Tag: office space

Savills Aguirre Newman: International Investors Focus on Spain’s Offices

25 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Offices are the most sought-after assets by overseas investors in Spain. The limited availability of workspaces with the appropriate requirements is pushing international investors to bet heavily on this real estate segment.

In light of the shortage of high-quality stock, overseas investors have a Plan B for the country. According to the latest report from Savills Aguirre Newman, investors are currently looking for new build projects and are opting to renovate properties already being offered in the Spanish market.

The recovery of the economy and the consequent reactivation of employment has meant that buyers see Spain as a country with lots of opportunities in the office segment. This trend is expected to last for a few more years, above all in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona, where the creation of employment is set to grow above the European average; with annual growth of 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively (…).

In 2017, rents in the office segment rose, by 6% on average, in the main financial districts of Europe. Nevertheless, four cities led the growth in rental prices last year: London, up by 13.9%; Stockholm, 12.5%; Berlin, 12.4%; and Madrid, 10.7% (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by B. Seijo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sikone Investments 2015 Starts Work on the Renovation of its Office Complex in Madrid

17 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Foxá 25 is on the verge of revealing a new image. The owner of the building, Sikone Investments 2015, has just started work on the renovation of the office complex, which has a surface area of 6,700 m2 and which is located in the Castellana Norte district of the Spanish capital, very close to the Cuatro Torres skyscrapers.

The renovation work is expected to take eight months. Nevertheless, the main tenant of the property, which is going to occupy nine of the thirteen floors, will move in sooner than that, during the month of December, according to reports from the construction firm in charge of the project.

The objective of the renovation is to completely modify the interior design of the office area to create a flexible space that can be adapted to the current needs and demands of the Madrid office market.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Regus on the Hunt for Partners to Open 550 Centres Across Spain

8 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Regus wants to expand to the last corner in Spain. The supplier of flexible workspaces has set itself the objective of opening 550 centres in the domestic market and, in order to develop that plan, the company has launched a franchise model through which “we want to be everywhere”, said the Director-General of Regus in Spain, Philippe Jiménez, speaking to Eje Prime.

The franchisees of Regus, as well as their clients “will enjoy the same services as the company’s own centres”, said Jiménez. Currently, there is an “exceptional demand” for flexible workspaces in Spain and the company wants to provide a service that “would be impossible” without this new model, recognises the executive.

“We want to grow quickly and for that, the franchise model is necessary”, explains the Director. In exchange, the company offers its partners the same operating and marketing support that is provided to Regus’s own centres.

Jiménez says that “there will not be any limitations in terms of location”. “We like metropolitan areas in large cities, but also in secondary and tertiary cities too”, he continued. The only conditions that Regus is going to impose are that the franchisee must assume the full investment of the centre and that “the quality of our centres must be maintained”.

“For us, Barcelona and Madrid are the same as any other smaller city”, highlights the executive, who believes that with this expansion, through franchises, the company will provide clients with an increasingly “more efficient and more technological” service.

The new expansion formula that Regus is launching in Spain is a “mandate” that comes from the firm’s parent company, the giant IWG, but one that Jiménez supports. “Having centres all over the place allows you to be more productive”, explains the executive.

A former director of Día will lead the franchise area 

Regus’s new plan in Spain will also have a new director. Luis Herranz will be responsible for managing the expansion of the franchises. Recruited a month ago, the director comes from Día, where he has been working for the last four years. Since 2016, the executive has been the Director of Franchises and Master-franchises at the supermarket chain.

“We are adopting the franchise formula as a key lever in our growth strategy to expand Regus”, says Herranz on the social network Linkedin. It is a “business model that is simple to manage and that generates good returns”, says the director.

In terms of returns, Jiménez says that the flexible office model offers “large cash yields and significant double-digit investment returns”. “The sector of offices as a service is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, and has become the new target for investors and franchise operators”, highlights the Director General of Regus in Spain.

New openings and targets: Murcia, Toledo, Sant Cugat and Gijón

Whilst it searches for its first franchisees, Regus is continuing with its growth plan in Spain. Already present in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Málaga, Bilbao, Palma and Zaragoza, in November, Regus is going to add Murcia and Toledo to its footprint in Spain.

