Equilis Invests €120M in a Commercial Complex in Esplugues

27 June 2018 – El Mundo

The Belgian real estate firm Equilis is finalising a new shopping centre in Esplugues de Llobregat, which is expected to be inaugurated in November; 90% of the stores in the complex have already been commercialised. The centre, which has received investment of €120 million and which has employed 1,000 people for its construction, will receive up to 8 million visitors per year and will create 500 more jobs once it begins operation, according to forecasts prepared by the company.

The macro-project from the company controlled by the Mestdagh family is a first step in its expansion in Spain, where it expects to begin six projects with a value of €750 million over the next few years, two of which will be in Cataluña, which will receive investment of €200 million – including Esplugues – and four in the rest of the country.

Finestrelles Shopping Center, as the commercial complex in Esplugues is known, is located in the Ca n’Oliveres sector, in the neighbourhood of Can Vidalet, on the plot that exists between Calles Laureà Miró and Sant Mateu. It will have two tunnels that will connect the space with Ronda de Dalt and la Avenida Diagonal.

The surface area of the complex will span 40,000 m2, distributed over five floors, two of which will be dedicated to parking and the rest for commercial use. The centre will contain 110 stores as well as a hall of residence for students with almost 375 beds and a hypermarket. “For the time being, there won’t be any cinemas, but we are not ruling that out”, said Víctor Gómez (pictured above), CEO of the company in Spain.

Original story: El Mundo 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Drago & Murias Invest €50M To Build Melilla’s First Shopping Centre

25 October 2017 – Eje Prime

Drago Capital is adding a new project to its portfolio. The real estate manager is finalising the launch of Parque Melilla, the first shopping centre located in the autonomous city of Melilla. The group, which has joined forces with Grupo Murias (to take care of the construction work) has invested €50 million in the project, according to explanations provided by company sources to Eje Prime.

The shopping centre, which is being commercialised by LyC Consultores, has been built on land that formerly housed the Valenzuela Barracks. It will have a gross leasable area (GLA) of 34,600 m2 in total, spread over two open floors, with parking for 1,350 vehicles.

The centre will be a mixed format retail park style (given that the gross leasable area will range between 20,000 m2 and 39,999 m2), with an area that will house a hypermarket along with small and medium-sized stores for fashion and services, and another space where the large format operators will compete.

According to Drago, the construction work is being carried out in record time: the starting gun was fired in September 2016 and more than 80% of the property has already been built. At the moment, Drago is working on fine-tuning the premises of the various operators and the centre is expected to open before the end of the year. The whole project will generate around 580 direct jobs and around 800 indirect roles when it opens its doors.

The centre is almost completely occupied. 85% of the premises have been leased to fashion, electronics and sports groups, as well as restaurant chains. Some of the brands that are going to open stores in the centre include H&M, Decathlon, Springfield, C&A, Inditex, Eroski, Worten, Inside, Multiópticas, Cortefiel, Primor, Guess and Levi’s.

As a result of this shopping centre, Melilla will lose its title as the only Spanish region without this format of retail offering, which will serve as a gateway for brands that do not have a presence in the city yet. The population in Parque Melilla’s catchment area amounts to almost 400,000 inhabitants.

Since its inception, Drago Capital has launched and managed fourteen investment vehicles encompassing more than 1,200 properties in Spain and Portugal. The company is dividing its business in two. On the one hand, Drago Capital has developed its asset management business, which offers services ranging from administrative management to property management, as well as the implementation of divestment and refinancing strategies.

The group also manages several investment vehicles on the Iberian Peninsula, in which large institutional investors hold stakes. Drago primarily manages two types of vehicles, those involving private capital and those involving managed accounts and joint ventures, which are specific vehicles oriented at covering the specific real estate investment needs of institutional investors (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aguirre Newman: Logistics Demand Soars By 23% In Madrid & Barcelona

17 October 2017 – Eje Prime

Demand for logistics space in Madrid and Barcelona is on the rise. During the first three quarters of 2017, 929,698 m2 of logistics space was leased, which represented an increase of 22.6% compared to the volume leased during the same period in 2016, according to data released by the Logistics Market Monitor for Madrid and Barcelona 2017, compiled by the real estate consultancy firm Aguirre Newman.

The volume of investment reached €600 million (during the 9 months to September 2017), which accounts for 76% of the total recorded during the whole of last year. That figure, in turn, represented a historical maximum in terms of investment volumes in Spain.

“The high level of investment activity in logistics assets that began four years ago continued during the third quarter of 2017. It was boosted by factors such as the consolidation of economic growth, the gradual improvement in consumption by households, rising rental prices in the main markets and an improvement in financing conditions”, say sources at the consultancy firm.

By market, demand for logistics space in Madrid during the third quarter of 2017 amounted to 226,757 m2, which took the total cumulative volume of space leased so far in 2017 to 614,070 m2, up by 52% compared to the same period last year.

The most significant operation, in terms of the volume of space leased during the third quarter, was closed in Illescas (Toledo), where a turnkey operation was signed involving a space measuring 103,000m2. It was followed by another operation in Meco involving a logistics space measuring 59,914 m2.

In terms of rental prices, the maximum reached has been €4.85/m2/month, as a result of an operation closed in the Corredor del Henares, specifically, in San Fernando.

“Activity in the market for land with logistics and industrial use has grown considerably with respect to previous quarters, given that seven operations have been signed, involving a combined surface area of 379,096 m2 (…)”, say sources at the consultancy firm.

In Barcelona, 91,406 m2 of logistics space was leased during the third quarter, which represented a slight decrease (of 9%) compared to the same period in 2016. Meanwhile, the total cumulative space leased during the first nine months of the year amounted to 315,628 m2.

Prime rental prices in the Catalan capital continue to range between €5.75/m2/month and €6.75/m2/month. Nevertheless, Aguirre Newman’s report highlights that one operation was closed in the Zona Franca Consortium for a rental price that exceeds the prime rent.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Albirana: New Rental Housing Socimi Will Debut On MAB On 22 March

21 March 2017 – Expansión

Albirana, the rental housing Socimi controlled by investment funds advised by Blackstone, will start to trade on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) on 22 March at €33.60 per share, a price that values the company at €168 million, according to the BME.

The company, in turn, owns three Socimi subsidiaries that manage a portfolio of 5,004 properties – mainly homes for rent – located primarily in Madrid and Barcelona.

They also have properties for rent in other cities such as Tarragona, Valencia, Girona, Zaragoza, Logroño, Vitoria, Mérida and Cuenca.

The assets have a combined surface area of around 400,000 m2 and 68% of them are currently leased out, according to sources at Anticipa, which will be responsible for managing the Socimi. In fact, Anticipa already manages the three subsidiaries that comprise Albirana, given that it handles Blackstone’s investments in Spain.

Specifically, Albirana controls the Socimi Budmac Investment, which channels 3,039 homes for rent in the province of Barcelona, as well as Lambeo Investment, which owns 377 flats in Madrid, and Treaman Investment, which manages the 1,588 homes across the rest of the country.

Strategy

The company’s strategy focuses on managing this portfolio of homes to “maximise returns for shareholders”, however, it is “open to analysing any possible investment or divestment opportunities in the market”, according to information provided in its IPO leaflet.

Albirana is chaired by Anticipa in the form of its CEO since 2014, Eduardo Mendiluce Fradera, a professional with more than twenty years of experience in the real estate and financial sectors.

Mendiluce also chairs Esade Alumni Inmobiliario and is a member of theExecutive Committee at the Urban Land Institute in Barcelona.

The new Socimi is the thirty-second entity of its kind to debut on the MAB, where it will trade under the ticker ‘YAPS’. Its shares will be traded through the price fixing system.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Redevco Iberian Ventures Buys 6 Retail Parks From Bogaris For €95M

27 April 2016 – Expansión

The shopping centres are located in Extremadura and Andalucía and have a combined surface area of 84,250 m2.

Redevco Iberian Ventures, the joint venture created between Redecvo and the funds managed by Ares Management, has acquired six retail parks located in Extremadura and Andalucía from the property developer Bogaris for approximately €95 million.

The parks, which have a combined surface area of 84,250 m2, are leased almost in their entirety to tenants such as the supermarket chains Mercadona, Aldi and Día, the fashion brands C&A, Kiabi and Merkal Calzados, and operators Burger King, Media Markt, Sprinter and Aki Bricolaje.

Specifically, the parks are: Mejostilla, in Cáceres; Kinepolis Pulianas, in Granada; Marismas del Polvorín, in Huelva; La Heredad, in Mérida; Retail Park, in Motril; and La Serena, in Villanueva de la Serena.

Ares and Redevco announced the creation of Redevco Iberian Ventures in September 2015 and following this operation, the total capital invested by the joint venture now exceeds €200 million. JLL and Deloitte acted as advisors to Redevco Iberian Ventures in the operation.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Santalucía Buys Office On La Diagonal In Barcelona

19 April 2016 – Expansión

The insurance company Santalucía has purchased a 3,000 m2 office building in the financial district of La Diagonal in Barcelona. The building is located at number 648 bis, opposite the L’illa shopping centre, from a family office.

The building was constructed recently and is regarded as a suitable location for use as a corporate headquarters. It is currently in the process of being leased out.

The acquisition reflects Santalucía’s decision to expand its real estate portfolio with office buildings located in the main areas of Madrid and Barcelona. The law firm CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo and the real estate consultancy Savills have participated in this operation, for which the consideration paid has not been disclosed.

Original story: Expansión (by J.Orihuel)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Axiare Buys Four Retail Outlets In Almería For €20M

19 April 2016 – Valencia Plaza

Axiare Patrimonio has purchased four retail outlets in the Viapark retail park, located between Almería and Roquetas de Mar, for €20 million, according to a statement made by the Socimi to Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) on Monday.

These four outlets, which have a combined gross leasable surface area of 15,745 m2 and more than a thousand parking spaces are leased in their entirety to Decathlon, Carrefour, Bricomart and Kiabi.

The Socimi has highlighted that these retail spaces have “excellent” visibility, are easily accessible from the A7, the Mediterranean Highway, and are located in an area of “limited” competition, which comprises a population of approximately 385,000 inhabitants, which increases during the holiday season.

The CEO of Axiare, Luis López Herrera-Oria, highlighted that, with this operation, the company is strengthening its presence in the retail outlet segment and is continuing to pursue its strategy focusing on offices.

Following this acquisition, the total investments made by Axiare increase to almost €900 million, with a portfolio of 31 assets in the Spanish real estate sector. 72% of the properties in its portfolio are offices, 14% are logistics platforms and 14% are primarily retail outlets.

For this operation, Axiare has been advised by Aguirre Newman for commercial matters and Gómez-Acebo & Pombo, Malcolm Hollis and Cushman & Wakefield in the due diligence process, meanwhile, Solvia has managed the sale of the properties on behalf of one of its clients.

Original story: Valencia Plaza

Translation: Carmel Drake