Tag: Nuevos Ministerios

El Corte Inglés Should Receive Approval for Madrid Mega-Centre in March

23 December 2017 – Expansión

Three years have passed since El Corte Inglés acquired the most sought-after plot of land in Madrid, a space measuring 13,000 m2, located on Paseo de la Castellana. The group paid €136 million to be awarded the land, previously owned by Adif, in a deal that involved an initial payment of €68 million, followed by the disbursement of the remaining amount three years later. And that is also how long it has taken for El Corte Inglés to process the paperwork to allow it to expand the jewel in its crown, its Castellana shopping centre. According to sources familiar with the process, in January, the Town Hall of Madrid will submit its approval of the definitive plan to the central Spanish Government (…). According to the same sources, if all goes according to plan, El Corte Inglés will receive the green light to expand its Castellana megacentre in March, or, in any case, before the summer.

A complex project

The wait of more than three years to unblock the project has been due to a mix of complexity and bad luck. The urban planning proposal for the land established a total buildable surface area of 35,192 m2, of which 10,176 m2 corresponded to three above-ground storeys for tertiary use and 25,000 m2 to four underground basement floors for parking.

This proposal was very complex given the location of the land, located as it is, right on top of the Nuevos Ministerios Metro and Renfe stations (…).

Once it has been given the green light, it is likely that El Corte Inglés, which declined to comment, will not take long to start the building work to expand its Castellana centre. Its flagship store in the Spanish capital spans a surface area of more than 170,000 m2, with 70,000 m2 of retail space spread over seven floors and 1,600 underground parking spaces. More than 3,000 people work there.

According to sources in the sector, El Corte Inglés will also take the opportunity (of the construction of the new building) to reorganise the retail space that it owns in Nuevos Ministerios, and which includes its stores located between number 83 and 85 Paseo de la Castellana, which it sold to the real estate firm Monthisa in September 2016 through a sale and leaseback agreement (…).

Premium fashion and gastronomy

The marketing and design of the new retail space that El Corte Inglés is preparing to build on the land acquired from Adif is being carried out with the utmost secrecy by the retailer, which has refused to hire real estate agents like normally happens in these types of projects (…).

The most likely course of action is that it will create a premium space to house luxury brands and the highest-level gastronomy – although that is not the only possibility that the retail chain is currently contemplating -. That would strengthen one of the main objectives of its star centre: to attract tourist shoppers in the capital (…).

Original story: Expansión (by V. Osorio and R. Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Leonardo Hotels Buys Its Third Establishment In Madrid

29 September 2016 – Hosteltur

Leonardo Hotels is continuing its expansion in the Spanish capital with the acquisition of its third hotel, the Gran Atlanta Madrid, which will be incorporated into its portfolio from 30 September. According to Hosteltur, Gran Atlanta will join two other properties that the largest group in Israel bought in July. The Gran Atlanta Hotel is a four-star property and has 180 rooms, as well as five meeting rooms, with capacity for up to 100 people, and a restaurant.

A determining factor in the acquisition of the hotel has been its prime location, right in the heart of the financial and business district of the city. It is close to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and is well-connected by public transport, both in terms of local trains (Cercanías) and the Metro, which allow guests to travel quickly from Nuevos Ministerios to the centre or to the airport in just 15 minutes.

The Hotel Gran Atlanta Madrid will retain its current name until the renovation work has been completed. The refurbishment is due to take place between April and the autumn of 2017, when the property will adopt the Leonardo Hotels brand name. The international law firm Hogan Lovells has provided legal advice once again in an operation that has been advised by Planet Hotels & Resorts.

According to the Director General of Leonardo Hotels for Europe, Daniel Roger, “the decision to acquire another property in Madrid was not hard when we found the Hotel Gran Atlanta. Our success is based on our strategy of owning several hotels in Europe’s major cities and on the synergies that that approach generates. Naturally, the building’s potential and its excellent location have also been decisive factors.

The firm now has five hotels in the Spanish market, two in Barcelona (Leonardo Hotels made its debut in Barcelona with the Boutique Hotel Sagrada Familia) and three in Madrid. Roger added, “this represents a boost, in a short period of time, which makes our offer even more attractive and allows us to develop and strengthen our position in Spain ever further. We will continue our growth soon with more acquisitions here (in Spain) as well as in other countries in Europe”.

Leonardo Hotels is the European division of the Fattal Hotels Group, founded by David Fattal in Israel. It has operated in the European market since 2007 and owns more than 65 establishments in the superior 3-star and superior 4-star categories in more than 35 cities aross the continent, in countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the UK, Spain, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Italy and the Netherlands. In total, its properties have more than 10,000 rooms and 20,500 sqm of space for meetings and conferences.

Original story: Hosteltur

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hays Is Set To Become Castellana 81’s First Tenant

16 September 2016 – Expansión

Azca, the financial heart of Madrid, is set to have a new tenant soon. The firm in question is the recruitment firm Hays, which has announced that it is going to transfer its Madrid offices to the building on Castellana 81, popularly known as Torre BBVA, due to its former tenant. The real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield has advised the deal.

The firm will make the move in January once the current renovation work on the building has been completed. In addition to Hays, at least one other firm has expressed interest in moving into the building. “For reasons of confidentiality, we cannot comment about the rest of the space leased, only that the marketing of C81 is receiving a good response in the market”, said a spokesman from the real estate company.

Castellana 81 has been owned by the Socimi GMP since 2007, when the real estate company purchased the building, together with three others, from BBVA in exchange for a plot of land in Las Tablas, where the financial entity has constructed its new corporate headquarters. Following BBVA’s move at the end of last year (the bank still occupies five floors of the tower that carries its name), GMP decided to completely renovate the property, which was designed in 1971 by the architect Sáenz de Oiza.

Renovation of Azca

Castellana 81 measures 38,800 sqm and is 107m tall. It is not the only building being renovated in the Azca area. Castellana 77, also owned by GMP, is currently being updated to turn its 16,000 sqm surface area into offices.

In the case of Torre Titania, work has just been completed on the skyscraper owned by El Corte Inglés next to its store in Nuevos Ministerios, to accommodate its tenant, the professional services firm EY.

Another historical building in the area that is being completely renovated is Torre Europa. The property, owned by the real estate group Infinorsa, has taken advantage of KPMG’s departure (which has moved to Torre de Cristal in the Cuatro Torres) to renovate the building, with an estimated investment of €20 million.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Azca: Madrid’s Financial District Gets A Makeover

26 August 2016 – Expansión

Three buildings in the area are currently being completely renovated, along with all of the public spaces in the financial district. Zara will move in soon and the neighbouring Bernabéu stadium will be renovated in 2018.

The refurbishment of some of its classic office buildings, the complete renovation of the public squares, the arrival of a fashion giant and some changes in the faces of some of the most illustrious neighbours. That is the urban landscape facing Azca at the moment and it means that the financial district will have a completely new image in a matter of months.

In the schedule of programmed works, we have the complete refurbishment of Torre Europa, one of the flagship buildings in the area, which has not had any space available for three decades. Following the departure of its veteran tenant – KPMG -, Grupo Infinorsa has decided to invest €20 million in the complete modernisation of the 32-storey skyscraper, including the renewal of the façade, which will be completed at the beginning of 2017. (…).

JLL has been commissioned to market the empty office space, equivalent to 70% of its 42,000 sqm surface area, and has already signed its first contract with the US multinational AOL.

Also for the first time since it opened in 1981, almost all of the Torre Negra is available for rent; until last year, it housed the corporate headquarters of BBVA, which continues to occupy the upper floors of the 28-storey skyscraper. A construction canvas currently covers the façade of the building, renamed Castellana 81, where GMP is undertaking work to improve the 38,000 sqm space.

The triangle of planned renovation work is completed by the former headquarters of the Saint Gobain group in Madrid, which is currently unoccupied. With a leasable surface area of more than 16,000 sqm, spread over 18 floors, the building’s façade is going to change with the inclusion of some unique wavy slats on the outside, although the internal refurbishment will be carried out from the ground floor to the roof terrace.

Whilst three of its most spacious office buildings are being updated, Azca is also participating in the renewal of its public spaces. (…).

For the time being, the first phase of the rehabilitation of Plaza Pablo Ruiz Picasso has been completed and the second, and final, phase is scheduled to begin before the end of the year. (…).

But the most high profile issue in Azca over the next few months will be the arrival of Zara to the financial centre of Nuevos Ministerios. The company owned by Amancio Ortega plans to open its largest store in Spain in the 5,000 sqm building currently occupied by FNAC, next door to El Corte Inglés.

The renovation of the area could be completed in the medium term with urban projects in the vicinity. One project that is already in an advanced phase is the renovation of the Bernabéu stadium, which will not involve the extension of the constructed surface area, but will allow the construction of a roof, which is what the club wants. Most of this construction work will be carried out in 2018.

Another project, which is in an embryonic phase, will be the transformation of the Palacio de Congresos on La Castellana into a 23-storey property, which will include, amongst other facilities, a five-star hotel. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Marta Belver)

Translation: Carmel Drake

ECI Puts Logistics Assets Worth c.€300M Up For Sale

10 August 2016 – Expansión

The distribution giant El Corte Inglés has engaged Morgan Stanley to find investors who may be interested in acquiring assets worth between €200 million and €300 million, according to real estate sources.

Specifically, the company chaired by Dimas Gimeno intends to divest 33 assets, which have a surface area spanning more than 500,000 sqm, as well as five plots of land.

The assets on the market include rental contracts guaranteed for five, ten, fifteen and twenty years; and the deadline for submitting non-binding offers will close at the end of September.

Sources consulted indicate that some of the warehouses included in the sale are not sufficiently tall enough to meet with current demands from investors for this type of asset, which has forced them to adjust the duration of their contracts, as well as the rental prices.

The batch for sale, which comprises 38 assets in total, including the plots of land, contains: El Corte Inglés’ logistics centres in Bisbal del Penedès (Tarragona) and on La Peluquera industrial estate in Madrid. It also includes other assets on Las Atalayas industrial estate (in Alicante) and the Goro en Telde estate (in Gran Canaria).

By contrast, El Corte Inglés has not included any assets currently considered to be strategic in the batch. Thus, for example, the jewel in its logistics assets crown will not be included: its mega centre in the south of Madrid.

Reduce debt

The company, which seeks to reduce its debt balance with these divestment operations, may consider selling other types of non-strategic real estate assets in the future, as Expansión revealed in March.

These real estate asset divestments follow others completed by El Corte Inglés in recent years. In this way, in the summer of 2013, the distribution group completed the sale of a building next to Plaza de Cataluña in Barcelona to the fund manager IBA Capital.

Months later, it sold another property to the same investor on Calle Preciados in Madrid.

Other divestments

Last December, the chain sold another building in the iconic Puerta del Sol in Madrid for €65 million to the US fund Thor Equities. At the time, the group agreed to continue to occupy the building, which houses its book store and is located in one of the most important shopping areas of the capital, for another year.

Similarly, in February, the group sold the building that it had acquired ten years ago on Calle Fontanella in Barcelona for €17 million to a Russian investor, which plans to convert the property into a hotel.

By contrast, El Corte Inglés has also completed several important asset purchases in recent years. In this way, the company acquired a plot of land from the railway infrastructure manager Adif, right on Paseo de la Castellana for €136 million in 2014. This plot of land is located next to one of the company’s main shopping centres in the capital, in Nuevos Ministerios.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake