Tag: land bank

Inmoglacier Acquires 8 Residential Plots in Arganda del Rey (Madrid)

12 April 2018 – Inmodiario

The project, Residencial Ciudad Futura, is going to be located in an important area in the centre of Arganda del Rey and will constitute one of the most significant new developments in the southeast of the Community of Madrid.

The total buildable surface area amounts to 102,220 m2, of which 6,706 m2 will be dedicated to commercial use and the remainder to residential use (homes to buy and rent).

The firm also announced the acquisition of land in Boadilla for 157 homes.

Grupo Inmoglacier, one of the most important property developers in the country, has completed the purchase of eight plots of residential land in Arganda del Rey, with an expected investment of €165 million. The plots have a surface area of 20,883 m2 and a total buildable surface area of 102,220 m2 of which 6,706 m2 will be dedicated to commercial use and the remainder to residential use, reaching a maximum density of 1,057 homes. Marketing of the project, which is going to include homes to buy and to let, is expected to begin in June this year.

Inmoglacier’s development is going to be located in the UE-124 Sphere “Central Area” of Arganda, opposite the Line 9 metro station. The project constitutes a new reference point for the population of Arganda, considered the capital of the southeast of Madrid, and will involve the creation of a completely new neighbourhood. The objective of Inmoglacier is to reactivate this urbanisation, which has been paralysed for years, turning the area into a unique space with high-quality designer buildings, in a green, family, pedestrian environment to meet demand in Arganda, Rivas-Vaciamadrid and the whole of the eastern area of Madrid.

This project represents the largest investment that Grupo Inmoglacier has made in a land purchase since its creation more than 35 years ago.

Boadilla del Monte

Inmoglacier has also announced the signing of a land purchase for the development of 157 homes in the west of the capital’s metropolitan area, in the Madrileñan town of Boadilla del Monte, specifically in the area known as “Cortijo Norte”. The total investment in that project will amount to €58.5 million.

The acquisition of land for new residential developments forms part of the group’s strategy to boost and maintain its organic growth thanks to the development of new projects, to which end it combines its extensive experience in promotion and robust financial stability.

Through these operations, the company is consolidating its position as one of the Spanish property developers with the largest land bank in Spain and one of the major players in the residential market in the Community of Madrid, with more than 2,000 homes currently under construction, 1,100 of which it plans to hand over in 2018. Inmoglacier is the fifth largest residential property developer in the country and the largest in Madrid by volume of homes handed over.

Ignacio Moreno, CEO of Inmoglacier said: “With our new partner, Cerberus, we have exponentially increased our investment capacity to develop a large residential supply in the country and that undoubtedly strengthens our position within the property development sector in Spain”.

Original story: Inmodiario

Translation: Carmel Drake

ASG Homes Is Planning to Build 10,000 Homes in Spain

9 April 2018 – Cinco Días

Metrovacesa, Aedas, Neinor, Vía Célere, Aelca… they are the everyday names of the new players that are reviving the house building sector following the real estate crisis. They are the companies that have stolen the limelight thanks to their ambitious plans and the return of these kinds of businesses to the stock market. But there is a quieter successor that is silently gathering a giant portfolio of land and with some ambitious plans of its own in the residential development sector. The company in question is ASG Homes, backed by the British fund manager ASG Capital Management and its subsidiary ASG Iberia.

Recently, the initiative has been baptised ASG Homes, the brand that will reach out to potential homebuyers. That will be the logo that clients will see when they visit one of the developments. Behind the brand is the ASG Iberia team, which in recent years has been acquiring a collection of plots in different provinces across Spain to accumulate 500,000 m2 of land in total, one of the largest portfolios in the country.

“We are the great dark horse”, recognises Víctor Pérez Arias, CEO of ASG Homes for Spain and Portugal. The current portfolio of land gives the company the possibility of building 5,000 homes. “The aspiration is to double our existing capacity”, he adds. That means investing more over the coming months to accumulate a portfolio with the potential for the construction of 10,000 homes. To date, the company has invested €400 million of its own funds to obtain its current land portfolio.

The property developer focuses on operations involving the purchase of debt with real estate collateral and on complex situations to reduce the prices it pays. Precisely for those reasons, the company rules out competitive tenders for acquiring land.

Currently, its plots are located in Valencia, Alicante, Málaga, Costa del Sol, Madrid, Salamanca and Sevilla. Specifically, in the Andalucían capital, the company is already planning to build 1,100 homes. So far, it has not entered the market in Barcelona, above all because prices are high in the city, but it does not rule out future opportunities.

Based on data provided by the companies, ASG is positioned in fifth place in the ranking of property developers planning to build the most homes, with around 2,000 units in the pipeline. It comes in behind only Neinor, Metrovacesa, Aelca and Amenabar.

Moreover, this year, the property developer plans to sell 1,500 new homes and hand over 500 homes to its clients. The market is looking at all of these new companies with a magnifying glass, above all of those that are listed on the stock market, to check whether they are capable of fulfilling their plans. Pérez Arias says that the company is already handing over its first developments in Alicante.

In Spain, these types of international funds have starred in the recovery of the house building sector, either through the creation of new property developers, such as in the case of ASG, or by refloating companies with problems.

The new property developers include Neinor, backed initially by Lone Star, after it purchased Kutxabank’s real estate business for €935 million. It was the first property developer to debut on the stock market in more than a decade and its main shareholder has already collected its profits after selling all of its share on the market.

It was followed on the stock market by Aedas Homes, backed by Castlelake. The 100-year old Metrovacesa also returned to the stock exchange, in that case, led by Santander and BBVA. Moreover, the fund Värde has two property developers that are currently sounding out the same path (Aelca and Vía Célere). In turn, Baupost has created Q21 Real Estate. Cerberus has also acquired the historical Inmoglacier and in the same vein, Bain Capital has purchased Habitat. Another example is the alliance between Gestilar and Morgan Stanley.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Acquires a Plot for 125 New Homes in Madrid for €7.4M

6 April 2018 – Eje Prime

There is no stopping the property developers in 2018. Quabit, the company chaired by Félix Abánades, is pushing ahead with its strategic plan and has added a plot of buildable land in El Cañaveral (Madrid) to its portfolio. This purchase involved an investment of €7.4 million for the group, which plans to record turnover of €29.4 million once it has completed the development, according to a statement.

The new plot has a buildable surface area of almost 13,500 m2 for the construction of 125 homes and will join the four other developments that Quabit is building in El Cañaveral. This is the second land operation that the company has closed this year, following the portfolio of buildable residential land that it acquired during the first quarter in Guadalajara and Corredor del Henares.

With all of these operations, Quabit is strengthening its land bank, which now contains 1,043,306 m2 of buildable land for the development of 8,700 homes. During the first quarter of this year, the group started building 473 homes across 6 developments, in addition to the 302 homes that it was already working on.

During the second quarter, construction will begin on another 350 homes and the plan is to have around 1,700 homes under construction by the end of the year. The company maintains its objective of handing over 7,900 homes between now and 2022, due to its capacity to obtain building permits (it has taken an average time of four months for the permits obtained so far this year) and due to its compliance with its investment targets, building work starts and new commercial launches.

All in all, Quabit will end the year with a commercial portfolio of around 3,000 homes. This year, it will also begin to hand over its first developments, although it will not be until 2019 that it exceeds the threshold of 900 finished homes to reach its cruising speed of 3,000 completions per year in 2022.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aedas Homes Acquired Developable Land in Madrid for 2,000 Homes in 2017

2 April 2018 – Inmodiario

Aedas Homes, a key player in the new cycle of the residential property development market, which made its stock market debut in October last year, exceeded its objectives in terms of the acquisition of 100% developable land in 2017. In fact, last year, the company invested €123.1 million in the purchase of land with the potential for the construction of 3,172 homes, up by 27% compared to the forecast set out in its Strategic Business Plan.

Specifically, 66% of the land acquired by the property developer in 2017 was located in the Community of Madrid, one of the areas that is seeing the highest demand for new housing, along with Cataluña. This significant stockpile of raw material has allowed the property developer to protect itself against the shortage of developable land in the Madrid region, a dearth that is causing major inflationary tensions in the market.

The plots acquired by Aedas Homes in Madrid have the potential for the construction of 2,093 homes, which, added to the land that the property developer already owned, means it now has a portfolio of land with the capacity to build 4,300 homes across the region.

Completion of the first developments

The Community of Madrid is one of the main focuses for the property developer. The firm has now sold more than 1,000 homes across Spain and is on course to achieve its objective of 1,500 operations at the national level in 2018. The high rate of transactions has been reflected in the sale of entire developments in Madrid, such as Terrazas de los Fresnos, in Boadilla del Monte, and Phase I of Escalonia, in Las Rozas –Escalonia II is now being marketed.

Raw material without any regulatory or political uncertainty

The land acquired by the property developer led by David Martínez in Madrid, along with the entirety of Aedas Homes’ land portfolio, is completely developable, which removes any kind of regulatory or political uncertainty. In other words, the property developer remains at the margin of the land transformation process (from not suitable to its conversion into “developable”), which involves some administrative activities that take a long time and which, therefore, delay the processing of urban development plans.

The company has a total land bank spanning more than 1.5 million m2 ready for development and with the capacity to house almost 13,000 homes, which represents 84% of the units that it plans to hand over between now and 2023. Many experts rate its land portfolio as the best in the market “We are committed to quality and not quantity”, say sources at Aedas Homes.

Original story: Inmodiario

Translation: Carmel Drake

Acciona Buys More Land on which to Build 4,500 Homes

27 February 2018 – Europa Press

Acciona has accelerated its property development and house sales businesses by investing in the purchase of developable land, in such a way that it now owns a portfolio of land on which to build around 4,500 homes, which it plans to continue increasing.

The group chaired by José Manuel Entrecanales (pictured above) forecasts that the resumed real estate activity will start to contribute to the income statement next year.

Two years ago, Acciona took the decision to recover its real estate division with the aim of generating value from the assets that it still held in the sector in light of the reactivation that the business was starting to show in Spain following the crisis.

Thus, in terms of its real estate assets, the company merged its rental homes into Testa Residencial, the Socimi in which Santander, BBVA, Merlin Properties and now the group itself hold stakes, and which is planning to make its debut on the stock market next quarter. Moreover, it is proceeding with the sale of the rest of its assets (hotels and offices) on an individual basis.

In terms of its property development activity, Acciona resolved to return to building on the land portfolio that it had, whereby taking advantage of the recovery in the sector.

Nevertheless, the company has given a boost to that initial business plan and has dived into the purchase of new land. Specifically, over the last year, the firm has purchased plots worth €82 million with capacity for the development of around 1,400 homes.

In this way, Acciona currently has a land bank for the construction of 4,500 apartments, more than triple the amount that it had a year ago.

Nevertheless, the group has expressed its interest in continuing to invest in land both in Spain as well as in the other two markets where it has a presence in the real estate sector: Mexico and Poland, according to the company’s Director of Corporate Development, Juan Muro Lara.

The group calculates that it will allocate around 20% of its average annual investment, which amounts to between €900 million and €1 billion to the development of this revived business, including both the purchase of land and the construction of homes.

Original story: Europa Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

Neinor Starts Buying “Non-Finalist” Land

23 February 2018 – Expansión

With its first birthday as a listed company just around the corner, Neinor is making a strategic shift. It is negotiating the acquisition of “non-finalist” land (plots that require urban planning management to become developable) to maintain its pace of development once it has reached its cruising speed in 2020. Specifically, the property developer, which has plots of land on its radar worth €500 million, is holding negotiations with banks, private investors and institutional funds regarding the possible completion of three land purchase operations involving “non-finalist” plots for around €200 million. They will allow for the construction of around 1,000 homes spread over various cities, including Madrid and Barcelona.

Under the framework of the negotiations, Neinor plans to make an initial payment of almost 10% of the total price to take control of the “non-finalist” land and to pay the remaining balance once the plots have been granted their corresponding urban planning permits, within a period of between three and five years. “My concern now focuses on acquiring a land bank to put into production from 2022 onwards”, explains the CEO of the company, Juan Velayos (pictured above).

The real estate firm, which announced results yesterday, closed last year with losses of €4.6 million but expects to become profitable in 2018. If we take into account the incentive plan for directors amounting to €19 million – of which €10.6 million corresponded to the CEO – paid in its entirety by the fund Lone Star, and the costs associated with the stock market debut,  then the property developer lost €25.9 million last year.

In 2017, Neinor generated revenues of €225 million, of which €77 million proceeded from its property developer business. It also recorded cumulative pre-sales of €746 million. The company, which delivered 313 homes in 2017, expects to hand over 1,000 units in 2018. It then plans to double that figure in 2019, to 2,000 units; and reach its cruising speed from 2020 onwards with 4,000 units. That would represent the high end of the range announced initially, although it will do so with an evolution in “more conservative phases to protect margins, improve the quality of revenues and deliveries”, he said.

Neinor owns 1.5 million m2 of developable land with capacity for the construction of 12,500 homes and a gross asset value (GAV) of €1.7 billion. The company, which invested €286 million in land in 2017 for the development of 3,100 units, plans to disburse another €200 million on purchases this year. Neinor’s share price closed trading down by 4% yesterday at €16.66.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Patrizia Wants to Buy a Property Developer to Become Rental Giant in Spain

8 February 2018 – El Economista

Over the last six months, the German real estate fund manager Patrizia has closed three acquisitions that have turned it into the new property giant in Europe, with assets under management worth around €40 billion.

With a solid structure, the firm is pushing ahead with its plans to grow in Spain through the purchase of a property developer. “A few months ago, we were analysing two operations. We are still looking and would love to close something this year, because we have the funds and the desire”, explained Borja Goday (pictured above), Head of Patrizia Immobilien in Spain, who added that what he is looking for is “a company that is well-balanced in terms of the team and its bank of land”.

“Much of the development that we would be looking to carry out would be focused on homes for rent”, highlighted the director, who added that Patrizia’s objective is to become one of the major players in the rental market in the country.

In fact, the fund manager already has extensive experience in the residential market in some of Europe’s main countries, where it manages the rental of more than 50,000 homes.

In Spain, this business is still emerging, and there are just three large companies operating. “We want to introduce the institutional model that already works so well in other European markets, such as in Germany, and we are backing this segment because we think that the business in Spain will have an institutional base in 10 or 20 years”, explains Goday, who firmly believes that the 23% of the population that currently chooses to rent a home in Spain will grow significantly over the coming years.

Whilst it continues the search for a property developer, the fund manager will take its first steps into the residential rental market in Madrid, where it is finalising the acquisition of a property. “We are also negotiating the purchase of another building, which needs renovating, like we did with our project on Calle Claudio Coello 108, where there is just one home left for sale”, revealed Goday.

Investment strategy

The growth plans of the fund manager, which is finalising the process to integrate Rockspring, Triuva and the Danish firm SPI, are not based solely on the residential market.

“Our portfolio is very diversified, both geographically as well as by asset type, given that we have a presence in the hotel, office, high street retail and logistics segments”, said the director.

Following its recent acquisitions, Patrizia has established a portfolio worth around €1 billion in Spain and is positioning itself as an overseas real estate manager with one of the largest teams in the country, comprising 14 professionals.

“One of the major factors that differentiates Patrizia from other fund managers is that it does not invest in a country unless it has a local team with experience there”, stressed Goday.

“With these three operations, we have doubled our portfolio at the European level and we will now start to look more actively at the shopping centre segment, where we can add value”.

Moreover, the German firm, which works with investors from all over the world, wants to raise Spanish capital. “We are a wonderful partner for institutional investors and family offices who want to get involved in the real estate sector, since we give them the opportunity to also invest in Europe and to do so alongside a listed firm like Patrizia”.

Although the fund manager has doubled its volume of assets, it is committed to maintaining the same profile as always. “We are very comfortable closing operations of between €15 million and €100 million, because we think that that range is very well adapted to the reality of the current supply in the Spanish market”.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vía Célere To Build 1,700 Homes In Sevilla Este

21 September 2017 – ABC de Sevilla

The construction of new homes is recovering with a vengeance in the Andalucían capital, after years of stagnation. The revitalisation, which started with small developments in city centre neighbourhoods, has taken a leap with several million-euro investments to acquire land, such as the deal announced yesterday by the property developer Vía Célere. The Madrilenian based firm is planning to build 1,700 homes on the more than 150,000 m2 of land that it has acquired in the city, the largest operation of this kind since the crisis.

Sources at the company confirmed to ABC that this land is located in Sevilla Este, where an ambitious urban project is going to take shape between now and 2023. The property developer, which has been reluctant to reveal the exact location details, has spent €26.5 million to acquire plots of land, close to the Aquópolis aquatic park, which were once owned by the real estate company Osuna and which ended up in the hands of several banking entities.

This package forms part of a much larger plan that also includes land acquisitions in Getafe and Valladolid. Nevertheless, the project in Sevilla will be the largest. The negotiations have been quick, according to the company itself, which began conversations in July and sealed the deal just a few days ago.

Not a single VPO property

The intention is to build private housing blocks only on this land over a five-year timeframe. In fact, the acquisition of these plots is accompanied by a commitment to build homes (…).

The President of Vía Célere, Juan Antonio Gómez-Pintado, said in a statement that the company will continue to grow its land bank “at a sustainable pace, in line with demand”. He also revealed that since the beginning of the year, his firm has added 393,000m2 of buildable land to its portfolio, which will allow it to build up to 3,800 homes over the next few years right across Spain.

Interest from the USA

The capital that has motivated this welcome resurgence in the real estate sector in Sevilla has come from the other side of the Atlantic. The US fund Värde Partners, which acquired this Madrilenian company just a few months ago, will finance the construction with contributions from its shareholders.

The gigantic Hacienda Rosario project, involving more than 1,000 homes, has been presented under very similar conditions. It is being promoted by Aedas Homes – in whose share capital the US investment fund Castlelake holds a stake – on land located to the south of the Torreblanca neighbourhood, between the A-8028 road and Calle Parsi (…).

Original story: ABC de Sevilla (by Elena Martos)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Santander, Popular & BBVA Transfer Land For 3,700 Homes To Metrovacesa

11 September 2017 – Levante EMV

Santander, Popular and BBVA have transferred land to Metrovacesa for the construction of 3,700 homes in the Community of Valencia. According to real estate sources, the three banks have contributed more than 440,000 m2 of buildable land in some of the best development areas of Valencia and Alicante. The operation includes plots for the construction of hundreds of homes and a retail space in La Patacona.

As a result, Metrovacesa has become the largest real estate company in the Community of Valencia. If we add these latest plots from the banking institutions to Metrovacesa’s previous portfolio, the company now has 660,000 m2 of buildable land for the construction of 5,700 homes.

The land transfer forms part of Project Horizonte, which has seen Santander, Popular and BBVA (all shareholders of the real estate company) contribute land worth €1,108 million to Metrovacesa for the construction of 40,000 homes across the whole of Spain. Santander (which has recently absorbed Popular) and BBVA relaunched Metrovacesa as a platform to provide an outlet for their land portfolios. The banks are looking to make a profit from the rising economic cycle in the construction sector.

Sources close to the operation specified that the most significant plots of land are located in Benimaclet, Moreras and Patraix (Valencia); the development area of La Patacona (the urban plan for Bodegas Vinival in Alboraia); Benalúa Sur and Albufereta (Alicante); Nou Nazareth (Sant Joan d’Alacant); El Acequión (Torrevieja); several plots in Castelló and Sagunt; and buildable land on the seafront in El Puig (…).

Restructuring

With Project Horizonte, BBVA and Santander have concluded the restructuring of Metrovacesa, which they were forced to take over during the crisis, when at the end of 2008, they foreclosed the debt of the Sanahuja family, which was the majority shareholder of the entity at the time.

By virtue of Project Horizonte, the entity chaired by Ana Botín has decreased its stake in Metrovacesa to 61.3%, from the 70.3% that it held until now. Nevertheless, its stake really amounts to 70.5% if we include the 9.2% owned by Banco Popular. Meanwhile, BBVA has increased its stake in the real estate company from 20.5% to 29%. These variations are a result of the various land contributions made by each one of the shareholder entities, which have materialised through a capital increase.

Original story: Levante EMV (by Ramón Ferrando)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Neinor Homes Acquires 3 Plots In Valencia & Tarragona for €22.6m

7 September 2017 – Press Release

Yesterday, Neinor Homes completed the purchase of one plot of land in Valencia, which together with the acquisition of two other plots in Tarragona on Tuesday, means that the company has expanded its fully permitted land bank by c. 34,000 m2 in a matter of days.

The company plans to build 300 units on the newly acquired plots, taking the capacity of its fully permitted land bank to c. 12,000 units.

These latest acquisitions have a projected gross margin of c. 28%, which is well above the company’s targets. They were funded using the JP Morgan bridge financing announced last week.

Neinor’s total acquisitions since January now amount to €248 million, whereby fulfilling 100% of the company’s target for 2017 and 27% of its target for 2018.

The acquisitions are another indicator of Neinor Homes’ ability to anticipate the recovery in new regions, whereby strengthening its land bank in the City of Valencia and entering a new area in Cataluña: Tarragona.

Original story: Press Release

Edited by: Carmel Drake