Over the last year, the company has opened 10,600 m2 of new office space. The most recent centres to be inaugurated have been those in Alcobendas and on c/Ortega y Gasset in Madrid; Diagonal Hightech and Sarriá Fórum, in Barcelona; and the Torre Aragonia centre in Zaragoza (…).

The main brand of the giant IWG, which also operates the co-working firm Spaces in Spain, Regus has a presence in 120 countries and more than 1,100 cities with 3,500 centres. The company provides services to more than 2.5 million clients around the world.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Jabier Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

WeWork Leases 2 New Office Spaces in Barcelona

4 October 2018 – Eje Prime

The US group, WeWork, is continuing its conquest of Spain and is getting ready to make its mark in the centre of Barcelona. The company, which specialises in flexible office spaces, will add a new complex to its portfolio in the Catalan capital after signing the lease on a building. The Corner, located at number 444 Avenida Diagonal, owned by Emesa. In parallel, the group is finalising the lease of the former headquarters of Banco Popular on Paseo de Gracia, in a property controlled Hines.

The building on La Diagonal is owned by Emesa, the investor group owned by Emilio Cuatrecasas, and used to house the headquarters of the law firm Cuatrecasas. The Corner, located at the intersection of La Diagonal and Paseo de Gracia has a surface area of 3,400 m2 distributed over seven floors (plus a basement), with an average surface area of 400 m2 each.

Emesa has owned the property on La Diagonal since 2017, when it paid €35 million to acquire it. The asset had been on the market since the beginning of the year after Cuatrecasas abandoned its traditional location to move to the 22@ district. Emesa had considered the possibility of leasing the building to several tenants, but in the end, it will be occupied in its entirety by WeWork.

In the meantime, the coworking giant is finalising another major operation. The company is close to signing the lease on the former headquarters of Banco Popular on Paseo de Gracia, a building that has been owned by Hines since March 2017, which paid €90 million for it.

Spaces, one of WeWork’s main rivals, expressed interest in that building in July. Nevertheless, sources at the company indicate that its operation never materialised. The building, located at number 17 Paseo de Gracia, has a surface area for offices and a retail premise, and has just been renovated by its owner.

With these moves, the US giant is taking positions in the centre of Barcelona; until now it had focused its presence on the 22@ district. In May, WeWork leased 4,500 m2 of space in the WIP building, owned by the Swiss fund Stoneweg.

That building is located next to the first complex that the group opened in Spain, in the Luxa building on Calle Tánger of the technological district. In Madrid, WeWork operates a space at number 43 Paseo de la Castellana, another at 77 on the same street, and a third at number 27 Calle Eloy Gonzalo.

Companies specialising in the management of these types of work spaces are revolutionising the office market all over the world. WeWork and Spaces are just two of the largest players on the global stage and both arrived in Spain in 2017.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Pilar Riaño & Jabier Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hines Acquires Mediapro’s HQ in 22@ District for €90M

19 July 2018 – Eje Prime

Hines has scored a goal in Barcelona’s 22@ district. The US fund has completed the purchase of the Imagina building (owner and tenant of the asset) for €90 million. The property is located at number 177 Avenida Diagonal in the Catalan capital.

The complex, which spans more than 50,000 m2 spread over two properties, is owned by the company Mediacomplex, in which Imagina, the parent company of Mediapro, holds a stake, and the Town Hall of Barcelona.

Imagina holds a 66.7% stake in this office complex, which is located very close to Torre Glòries, owned by Merlin Properties, and the two Luxa buildings, owned by Catalana Occidente and leased to Amazon and WeWork.

Hines is strengthening its presence in Barcelona with this purchase. Last year, the US fund purchased the Popular’s headquarters on Paseo de Gracia for €90 million, which it is going to convert into a mixed-use building containing 5,000 m2 of office space and 3,000 m2 of premises for commercial use.

Similarly, this operation reinforces the interest from investors in the 22@ district. In recent months, the technological district in Barcelona has welcomed the arrival of tenants of the calibre of King, the creator of Candy Crush, and Glovo, which is going to move its offices to the Catalan capital to a facility measuring 1,200 m2.

Nevertheless, the star building is Torre Glóries. The iconic building is going back on the market this year after a comprehensive renovation and has already welcomed technology giants such as Facebook and Oracle, which has confirmed its entry into the property this very week. Hines is one of the largest funds in the world with more than USD 100 billion in assets.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Union Investment Sells Pórtico Building in Madrid to a French Fund

19 July 2018 – Eje Prime

International operation in the office market in Madrid. The German fund Union Investment has sold the Pórtico building to a leading French investment company. The price of the operation has not been revealed, but it exceeded the valuation.

The building, located at number 2 Calle Mahonia, in the Campo de las Naciones area, spans a surface area of 21,000 m2 spread over seven storeys. Moreover, the asset has 413 parking spaces. The operation has been advised by CBRE.

The tenants of the property, which used to be the headquarters of Marsans for several years, include the cruise company Pullmantur and the liquor company Beam Suntory. The building is almost completely occupied, according to details provided by the last owners, who were asking €130 million for the asset when they put it on the market in January.

Pórtico, designed by the architects SOM and Rafael de La-Hoz, was constructed in 2005 and has formed part of Union Investment’s real estate portfolio since 2008. The asset was included in the group’s Unilmo: Deutschland portfolio.

The operation represents the end of Unilmo: Deutschland’s investments in Spain. Nevertheless, Union Investment is continuing to analyse the commercial property market in Madrid for possible new purchases.

Not in vain, at the beginning of the year, the German fund acquired a commercial asset on central Calle Fuencarral in the Spanish capital. Union Investment also owns two offices buildings in Spain and a hotel in Barcelona, which together have a combined value of approximately €190 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Merlin Leases 3 Floors in Torre Glòries to Oracle

16 July 2018 – Eje Prime

Torre Glòries is welcoming a new technological giant to its facilities. Merlin Properties is going to be Oracle’s landlord after it leased three floors in its building, located in the 22@ district, to the US firm. The multinational will join Facebook in the property after it signed up to lease ten floors from the Socimi back in May.

Oracle has leased 3,500 m2 of office space in the property, known in the city as Torre Agbar (after the former owner of the building) to locate some of its Netsuite team there, the cloud services company that it acquired in 2016, according to Expansión.

Merlin’s flagship property in Barcelona, standing 142 metres tall and with a gross leasable area of 37,614 m2, has been reformed in its entirety in recent years with an investment of €15 million. After being ruled out by the EMA (European Medicines Agency), the Socimi decided to convert its building into a multi-tenant space for the office sector.

The property contains 34 floors of offices, of which Merlin has now let thirteen at a variable price of around €25/m2/month. A new major operator is entering the 22@ district, Barcelona’s techie centre and currently the most sought-after neighbourhood in the Catalan capital. During the first quarter of the year, the office market grew by 4% in Barcelona with the leasing of 76,000 m2 of space.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

C&W: 86 Office Spaces Spanning 101,000 m2 were Leased in 22@ in 2017

2 July 2018 – Mis Oficinas

According to the Marketshot report issued by the real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield, Barcelona’s 22@ district closed 2017 with 86 rental operations, spanning a total surface area of 101,000 m2, which represents the highest figure in the last ten years.

The 22@ district is continuing at record levels for another year. According to the Marketshot report from the real estate consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield, the district closed 2017 with a total of 86 rental operations, spanning a surface area of 101,000 m2, which represents the highest figure in the last ten years and 34% more than in the previous two years. This leasing figure accounted for 30% of the total office space leased in Barcelona and was led by pre-lease operations, such as the case of Amazon in the Luxa Silver building (10,241 m2), Activision (King) in Ciutat de Granada 150 (8,837 m2), Hewlett-Packard in the building located on c/Tanger 62 (8,132 m2) and WeWork in the Luxa Gold building (6,572 m2).

Potential tenants in the district are mainly looking for sustainable, high-quality spaces. In this sense, 78% of the surface area leased belongs to buildings with A or B+ ratings. The district had only 60,000 m2 of space available at the end of the first quarter of 2018, which represented a 15% decrease in the available surface area in one year and an availability rate of 7%. If we take into account high-quality buildings only (those with A and B+ ratings), the percentage of available space in the 22@ district decreases to 5.7%. Leasing levels recorded at the moment and forecast for the next few months support the development of new properties.

The 22@ district currently has 129,000 m2 of space under construction, scheduled to be handed over between the second half of 2018 and 2019. The potential space for offices in the district amounts to more than 800,000 m2, of which 350,000 m2 is located on finalist land.

Investor interest in the district broke all records in 2017. In terms of investment volumes, the 22@ district received total investment of €161 million, which tripled the €51 million recorded in 2016. In square metres, the investment volume amounted to 173,000 m2, well above the figure at the end of 2016, which amounted to 33,000 m2.

New construction in the area has reactivated in recent months, due to the type of demand and, to a large extent, the growth in rents. On the basis that this trend is going to continue, there will be an impact on capital markets, where we will start seeing operations again soon.

Flexible and coworking spaces are enjoying an unprecedented boom in Barcelona at the moment. The rise in coworking spaces in the city is clear and during the first six months of 2018, 52% more space was leased in this segment than during the whole of 2017.

In Barcelona, the 22@ district is still the main hub of innovation in the city, attracting technological companies, startups and the digital eco-system. The main coworking operation this year, amounting to 4,500 m2, was completed in 22@ and these types of spaces already account for 3.5% of the constructed stock in the district (…).

Original story: Mis Oficinas 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Owners of Hotel Twentytú will Invest €35M to Build New Office Block in 22@

20 June 2018 – Eje Prime

The owners of Hotel Twentytú are going to build offices in 22@. Brilten, the property developer owned by the Catalan Pérez family, is going to invest €35 million in the construction of a new corporate building in the technological district of Barcelona, the current hub of the office market in the Catalan capital.

The asset is going to span a surface area of 10,800 m2 and will be called Hexagon Glòries. The plot on which the asset will be built was acquired by the Pérez family a decade ago for €18 million. Now, the family has opted to build an office block in light of the high demand that exists for such products in this new central business district (CBD) of Barcelona, according to Expansión.

The plot is located at the junction of Sancho de Ávila and Calle Álava, in the vicinity of Plaça de les Glòries. It will comprise nine above-ground floors, which will measure approximately 1,200 m2 each. Brilten expects the construction work to be completed by June 2019.

Moreover, on the lower floors of the building, which is going to be designed by the architecture studio Batlle i Roig, 800 m2 of space will be adapted for commercial use, and the block will have 126 parking spaces underground. On the roof, meanwhile, the Pérez family is going to open a large terrace.

This new office building is one of around twenty projects that the real estate market is currently developing in this sector in the 22@ district and that, including Brilten’s addition, will incorporate more than 380,000 m2 of space to the available stock in the area.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Colonial Inaugurates its First Utopicus Co-Working Centre in Barcelona

28 May 2018 – Eje Prime

Colonial is preparing to launch its co-working business in Barcelona. On 31 May, the Socimi is going to inaugurate its first Utopicus shared work centre, which will open its doors at number 16 Ronda de Sant Pere, in Plaza Cataluña, as revealed by Eje Prime.

This space will have a surface area of 1,400 m2 spread over six floors. Colonial, which has carried out the renovation of the building, owned by Maximus Ventures, will offer a variety of services including a cafeteria, fixed offices, coworking spaces, a terrace and an urban vegetable patch. Moreover, the group is getting ready to open more new Utopicus centres.

The firm’s second space in Barcelona is going to be located at number 9 Calle Bretón de los Herreros, in the heart of the Gracia neighbourhood. The space, which will open its doors in June, will measure approximately 1,700 m2 spread over four floors.

The third coworking centre that Colonial is going to open will be larger, since it will be located in a building that, in part, is owned by the Socimi, which purchased it from BBVA for €14 million. That co-working space will span 4,200 m2 and will be located in the former headquarters of Albertis.

Colonial acquired a majority stake in the Madrid-based Utopicus with a view to developing a new line of business. Utopicus already operates three centres in Madrid, located on Calles Duque de Rivas, Colegiata and Doctor Esquerdo. With this investment, the Socimi will help the company, which has a total supply of 3,500 m2, to boost its business with the opening of new spaces in Madrid and across the rest of Spain.

Original story: Eje prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake