Tag: leisure

ECE Finalises Purchase of 3 Shopping Centres from Sonae & CBRE GI for €450M

8 June 2018 – Eje Prime

The portfolio of shopping centres jointly owned by Sonae Sierra and CBRE Global Investors could be on the verge of having a new owner. The German company ECE is reportedly finalising the purchase of three shopping centres from the two groups for between €450 million and €500 million, according to sources close to the operation speaking to Eje Prime. Sonae Sierra and CBRE GI jointly own these three assets (50% each).

With the purchase of this portfolio, ECE would begin to acquire its first assets in Spain, given that since it carried out the acquisition of Auxideico Gestión in 2010, a company specialising in the management of retail complexes and which previously belonged to ING Real Estate Development, it has not closed any transaction of this kind.

The centres that may be added to the portfolio of the German firm ECE are: Gran Casa en Zaragoza, the largest of the three; Valle Real (Cantabria); and Max Center (Barakaldo, Bizkaia). The two current owners already announced when the sales process was launched that they expected to pocket around €500 million from the sale.

If the operation with ECE goes ahead, it will represent the real estate giant’s first purchase in Spain since its arrival. Eight years ago, the group headquartered in Hamburg and the leader of the European market in urban shopping centres, acquired the Spanish firm Auxideico Gestión, which was, at the time, responsible for the management of fourteen shopping centres.

Until last year and following its acquisition by ECE, the group controlled more than 25 retail complexes in Spain, including Albufera Plaza, Montecarmelo and Moraleja Green in Madrid, Alcalá Magna in Alcalá de Henares and Parc Central in Tarragona. In 2017, Auxideico finally stopped operating in Spain due to “its small business volume”, according to sources in the sector. Across Europe, ECE has more than 195 shopping centres under management.

ECE, a giant with a healthy investor appetite

Founded in 1965 by Werner Otto, ECE now has more than half a century of experience in the sector under its belt. The family-owned company develops, plans, builds, leases and manages shopping centres and invests in real estate projects.

With a retail surface area of 7.2 million m2 and around 21,000 retail operators, the shopping centres managed by ECE generate annual sales of more than €23 billion and have a market value of €30 billion. Moreover, ECE has a stock of shopping centres under construction and being planned, with an investment volume of €3.2 billion.

ECE, in addition to specialising in the management of shopping centres, also operates in the real estate sector with other types of assets. The company owns a portfolio of logistics assets spanning 913,000 m2 and office buildings measuring 1 million m2.

Shopping centres, a good business in Spain

The fact that a group such as ECE is showing interest again in this business in Spain is due to the good outlook that the studies predict for the sector. Spanish people both visited and spent more in shopping centres in 2017, and the turnover in this types of assets increased by 1.5% last year with respect to the previous year, whilst visitor footfall grew by 1.1% YoY.

The sectors that performed the best last year with respect to 2016 in terms of sales were the household, leisure and restaurant segments, with increases of 5%, 3,7% and 2,7%, respectively, according to a report from Cushman&Wakefield (…).

Shopping centres will continue to be the most sought-after assets by investors, primarily international funds. The Spanish retail market closed 2017 with 555 active shopping centres and a stock spanning 15.8 million m2, according to the Spanish Association of Shopping Centres (AECC).

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sabadell Sells Bal Hotel & Spa in Gijón to Grupo Artiem

27 December 2017 – Revista Hostel Pro

The 5-star Bal Hotel & Spa has 45 fully equipped rooms (doubles, junior suites and suites), as well as 4 meeting rooms, a restaurant, a piano bar, an extensive spa measuring 450 m2, a gym, 3 padel courts, a car park and a large garden area for events. It is located in Asturias, just 10 minutes from the city centre of Gijón.

The asset has been acquired by Grupo Artiem, which is also going to operate the property itself. Grupo Artiem, originally from Menorca, has a long history on its home island. It has recently started to operate hotels in the urban segment, incorporating the 4-star Artiem Madrid Hotel, with its 83 rooms, into the chain.

José Guillermo Díaz Montañés, CEO of Grupo Artiem, highlights: “The features of the property and its location in Asturias, a region that fits perfectly with our value proposition, make the Bal Hotel Spa Business & Leisure the perfect candidate for incorporating into Artiem Fresh People Hotels, given that our business philosophy is based on well-being, sustainability and people. The facilities and, above all, the team that we are incorporating into the Group will allow us to start to grow in the north of Spain and remain faithful to our philosophy and management model.

Íñigo Cumella, Hotel Broker and the person responsible for the operation, indicated: “this is a unique property in the area, both due to its quality as well as the variety of its services and facilities. On the other hand, its environment and location (just 10 minutes by car from both the beach and Gijón city centre) make it very attractive for leisure guests, as well as for the organisation of corporate meetings and the celebration of events. The completion of this operation once again highlights the significant investor interest in the hotel sector, where luxury assets such as the Bal Hotel & Spa are continuing to generate demand”.

Meanwhile, Inmaculada Ranera, Director General in España and Portugal added: “The month of December is proving to be particularly intense in terms of the closing of operations. We hope that this won’t be the last announcement of its kind before the end of 2017”.

Original story: Revista Hostel Pro 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain’s Shopping Centres Reinvent Themselves As Leisure Mega-Resorts

23 October 2017 – Expansión

Star asset / The boom in e-commerce and change in consumer habits are revolutionising the traditional concept of retail. Offering new experiences and turning their properties into iconic spaces are some of the maxims of the owners of shopping centres.

Much more than retail spaces. The new generation of shopping centres is evolving to incorporate a leisure concept for the whole family and to adapt to the demands of the millennials. Aquariums, artificial lakes, ski resorts, diving pools; everything fits into these new megaresorts designed for leisure, experiences and shopping.

“We have to implement new concepts, but without taking our eye off the ball in terms of the retail mix”, explain sources at Unibail-Rodamco, the largest listed commercial real estate company in Europe, which owns 13 centres in Spain, worth more than €3,500 million, and which plans to invest an additional €650 million in the country between now and 2024.

“We have introduced the DEX (Dining Experience), which aims to revolutionise restaurant spaces in shopping centres through a combination of architecture, design and leisure to offer a multi-sensorial experience”, explain the sources. They are adamant that “physical stores are not incompatible with e-commerce. In fact, we are seeing lots of the companies that originated in the digital environment now looking for physical points of sale. Amazon has opted to sell through physical stores with its acquisition of Whole Foods in the USA. We have also seen the same thing with Hawkers, the sunglasses brand, which recently opened its first physical store in Madrid”.

“Shopping centres are having to evolve to adapt themselves to the new needs and wants of customers, combining technology, multi-channels and experiences to reach more demanding end consumers”, explains Luis Lázaro, Head of the Shopping Centre division at Merlin Properties, which plans to invest €100 million over the next few years in both modernising the image of its centres as well as in updating its commercial offer.

José Manuel Llovet, Director of Retail at Lar – which owns 14 shopping centres in Spain – explains that the Socimi is working on improving the customer experience. “We are investing more than €60 million in Capex to adapt and modernise our centres, improve services and experiences, as well as implement the omnichannel strategy”.

Sources at Intu, owner of Puerto Venecia (Zaragoza), Intu Asturias (Asturias) and Xanadú (Madrid), which also has several important projects underway, say they use the shopping resort concept as the formula for attracting consumers, turning shopping centres into “tourist and leisure attractions”, and adopting a strategy of fewer operators with larger surface areas.

Meanwhile, Sociedad General Inmobiliaria de España (Lsgie) inaugurated Plaza Río 2 on Friday. One of the main features of that centre, located on the banks of the Manzanares River (Madrid) is its Mirador (lookout), which they define as “the best restaurant terrace in the capital” (…).

Carolina Ramos Alcobía, Director of the Shopping Centre Leasing department at Aguirre Newman, points out that Spain is promoting a model that moves away from the traditional shopping centre. “The trend is moving towards an aesthetics of open shopping centres, which are more like small towns or urban shopping centres; moreover, that concept is very highly favoured by the Spanish climate. The key is to get away from the stress associated with hectic, uncomfortable shopping centres” (…).

According to Ramos, “we are undoubtedly witnessing the largest transformation of shopping centres since they first opened in Spain, almost forty years ago. If they don’t spruce themselves up, they won’t survive” (…).

Investor appetite

In terms of investment (…), according to Javier García-Mateo, Real Estate Partner in Financial Advisory at Deloitte, “a voracious appetite exists for medium-sized shopping centres, which we have not seen for more than ten years”. According to data from Deloitte, so far this year, investment in shopping centres amounts to €2,300 million. In 2016, investors spent €3,769 million buying shopping centres in Spain, almost doubling the figure recorded in 2015 (…).

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo and M. Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Merlin Resurrects The ‘Opción Shopping Centre’ In Alcorcón

5 October 2017 – Expansión

A beach area, a dive centre with a 15-metre deep pool, a rockodrome, and even a “mini-city for cars”. That is the innovative commercial proposal with which the Socimi Merlin Properties wants to recover the former Opción shopping centre.

Located in the Madrilenian town of Alcorcón, this establishment was one of 18 shopping centres that the real estate company acquired when it merged with Metrovacesa last year. Inaugurated in 2002, Opción was one of the shopping centres that fell victim to the economic and real estate crisis, which caused it to close its doors in 2009. Since then, Metrovacesa has considered reopening the property several times, but in the end, its new owner is going to finally re-launch the extinct centre.

Merlin’s project, known as X-Madrid, will include a different retail offer to the version typically provided by Spanish shopping centres. Spread over three floors, the ground floor will include several spaces dedicated to playing outdoor sports, such as beach volleyball and parkour (the sport of traversing environmental obstacles by running, climbing, or leaping rapidly and efficiently), a skateboard circuit, a rockodrome and a CrossFit centre.

In addition, X-Madrid will be home to Madrid’s first dive centre, with a 15-metre deep pool, which is deep enough to certify the most varied of licences, whereby avoiding the need for would-be participants to travel to the coast. In addition to the sports area, the ground floor will include a space dedicated to the world of cars, motorbikes and bicycles, as well as an ecological supermarket.

At street-level, the complex’s directors plan to open a fashion and restaurant area, including the now famous food trucks, an artificial beach and a large square (The Show Place), which will host events.

On the top floor, they are going to open a technological area, a chill out space and a cinema, as well as an area to practice extreme sports. By way of a nod to the original project, X-Madrid will also contain an area known as The Antimall, which will house a selection of tattoo shops, vintage clothing stores, as well as collectors’ items, design pieces and other items of interest.

“Nowadays, we need spaces focused on current consumers, who are looking for more technological, urban and ecological shopping and leisure experiences. X-Madrid has arisen with them in mind, and from the desire to offer something different and daring”, explains Luis Lázaro, Director of Shopping Centres at Merlin Properties. In total, the Socimi, led by Banco Santander, will invest €30 million in the project, which will include the comprehensive renovation of the building to create a retail space spanning more than 39,000 m2 of shopping area, as well as 2,100 parking spaces.

The remodelling work will begin shortly, with 70% of the retail space already reserved; the centre is expected to open in time for Christmas 2018.

With the X-Madrid project, Opción will be put on the list of centres that have been restored following their closure during the crisis, as happened with Avenida M-40 (Madrid), which has now been converted into a shopping outlet by the Venezuelan group Sambil.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

TH Real Estate Buys Hypermarket To Take Over 100% Of Islazul

19 July 2017 – Eje Prime

TH Real Estate has completed the acquisition of a hypermarket located in the Islazul shopping centre from the French chain E. Leclerc. The operation includes the refinancing of the Iszazul shopping centre, which was acquired by TH Real Estate in 2014, in such a way that the firm will now manage the whole centre. The amount of the operation has not been disclosed.

With a constructed surface area of 260,000 m2, Isazul has a gross leasable area of 90,000 m2, which makes it the largest shopping centre in the city of Madrid.

This acquisition will add 19,327 m2 of additional space for new operators, whereby increasing the offer available at the shopping centre, which already receives more than 12 million visitors per year on average.

The commercial mix, which accounts for 40% of the centre, is comprised almost in its entirety by the fashion segment, whilst the leisure and restaurant facilities occupy 27% and the hypermarket accounts for 21%. The rest of the space corresponds to other segments, such as services and equipment for the home. In addition, the shopping centre has 4,100 parking spaces.

The company, which has just acquired 50% of Madrid’s Xanadú shopping centre, will start new expansion projects for assets in its Iberian Peninsula portfolio this year. The group will invest €60 million on the expansion of its Norte Shopping retail complex, located in Portugal.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Intu Sells 50% Of Xanadú To TH Real Estate For €264.4M

31 May 2017 – Europa Press

The British firm Intu has sold 50% of the Xanadú shopping centre, located in the Madrilenian town of Arroyomolinos, to TH Real Estate for €264.4 million. That figure represents 50% of the price that Intu paid to the Canadian group Ivanhoé Cambridge for the whole establishment back in March.

In this way, Intu and TH Real Estate are creating a joint venture to manage the ownership of the shopping centre, including the Snowzone, the only indoor ski slope in Spain, according to a statement issued by the British firm. Cushman & Wakefield introduced and advised TH Real Estate as a partner to Intu in the creation of that joint venture.

“We are delighted to announce our new partnership with TH Real Estate and we look forward to working together on a series of active management opportunities to improve and strengthen the position and offering of Madrid Xanadú”, said the CEO of Intu, David Fischel.

Xanadú, which has an occupancy rate of 97%, is currently home to more than 220 stores. Its tenants include Inditex, El Corte Inglés and Primark, and it has a gross leasable area (GLA) of 153,000 m2 plus 8,000 parking spaces.

The shopping centre, which receives 13 million visitors per year, has a clear focus on leisure, given that its facilities include the only indoor ski slope in Spain, 15 cinema screens, a bowling alley and almost 40 restaurants. It also plans to open an Aquarium and a Nickelodeon centre this year.

The aim of the British firm, which is now working hand in hand with its partner, is to transform the centre into the resort of choice in the area. It plans to renew the offering, revitalise the space, undertake a digital transformation, as well as invest in the image, all with the aim of converting the centre into an attractive tourist destination where visitors can spend their leisure and free time.

Original story: Europa Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sambil Outlet Opens Largest Shopping Outlet In Spain

27 March 2017 – Observatorio Inmobiliario

The Sambil Outlet Madrid was inaugurated on Thursday (23 March), it is a new shopping centre concept that combines fashion outlets with restaurants, leisure and other services. With a gross leasable area (GLA) of 43,500 m2, it is the largest outlet centre in Spain and the first European project undertaken by the Venezuelan group Sambil.

According to its developers, the total investment in the shopping centre amounted to €59 million and at the time of opening, it has an occupancy rate of 85% of the GLA. It contains 130 retail premises in total and has 2,400 parking spaces. There are plans to open charging points for electrical vehicles. Sambil Outlet Madrid will create almost 2,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Ricardo and Alfredo Cohen, Directors of the Sambil Group, participated in the inauguration ceremony. They stated that “our commitment to this market is serious and we will soon be exploring new avenues for investment in this country”.

Other attendees at the inauguration of the new centre included Javier Ruiz Santiago, Deputy Minister for the Economy and Innovation, María José Pérez-Cejuela, Director General of Trade and Consumer Affairs, both from the government of the Community of Madrid; Santiago Llorente, Mayor of Leganés; and a large number of councillors from the municipal corporation. Ricardo Fontana, Minister-Counsellor of the Embassy of Venezuela, also attended, along with representatives of the country’s main retailers.

The fashion space, which accounts for 51% of the total surface area, is home to brands such as Outlet from El Corte Inglés, For & From (Inditex group), Fifty Factory (Cortefiel group) and the Outlet Sport (Intersport group), amongst others.

The food area will house the largest Simply Hypermarket in the Community of Madrid. The leisure space will include a 12-screen Odeon cinema and the largest wind tunnel in Europe, the Hurricane Factory, which will open within the next few weeks. The restaurant section will include a Burger King, Foster’s Hollywood and Grupo Vips restaurants, amongst others. There will also be an area dedicated to services.

Original story: Observatorio Inmobiliario

Translation: Carmel Drake