ASG Invests €25M in the First Hard Rock Hotel in Madrid

10 October 2018 – Eje Prime

ASG Homes is converting one of its assets in Madrid. The real estate group is investing €25 million to transform one of its municipal office buildings into a four-star hotel. For this operation, the group has joined forces with the Hard Rock International brand, which has a presence in more than 74 countries and which is now debuting with its first hotel in the Spanish capital.

The hotel will have 159 rooms and will be located in the Madrilenian district of Atocha, opposite the Reina Sofia National Art Centre Museum. ASG is also planning to build an urban garden on the rooftop.

For Brian Betel, Managing Partner of  ASG Iberia Advisors, “this office building has a lot more potential as a hotel thanks to its proximity to the main tourist attractions in Madrid, as well as to the business centre and shopping district”.

ActivumSG in Spain (which operates under the brand ASG in the country) acquired the asset in 2015 for €15 million. The former owner of the building, which has a surface area of 7,800 m2, was the multinational AEW Europe.

The objective of the operation involves unblocking the asset for the group’s investors and taking a step forward in the company’s growth strategy in Spain. Similarly, sources at ASG Iberia indicate that they have opted for Hard Rock due to its “international reach”.

At present, the portfolio of ActivumSG in Spain comprises a dozen assets, with the exception of two, which were divested in recent months, located on c/Manuel de Falla and on c/Santa Leonor, both in Madrid. Even so, the operation that caused the fund to jump to the fore was its purchase of the Mercado de Fuencarral.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

ASG Completes Purchase of the Ruta de la Plata Shopping Centre

5 October 2018 – Eje Prime

ASG is now the owner of 100% of the Ruta de la Plata shopping centre. After completing the acquisition of the hypermarket, the real estate group has now acquired the entire commercial complex located in Cáceres, according to reports from the company.

Inaugurated in 1993, Ruta de la Playa has a surface area of 8,300 m2. ASG is planning to carry out a project to refurbish and modernise the facilities during the last quarter of this year and the first half of 2019.

The objective of the company is to generate a new offer in both the retail and restaurant areas of the complex. The transformation of the commercial surface area is expected to make way for the entry of up to twenty new operators.

Currently, the portfolio of ActivumSG in Spain (which operates in the country under the brand ASG) comprises a dozen assets, with the exception of the two that it divested in recent months, located on c/ Manuel de Falla and c/Santa Leonor, both in Madrid. Even so, the operation that caused the fund to jump to the fore was its purchase of the Mercado de Fuencarral.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Axiare Sells Planetocio to AEW for €20M

9 March 2018 – Eje Prime

Axiare has sold off Planetocio. The Socimi, which has been controlled by Colonial since February, has divested the Madrilenian shopping centre to a fund controlled by the manager AEW, which has paid €20 million for the asset.

Located in Collado Villalba, Planetocio is one of the few retail assets that Axiare, which specialises in the office sector, still holds in its portfolio. The operation is going to be closed this week and will see the buyer strengthen its presence in the Spanish real estate, after it acquired the Mercado de Fuencarral for €50 million last August.

Planetocio was constructed in 2001 and has been owned by Axiare since 2014, when it paid €99.5 million to the Dutch fund Wereldhave for a portfolio that, in addition to the shopping centre, contained several office buildings and industrial warehouses, according to Expansión.

In total, the Madrilenian shopping centre has a gross leasable area of 19,222 m2 and 797 parking spaces. Following this sale, the number of retail assets that Axiare holds in its portfolio will be reduced to La Mercedes Open Park (Madrid), Les Gavarres (Tarragona) and ViaPark (Almería).

Axiare’s divestment of this retail asset comes a few weeks after Pere Viñolas, CEO of Colonial, confirmed that the “logical” thing would be for the properties that his firm has inherited following its takeover of the Socimi to be sold gradually, although the group has the “peace of mind necessary to do so when it is most convenient”.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Activum Buys Land From CaixaBank to Build 1,000 Homes in Sevilla

2 January 2018 – Eje Prime

The real estate funds are back in Spain. The German group Activum (which has undertaken a large part of its investments in Madrid in the last two years) has just completed the acquisition of 19 plots of land in Sevilla Este, which, were owned until now by the Building Center, the real estate arm of CaixaBank.

The land in question is located on Avenida de las Ciencias and on Calles Soledades, Homero, Argos and Laertes and may accommodate more than 1,000 homes, together with other tertiary and commercial developments, according to ABC Sevilla.

In fact, this deal represents the second largest operation in this part of the city in recent months, given that Vía Célere, controlled mainly by the fund Värde Partners, acquired another large land portfolio in September, next to the Aquópolis leisure park, which in that case belonged to BBVA, and which has the capacity for the construction of more than 1,700 homes.

Currently, Activum’s portfolio in Spain comprises a dozen assets, with the exception of two that have been divested in recent months, located in Manuel de Falla and Santa Leonor, both in Madrid. Even so, the operation that caused the fund to shoot to fame was its purchase of the Mercado de Fuencarral.

The fund undertook that investment through the vehicle Activum SG Fund III and, although Talus Capital headed up the operation, the bulk of the money proceeded from the fund (approximately €22 million in total). Since then, it has been busy making purchases almost every month.

One of its latest involved the acquisition of six plots of land, all in Madrid, on which more than 1,000 homes can be built. The fund manager closed the agreement with Altamira for those plots in Alcalá de Henares, which have a buildable surface area of up to 50,000 m2.

Its portfolio of assets in Spain is completed with a building in Atocha, in Madrid, acquired in 2015, which it plans to convert into a hotel; the Sexta Avenida shopping centre, also located in the Spanish capital, which has a surface area of 16,800 m2; and the Ruta de Plata shopping centre, the only retail complex in Cáceres, which spans 8,300 m2.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

JLL: Retail Inv’t Will Soar To €4,000M+ In 2017

6 November 2017 – Eje Prime

The retail segment is attracting the attention of investment funds and is set a register a new record in 2017. Investment in retail assets is expected to soar by the end of this year to exceed €4,000 million, according to estimates from the real estate consultancy firm JLL. Operations such as the sale of the Mercado de San Miguel and the Mercado de Fuencarral, both in Madrid, will help this segment of the Spanish real estate sector record a new milestone this year.

So far this year, the commercial premises business has already broken all the records and registered the highest level of investment for the last fourteen years. During the nine months to September, the volume of investment in the retail sector amounted to almost €3,488 million, according to the Market Fundamentals report for Q3, compiled by the consultancy firm.

“The inter-annual footfall index in Spain rose by 1.7% in September and retail sales rose by 0.9% with respect to the previous month”, explain professionals in the retail business. This fact, together with the reality that prime rents are continuing to grow at a good pace, means that funds are looking very closely at retail premises.

The large operations involving portfolios of hypermarkets located across Spain stand out, as do the sales of the Mercado de San Miguel and the Gran Vía Alicante shopping centre. Other operations, such as the sale of Mercado de Fuencarral by Activum to AEW for €50 million have also helped to boost business in this segment in Spain.

“In terms of trends in the retail sector, over the last few months, we have seen how the traditional large format retailers are continuing to move into the city centres, convinced that their proximity to consumers will generate greater sales opportunities for them”, explain sources at JLL. Examples include Decathlon’s arrival on Calle Fuencarral and the opening of a Leroy Merlin store in the heart of Barcelona.

Another example is the case of Ikea on Calle Serrano. The Swedish group has just debuted its “test” of its new format, known as Ikea Temporary; it opened the doors of its first establishment in the centre of Madrid, in a building owned by the Loncito family office.

Moreover, last month, Media Markt opened its third urban store in Madrid, in the central Plaza del Carmen, close to the Preciados shopping street. In this way, Media Markt Preciados became the company’s 81st store in Spain and its 11th in Madrid.

Although the brand dedicated to the distribution of consumer electronics has now opened several stores under this “proximity format” in Valencia (Calle de Colón), Madrid (Calle de Alcalá and Paseo de la Castellana) and Barcelona (Plaza Cataluña and the Digital Store on Avenida Diagonal), the company is looking to further consolidate its arrival in Spain’s city centres with this latest opening.

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

JLL: RE Inv’t Amounts To €8,697M In 9 Months To Sept 17

2 October 2017 – El Mundo

The Spanish real estate sector is recovering in leaps and bounds to the position it was relegated from during the years of the financial crisis and is becoming an object of desire once more for domestic and overseas savers alike. Proof of this is the fact that investment in the sector to date this year amounts to €8,697 million. As such, it is already approaching the total volume of investment recorded in the whole of 2016 (€9,508 million). In other words, with three months to go until year end, the cumulative annual investment figure already represents 91.46% of the prior year figure (…), according to data compiled by the consultancy firm JLL about direct investment in the tertiary sector – hotels, logistics, retail and offices – and the residential segment.

The data does not include indirect investment or corporate operations, however, it does reflect two of the trends that are marking the recovery of the real estate market in Spain: the boom in retail and the renewed interest in residential. Not in vain, investment in both sectors during the nine months to September has already exceeded the total for last year.

In terms of retail, major operations, such as the sale of the Mercado de San Miguel and the Mercado de Fuencarral in Madrid for €70 million and €50 million, respectively, contributed to boosting the investment volume to €3,267 million by the end of Q3, compared with €2,977 million for 2016 as a whole. Sources at the consultancy firm estimate that the total investment figure for the year may exceed €4,000 million and they forecast that it will be “a record year in the segment due to the number and volume of operations closed or in progress”.

Meanwhile, investment in the residential segment during the first 9 months of the year amounted to €1,188 million, compared to €802 million for the whole of last year. The data follows the positive trend of other indicators such as house prices – which rose by 5.6% in the second quarter of the year compared to the same quarter in 2016, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE); sale and purchase operations, which grew by 14.7% during the same period; and the number of mortgages constituted, which rose by 32.9% in July in YoY terms (…).

It is not the only segment of the market to see such dynamism, given that the fever has also reached the office market. At the end of the third quarter, the sector had recorded investment of €1,759 million compared with €1,541 million during the same period last year. Sources at JLL highlight that the market in Barcelona, where the volume during YTD September (€714 million) is already 37% higher than 2016 as a whole, may end this year with double the investment figure recorded last year (…).

It may also be a record year for the logistics segment, where cumulative investment to date amounts to €578 million, around €100 million higher than during the first three-quarters of 2016 (…). The increase in consumption and the arrival of Amazon are marking the reconfiguration of that sector, especially in large urban areas (…).

Meanwhile, in the hotel sector, investment to September exceeded €1,900 million, which represents 85% of the figure recorded for last year as a whole. Changes in portfolios have been the stars in recent months, including transactions such as the purchase by Portobello Capital of a portfolio of resort hotels for €40 million.

Original story: El Mundo (by María Hernández)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hispavima Buys The Puma Store On c/Fuencarral For €13M

27 September 2017 – Eje Prime

Retail premises are continuing to attract the attention of both international and local investment funds. That is the case of the Murcian firm Hispavima, which has recently acquired the premises at number 33 on Calle Fuencarral, occupied by the sports fashion distribution group Puma, for approximately €13 million. Over the last few years, the company has expanded its portfolio of commercial assets in the capital, with the purchase of stores on coveted streets such as Preciados, Callao and Claudio Coello, amongst others.

The premises that Hispavima has acquired have a retail surface area of 196 m2. According to market sources, Puma pays a monthly rent of €40,000, and the return on the asset is 3.5%. The operation was closed in July, and was brokered by the real estate consultancy CBRE.

Hispavima is led by Jorge Tuchado, who is responsible for the expansion department at the group. Hispavima is the real estate division of Tefim Grupo Financiero, a holding company founded in 2001, which comprises several business lines (…).

The group currently owns 15 million m2 of land in total for tertiary, residential and logistics activity. “Of that, we have more than 1 million m2 of buildable land ready to develop”, says the director (…).

Although the company did not want to provide details about the value of its portfolio of retail premises, it did explain that it now owns more than a dozen assets. Its portfolio includes the Swatch store on c/Preciados; the Banco Santander branch on Callao, 1; and the Cos and Mango stores on c/Claudio Coello and c/Princesa, respectively.

“Over the last few years, we have not been able to purchase everything we have wanted to, given that the competition is much greater and the Spanish market is gaining a lot of interest”, says the director, indicating that the Socimis and international funds are direct competitors when it comes to buying a retail premise (…).

The hype of Fuencarral

The fact that the sports equipment distribution group Decathlon recently announced that it is going to open a macro-store measuring 2,400 m2 in the former Mercado de Fuencarral, on Calle Fuencarral, has served to put the Madrilenian retail thoroughfare on everyone’s radar in the real estate sector.

Fuencarral is one of the main shopping streets in Madrid. A large number of high-medium end fashion brands have stores on the street: from familiar brands such as El Ganso, Scalpers, Superdry, Pepe Jeans, Guess and Tommy Hilfiger to other, more high-end names such as Michael Kors, Maje, G-Star and Diesel.

On its busiest stretch, tenants pay an average rent of €151 per month per square metre. And although that figure has fluctuated somewhat over the last ten years, it is now at its peak, having grown by almost 32% since 2008. This makes Fuencarral a target location for many investment funds who see the retail premises as good assets for investment.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

AEW Acquires Office Building On C/Francisco Silvela 106

22 September 2017 – El Confidencial

The fund AEW Europe has recently joined the growing number of investors who are backing the Madrilenian street Principe de Vergara, one of the main thoroughfares in the Chamartín neighbourhood. The road has witnessed a proliferation in the volume of important real estate operations involving corporate headquarters in recent years.

And it is on the corner of that street, at its intersection with Francisco Silvela, at number 106 on the street that bears the name of the historical Spanish politician, that a private investor, advised by Aguirre Newman, has sold a building with a surface area of 6,300 m2 to AEW for €30 million, according to sources familiar with the transaction.

This operation follows several other important transactions that have been closed recently in the area, whose proximity to the Avenida de America transport hub, makes for easy access to the airport and whose proximity to both the Salamanca neighbourhood and the Paseo de la Castellana business district, have caused interest from owners and tenants to soar.

One example is the recent sale of the building at number 42 Calle Suero de Quiñones, the new headquarters of the law firm Uría y Mendéndez, which Hispania sold to the businessman José Lladó, owner of Técnicas Reunidas. The Socimi agreed that sale in the spring, a few months before the construction work was due to finish. The doors of that office are expected to open in November, whereby enabling the law firm to expand the headquarters that it already has nearby at number 187, Principe de Vergara.

Meanwhile, the property at number 108 on the same street, right next door to the building that AEW has just acquired, is also owned by Hispania, which purchased it just over two years ago for €25 million. The next one along, number 112, is owned by Colonial, which bought the whole building two years ago; it has since invested €45 million in the complete renovation of the 11,400 m2 property.

Opposite, at number 125 Principe de Vergara, the insurance company Reale purchased the entire building from Banco Sabadell two years ago and has now installed its new headquarters there. Acciona also expressed interest in that property at the time, as it had wanted to move its headquarters there, just a few metres away from the central offices of its rival, Ferrovial.

With this operation, AEW completes its seventh investment in Spain in two years. The fund has made a strong commitment to the country, where it has just acquired the historical Mercado de Fuencarral, which it has already leased in its entirety to Decathlon. It also opened an office in Madrid in January, which is being led by Carsten Czarnetzki.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Decathlon Opens 3 New Stores In Central Madrid

5 September 2017 – Expansión

The French multinational sports equipment retailer Decathlon is raising its profile in the centre of Madrid by opening new large format stores in three of the Spanish capital’s main commercial thoroughfares.

Specifically, Decathlon is going to open one store at number 63 on Calle Princesa. The premises, which are owned by a family office, comprise two retail floors and a basement, with a total surface area of 1,700 m2. The operation has been advised by JLL. Similarly, the company is going to open a store with a surface area of 2,400 m2 in the Mercado de Fuencarral building, located at number 45 on the central Madrilenian street.

The Mercado de Fuencarral, which has been closed since 2015, comprises three floors and has undergone a complete renovation to be leased to a single tenant. The property is now owed by the real estate manager AEW, after it purchased the building this summer from Activum SG Capital Management (ASG) for €50 million.

Similarly, the sportswear firm will soon open a store at numbers 22 and 24 on Calle Ortega y Gasset spanning 2,600 m2.

Decathlon, which made its debut in Spain in 1992 with the opening of a shop in Badalona, currently has 158 stores across the country and six logistics centres, two of which are continental supply points.

In this way, Spain is the multinational’s third largest market by number of stores behind France (305) and China (222). As part of its strategy to bring stores closer to city centres, the French group has opened 37 Decathlon City stores in Spain over the last few years.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

AEW Europe Buys Mercado Fuencarral For €50M

15 August 2017 – Mis Locales

The real estate asset manager, AEW, has purchased the property from the fund ASG for €50 million. It is the company’s fourth operation in Madrid after it purchased commercial premises and offices on Calle Serrano. It closed the other operation in Alcobendas, with the purchase of the Amura building.

The operation has been advised by ASG Iberia Advisors, CBRE and Uría Menéndez on the sell-side, whilst Herbert Smith Freehills has advised AEW Europe.

The company says that its strategy is focused on creating a portfolio of high-quality, profitable retail assets, which are well-located within Europe’s main urban centres.

The property in question will have a new tenant, the sports clothing and accessories firm Decathlon. As such, Decathlon will have two stores on Calle Fuencarral, given that last year, it opened a shop at number 147, near Quevedo, with a surface area of 145 m2.

Original story: Mis Locales

Translation: Carmel Drake