Twin Peaks Acquires Top 6 Floors Of Paseo De Gracia 30 In Barcelona

14 November 2017 – Expansión

Barcelona’s luxury residential market has a new player. The Twin Peaks Capital family office, which is headquartered in Madrid but which is funded by capital from the Catalan Escoda family, has acquired the building located at number 30 Paseo de Gràcia in Barcelona. It is going to convert the property into super luxury apartments, which it expects to sell for prices of around €15,000/m2.

According to sources close to the operation – which does not include the retail premises – the fund has paid just over €25 million to the former Agrupació Mútua for the top six floors of the building, which span 3,200 m2. This property, which used to house the headquarters of Iberia in Barcelona, will undergo a comprehensive renovation, which will require the injection of an additional €25 million. The operation has been advised by CBRE.

Twin Peaks Capital was founded in Madrid in 2016 and its capital is split between the Escoda brothers and its CEO, the former director of Knight Frank, Ernesto Tarazona.

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake

KKH Capital Buys ‘Art Montfalcó’ Building In Barcelona For €24M

13 November 2017 – Eje Prime

New investment operation in the heart of Barcelona. In the midst of the political uncertainty, the real estate market is remaining active. The group KKH Capital has just acquired the Art Montfalcó building, located in the heart of the historical centre of Barcelona, for almost €24 million, according to market sources. The investment fund Medcap Real Estate and the real estate group Castmor had also submitted bids for the property.

The KKH Group has acquired the property through its parent company. Moreover, the company also operates in the real estate sector through KKH Property, a joint venture formed by KKH Capital, the investment group controlled by the former CEO of Renta Corporación, Josep María Farré, and Perella Weinberg, which participates in the partnership through one of its opportunistic funds.

The building, baptised as Palau Castañer in 1906, has been sold by the Güell family; it is currently leased to the Art Montfalcó souvenir shop. The surface area of the property is 2,000 m2. According to the same sources, the objective of KKH Capital is to renovate the retail premises and negotiate with a new operator (…).

KKH Capital, which specialises above all in residential assets, will add this property to its portfolio. The group, through KKH Property, has been acquiring assets over the last few years, including some as iconic as the Deutsche Bank tower in Barcelona, located at number 111 Paseo de Gràcia, which it bought from three Andorran families (the Reigs, the Ribas and the Cerquedas) for €90 million.

After negotiating with the hotel chain Four Seasons, the group has leased that building (the Deutsche Bank tower) to Seat. In total, it will comprise 2,600 m2 spread over four floors: a basement, ground floor and two upper floors. The store will not be a typical concession, but rather is looking to become a point of reference for the city. It will include a gastronomic space and a coworking area, whose features have not yet been defined.

The establishment will open at the end of 2018. KKR will undertake a major renovation of the building, for which it will engage the architecture firm OAB, led by Carlos Ferrater, author of the Olympic Village in Barcelona and the Catalunyan Palau de Congressos, amongst others.

One of its other most recent acquisitions is the Monte de Piedad building, located in Madrid. In that case, the group reached an agreement with the Fundación Montemadrid at the end of last year to buy the property for around €80 million. KKH’s plans for that property involve converting the asset into a luxury hotel.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Uniqlo Opens Its Second Store In Spain

8 November 2017 – Expansión

The textile firm Uniqlo, owned by the Japanese group Fast Retailing, is pushing ahead with its expansion plans in Spain. After years searching for a suitable location, the Japanese company is going to open two stores in the country in just a month in a half.

On 20 September, Uniqlo opened its first store in Spain. The chosen location on that occasion was the building at number 18, Paseo de Gracia in Barcelona, opposite one of the country’s largest Zara stores, the main brand of the Inditex group. Measuring 1,730 m2, over three floors, the Japanese brand’s first store in Spain is enjoying considerable success that exceeds expectations, which has strengthened the firm’s commitment to the country.

“We are committed to this new market and we hope to open stores in several of the country’s main cities to bring Uniqlo’s LifeWear to the greatest number of consumers possible”, explain sources at the company.

Proof of this commitment is the opening of its second establishment. Uniqlo has also leased a store in the Gloriès shopping centre in Barcelona, where it will open its second store in Spain on Thursday 9 November. Specifically, the Japanese brand has leased 1,317 m2 in the centre, which is owned by the French-Dutch group Unibail Rodamco.

Uniqlo’s opening will coincide with the inauguration of the expansion of the shopping centre. With an investment of more than €100 million, the expansion works began in 2014. The ground floor was inaugurated in December 2016. Besides Uniqlo, H&M is also going to move into this space; it is going to open its largest shopping centre store in Spain in Gloriès, measuring 3,600 m2. The Swedish brand will also debut its H&M Home brand in Barcelona in this store.

Moreover, the new space will be home to the Mercat de Gloriès – a space with 20 local and international food products -, Fresh! – an area for fresh products that can be cooked on the spot – and La Cuina – an area focused on gastronomic encounters.

Unibail, one of the largest owners of shopping centres in Spain, plans to invest more than €677 million between now and 2024 developing large projects in Spain.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bulevard Rosa Shopping Arcade To Be Converted Into Large Format Stores

20 October 2017 – Eje Prime

The historical Bulevard Rosa, managed by the Catalan Vives family, will close its doors during the first half of next year, according to explanations provided to Eje Prime by sources close to the process. The establishment, which will be converted into between large format stores for fashion retailers, is whereby following in the footsteps of the Madrilenian shopping arcade El Jardín de Serrano, which is also in the process of closing its doors for a refit to welcome Uniqlo’s first megastore in Madrid.

Bulevard Rosa opened its doors in December 1978, to become one of the most iconic shopping arcades in the centre of Barcelona. The complex, which occupies the ground floor of the office building located at number 55 Paseo de Gracia, currently comprises around 100 shops and has a gross leasable area of 5,200 m2.

According to sources at Bulevard Rosa, the managers of the shopping centre have already contacted the tenants to inform them that their rental contracts will not be renewed beyond June 2018. According to sources in the real estate business, the owners’ project involves transforming the arcade into between two and four megastores, depending on the needs of the operators that express interest in the location (…).

This decision comes ten years after the managers of Bulevard Rosa tried to revitalise the shopping centre by expanding it and introducing new operators. In 2008, the company converted its former movie theatres into a Nespresso megastore, whilst the Galician ladies’ fashion label Bimba y Lola also recently expanded its store in the complex.

With the disappearance of Bulevard Rosa, the owners of the complex may be able to generate a return on their commercial investment with the opening of new large format stores. Currently, the monthly rent for a store on Paseo de Gracia amounts to between €240/m2/month and €310/m2/month, with a return of 3.8%.

Moreover, fortune is playing into the hands of the owners of the shopping arcade, given that the availability of stores along this stretch of Paseo de Gracia is almost nil (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Flagship Stores Become The Bastion Of Large Retailers

19 October 2017 – Expansión

The unstoppable rise of e-commerce, the tsunami of digitalisation and the new buying habits of consumers have revolutionised the retail sector forcing operators to adapt to the new times to stay competitive.

The e-commerce sector is now turning over €24,000 million per annum in Spain, with a growth rate of 20% p.a. In this context, consumers are increasingly using the internet to manage their purchases, resolve queries and optimise their visits to stores. As such, they are visiting stores less frequently but they are spending more time there when they do go, according to a report from CBRE about the retail sector.

In this context, large international brands are backing the flagship store model as a gateway into Spain; and operators that have traditionally based themselves on the outskirts of cities are now moving into flagship stores in the centre. By way of example, the French firm Kiabi opened a store on Paseo de Gràcia a few months ago. In the same way, operators who have traditionally had stores in retail parks are now making space for themselves in the city centre, such as Media Markt, which opened two stores in the centre of Barcelona in 2016. Before the summer, the electronics firm also opened its new its flagship store in Plaza del Carmen, Madrid, just a stone’s throw from Gran Vía.

Ikea is joining this trend too, with a store on Calle Serrano; as is Leroy Merlin, which is planning to open a shop on Calle Fontanella, next to Plaza de Catalunya in Barcelona

Interest in Spain

“Physical stores are still the favourite channel for consumers, but it is harder to get people out of the house. To attract them, retailers are opening large flagship stores focused on the shopping experience and expanding the range of services, supported by new technologies that allow marketing strategies to be customised”, explains Gonzalo Senra, National Director of Retail at CBRE España (…).

Given the interest from large brands in Spain and encouraged by the upwards cycle of the economy and the improvement in consumption, many overseas institutional investors have decided to back the Spanish market. For example, the US investor Hines has purchased four important prime premises in Madrid and Barcelona in the last year.

These types of investors are the main buyers of flagship stores in well-located premises, involving investment volumes of more than €20 million. Moreover, sources at the consultancy firm have noted a change in the trend in this market with the entry of several insurance companies bidding for large prime assets.

By contrast, the market for smaller acquisitions is dominated by Spanish private investors and family offices – they tend to be particularly interested in assets worth less than €10 million.

Overall, investment in high street premises amounted to €800 million in 2016. The rate of investment continued during the first half of this year, with an investment volume of €515 million, according to data from the consultancy firm (…).

The high level of demand has accentuated the typical shortage of well-positioned products and resulted in a reduction in returns. According to the report, the downward trend in yields continued in 2017 to reach 3.25% in some cases for the most prime products in Madrid and Barcelona (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Luxury Brands Flood Barcelona’s Paseo De Gracia

22 September 2017 – Eje Prime

Paseo de Gracia is getting ready to renew its portfolio of brands. The street, one of the most sought-after in Spain for international luxury, will see the arrival of three new firms over the next few months. According to modaes.es, Christian Louboutin and Isabel Marant will both open their second stores in the Spanish market, whilst Fendi is going to make its debut in the country.

Those three firms will soon play their part in a busy year for Paseo de Gracia. On Tuesday, the Barcelona street witnessed the public opening of Uniqlo’s first establishment in Spain, whilst a week ago, Kiabi was in the limelight, when it opened a store at number 11.

In February, H&M opened its largest establishment in the Spanish market on Paseo de Gracia in the Generali building, and in April, Sandro, owned by the French group SMCP, opened its first store on the street at number 37.

Isabel Marant, who already has one store in Madrid, has signed the lease at number 32 on Paseo de Gracia, after the investment fund BMO Real Estate Partners decided to split the premises occupied by Adolfo Dominguez in two.

The arrival of Isabel Marant in Barcelona comes just a few months after the investment fund Montefiere Investment acquired 51% of the share capital in the French company, with the aim of accelerating its development and geographical expansion (…).

Meanwhile, Christian Louboutin will take over the Starbuck’s store on the avenue. The US coffee chain currently occupies number 97 on Paseo de Gracia, next door to the multi-brand business Santa Eulalia and the firm Jimmy Choo.

The footwear brand launched its first establishment in the Spanish market in 2009. Christian Louboutin opened a 150 m2 store at number 13 on Calle Claudio Coello in Madrid.

The third operation on Paseo de Gracia is going to star the French giant LVMH. Fendi has signed the lease of number 38 on the Barcelona street, a property that has been on the market since March last year, when Hugo Boss moved to another site.

According to Cushman & Wakefield, after Portal de L’Angel, Paseo de Gracia is the second most expensive commercial street in Barcelona for opening a store. The price per square metre amounts to €230/month, compared to €270/m2/month on Portal de L’Angel, which retains its position as the most expensive street in Spain.

Original story: Eje Prime (by I. P. Gestal)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Large Retailers Compete For City Centre Premises

14 September 2017 – El País

Retailers that typically occupy out-of-town stores only, brands such Ikea, Decathlon, Media Markt, Leroy Merlin and Kiabi have done an about turn with their strategies. Now, they want to take their products to the heart of cities to reach clients who are not visiting them on the outskirts. They are occupying the few large retail premises that are available close to the major commercial thoroughfares of Madrid and Barcelona. They are not pushing up the rental prices of these properties yet; in fact, they are investing between €1 million and €5 million on renovation work. But they will.

The main retail areas in the centre of Madrid and Barcelona have new tenants. The so-called out-of-town retailers, which, until recently, could only be found in retail parks on the outskirts are undertaking a new urban strategy. They want to approach a new group of customers, those who want to avoid using their cars and it wants to lock them in. This week, Decathlon announced that it will open three stores in the heart of Madrid, where Leroy Merlin will also set up shop in 2018, following in the wake of Ikea (which inaugurated its store on c/Serrano in May), Kiabi (which has just done the same in Barcelona on Paseo de Gracia) and Media Markt, the first to arrive in the centre of both cities (as well as in Valencia).

The trend started two years ago in major European cities and comes in response to a move by the population towards the centre and to the fact that e-commerce is requiring companies to respond rapidly to their clients. That means being close to them, explains Robert Travers, Director at the real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield (…).

The strategy of these chains is to open stores on the main commercial thoroughfares of large cities in smaller spaces than those they occupy in the out-of-town retail parks, but of considerable dimensions given that they are in the centre. “They are not looking for prime locations, but rather premises very nearby, because they cannot afford the rents of operators such as Zara, Mango and H&M. Instead they pay around 30% less because their margins are smaller”, says Travers. They need streets with high footfall and premises measuring at least 1,000 m2 or 2,000 m2, with open-plan floors; such features are very few and far between in the best shopping areas.

For the time being, the arrival of these brands has not had any impact on rental prices, given that, according to Sergio Fernandes, the Director of Retail at the consultancy firm JLL, the availability of these kinds of properties on the main commercial thoroughfares is very limited and the operators that demand them are also very few. “Only the leaders of each sector are brave enough to make the move. For the time being, we are seeing only six or seven brands”, he says. Examples include Aki, Bricor, Verdecora, Sport Zone and Kiwoko Mundo Animal. Nevertheless, “they are managing to make use of certain properties that would otherwise go unoccupied as they are not in the right locations for the fashion brands”, says David Barragán, Director of Retail at the real estate firm Aguirre Newman (…).

The search is not easy, according to estate agents and retail chains (…). The negotiations are intense and prolonged because the premises need renovating and the brands demand grace periods whilst the construction work takes place, which tenants typically pay. Rental contracts are being signed for periods of between seven and 20 years.

But it is worth it. The pilot store that the Swedish chain Ikea has opened in Madrid is performing better than expected. In fact, some of the new formulas that it offers have already been extended to its other stores (customisation of fabrics, dressers and doors). Nevertheless, Ikea is still assessing whether or not to open more central stores with this format, which combines sales and entertainment (…).

Original story: El País (by Claudio Álvarez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Global Brands Colonise The Centre Of Barcelona

13 September 2017 – El País

(…). Demand from major operators, such as Zara, Uniqlo, H&M and even Seat, for flagship stores in city centres is boosting investment in these types of high-street establishments. According to a study by the real estate consultancy JLL, such investment amounted to €402 million across Spain during the first quarter of 2017

Examples of flagship stores (…) are found in the centre of Spain’s major cities. One of the most paradigmatic is Primark’s store, which occupies more than 7,000 m2 on La Gran Vía in Madrid (..). Flagship stores are essentially an image, a tourist attraction, where the entire collection of a company is presented and where consumers can also do online shopping and collect orders. It is also very typical for brands to make presentations and hold events at their stores.

In Barcelona, the H&M, Zara and Massimo Dutti stores on Paseo de Gracia, and the large store in the Born neighbourhood where the sunglasses brand Etnia took up residence this year, are examples of the presence of flagship stores in the Catalan capital. On 20 September, Uniqlo, the Japanese competitor of Inditex, will open a large store, also on Paseo de Gracia. But the interest in these types of establishments is not limited to the world of fashion. Companies such as Seat, Ikea and Leroy Merlin, and even large banking institutions, have all expressed their interest in raising their profiles on the main commercial thoroughfares.

“It is the way the brands have of positioning themselves in the market”, explains Daniel Jiménez, Director of Retail at the real estate consultancy Aguirre Newman. Jiménez says that there is a great deal of demand for these types of premises, and that the brands do not settle for any old shop: they want open-plan spaces, in good locations with attractive architectural features.

The effect on local trade

The main streets where the demand is being concentrated in Barcelona are Paseo de Gracia and Portal del Ángel, the most expensive high street in Spain, where prices amount to €3,360/m2, according to a report from Acotex. “The brands fight for premises, whilst the buyers, normally international investment funds, obtain a return of between 3.5% and 3.75% in Barcelona”, says Jiménez.

The emergence of large stores, through which the major international brands demonstrate their power, certainly has an effect on local businesses. The first and most obvious impact is the rise in rental prices. Joan Carles Calbet, President of Comertia and RetailCat, the new association of Catalan traders, celebrates the fact that increasingly more people want to invest in Barcelona. “But these types of stores distort the equilibrium of the city, because they (the large players) can afford to pay a lot more than local businesses, which leads to very high inflation”, says Calbet.

“We risk losing local businesses, which define the character of the city”, adds the President of RetailCat, an association that represents almost 30,000 local businesses (…).

Original story: El País (by Josep Catà)

Translation: Carmel Drake

New RE Record: 450m2 Luxury Apartment In Barcelona Sold For €10M

29 June 2017 – Expansión

The Spanish real estate market is starting to reflect clear signs of a recovery after years of decline. These first indications of revival are already a reality in some areas of the large cities, such as Madrid and Barcelona and, above all, in a particular type of product: luxury housing.

An example of this boom can be seen in the record prices that have been achieved over the last few months in the high-end residential market. “The trend in the last three years has been a gradual increase in residential prices. If we focus on prime products and areas, we see that this increase has been considerably greater. Last year, nevertheless, was a year of transition due to the political uncertainty, and so, although prices continued to rise, in general, they did so at a more conservative pace, whereby stabilising. This year, the increase is continuing to display a bullish trend”, explained Carlos Zamora, Residential Director at Knight Frank in Spain.

The latest example is a home measuring 450 m2, located in the L’Antigua Esquerra neighbourhood of l’Eixample, alongside Barcelona’s famous Paseo de Grácia. The new owner has spent €10 million to acquire this 4-bedroom apartment, which has four bathrooms and a terrace measuring 250 m2 with views over La Pedrera and Paseo de Gràcia, explained the real estate agency Coldwell Banker Prestige Barcelona.

The home, which has been completely refurbished, includes an intelligent home automation system and a Zen garden located in an inner courtyard. In addition to the habitable surface area of 500 m2, the flat comes with five parking spaces for cars, two parking spaces for motorbikes and a storeroom in the basement, according to the estate agent’s advert.

Its price per m2 amounts to: €16,500/m2. “This price is due primarily to the fact that it is a unique property, located in the most prime area of Barcelona, which has been completely redecorated and furnished”, explained François Carriere, founding partner at Coldwell Banker Prestige Barcelona, who highlights that the average price of apartments in the area stands at around €12,000/m2, whilst the price of penthouses and ground floor apartments with gardens increases to €15,000/m2.

“An apartment with these characteristics in London would be sold for around €25,000/m2”, according to Carriere.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

UNIQ Residential Hits The Ground Running

13 May 2017 – Press Release

Two and a half years after the creation of UNIQ Residential, its first project is in the process of being handed over in the heart of Barcelona.

RS257 (www.rs257barcelona.com), a project in the “Mayfair” equivalent of Barcelona located between the prime streets Paseo de Gracia, Diagonal and Rambla Catalunya was always going to be in high demand due to its location, but in addition, the thought that the UNIQ team has put into efficient layouts, flexibility of design and sustainability make this one of the most emblematic residential projects of 2017 in Spain.

The building had a protected facade originally designed by Robert Terradas, a Catalan rationalist architect who developed the original building in 1958, which OAB, the award-winning architectural office of Carlos Ferrater, managed to further enhance by keeping the original spirit, but creating bespoke windows which allow the apartments to have 14m of uninhibited light entering the living spaces.

RS257 is a project with 15 units, including 3 penthouses with unparalleled views of Barcelona overlooking the Tibidabo mountain, and the main streets of the Eixample district. The ground floor unit of RS257 is currently under negotiations to be let to an exciting global retailer and the project has received the first LEED silver certificate for a multi-residential building in Barcelona.

While UNIQ Residential is young as a company, the team has a vast experience in development projects. Its creation was the result of merging an executive team that over 40 years had developed over 100 projects in their prior life, with Urban Input, a boutique real estate asset management firm focused on commercial real estate for institutional investors and Mario Chisholm, a real estate investor who had spent his time in London previously, often focusing on the Spanish market.

“We are extremely excited by the completion of this unique project” says Mario Chisholm, one of the co-founders and board members of UNIQ, “We knew we were buying in a great location, but the success has exceeded expectations as we bought the building before the perception of Spain had changed, in early 2014. Since then, the economy has strengthened, banks are lending again and demand is strong for well-designed and well-delivered products in good locations. We are also thrilled about the progress UNIQ has made since its inception; the integration of the different teams has been incredible and the positivity, energy and drive UNIQ has to deliver future projects sets out an exciting future.”

Other than RS257, UNIQ is developing another 4 prime residential developments in Madrid and Barcelona. Keep an eye out, more to come soon!

About UNIQ Residential

UNIQ Residential is an urban developer founded in 2014 with a strategy and purpose to respond to a more informed flat buyer by focussing on the quality of projects through design. UNIQ’s management team has a breadth of experience in all areas of real estate development, from conception to completion and have been working together for 20 years, building over 100 developments. Currently, UNIQ has 6 live developments in Barcelona and Madrid and is looking to expand further across Spain.

Original story: Press Release

Edited by: Carmel Drake