

Nevertheless, Avalon is the first large portfolio that the British fund has purchased in the Spanish office market. Barings is, therefore, diversifying within the real estate sector, where it has made investments in the logistics and retail segments in recent months (…).

€23 million more for new purchases and to create a Socimi 

In the framework of its new roadmap for the Spanish real estate market, Barings carried out a capital increase amounting to €23.1 million last February for its Spanish subsidiary Barings Core Spain.

The reason for this reinforcement to its financial muscle resulted from the British fund’s interest to convert the company into a Socimi. The group’s intention is to combine all of the assets owned by Barings in Spain in this new vehicle and to list it on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) over the coming months, as revealed by Eje Prime.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Jabier Izquierdo & Pilar Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

French Construction Giant Bouygues Returns To Spain

10 July 2017 – Cinco Días

Bouygues is returning to Spain with its real estate business after years during which the company has stayed away from this activity due to the property crisis. The French construction giant has already disembarked with a team for its property developer subsidiary focused on both Spain and Portugal. And it has already been commissioned to build an office building in Madrid, where it is due to start work at the beginning of 2018.

The French company has decided to look for opportunities in Spain in light of the recovery in the property sector and the improvement in the economy. “We have waited for the macroeconomic indicators to improve and we are looking again at the development of tertiary assets, such as offices and hotels”, revealed Ana Vidal, Director General at Bouygues Inmobiliaria.

The director previously led the company’s real estate project in Spain – where it has been present since 1989 – during the previous boom at the beginning of the century, but after the crisis, Bouygues hauled in the sails and Vidal moved to Paris. She returned to Madrid at the end of 2016 to identify opportunities. “We are going to work in three main businesses: the promotion of offices, residences for students and elderly people, and hotels”, said the Director General.

The whole time, the company has held onto three plots of land that it owns, two in Madrid and one in the 22@ district in Barcelona.

The first project, which is now in its design phase, is being developed in the Julián Camarillo area of Madrid, an industrial district that is home to offices and residential properties in the east of the capital, outside of the M-30. On this plot, Bouygues Inmobiliaria plans to build an 18,000 m2 office building.

Luis Vidal + Architects has been engaged to design the property. The Spanish firm is known for the design of Terminal 2 at Heathrow airport, amongst others major works. It also just led a renovation project for the Socimi GMP of Saint-Gobain’s former headquarters, now known as Castellana 77. Moreover, the firm has collaborated with the architect Renzo Piano in the recently inaugurated Centro Botín in Santander.

The company plans to invest €50 million on the construction of the building from 2018 onwards, over a period of approximately two years.

The other plot of land in Madrid – which it owns jointly with Vía Célere (owned by Värde Partners) is also located in Julián Camarillo. “We think that it is a good office area as an alternative to the centre, where buildings of the highest quality are being constructed. It is a neighbourhood with a lot of potential, like the 22@ district in Barcelona, although it lacks planning”, says Vidal. Finally, it is precisely in that new district of the Catalan capital where Bouygues plans to construct a tertiary use building in the future.

Bouygues Inmobiliaria is planning an annual investment of between €30 million and €50 million in Spain over the next few years, specialising in turn-key buildings. For the time being, the first project being managed by the team of professionals that has recently started work in Madrid does not have a tenant, but Vidal is convinced that it is not a problem, because the firm already has sufficient own funds to start work.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

FREO Completes Second Purchase In Spain

22 May 2017 – Freo Group

FREO has made its second acquisition in Spain, this time in conjunction with a large American investment fund. Together they have purchased a value-add office portfolio comprising 14 assets distributed between Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. The portfolio was purchased from BBVA (one of Spain’s largest banks).

The majority of the portfolio consists of good quality office assets in the major sub-markets of Madrid and Barcelona – namely Julian Camarillo, Manoteras and Alcobendas in Madrid and 22@ in Barcelona.

FREO will be responsible for the asset management of the portfolio and will execute a variety of asset specific business plans due to the heterogeneity of the portfolio, ranging from small amounts of capex and leasing/lease renegotiation, through to total asset refurbishment and repositioning projects.

Original story: Freo Group

Edited by: Carmel Drake