Tag: Moncloa

Anticipa: House Prices in Madrid & Barcelona Return to their Peaks of the Real Estate Boom

11 November 2018 – El Confidencial

The (real estate) recovery is really heating up. House prices in Madrid are on the verge of returning to their peaks of 2007. What seemed impossible, is now becoming a reality. That is according to a report from Anticipa Real Estate, which forecasts two-digit increases in house prices in the Spanish capital this year and next. Specifically, it predicts that homes will become more expensive by 10.2% in 2018 and by 11.5% in 2019, rises that are twice as high as the percentages that experts consider to be sustainable.

House prices have already been growing at rates of 10% during the last two quarters, according to the Repeated Sales House Price Index, prepared in accordance with the Case & Shiller methodology from the United States applied to Spain, which analyses repeat sales of the same homes. In other words, they are rising at double-digit percentages reminiscent of those recorded at the height of the real estate boom a decade ago.

Despite that, both property developers and banks are insisting that the market is very different to the one seen more than ten years ago and they categorically rule out that we are facing a similar situation to then. On the one hand, access to financing remains very restricted for solvent clients, whilst the recovery in prices is very uneven across the country. Whilst in the cities (and in certain neighbourhoods), prices are skyrocketing, in others, prices are still decreasing.

Although on average, by the end of 2019, house prices in Spain will be 15% below the peaks recorded in 2007, according to the report from Anticipa Real Estate, there are some hot spot areas where those prices have already been exceeded. In Cataluña, another of the hot spots in the Spanish market, increases of around 9% are expected next year and that despite the delicate political situation in Cataluña, which has had a direct negative impact on the real estate market – in Barcelona -, which, until a year ago, was performing extremely well in terms of transactions and prices.

Madrid stands out from the rest of Spain, with an evolution in terms of residential prices that has caused the first alarm bells to start sounding. In certain neighbourhoods, such as Chamartín, Chamberí and Salamanca, second-hand homes now cost the same as they did ten or twelve years ago, whilst in others such as Arganzuela, Centro, Moncloa and Tetúan, prices are close to exceeding those levels. In others, where prices are still well below their peaks of the bubble, the market is rising at rates of 20%, rapidly reducing the gap with respect to 2008.

They are peripheral areas of the city towards which price rises are moving like an oil slick. And that is because prices, both to the purchase and rental markets in the centre of the city have reached such prohibitive levels that much of the demand is moving en masse to more affordable areas, resulting in significant upward pressure on prices.

According to the latest data from Tinsa, in Vicálvaro, Ciudad Lineal and Villaverde, house prices have risen by more than 20% in the last year, compared with rises of 8.5% in Chamartín and 13% in the district of Salamanca. Meanwhile, the municipalities of Barcelona, such as L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Castelldefels, Esplugues de Llobregat and Sabadell, are experiencing a similar phenonemon with increases of more than 15% (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Corestate Finalises More Land Purchases in Spain

25 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Corestate wants its share of the student resident cake in Spain. The Luxembourg-based fund manager is finalising the purchase of new plots of land in the country, at the same time as it is starting to search for new opportunities in Portugal, according to explanations provided by the company’s most senior executive in Spain, Christopher Hütwohl. Corestate’s objective is to be ranked as one of the Top 3 operators in the sector by 2020.

The group is whereby seeking to fight off competition from companies such as Greystar, currently number one in the sector by number of beds following its acquisition together with Axa Real Assets and CBRE Global Investment Partners of Resa’s portfolio (formed by 37 assets) for €500 million. Another prominent operator is GSA, which acquired RIO’s portfolio for €180 million.

Corestate, which managed assets worth €22 billion at the end of the first quarter, is now launching new land acquisitions to build halls of residence for students, which will be added to the 206 beds that it is going to open in the Madrilenian district of Moncloa in September and the more than 300 that it will incorporate in Sevilla following the purchase of a plot of land in May.

According to Hütwohl, the company is currently finalising the acquisition of another plot on which it will build 400 beds and is “analysing four more plots” for 700 beds. Thus, Corestate’s plans include closing 2018 with more than 200 beds in Madrid and reaching 1,000 beds by 2020, which, according to Hütwohl “would place us as one off the Top three players in Spain”.

In parallel, the company has started to analyse its entry into Portugal with its business model. According to the head of Corestate, the fund is looking for opportunities in cities such as Lisbon, Porto and Aveiro.

The company is looking for plots on which to build with sizes that depend on the sizes of the halls of residence that they want to build, provided they are located in university cities. Nevertheless, Hütwohl warns that the “minimum size to achieve efficient management is 200 beds”.

“The student residence sector is becoming increasingly more competitive in Spain and we do not want to miss out on the opportunity and the advantage that our international knowledge affords us”, says the group’s executive in Spain (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by P. Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Corestate to Build 400-Bed Hall of Residence in Sevilla

3 May 2018 – Eje Prime

Corestate is expanding its footprint in the Spanish real estate sector. The fund, which is headquartered in Luxembourg, has purchased a plot of land in Sevilla from Helena Rivero, daughter of the former President of Metrovacesa Joaquín Rivero, for the construction of its second hall of residence for students in Spain. Having operated in the country since 2015, when it arrived at the hand of Grupo Villar Mir, the group has signed the acquisition of 2,200 m2 of land on which it will construct a building with 413 beds.

The project in the Andalucían capital comes after another one that the fund started work on in 2016 in Madrid, where it is currently working on the finishing touches to its first hall of residence for students in Spain. It is a renovated building in the Moncloa district, which is going to have 206 rooms and whose doors are expected to open in September, according to El Confidencial.

The plot in Sevilla is located on the Eusa campus, the university complex of the Sevillan Chamber of Commerce. With a buildable surface area of 11,000 m2, the construction work is going to be led by one of Corestate’s brands, Youniq. On the inside, the hall of residence will have a gym, study rooms, a swimming pool and fully equipped kitchens. The amount of the investment that the fund is going to make in the project has not been revealed.

Last year, Rivero purchased the plot that she has now sold plus another one, spanning 1,700 m2, located in the Club Antares area from the Chamber of Commerce. For both plots, the institution received €7.5 million.

On the Club Antares plot, Rivero is planning to compete with Corestate by constructing a prime hall of residence for students. The Andalucían businesswoman is holding conversations with another fund, Temprano Capital, to carry out that project in conjunction with the specialist operator Collegiate. The firm and the manager are already working together in Spain on a project in Finestrelles (Barcelona), as Eje Prime revealed.

In 2017, university halls of residences were the jewel in the alternative asset crown, a segment that grew significantly last year. In total, the real estate sector invested €560 million in the construction of rooms for students, compared with just €50 million that was transacted in 2016, according to data from the real estate consultancy JLL.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Excem Socimi Residencial Launches Homiii, a Brand Specialising in Shared Rental Homes for Millennials

17 April 2018 – La Vanguardia

Excem Socimi Residencial, which, in less than two years of life, has accumulated an asset value of €30 million, with share capital of €12 million, has launched the brand Homiii for the professional rental of shared homes to millennial students and young professionals.

Excem’s Socimi estimates a (stock market) debut value of €1.40 per share, which would represent an appreciation of 40% for current shareholders. Its latest capital increase, in March, amounting to €4.1 million was backed by 40 investors in total.

Homiii (www.homiii.com) purchases properties for residential use, in particular, those that are characterised by their location – in the most central areas of cities -, their quality – they must be renovated, decorated and furnished – and their design – the firm prizes comfort and functionality -.

This professional rental management company has concentrated its efforts in Madrid during the first phase. After just 20 months, it has acquired 40 flats, with a combined surface area of more than 7,000 m2 and 252 rooms under management for the academic year 2018-2019, located in the neighbourhoods of Moncloa, Chamberí, Centro and Salamanca.

The CEO of Homiii and Head of Excem Socimi Residencial, Antonio Mochón, explains that they are “very satisfied” with the results achieved so far. “We have created a business from nothing, and, to date, we have incorporated 40 highly qualified investors who have contributed funding worth more than €12 million”, he said.

Moreover, he highlighted that the firm has dealt with “more than 400 clients and earned a satisfaction rate of 80% for the quality of the homes and the value added”. “Young people feel part of the Homiii community because we offer them a lot more than they are initially looking for. We specialise in adding value to investors and clients, in a market where there is more demand than qualified and professional supply”, he said.

The objective is to exceed 3,000 rooms in some of the main cities in Spain such as Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Valencia, Bilbao, Málaga and Santiago de Compostela. The strategic plan for the business model is to close 2019 with investment of €70 million and to reach €300 million over the coming years through expansion across Spain.

Monchón indicates that one of his challenges has been to achieve security for investors: “a gross yield of 6%, a share price increase of 40%, a default rate of 0% and a commercial occupancy rate of 100%”.

“We understand our business project as a very specialist business model, and for that reason, we are managing to add value to our shareholders and offer professionalised management to our clients. We have achieved great stability in terms of the generation of rents and security for investors”, he explained.

Original story: La Vanguardia

Translation: Carmel Drake

GSA Wants to Invest €0.5bn in Student Halls in Spain

7 December 2017 – Expansión

The British firm Global Student Accommodation (GSA), which specialises in student accommodation, arrived in Spain in June with the purchase of Nexo Residencias from Oaktree Capital Management. This move, which allowed it to add a portfolio of 2,300 beds in the country, was just the beginning, given that the company plans to reach 10,000 beds by 2025 and invest approximately €0.5 billion in the country. In this way, Spain would account for between 20% and 25% of the firm’s portfolio in Europe, which in turn is expected to account for 45% of the total worldwide.

“To date, we have invested €0.2 billion and we expect to invest approximately €0.5 billion in total”, explained the founder and CEO of GSA, Nicholas Porter, in an interview with Expansión.

Spain represents one of the company’s priority markets, although the firm also plans to expand its presence to other countries in Europe and Latin America, to reach 250,000 beds around the world by 2025. GSA is present in eight countries and thirty cities in two regions: EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Asia-Pacific.

“Over there next ten years, there are going to be 100 million more students in university education. That trend is going to be driven by the growth of the middle class in China, India and other regions in Asia. The globalisation of university higher education and educational institutions exporting their brands will allow us to reach more markets than ever”, he states.

Porter explains that, of the company’s objective of reaching 250,000 beds around the world by 2025, “right now, we have achieved 10% of that figure”.

GSA promotes, manages and invests in student halls in locations close to the most important universities in the world.

Specifically, the company currently has projects underway with forecast investment of USD 1 billion around the world and a portfolio under development of around 21,000 beds. Moreover, to achieve its objective, the firm plans to leverage its brand through franchises in other markets, such as, for example, Latin America.

New markets

The company operates its halls of residence through the brands Uninest Student Residences, The Student Housing Company and Nexo Residencias, which it acquired in June 2017, representing its debut in Spain. “We see Nexo as an expansion platform, not only in Spain, but also in the south of Europe and Latin America”.

Currently, GSA has 1,500 operational beds in Spain and 900 beds under construction in Barcelona, which it plans to open in September 2019. Specifically, the operating portfolio is located in the centre of Madrid and includes: Galdós, with 370 beds, in Ramiro de Maeztu; El Faro, inaugurated in September 2016 and located in Moncloa with 358 beds; and Claraval, on c/ San Bernardo, with 186 beds. It also owns the Lope de Vega hall of residence in Alcalá de Henares, which it recently opened and which houses 468 students, both from Spain and overseas.

Moreover, it has two additional development plans underway in Barcelona, which will be ready for use in 2019 with 900 more beds (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

 

Stoneweg Still Has €200M To Invest In Spain

10 November 2017 – El Economista

The Swedish real estate investment platform Stoneweg, founded at the beginning of 2015 by the Spaniards Joaquín Castellví (pictured below, left) and Jaume Sabater (pictured below, right) in Geneva, has an investment plan for Spain amounting to €750 million. “So far, we have spent €550 million and our intention is to continue looking for opportunities in Madrid, Barcelona and along the coast, to spend the remaining balance that we have left of the €200 million”, explains Castellví.

Both partners left the bank Edmond de Rothschild to embark on this new venture, which, in just two years has established a presence in Italy, the USA and Switzerland, as well as in Spain. In the latter, its strategy is based on property development, including both new build and renovation projects, primarily residential, which currently account for 89.5% of its portfolio. In this way, the firm is currently working on the construction of 1,600 homes and “between October and November, we will be delivering the first units”, said the Director. He added that in the case of Madrid, the firm is looking for opportunities in the centre, in neighbourhoods such as Moncloa and Arguelles, “where there is a latent demand for a type of product that has not been built for many years”.

Stoneweg’s latest project in the centre of the Spanish capital is in the former Provincial Court building in Madrid, located on Calle Ferraz, where it is going to build 25 homes. “We have already started to market the homes and in the first week alone we have sold five units”, said the Director, who points out that the prices in other neighbourhoods, such as Salamanca and Chamberí, do not fit with their strategy, since they are looking for average returns of between 15% and 20%.

In its residential business, Stoneweg is also working by means of one-off partnerships with other property developers. Such is the case of its largest operation in Móstoles, where it has purchased a plot land for 300 homes together with ACR.

Also positioned in offices

The firm also holds positions in the office sector. In Barcelona, in fact, it is working on the largest business development in the city, the Luxa complex, comprising two buildings, which have already been pre-leased to Amazon and WeWork. “We sold those two properties to Catalana Occidente and we are now searching for a tenant for the WIP building, also located in 22@, measuring 4,500 m2. Once it has been leased, we will put it up for sale”.

The Director is optimistic because he acknowledges that “clearly, all the noise and uncertainty that we are currently seeing in Cataluña is not having any effect; we continue to have faith in the fundamentals of the city (…)”.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Uniqlo Signs Lease To Open Mega-Store In El Jardín de Serrano (Madrid)

22 September 2017 – Eje Prime

The Revilla brothers are making their investments profitable. The company Hermanos Revilla, which specialises in the acquisition of real estate assets in Madrid, has signed a pre-lease contract with the Japanese fashion chain Uniqlo to open a mega-store in El Jardín de Serrano, a shopping arcade in the heart of the Salamanca neighbourhood. According to sources close to the operation, the store will be opened by 2020 and will see the conversion of the arcade into a single store.

El Jardín de Serrano is located at number 6 on Calle Goya, in the heart of the Salamanca neighbourhood of Madrid. Uniqlo will occupy two floors of the property, specifically the first and basement floors, which together span approximately 1,300 m2. The property, which will be subject to a comprehensive renovation, has been on the market for a long time and had also received interest from groups such as Primark and H&M.

According to the same sources, the rental contracts of all the retail establishments that currently occupy the arcade expire in 2019. In this way, Uniqlo and Hermanos Revilla will have a period of one year to carry out the necessary construction work to transform the property into a large format store. Professionals in the sector consulted by Eje Prime say that Uniqlo will pay rent of approximately €2.5 million per year.

El Jardín de Serrano underwent a remodelling project in 2011. It has a total surface area of 3,700 m2, spread over four floors. If Uniqlo does end up moving into the property (it has included a cancellation clause in the pre-lease contract, to be invoked in the event that “a better opportunity arises”), then the two upper floors will continue to be used as offices. This will represent the fashion chain’s first store in Madrid.

Sources at Hermanos Revilla declined to comment about the deal, whilst some of the establishments that currently operate in the shopping arcade confirmed that they are aware that negotiations are underway for a fashion brand to open a large store in the building.

Hermanos Revilla is one of the main investment families in the real estate sector in Madrid. The company owns a portfolio of properties comprising office buildings and shopping centres, such as the case of El Jardín de Serrano.

Currently, Hermanos Revilla own a dozen office buildings located in the financial district of Madrid, including iconic assets on Paseo de la Castellana, where it owns number 41, the buildings at numbers 29 and 8 on Calle Goya (which together span a surface area of more than 10,000 m2 for offices and retail use) and number 35 on Calle Jorge Juan.

Hermanos Revilla also owns other properties in the Chamberí area, with a building at number 2 on c/José Abascal; in Chamartín, with an asset at number 132 on Principe de Vergara; the Musgo 1 and Musgo 3 buildings in the Moncloa area and four buildings on the outskirts of Madrid, in the M-30 and A-2 districts.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Corestate Buys Old Hall Of Residence In Madrid For €14M

16 November 2016 – Expansión

A new investor has made its debut in the Spanish real estate market. The investor is Corestate Capital Holding, a large investment fund headquartered in Luxembourg, which owns a broad portfolio of assets, mainly located in Germany and Austria. Corteste has combined forces with an investment partner to acquire a former halls of residence, located at number 42 on Calle Juan XXIII, in the Moncloa district, the heart of Madrid’s university area.

Corestate arrived in Spain last year when it teamed up with Inmobiliaria Espacio – part of the Villar Mir group – to launch a jointly owned company called Iberian Corestate Capital Advisors. In September 2015, that company announced that it is going to construct a fifth tower in the Cuatro Torres office complex in Madrid, on Paseo de la Castellana.

The owner of OHL was awarded the plot that runs alongside the four Madrilenian skyscrapers back in April, after the city’s Town Hall decided against building a Conference Centre on the site. The company controlled by Juan Miguel Villar Mir was awarded the concession, which gives it the right to operate on the land for 75 years, after it submitted the highest offer. Specifically, OHL agreed to pay an annual fee of €4 million, outbidding the second-best bid, led by Hispania and Ferrovial, who offered around €2.6 million. The Town Hall had asked candidates to submit bids for an annual fee of at least €1.9 million.

In September last year, Corestate announced that it was going to join the project through the company Iberian Corestate.

It is expected that Iberian Corestate will invest €240 million in the fifth tower project, which will involve the construction of a skyscraper that will house an IE Business School campus and a Quiron group medical centre. Corestate declined to comment on the plans for the Castellana project, but did confirm that it has purchased the Madrilenian hall of residence. According to sources in the sector, Corestate paid around €14 million for the property.

Until now, the asset acquired has housed a Spanish-Mexican secondary school – Santiago Galas de Arce. The building, which has been operating for almost half a century (44 years), will undergo a profound transformation with its new owner, given that Corestate is preparing an ambitious plan to restore the property and renovate the 4,022 m2 space, which will house 260 rooms and 302 beds.

Corestate’s idea is to demolish the existing complex and construct a new building that seeks to be one of the best equipped halls of residence in Madrid. The project will include several services such as a reception and concierge, common areas, such as a restaurant, gym and laundry facilities, as well as recreation areas in the form of patios and terraces.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake