Metrovacesa Teams Up with Google to Capture More Clients Online

The real estate company controlled by Santander has reached an agreement with the American search engine giant to optimise the residential product it offers to each user through machine learning.

Improving the search for a home online has become essential for all real estate companies, regardless of the current State of Emergency.

In the case of Metrovacesa, the real estate company controlled by Banco Santander has decided to partner with Google Spain to offer a personalised service focused on the preferences of each client based on their searches. In this sense, with the help of Google, Metrovacesa will be able to optimise the real estate promotions it offers to each user through machine learning. The system will facilitate those products in which the potential buyer is interested based on their preferences.

Metrovacesa Delays its Dividend and Activates New Loans to Combat Covid-19

The property developer controlled by Banco Santander has decided to postpone the decision to distribute dividends to its shareholders until the second half of the year, due to the uncertainty caused by Covid-19.

Metrovacesa, the property developer controlled by Banco Santander and BBVA, has decided to postpone the decision to distribute dividends to its shareholders until the second half of the year, due to the uncertainty caused by Covid-19.

“The Board will study the appropriateness of a possible dividend payment, and its amount, in the second half of the year, after a more precise evaluation of the current situation, and of the evolution of the business during the initial recovery phase,” said the company in a statement to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

Amenabar Joins Forces with Ares to Invest €110M in Construction of 400 Build-to-Rent Homes

17 January 2020 – El Confidencial

Amenabar Promociones has signed the largest build-to-rent operation to date in Spain with the fund Ares. Together, they are going to invest more than €110 million in the construction of more than 400 rental homes in Valdebebas, Madrid.

The homes are going to be built on a plot that Amenabar acquired at the end of 2019 from Ferrovial for €56 million. The Basque, family-owned, property developer made its debut in Madrid’s residential market five years ago and handed over more than 1,000 new homes last year. In 2020, it plans to increase that figure to almost 1,600, a volume that it hopes to maintain for the next couple of years, which will see it outperform many of its listed competitors.

With this operation, Amenabar is following in the footsteps of companies such as Aedas, Metrovacesa, Quabit, Momentum and Urbas, which have all committed to projects in the build to rent sector in recent months.

Meanwhile, Ares has become one of the most active funds in this segment of the market. For example, Aedas is going to build 500 rental homes for Ares (€70 million); and Metrovacesa is going to construct another 121 homes for the fund (€29 million).

The appeal of the segment lies in the attractive returns that rental homes are currently generating. In Q2 2019, the average gross yield on rental homes across Spain amounted to 3.9%, according to official data from the Bank of Spain, which is much higher than the return on bonds and other prime real estate assets, such as offices and high street premises. Moreover, various cities and neighbourhoods offer even higher returns e.g. Madrid Capital (5.06%) and the Villaverde neighbourhood (8.43%).

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Spain’s Build-to-Rent Sector Found its Stride in 2019

4 January 2020 The build-to-rent sector is taking off in Spain. A series of large players are piling into the market, and the sector is no longer considered a niche investment. One of the first deals of 2019 came when Metrovacesa announced the sale of 121 new-build homes to the rental operator Ares for 29 million euros. The homes belong to two residential developments in Arganda del Rey and the Spanish capital of Madrid, with deliveries planned for the end of 2020 and 2021, respectively.

The developer Aedas Homes also reached an agreement with Ares to build 500 rental homes. Aedas will lead construction and sales in return for a payment of 70 million euros from Ares.

In October, Aurea Homes and the socimi Vivenio agreed to a 150-home development in Móstoles as well. The project is Vivenio’s second foray into the build-to-rent sector after it negotiated a 370-home development with Azora in Cañaveral, Madrid.

Just this November, ASG also jumped into the fray when it acquired a 300-flat project San Sebastián de los Reyes, Madrid in a €40-million investment.

El sector de construir de ‘build to rent’ está despegando en España. Una serie de grandes investidores se están entrando en el mercado, y el sector ya no se considera una inversión de nicho. Una de las primeras ofertas de 2019 se produjo cuando Metrovacesa anunció la venta de 121 viviendas de nueva construcción al operador de alquiler Ares por 29 millones de euros. Las viviendas pertenecen a dos desarrollos residenciales en Arganda del Rey y la capital Madrid, con entregas previstas para finales de 2020 y 2021, respectivamente.

La inmobiliaria Aedas Homes también llegó a un acuerdo con Ares para construir 500 viviendas de alquiler. Aedas liderará la construcción y las ventas a cambio de un pago de 70 millones de euros de Ares.

En octubre, Áurea Homes y la socimi Vivenio también acordaron un desarrollo de 150 viviendas en Móstoles. El proyecto es la segunda incursión de Vivenio en el sector build to rent después de negociar un proyecto de 370 viviendas con Azora en Cañaveral, Madrid.

ASG también se lanzó a la refriega cuando adquirió un proyecto de 300 pisos en San Sebastián de los Reyes, Madrid, con una inversión de 40 millones de euros.

Original Story: Idealista

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

Metrovacesa Reverses Plans to Build Homes at Clesa

17 December 2019 – Metrovacesa is looking to obtain the necessary final approvals from the Madrid City Council in January 2020 and that of the regional government in the middle of that same year. The firm stated that it is not considering building homes. Instead, it is studying a public-private collaboration to renovate the former Clesa factory, which Metrovacesa has ceded to the city.

The developer is continuing to plan on building a large mixed-use project on much of land, which is nearby Operation Chamartín. Metrovacesa will allocate 50% of the land for new offices while dividing the rest into other businesses such as retail, student residences and hotels.

The land in concern has 38,000 m2, excluding the 8,000 m2 Metrovacesa has ceded to the Madrid City Council. In total, there is a buildable area of ​​90,000 m2 and the firm will invest 260 million euros.

Original Story: Idealista – Carlos Lospitao

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Catalana Occidente Acquires Turn-Key Office Building in Las Tablas, Madrid

18 November 2019 – Metrovacesa announced that it had sold a turnkey office building in the Las Tablas area of Madrid to the Catalana Occidente group for an undisclosed amount.

The property Catalana Occidente is acquiring will have a total surface area of 11,250 square meters, with six above-ground floors and two basements with enough room for about 300 parking spaces. The building, the architecture studio BOD designed, will have a highly-energy efficient, avant-garde design. Metrovacesa expects to deliver the finished property in 2022.

The operation follows the insurance group’s strategy of acquiring prime assets for its real estate investment portfolio. The firm focuses on office buildings located in prime areas of Madrid and Barcelona.

Original Story: Cinco Dias – Alfonso Simón Ruiz

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Banco Santander Mulls a Possible Sale of its Stake in Metrovacesa

28 October 2019 Banco Santander is studying a possible sale of its stake in the developer Metrovacesa. The bank currently has a 49.4% stake in the firm, while BBVA controls 20.8%. Santander sees its investment as non-strategic, while the Bank of Spain continues to pressure the country’s financial institutions to reduce their exposure to the real estate market.

Original Story: Eje Prime

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Castlelake Acquires Land for 1,000 New Homes in Valencia

27 September 2019 – The US fund Castlelake, the majority shareholder of Aedas Homes, has acquired sufficient land, 100,000 square meters, to develop 1,000 homes in Quart de Poblet (València) from the real estate developer Grupo Ática.

Grupo Ática owned 60% of the total land in the new development, enough to build 1,400 homes out of a total of 2,300.  After the sale Ática will still own land for 400 homes, all of which will be subsidised (VPO). The two firms declined to reveal details of the transaction.

The remaining 40% of the land is owned by: Metrovacesa, with 6%; Dosval, with 3%, and the Quart de Poblet City Hall with 11%. Small property owners account for the remaining 20%.

Castlelake’s investment in the new development is expected to exceed 28 million euros, with €23 million in infrastructure works.

Original Story: Valencia Plaza – Estefanía Pastor

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Metrovacesa to Develop Offices and Hotels on 1.2 Million Square of Land by 2023

20 August 2019

Last year, Metrovacesa revealed that its holdings include a gigantic, 6-million-m2 portfolio of land, enough to build 40,000 new homes. That total also 1.25 million square meters of land slated for the construction of offices, hotels and logistics assets.

The firm announced its intention to “sell or develop” most of the 1.25 million square meters by 2023. Metrovacesa revealed plans for four major developments, accounting for 60% of the land bank, in a total investment of almost €390 million. The projects include La City and Loinsa in Barcelona and Clesa and Valdebebas in Madrid. Spain’s two biggest cities account for 86% of the portfolio, and 94% of those lands already have urban planning permits.

The largest of the four is City Metropolitana, in Barcelona’s L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, with a buildable area of ​​135,000 m2. The property company plans to build mostly offices on the site, along with up to 20,000 m2 for hotels. Metrovacesa also has 58,131 m2 of buildable land in Madrid, where it plans to build Valdebebas. That project will likely consist of a 4-building office complex.

Original Story: Cinco Días

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Initial Approval Given to Metrovacesa’s Plans to Build 1,345 Flats in Benimaclet

6 August 2019

31 years after the project was initially presented, the Valencian government has taken the first step towards authorising the construction of 1,345 homes in the neighbourhood of Benimaclet. Now, Metrovacesa must submit its plans to develop the area, where a change in planning is taken for granted. The municipal government must subsequently authorise the number and possible distribution of the homes, as well as everything related to public facilities.

The developer had already presented a project with towers of up to 30 floors, in the area near Avenida Catalonia Avenue and Calle Emilio Baró. An area for orchards of similar size is also in the plans, as requested by local neighbourhood associations. Even so, those same associations are requesting a decrease in the number of homes and a change in the planned distribution.

Original Story: Las Províncias – Paco Moreno

Photo: J. Monzó

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner