Metrovacesa Invests €41M in 196 New Build Homes in Lleida

3 April 2019 – Eje Prime

Metrovacesa is investing €41 million in the development of 196 homes in Lleida. The property developer has divided the project into two parts, with the first expected to be handed over in 2021. The real estate firm Finques Farré will be entrusted with the marketing of the development and Avintia Construcciones with its construction.

The Torres del Cel project will comprise two towers standing 60 m tall, with 21 storeys each. It will also include 210 parking spaces and 112 storerooms, plus four commercial premises.

The homes will be located in the vicinity of the La Llotja Conference Centre and will have views over the Segre River. The complex is 10 minutes on foot from Lleida train station.

Besides this project, Metrovacesa owns another plot in the city with capacity for the construction of another 250 homes.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

The Capriles Family will Set the Tone for Operación Calderón with Flats Priced from €5,700/m2

14 February 2019 – El Confidencial

It is a question of weeks. Gran Roque, the investment vehicle owned by the Venezuelans Miguel Ángel and Áxel Capriles, is going to start marketing homes in its most affordable development in Madrid within the next few weeks. The development comprises 105 homes and is located just 600 metres from the Vicente Calderón stadium. The properties are going to be put on the market for €5,700/m2. That price will, undoubtedly, serve as a reference for the potential buyers of the plots in the future Operación Mahou-Calderón, which is currently on standby until the plans for the urbanisation and Reparcelation of the area have been definitively approved.

As reported by El Confidencial, in October 2017, the Venezuelan clan purchased buildable land from Prosegur, just a few metres from where Operación Calderón is going to be built. For that plot, which has not required any type of urban development procedure and which is designated for residential use, as provided for in the General Urban Development Plan (PGOUM) for Madrid dated 1997, they paid around €25 million, approximately €2,900/m2. That price is close to those what is being considered for the plots owned by Atlético de Madrid.

According to explanations provided to El Confidencial by various sources, the development comprises five 5-storey buildings – except for one that has 4 storeys – and to optimise the price, Gran Roque has decided to start by marketing just two of the blocks, which contain 55 flats. In other words, like other property developers have been doing in Madrid, if the first homes maintain a high rate of sales, all indications are that the prices in the subsequent phases will be higher.

The construction permit will be ready by the end of April or the beginning of May, and so the marketing cannot officially begin until then. Nevertheless, 20% of the 55 units have already been reserved, according to assurances given by those same sources.

The project includes 2-, 3-, and 4-bedroom homes, all of which have a parking space and storeroom included in the price. The smallest units will go on the market from €450,000 plus VAT; the 3-bedroom homes will start at €550,000; and the largest homes will cost more than €600,000. That equates to a price of €5,700/m2, which is very high for many Madrilenians, but well below the prices typically charged for luxury developments.

Located just a few metres from Madrid Río and the Río Manzanares, the development will contain two swimming pools (one for children and one for adults), a gym, a children’s play area, a bicycle room and 24-hour surveillance, amongst other features. In total, it will have 1,719 m2 of common space (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Neinor & Vía Célere Lead the Ranking of Forecast House Deliveries for 2019

28 January 2019 – Cinco Días

Year after year, the new major players in the house construction sector are seeing the numbers in their growth plans increase. During 2019, the largest property developers created since 2015, and some of those reborn from the ashes during this latest upwards cycle, are expected to approach their cruising speed, above all, the listed companies Neinor, Aedas and Metrovacesa, which have been called to lead the residential construction sector together with Vía Célere. Even so, the sector is still very fragmented with lots of small companies.

Neinor Homes and Vía Célere have become the two entities with the largest number of home deliveries this year. In both cases, 2,000 clients will receive the keys to their homes, according to figures provided to Cinco Días by around twenty property developers. In these forecasts, the companies have detailed three concepts for their plans for 2019: homes that they will launch onto the market, homes that they will start work on and forecast deliveries.

Neinor Homes, created in 2015, and led by Juan Velayos (…) expects to start work on 3,000 homes this year, coming close to the cruising speed that it defined during its IPO, and it will start to market another 2,000 units.

Meanwhile, Vía Célere, controlled by the US fund Värde Partners, is in the middle of integrating the assets of Aelca, the other property developer owned by Värde, which has now emptied its portfolio (…). It is the only one of the large players that is not yet listed on the stock market; its plans in that regard were postponed last year.

The listed firm Aedas, also created in 2017 with land from another US fund, in that case, Castlelake, is also perceiving an upwards turn in its numbers. This year, it will hand over 1,055 homes, start marketing 2,500 homes and start building 3,000 homes, just two years after first appearing on the stage, with David Martínez as its CEO.

Meanwhile, Metrovacesa, the other large listed company, controlled by Santander (and in which BBVA holds a minority stake), clearly leads the business plans, with up to 4,500 homes to be newly marketed and whose construction will be launched. This one-hundred-year-old real estate company, which was cleaned up by the banks following the crisis, launched its new project in 2017 with Jorge Pérez de Leza, from Grupo Lar, as the CEO.

In terms of those entities backed by funds, the rescued firm Habitat also stands out, reactivated last year by Bain Capital, and which is planning to market 3,000 homes this year. Similarly, Cerberus took control of Inmoglacier in 2017 (…). That firm declined to provide its forecasts to this newspaper, but it is also set to play a significant role, given that it has become one of the real estate arms of the US fund, one of the most active in the purchase of assets from the banks and which also owns Haya Real Estate as its servicer.

The group of twenty-odd companies consulted will hand over almost 16,000 homes this year, will start work on 34,000 units and will begin marketing another 30,000 properties. These figures reflect the enormous fragmentation in the sector, which in the last 12 months has started 103,000 homes in total, according to figures from the Ministry of Development as at October 2018.

Small specialist property developers still carry a lot of weight, unlike in other countries where large players exist. Moreover, even though the rate of residential construction has taken off since 2014, it is still well below the peak of 2006 when 865,000 building permits were granted.

In terms of the new players also boosted by the international funds, they include other developers with a high rate of house sales: AQ Acentor (owned by the German fund Aquila), which is going to put 1,700 homes up for sale; Kronos Homes (backed by several European and US investors), which will market another 1,600 homes; and ASG Homes (backed by the British firm ActivumSG), which plans to add another 1,000 homes.

In terms of the survivors of the crisis, Amenabar stands out, the Gipuzkoan company, which expects to start work on 3,608 homes next year and to hand over 1,245 units. Another of the stalwarts is the Madrilenian firm Pryconsa, owned by the Colomer family, which has already reached a high number in terms of house starts: 1,285. In more modest terms, other important firms include the Basque entity Inbisa and the new entity Áurea Homes, the residential subsidiary of the Navarran construction group ACR (…).

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Metrovacesa will Invest €400M to Build a New 550-Home Neighbourhood in Palma

30 November 2018 – Eje Prime

Metrovacesa is going to expand the city of Palma. The listed property developer is going to construct a new neighbourhood comprising 550 homes in the Balearic capital with an investment that will exceed €400 million. The company is going to build five developments in the Nou Llevant area, which is expected to be completed in 2023.

The real estate company has already started marketing the first phase of the project with Jardins del Llevant, a development comprising 91 multi-family homes with between one and four bedrooms and eleven duplex homes with four bedrooms.

Construction of the complex will begin during the second quarter of 2019 to be ready by the end of the following year. In the common areas, the enclosure will have gardens and two panoramic, outdoor swimming pools on the roof.

Through this commitment to Palma, Metrovacesa is going to develop more than 160,000 m2 of land, of which 110,000 m2 will be for tertiary use and the remaining 56,000 m2 will be for residential use.

Currently, the property developer owns a portfolio of land for the development of 38,000 homes across the country. The company is going to put sixty developments and 5,000 new units on the market next year, as Eje Prime reported. Metrovacesa expects to close the year “with double-digit growth”, according to explanations provided recently by Juan Núñez, Operations Director at the real estate firm. The objective of the company for 2019 is to be the number one property developer in Spain and to reach an annual turnover of €1 billion in 2020.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Pierre & Vacances to Increase Revenues in Spain by 50% in 3 Years

28 November 2018 – Expansión

Pierre & Vacances, the vacation apartment, hotel and resort chain, wants to strengthen its presence in Spain with a growth plan over three years, which will allow it to achieve 80 establishments in Spain and Portugal and increase is turnover in the region by more than 50% to around €100 million by the end of 2021, compared to its forecast revenues of €65 million for 2018 and €85 million for 2019.

The French company, which has added six new establishments to its portfolio this year, will add another three properties next year, taking the total to 59 complexes and 5,000 apartments by the end of 2019.

Its plans for 2021 include having 80 tourist complexes in Spain and Portugal, containing between 6,000 and 6,500 units, according to Ghislain d’Auvigny, Director General of Pierre & Vacances in Spain, talking to Expansión.

One of the most recent openings includes Madrid, where the company has just incorporated apartments in the Eurobuilding 2, a building with 123 apartments at number 69 Calle Orense. This represents Pierre & Vacances’s debut in the Spanish capital and it joins other urban complexes that the company already has in Sevilla and Barcelona.

Pierre & Vacances, which arrived in Spain in 2005, employs around 1,200 workers in the country during the high season. “We will continue to take advantage of opportunities and to reach agreements with owners for the management, rental and marketing of complexes”, said D’Auvigny.

In parallel, the company is going to take advantage of purchase opportunities if it finds the appropriate assets, although it will subsequently sell them to third parties, be they funds or individuals, to maintain its policy of not owning any assets itself.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Habitat is Marketing 337 Homes in Madrid, Sevilla & Gran Canaria

10 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Habitat Inmobiliaria is putting new assets on the market. The property developer, chaired by Juan María Nin, has started marketing four developments in Madrid, Sevilla and Gran Canaria, comprising 377 homes in total.

In the Community of Madrid, Habitat has launched the sale of the development Habitat Pintor Velázquez. Located in Móstoles, the urbanisation comprises 82 homes with two, three and four bedrooms, each of which has a terrace, storeroom and parking space.

Meanwhile, in the Sevillan neighbourhood of Dos Hermanas, the company has started to market two developments. The first comprises 87 multi-family homes with two, three and four bedrooms with gardens, games areas, a swimming pool and padel court. The second comprises 78 single-family terraced homes with gardens, underground parking, common areas and a swimming pool.

Finally, in the case of Gran Canaria, the company has launched a development onto the market in the neighbourhood of Guanarteme, in the heart of the commercial district. That project comprises one hundred homes with one, two and three bedrooms, each with a storeroom.

For José Carlos Saz, CEO of Habitat, “this marketing policy strengthens the role of our company in the Spanish real estate sector and our clear commitment to promote the economic development of the areas in which we work”.

These types of operations are added to the land acquisition plan that Habitat launched after being absorbed by the US private equity firm Bain Capital in December 2017. The most recent purchase made by the company this year was at the end of September. As Eje Prime revealed, the real estate company invested €10 million in the purchase of two plots of land in Santander for the development of 62 homes.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Habitat Inmobiliaria Revives a 186-Home Development in Camas (Sevilla)

30 July 2018 – La Vanguardia

Habitat Inmobiliaria has acquired almost 12,000 m2 of land in the Sevillan town of Camas to build a new residential development comprising 186 homes that will involve an investment of more than €30 million. According to the company, the plot on which the new development will be located has a total buildable surface area of 23,357 m2 and the project will allow the re-launch of a development that was first started back in 2009. The marketing of this development will begin at the end of this year.

Specifically, the development will contain 186 homes in total and 277 parking spaces. It will have common areas with green spaces, playgrounds and swimming pools and four commercial premises. According to the property developers, the project is located around 20 minutes from the centre of Sevilla by car and just a few minutes from the bus stop that connects with the regional capital.

According to Habitat Inmobiliaria, the purchase of this plot forms part of the land acquisition plan that the group has launched and the project will be added to the more than 1,400 homes that the company currently has under construction. This operation follows other land purchases made by the firm in Collado Villalba and Móstoles in Madrid and the plots in Entrenúcleos in Dos Hermanas and Mairena del Aljarafe, both in Sevilla.

Currently, Habitat Inmobiliaria has a presence in the Andalucian provinces of Málaga, Córdoba and Sevilla and is interested in continuing to invest in the region, where the company has four developments up for sale and where it is planning to start on new residential developments in the coming months.

Original story: La Vanguardia 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Gestilar Launches Plan to Address Mallorca’s Scarce Housing Supply

6 July 2018 – Eje Prime

Gestilar is thinking about the Mediterranean. The property developer has started the summer by marketing the first 89 homes that it is building in Mallorca. As part of its €123 million investment plan, the real estate company is going to build 400 homes over the next few years in Palma across three developments in the Nou Llevant area, to the south-east of the city.

Mediterrània 1, the residential development through which the real estate firm has arrived in the Balearic Islands, is going to comprise homes with two, three and four bedrooms. It is designed for locals, both first-time buyers as well as those looking to reposition”, explain sources at Gestilar speaking to Eje Prime.

On an island with a “shortage of structural supply and economic stability”, Mallorca has become “one of the most desirable markets in Europe for investing in the real estate sector”, according to Raúl Guerrero, Director of Developments at Gestilar.

At the end of 2017, the property developer led by Javier García-Valcárcel purchased three plots in the Balearic capital with a total surface area of 55,300 m2. “We set our sights on Palma due to the shortage of new housing projects that have been built there in recent years”, explains Guerrero, who highlights the “the pent-up and unfulfilled demand” that exists in the city.

The first of the developments comprises several four- and seven-story blocks with their ground floors allocated to commercial premises. The design of the project has been entrusted to the Spanish architecture studio L35, which has created an urbanisation with substantial common areas.

Located 500 metres from the beach and the port of Portixol, Mediterrània 1 will have communal spaces with a swimming pool, a gym and a games area for children. The construction of the first phase is due to start between the last quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2019, with the aim of handing over the first keys before the end of 2020.

“There is space for new projects in Palma” 

Gestilar’s interest Palma is not the first from a Spanish residential property developer in recent months. A few days ago, the listed company Aedas Homes put on the market its fourth project in the Balearic capital and several other companies are working to begin projects this year.

This growing interest in Mallorca comes in response to the sales rates on the island that place it at the top of the ranking in the residential sector, behind Madrid and Barcelona. “It is still too early to assess the rates of our own developments, but for the last few months, we have been monitoring and updating our market research, and the results of this analysis reveal a high rate of marketing in the area”, explains Guerrero (…). According to the director of Gestilar, “there is space for new projects in Palma”, where the property developer has already opened an office.

In this regard, the property developer believes that Palma is going to be one of the cities, like Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao, that will look to improve its positioning abroad. In the Balearic capital, we are seeing a recovery in terms of property development activity, where a significant number of developments have started to be marketed between December 2015 and October 2017, which means that home completions are now growing, according to Gestilar (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by J. Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Habitat to Invest €30M to Build 200 More Homes in Sevilla

4 July 2018 – Eje Prime

The Catalan firm Habitat Inmobiliaria is redoubling its commitment in Sevilla. The property developer is going to invest €30 million in a new development in the Andalucían capital comprising 199 homes. To this end, it has acquired land in Mairena del Aljarafe, one of the most rapidly growing areas in the Sevilla residential market, according to a statement from the company.

In total, the real estate company is going to build the homes on a surface area spanning more than 16,000 m2 on a plot with a buildable surface area of 23,922 m2. When the project starts, it will become Habitat’s fifth development in Mairena del Aljarafe.

In addition to Sevilla, the property developer is also present in the Andalucían provinces of Málaga and Córdoba. Currently, Habitat is marketing three residential developments in the autonomous region, where it plans to continue investing soon.

The Catalan company’s new residential project in Mairena del Aljarafe is located in the Bulevares area. The property developer plans to start marketing the first of the project’s two phases during the second half of 2019.

The land purchase in Sevilla forms part of the land investment plan that Habitat has underway to expand its current residential portfolio under development, comprising more than 1,400 homes. The company’s most recent land purchases have been located in Collado Villalba and Móstoles, in Madrid and, in the Entrenúcleos neighbourhood of Dos Hermanas, Sevilla.

The historical firm Habitat Inmobiliaria, founded in 1953, has handed over more than 60,000 properties in its almost seventy years of life. Of the current developments under construction, comprising more than 780 homes, almost 80% have now been sold.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Buys Land in Menorca for €24.6M to Build Homes and a Hotel

3 July 2018 – Eje Prime

Quabit is preparing to bring more new homes onto the market. The company chaired by Félix Abánades (pictured below) is taking positions in the residential market in Menorca. The company has acquired a portfolio of buildable residential land on the island for €24.6 million.

The plots are located in Son Parc, on the north coast of Menorca, and form part of the municipality of Es Mercadal, according to explanations provided by the company in a statement. The plots have a buildability of 69,350 m2 for the construction of 277 new homes and 264 hotel beds.

The payment of 70% of the transaction price has been made through the company in which Quabit holds a majority stake and in which the global investment firm Avenue Capital holds almost 10%, with financial support from the funds advised by Avenue. The remaining 30% has been funded by using shares in the company with a value of €2 per share through a non-monetary capital increase.

“Quabit is going to start the pre-launch marketing campaign immediately, before the month of August”, explained the company. The deal in Menorca represents the company’s fourth major land transaction so far this year, after its acquisition of buildable residential plots during the first quarter in Madrid, Guadalajara and Corredor del Henares.

Following these operations, Quabit now has 1.1 million m2 of buildable land on which to build around 8,800 homes. In 2018, Quabit’s commercial portfolio comprises 45 developments with almost 3,300 homes in different phases of construction in Madrid, Málaga and the Costa del Sol, Guadalajara, Corredor del Henares and the Balearic Islands. The company is maintaining its objective of handing over 7,900 homes by 2022.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake