Tag: parking

Catella to Invest €200M in Offices and Parking Lots

22 April 2019 – Expansión

The Swedish manager, Catella Asset Management, wants to continue expanding its footprint in Spain, where it has invested €250 million over the last three years.

To this end, the investment firm, which has focused on the housing, student hall and retail sectors until now, is planning to invest €200 million in the purchase of office buildings and parking lots in Spain and Portugal over the next 2 years.

In addition to the major cities of Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon, the company is also analysing operations in secondary cities such as Valencia, Málaga, Bilbao, Zaragoza and Porto.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

The Owners of Mywigo Buy 2 Buildings in Ciudad Gran Turia Complex in Valencia

26 July 2018 – Eje Prime

Cirkuit Planet is turning off the phone for a second to invest in real estate. The Valencian group, owner of the smartphone brand Mywigo, has reached an agreement with the Deposit Guarantee Fund to purchase two buildings in Valencia. The assets used to be owned by Banco Sabadell until 2016, which inherited the properties from CAM.

The operation has been led by Strongterra, the real estate arm of Cirkuit Planet, which is acquiring the last two buildings in the sale of the Ciudad Gran Turia complex, previously known as Ciudad Ros Casares, according to reports from València Plaza.

The sale is one step away from being signed and two Valencian partners have participated in it. Sabadell’s servicer, Solvia, has been the entity in charge of leading the sale of the properties, which have been in high demand in a booming real estate market such as Valencia’s.

The buildings, located close to the Vara de Quart Industrial Estate and the Gran Turia shopping centre, span 3,100 m2 each and comprise homes. In addition to that surface area, the transaction includes another 900 m2 in parking spaces. Nevertheless, the ground floor commercial premises in the two properties do not form part of the operation.

With 58 lofts, including twelve penthouses, the two residential blocks, are two of the brand new buildings that remain in Valencia. Although the exact price has not been revealed, the sale could be closed for around €4 million.

Strongterra plans to generate a return from this investment by placing the homes on the medium- and long-term rental market, to which end it is already holding negotiations with several hotel and apartment operators to obtain annual returns of between 8% and 10%, according to estimates from the company itself.

The company’s investment in Ciudad Gran Turia is its third in Valencia. Led by Jonatan Fatelevich and Maximiliano Gavilán, shareholders of Cirkuit Planet, Strongterra plans to group together all of the real estate properties owned by the two businessmen into the company and then convert it into a Socimi over the medium term.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Equilis Invests €120M in a Commercial Complex in Esplugues

27 June 2018 – El Mundo

The Belgian real estate firm Equilis is finalising a new shopping centre in Esplugues de Llobregat, which is expected to be inaugurated in November; 90% of the stores in the complex have already been commercialised. The centre, which has received investment of €120 million and which has employed 1,000 people for its construction, will receive up to 8 million visitors per year and will create 500 more jobs once it begins operation, according to forecasts prepared by the company.

The macro-project from the company controlled by the Mestdagh family is a first step in its expansion in Spain, where it expects to begin six projects with a value of €750 million over the next few years, two of which will be in Cataluña, which will receive investment of €200 million – including Esplugues – and four in the rest of the country.

Finestrelles Shopping Center, as the commercial complex in Esplugues is known, is located in the Ca n’Oliveres sector, in the neighbourhood of Can Vidalet, on the plot that exists between Calles Laureà Miró and Sant Mateu. It will have two tunnels that will connect the space with Ronda de Dalt and la Avenida Diagonal.

The surface area of the complex will span 40,000 m2, distributed over five floors, two of which will be dedicated to parking and the rest for commercial use. The centre will contain 110 stores as well as a hall of residence for students with almost 375 beds and a hypermarket. “For the time being, there won’t be any cinemas, but we are not ruling that out”, said Víctor Gómez (pictured above), CEO of the company in Spain.

Original story: El Mundo 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Merlin Leases 8 Floors in Torre Glòries to Competence Call Center

26 April 2018 – Eje Prime

Merlin has found a new tenant for one of the most iconic assets in its portfolio after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) decided to vacate the property. The Socimi, led by Ismael Clemente, has signed the lease for 9,000 m2 of space spread over eight floors to Competence Call Center. Merlin has been advised by Savills Aguirre Newman and CBRE.

Standing 142 m tall and comprising a gross leasable area of 37,614 m2, the building in Barcelona has received investment of €15 million from Merlin. After the decision by the EMA, the Socimi decided to convert the property into a multi-tenant space dedicated to the office sector.

The building was designed by the architects Jean Nouvel and Fermín Vázquez and was inaugurated in 2005. It contains 34 storeys and an auditorium with a capacity of more than 350 people. In addition, the property has four floors of parking with 300 spaces. In total, the property spans 51,485 m2.

The real estate group acquired the building in January 2017 for €142 million. Through that operation, the Socimi avoided the tourism moratorium imposed by the mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau, which had prevented Emin Capital from opening a luxury hotel in the famous tower.

Emin Capital reached an agreement with Agbar at the end of 2013 to acquire the building for €150 million. That commitment materialised at the beginning of 2016 when the group made its first payment of €35 million.

The 22@ district is the main area of growth for the office market in Barcelona, having consolidated its position as a magnet for international innovation companies such as Cisco, Ebay, Yahoo, Deutsche Telekom, Sage, SAP, Capgemini and Indra, amongst others.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

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

EspañaDuero Finalises Sale of its Madrid HQ

19 December 2017 – El Economista

Over the next few weeks, EspañaDuero will close the sale of its headquarters in Madrid, located on Calle Titán 8, according to confirmation from various sources in the sector, who say that the entity is holding advanced, exclusive negotiations with an investor.

The entity, which is soon going to be completely integrated into Unicaja Banco, declined to comment about the operation. However, this sale is reminiscent of the divestment strategy that the entity has been carrying out in recent years.

The office block that is about to be sold is located in the Méndez Álvaro area of the Spanish capital, overlooking the M-30 ring road. It also houses the offices of Enagás and Nozar, the former owner of the property. In this way, Caja Duero acquired the building for €55.8 million in 2008, a price that is €9 million higher than its current valuation.

At the end of 2011, following the merger of the entity with Caja España, which resulted in the creation of the current EspañaDuero, the combined company moved its offices to Caja Duero’s headquarters in Madrid, on Calle Marqués de Villamagna, 6.

In 2015, the company began a period of office restructuring, which led it to sell one of its real estate jewels: the former headquarters of Caja España in Madrid, on Calle Velázquez 23, in the heart of the Salamanca neighbourhood.

A year later, in the middle of 2016, EspañaDuero decided to move its headquarters again and vacate the offices on Marqués de Villamagna, very close to Madrid’s Paseo de la Castellana. The entity put them up for sale for €90 million and moved to Titán 8. Now, history is repeating itself, as the entity continues to sell off property, in a discrete sales process being advised by the consultancy firm Irea, according to the same sources.

The 13-storey building, including one underground floor and three basement levels for parking, has a total surface area, including the outside space, of 18,152 m2, of which 10,711 m2 are offices and 6,643 m2 are garages, with 212 parking spaces.

Currently, the property has almost 3,000 m2 of office space available for rent, which is being marketed by Knight Frank and Aguirre Newman.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Madrid’s Gran Vía To Be Part Pedestrianised By 2019

10 November 2017 – Expansión

On 4 April 1910, King Alfonso XIII seized a silver pick to symbolise the start of the construction of Madrid’s Gran Vía. It took 21 years to finish the 1,306m long thoroughfare, which, as well as connecting the east and west of the capital, became a showcase for large department stores (today’s multi-nationals fashion chains), cinemas and theatres (of which less than half of the original spaces are now left) but, above all, a catwalk for passers-by of every kind; because Gran Vía is a concentrated example of the 21st century society.

And this road is going to be subject to construction once again from February next year, with the aim of restoring value for two of its major stars: the pedestrians and the historical buildings that stand tall on this street, which we barely have time to appreciate given the frenetic pace of life today.

This change will undoubtedly have consequences for the real estate market in this area, which is already quite unusual. “It is a neighbourhood with just a few, very special homes and so logically, they are going to go up in value significantly”, says Julio Rivero, real estate consultant for the central region at Engel & Völkers.

For Daniel Díaz, architect and agent at Lucas Fox in Madrid, “giving pedestrians more space is something that is being done in all of the major cities in Europe. It makes a lot of sense on Gran Vía because it has more people walking along it nowadays than it does vehicle traffic”. Díaz recalls the case of Serrano and how the reduction in the number of lanes and the widening of the pavements there has been a revulsive, improving trade in the area.

Expansive effect

Gran Vía has so much force that it magnetises the area, and almost twenty streets flow into it, with a lot of life of their own, such as San Bernardo, Valverde, Fuencarral, Hortaleza and Barquillo. The manager at Lucas Fox predicts that this reactivation will have a porous effect: “The benefits of pedestrianisation are going to expand to the adjoining streets and squares, such as Plaza de Pedro Zerolo and Calle Fuencarral, which have more homes that are going to go up in value”. For Díaz, this will attract the domestic market to the area once again, which has been dominated by tourists and young people in recent times.

Although none of the experts consulted doubts that the quality of life will improve, it is clear that some people will inevitably lose out. Ana Calderón, Director of Real Estate at Home Select, the real estate consultancy that manages several tourist apartments in the area, indicates the damage that the limitations on traffic will have for properties owners in buildings such as Gran Vía 48; they also purchased parking spaces in a large underground car park there (…).

The Town Hall’s future project has been explained in several different ways (…) and the details of the plans have not been completely defined, but it seems certain that the current six lanes will be reduced to four. In this way, the 55,000 vehicles that currently travel on this thoroughfare every day will be reduced to just 10,000, according to the Town Hall’s forecasts (…).

According to Sergio Fernández, Director of Retail at JLL, the changes will have a clear beneficial effect for shops, above all due to the plan to widen the pavements, which will be undertaken to resolve the severe pedestrian (traffic) jams that the street suffers from on the weekends and during peak shopping times (…).

The new face of Gran Vía will require an investment of €9 million and is likely to be ready by the spring of 2019.

Original story: Expansión (by Loreto Ruiz-Ocaña)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Taylor Wimpey & La Cala To Build Largest Golf Complex In Southern Europe

31 July 2017 – Inmodiario

The Spanish subsidiary of the British property developer Taylor Wimpey Plc and the Irish hotel chain FBD Hotels and Resorts have signed a strategic alliance for the development of more than 600 homes over the next ten years, with a planned investment of more than €125,000,000.

The collaboration between Taylor Wimpey España and the hotel chain FBD Hotel and Resorts, which manages La Cala Resort, took its first steps back in 2014. As a result of that joint venture, Taylor Wimpey completed the first batch of residential properties (60 contemporary apartments called Miraval) in 2016. Now, it is promoting the project Horizon Golf comprising 48 apartments and 55 terraced houses, some of which will be completed this year and the rest of which will be handed over to their owners in 2018.

Through this alliance, La Cala Resort is consolidating its position as a unique destination for golf and relaxation in Spain, with three 18-hole golf courses, an exclusive 107-room 4-star hotel and a 1,300 m2 spa, tennis, padel and squash courts, and a football field. It also leads the ranking in terms of international residential tourism, with one of the best and most varied supplies of residential housing in low-density complexes, with panoramic views over golf courses, sea and mountains and all just 30 minutes from Málaga airport.

The complex brings together the best facilities demanded by the European public, not only for lovers of golf, but also for those who want to live in an environment that respects the environment, with perfectly kept roads and gardens and a 24/7 security service, just 5km from the town centre and beaches of Mijas Costa (…).

Project Horizon Golf offers two housing formats from potential buyers to choose from. On the one hand, it has terraced houses measuring more than 300m2, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus 90 m2 of terraces and solarium spread over four floors. Owners have the option of installing a private lift for easy access from the underground private car park to the panoramic solarium.

On the other hand, the complex has large apartments and penthouses with two and three bedrooms, and simple lounges leading onto spacious terraces measuring more than 30 m2. The penthouses are duplex spaces with solariums measuring more than 65 m2 (…).

The terraced houses currently have asking prices starting at €399,000 and the apartments are going for €280,000 (…).

Original story: Inmodiario (by Carmen Durán)

Translation: Carmel Drake

KKH Has Spent €500M+ In Spain & Wants To Invest More

17 July 2017 – El País

After the abrupt collapse of the real estate sector following the burst of the bubble, it was five years before capital returned to the industry. And it did so five years ago, when the recovery in the sector was based essentially on investment funds with foreign names, which bought anything ranging from portfolios of properties from the administrations to buildings that were weighing down heavily on the banks. One of the funds that arrived then was the KKH Capital Group. Rather it made its return to Spain then.

The instrument was led by the person who until 2007 had been the CEO of Renta Corporación, Josep María Farré. He returned to Spain after a six-year break with the intention of building a portfolio of properties exceeding €300 million. Five years later, and after joining the US fund Perella Weinberg, the resulting alliance, KKH Property Investors has now spent €500 million and is considering expanding its financial muscle to continue acquiring buildings.

After undertaking acquisitions in Barcelona and the Balearic Islands, KKH recently entered the Spanish capital. There, it purchased the former headquarters of the Caja Madrid Foundation, in Plaza de las Descalzas, which it is going to convert into a 170-room luxury hotel. The building, which has a surface area of 25,000 m2, spread over seven floors and another two parking floors, could be operational by 2019 (…).

Buying and renovating

This acquisition fits perfectly into the company’s business model, which, unlike other funds, does not just sit back and wait for its properties to appreciate in value, but rather seeks to increase their value through renovation and, in most cases, changes of use. On paper, the model is similar to that employed by Renta Corporación, but sources in the sector highlight a significant difference: the real estate company used to try to hold onto properties for the shortest time possible. When the crisis hit, that logic became impossible.

The same operation that it undertook in Madrid – the transformation of a property into a large luxury hotel – was frustrated in Barcelona with the election of Ada Colau as mayor of that city. The group had acquired the iconic Deutsche Bank building, on Paseo de Gràcia, for around €90 million, according to market sources. That establishment was going to be managed by Four Seasons and was going to be another magnet to attract new investment to the area. In parallel, KKH was developing other hotels in the city. For example, it is still planning to open an establishment close the Santa Caterina market, under the Edition brand from Marriott International and the businessman Ian Schrager, by the end of this year.

Not in vain, hotels are one of the most sought-after assets at the moment, given the pull of the tourist sector. According to the consultancy firm CBRE, last year, investors spent €1,706 million on these assets in Spain after a record year in 2015, when they spent more than €2,000 million.

Nevertheless, when Colau’s team came to power, KKH withdrew from the hotel after her party opposed the project during its campaign and decided to build luxury apartments in its place. Barcelona’s new hotel plan, which prohibits new openings in the centre, has forced the fund to shift its focus. “New hotel projects in Barcelona are complicated. The areas where they can be built are not ideal for such use, but we have the vocation to continue operating in the city. We will adapt to the political situation and I am sure that we will continue”, said Enric Venancio, CEO at KKH. He added that besides Madrid, another key destination for the firm is Ibiza, where it started work last year on the construction of a luxury establishment.

In addition to hotels and luxury homes – (…) this fund has a third string to its bow, in the commercial segment. In an unprecedented operation in the Catalan capital, the fund is immersed in the conversion of the former Montecarlo hotel, on La Rambla, into a commercial space. (…).

Original story: El País (by Lluís Pellicer)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb Sells 14,400m2 Plot Of Land In Madrid To Insur

12 December 2016 – La Opinión De Málaga

Sareb has sold a plot of land in Madrid measuring 14,400 m2 to the Andalucian real estate company Grupo Insur for the construction of a business park. The land is located on Paseo de los Melancólicos, close to the Manzanares River and inside the M-30 ring-road. With a buildable surface area of almost 27,000 m2, the plot has the capacity to house nine above ground floors, plus several underground parking floors, according to Sareb.

The operation, which has been conducted through Solvia, one of Sareb’s property managers, generates value from an asset located in an sought-after area, following the renovation of the Manzanares riverbank thanks to the Madrid Río operation.

“This asset is located next to the plots of land that form part of the Mahou-Calderón operation and is close to the Palacio de Oriente. It is well connected and is surrounded by an established urban network, which offers a wide variety of shops and services. The current sale comes in the context of the reactivation of the office segment, driven by a notable decrease in the availability of such assets, in particular in the primary markets of Madrid and Barcelona”, said the company. During the first six months of 2016, Sareb sold 625 plots of land across Spain, from both its own portfolio as well as from the balance sheets of its debtors. Most of these operations were closed in: Community of Valencia, Cataluña, Murcia and Andalucía.

Overall, during the first six months of the year, Sareb sold 5,590 properties (residential assets, land and tertiary properties) and recorded revenues of almost €1,400 million. 52.4% of those revenues were generated from the management of its loans and the remainder from the sale of both properties (26%) and loans (almost 20%).

Original story: La Opinión De Málaga

Translation: Carmel Drake