Tag: Paseo de la Castellana

Bankia Will Earn Rental Income Of €324M From Torre Foster

6 April 2015 – Expansión

Bankia will earn €324 million from the rental of Torre Foster, the building that the bank owns in the Cuatro Torres complex on the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid. In October 2013, Bankia signed an agreement to lease the property to Cepsa, a company owned by Abu Dabi. BFA-Bankia inherited the building from Caja Madrid, which purchased it from Repsol for €815 million in 2007. The lease contract was established for a period of eight years and may be renewed for another seven years. According to the annual accounts of Torre Norte Castellana, a fully owned subsidiary of Bankia, whose sole activity is the lease of the building, the annual rental cost is €21.63 million.

The entity must dispose of this asset as part of its restructuring plan. The rental contract, which was signed as part of the bank’s strategic plan for the period 2012-2015, included a purchase option, which is exercisable in 2016. It will be organised through the acquisition of shares in Torre Norte, at a price that will be determined on the basis of objective criteria that have already been agreed.

At the time, Bankia thought that the best way of generating value from Torre Foster was to rent it out; the building’s value was updated following the balance sheet clean up that the BFA-Bankia group performed in 2012, after its nationalisation. Torre Foster contains office space measuring more than 109,000 square metres, including a gross leasable area of 56,250 square metres, as well as 37,500 square metres in its five-storey garage, reports Europa Press.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Amancio Ortega’s RE Jewels In The Heart Of Madrid & BCN

26 March 2015 – Expansión

The largest shareholder of Inditex has an extensive real estate portfolio that includes properties and retail stores on the two most desirable streets in both cities.

They are the most sought-after streets in Spain for any real estate investor. On the one hand, Paseo de Gracia, in Barcelona, the star shopping street in the Catalan capital. On the other hand, the Paseo de la Castellana, in Madrid, an object of desire for any investor and a prime office location. As such, both have piqued the interest of Amancio Ortega, who owns more than ten buildings on the two thoroughfares.

Through Pontegadea, the company that the founder and majority shareholder of Inditex channels his investments through after closing his Sicavs, Ortega has purchased six buildings on the Catalan avenue and another five on the Madrid street.

In the case of the Paseo de Gracia, the most recent acquisition was made last year when Ortega purchased an office building located at number 1 on the street, on the corner with the famous Plaza Cataluña, for €44 million. This space, which has been leased to Banesto until now, will be converted into an Iberostar Hotel. A few months earlier, he acquired the commercial premises in the same building for €80 million, which are leased to Apple (see picture above). That US multinational is not Ortega’s only illustrious tenant; others include Fnac, Baker & Mackenzie, Burberry and Google.

In March 2012, Pontegadea acquired another building also on the Paseo de Gracia. In that case, Ortega’s company paid Sacyr €53.5 million for the building located at number 56. Measuring more than 9,000 square metres, it is leased to the British textile manufacturer Burberry. The Inditex owner is also the landlord of the building at number 93.

Madrid

The purchases made in the last decade have made Amancio Ortega one of the largest property owners on Madrid’s main thoroughfare: the Paseo de la Castellana. The owner of Zara joined the select club of property owners in that area in 2004, when he acquired number 92 (that same year he made a joint purchase with Metrópolis of an office building on the Paseo de Gracia, 16, which was converted into luxury housing). On the Castellana, Ortega also owns number 35, which he acquired in 2005; and number 79, the former headquarters of Axa, which he renovated to create a new office building with a shopping area, now leased to Fnac and Habitat.

But, undoubtedly, the jewel in Ortega’s crown in Madrid was acquired at the end of 2011, when he signed an agreement with FCC to purchase the Torre Picasso. He paid €400 million for the skyscraper that sits in the heart of the city’s financial district, just a few metres from the Paseo de la Castellana – a record figure for a single building, second only to the €815 million that the then Caja Madrid invested in the Torre Foster.

Nevertheless, it was not the first time that Pontegadea had paid so much in a real estate transaction. At the end of 2007, Amancio Ortega paid €458 million to Santander for the acquisition of ten buildings located in several Spanish cities, which included Castellana, 24 and Paseo de Gracia, 5.

These two great Spanish streets are just an example of Ortega’s extensive property holdings, which also include buildings leased to Inditex companies, such as for example Serrano, 23, in Madrid, which is leased to Zara. In the last full financial year (2013), Pontegadea’s assets were valued at €4,519.5 million and they generated a profit of €93.3 million, compared with €70.5 million a year earlier.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

What Does The Future Hold For Azca?

16 March 2015 – El Confidencial

In Madrid, the ‘City’ is called Azca. It is the capital’s financial centre par excellence and, yet, a third of the office space in the area is empty. (According to sector experts), the time for change in upon us.

In Madrid, the ‘City’ is called Azca. It is the capital’s financial centre par excellence, home to iconic buildings such as Torre Picasso and many of the world’s leading companies own the properties, including Pontegadea (the real estate company owned by Amancio Ortega), GMP, Mutua Madrileña, El Corte Inglés, Metrovacesa, Testa and Infinorsa. The prime location, in the heart of the Paseo de la Castellana and next to one of the capital’s major transport hubs, Nuevos Ministerios, meant that until a few years ago, this area accounted for the majority of the capital’s prime office space. However, the opening of the Cuatro Torres, the arrival of the economic crisis, the departure of large companies to peripheral areas (of the city) and the lack of investment, both in the properties themselves as well as in the surrounding area, have dampened Azca’s appeal.

The combination of these elements has also had a significant affect on prices. Between 2008 and 2014, prime rents in the capital fell from €39/m2 to €25/m2 (per month), whilst in Barcelona, rents decreased from €22/m2 to almost €14/m2 (per month), according to a report called “Understanding the Office Market in 2014”, prepared by Deloitte Real Estate. The final nail in the coffin in terms of the pressure on the area came with the departure of KPMG, which (last month) decided to leave its headquarters in Torre Europa to move to the Torre de Cristal, at Real Madrid’s former Sports City (Ciudad Deportiva).

Furthermore, BBVA is set to leave its traditional black skyscraper to relocate to the suburb of Las Tablas, and the tenants of the Torre Saint Gobain and Torre Titania are planning to fully vacate; the latter was built by El Corte Inglés on the foundations of the former Windsor. In total, around 67,000 square metres of the 272,000 square metres of above-ground office space in the area is (currently) available to let, which gives rise to the question: is Azca doomed to reduce its prices further?

The answer is no, according to all of the experts, although they admit that the area is at a turning point. In their view, Azca is living through its own catharsis, which may be summarised by the classic phrase – adapt or die. And the widespread belief is that the former will happen. “Right now, Azca has an opportunity to reinvent itself as the ‘City’ of Madrid once more, but it must know how to seize it. In terms of its location, it has the right ingredients and moreover, the higher the vacancy rate, the easier it will be”, say the experts at Deloitte.

In Madrid, barely 2% of the office space in the high quality buildings inside the M-30 is vacant.

In this sense, a public-private initiative, known as the Azca Master Plan (Plan Director de Azca), is underway, which seeks to open up the area and facilitate access from El Coste Inglés in Nuevos Ministerios to the Bernabeu, through three targeted efforts: construction work to improve (the area in general), environmental initiatives and planning. This would mean, amongst other aspects, modifying some of the uses (of the area); the main challenge is to convert the area that is the capital’s business district during the week, into an area for families, shopping and leisure on the weekends, rather than leaving it half empty when the office lights are turned off (on Friday night), which is what happens at the moment.

“Azca must become a digital icon that adapts to incorporate technological developments, that uses the facades of the buildings (creatively), that puts up digital screens to attract young people (to the area) at the weekend, that organises initiatives for the neighbours (of the area) and the wider city, that becomes an icon of ‘digital Madrid’, in the style of New York’s Times Square”, says Ángel Serrano, Business Director at Aguirre Newman.

His company is managing the last major transaction in the area, the sale of Castellana, 89, in which a great deal of interest is being shown; the price may reach €140 million. The same interest was seen recently in the bid to acquire the Torre Saint Gobain, which GMP ended up purchasing for €90 million (with plans to spend a further €14 million on its refurbishment) and the land that El Corte Inglés purchased from Adif for €136 million, when the starting price was €40 million.

These transactions confirm the conviction that the major landlords in Madrid have that Azca is going to emerge stronger from the current situation, which means it will be able to increase its prices again in the medium term. Nevertheless, for the time being, it will have to endure a couple of years “crossing the desert”, during which time GMP, Infinorsa and whoever ends up winning the bid to acquire Castellana 89 will refurbish their buildings as well as the Torre BBVA (where the bank will continue to occupy the top five floors and display its logo on the outside), Torre Saint Gobain and, most likely, the Torre Europa.

It is expected that all of these construction works will be carried out in parallel to the aforementioned Master Plan to relaunch the area, which means that now is the perfect time (for tenants) to move to Azca before all of these improvements have been completed and prices increase. “We are currently experiencing a historic moment in terms of low prices, which provides the perfect opportunity for many of the companies that moved out of the centre and now want to move back. Moreover, this is supported by the gradual recovery of the economy and the privileged location of Azca, which I think will play an important role in its favour (in the future)”, says José Luis Guillermo, managing partner of Inmospace. Nevertheless, in his opinion, this metamorphism of the area will require support from the Public Administrations, not only in terms of the necessary changes to certain uses (of the area), but also in terms of the adoption of measures to promote the entry of multi-national companies into the capital’s ‘City’.

Experts consider that now is the time to move to Azca, before prices rise.

Madrid has some of the highest forecasts for (rental) income growth over the next five years of any city in Europe. Currently, according to data from Knight Frank, its vacancy rate amounts to 11.9%, although in the central business district, known as in the jargon of the trade as CBD, the figure decreases to 7.3%, and for Grade A buildings (highest quality) within the M-30, the vacancy rate is a low as 2%. This means that there are very few good buildings (available) in prime areas in Madrid.

In this context, a third of the leaseable office area in Azca is currently vacant and, despite that, both the experts and the large investors that are bidding to purchase buildings expect average rental income in the area to return to €30/m2 (per month), i.e. 20% more than now, over the next five to seven years. How come?

Patricio Palomar, Director of Alternative Investments at CBRE provides a good summary of where Azca is going and the price of its rentals: “To analyse the evolution, three points should be taken into account: the Master Plan for the area, which will favour (higher) prices; how Azca is going to change in terms of immediate availability, since various buildings are currently being refurbished, which will work in the area’s favour, but that will also mean there is more supply and therefore, tenants will have greater bargaining power, which may contain the increase to some extent. The third element is that there are few square metres concentrated in one area in Madrid and there are few high quality buildings for tenants looking to rent more than 10,000 m2 of space inside the M-30; a supply that Azca will indeed have (in the not too distant future). Add to that the fact that many tenants of this type, which moved to peripheral areas in the past, now want to return to locations such as this one, make me think that we will see price increases”.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

CaixaBank Will Be S&P’s New Neighbour On The Castellana

9 March 2015 – Expansión

Lease Agreement / The bank is going to rent 2,800 square metres of office space in Banesto’s former headquarters. It will share the premises with the credit ratings agency, S&P, amongst others.

After a record year for investment in offices (Socimis and large international funds spent more than €1,000 million on acquisitions in 2014), the buildings in Madrid are also beginning to observe an increase in their occupancy rates, especially those located on the city’s main thoroughfare.

That is the case of the office building located on Paseo de la Castellana, 7. The former headquarters of Banesto will soon house another well known tenant. CaixaBank had agreed to rent out 2,800 square metres in the building. The bank will pay around €70,000 per month for the space, according to real estate sources.

In the last quarter of 2014, rents in the prime office areas of Madrid amounted to around €25.50 per square metre per month, the highest figure in the last three years, according to JLL.

Tenants

CaixaBank will join companies such as the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P), the Swiss bank Julius Baer, the law firm White & Case and the firms Munich Real Estate and FTI Consulting, which already have offices in the property. Until the arrival of the entity, chaired by Isidro Fainé, the most recent addition (to the property) was the Japanese business group Mitsui, which leases 1,500 square metres over two floors.

Castellana, 7 is owned by the Aragonese group Samca, which also owns the (property) developer Ebrosa. The building offers 12,869 square metres of office space in total and for years it housed the headquarters of Banesto. In 1997, the owner of Samca, the businessman Ángel Luengo, paid the entity 8,000 million pesetas (around €48 million), after failing to reach a preliminary agreement with Telefónica.

In 2011, the building was refurbished by the team at Aguirre Newman Arquitectura. Following the deal with CaixaBank, the building will have less than 5,000 square metres unoccupied.

Transactions

The rental of 2,800 square metres of office space on the Paseo de la Castellana by CaixaBank comes just two weeks after the first major office lease agreement of 2015 was signed in Madrid.

The professional services firm KPMG has reached an agreement with Mutua Madrileña to move its corporate headquarters in Madrid to the Torre de Cristal skyscraper, in the Cuatro Torres business district. KPMG has leased 20,000 square metres in the tower.

In 2014, office space occupying a surface area of 365,000 square metres (of the total 15.1 million sqm) was leased in Madrid. The most significant transactions included the move by Havas to the building on Eloy Gonzalo, 10, which had been acquired by the real estate group GMP a month before. The multi-media group will occupy the office space, which covers around 12,000 square metres. In Barcelona, the law firm Cuatrecasas signed an agreement to lease 19,900 square metres at the end of the year.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Castlelake Buys More Land From Sareb

23 February 2015 – Expansión

Transaction / The North American firm acquires several plots of land in Madrid for €13 million and strengthens its commitment to this type of product.

Sareb has generated more cash from its portfolio of real estate assets. The Asset Management Company for Bank Restructurings (la sociedad de activos procedentes de la reestructuración bancaria) has sold a batch of four residential plots, located in the town of Boadilla del Monte, Madrid.

For the sale, the company chaired by Jaime Echegoyen organised an exclusive sales process and invited five international funds to participate, in partnership with Spanish construction and real estate groups. Then, a sealed bid auction was held and the assets were awarded to the North American fund Castlelake (formerly known as TPG Credit Management).

According to sources close to the transaction, Castlelake paid €13 million for the plots (the minimum price was €11 million). The North American fund, which is operating with a Spanish partner, plans to construct uni-familiar homes worth €44 million on this land, which has a total surface area of 76,000 square metres.

Following its successful bid, Castlelake shall bear not only the costs of construction, but also the cost of the investment required to develop the area, explain real estate sources.

Other transactions

This is not the first time that Castlelake has purchased assets from Sareb. Last year, the North American fund acquired another batch of 17 plots included in the Crossover portfolio, worth €80 million. In the end, the transaction was closed for €55 million. These plots have been placed in a Banking Activity Fund (Fondo de Actividad Bancario or FAB), a vehicle that has significant tax advantages, in which Castlelake holds a 95% stake, whilst Sareb retains a 5% stake.

Castlelake’s new transaction exemplifies the interest that has been awakened once more in the residential market. “Just as 2014 was an extraordinary year for investment in tertiary real estate, 2015 will be a key year for the recovery of the residential market”, says Patricio Paloma, Director of Alternative Investment at CBRE España.

In recent months, several residential plots have been sold. For example, Sareb sold a plot measuring 3,328 square metres close to Plaza de Castilla, in the north of the capital, to Mario Losantos, through his investment vehicle Allegra Hólding. Through this transaction, the former owner of Riofisa returned to the Spanish real estate sector to construct a development for 120 homes, together with ACR.

Months later, the cooperative manager Domo paid €136 million to acquire a plot next to the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid to construct 355 homes.

“Land is now starting to generate a lot of interest and, in addition to the transactions that Sareb will close, we expect that some of the banks will begin to put some of the land on their balance sheets up for sale, whereby generating liquidity for them that they will use to finance new projects”, says Palomar.

More sales of large plots in Madrid are expected to take place over the next few months. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is preparing the sale of land it owns on Calle Padre Damián, measuring 15,092 square metres and with capacity for up to 250 homes.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Madrid To Build A Conference Centre & Luxury Hotel Opposite The Bernabeu

19 February 2015 – Expansión

The Town Hall will approve the operation of a conference centre and the construction of a five star hotel in exchange from the renovation of the complex, which will also include a retail area.

It is one of the most iconic buildings in Madrid’s financial district, in particular due to the mural on its facade, designed by the artist Joan Miró.

Built in the 1960s and located on the Paseo de la Castellana, opposite the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, Madrid’s Conference Centre (Palacio de Congresos) has been closed for two years due to the poor state of its facilities, which violate basic safety standards.

But today, the Town Hall expects to approve a plan for the comprehensive remodelling of the site and in addition, to construct a luxury hotel that could have up to 23 floors.

According to sources close to the transaction, the Town Hall will invite tenders for the renovation of the Palacio and the construction of a hotel that do not result in any cost to the taxpayer: the successful bidder will complete the building work, estimated to amount to €86 million, in exchange for a licence to operate the entire complex.

In other words, the management of the Palacio and hotel will be in private hands, but ownership of the space will continue to remain with the public. “The role of the State should be to promote different types of tourism, but given the quantity of highly prestigious tour operators in our country, the best option is for them to take care of the management to ensure we provide state-of-the-art facilities”, explained an internal document about the operation.

Both the Town Hall and the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, have been very involved in the process. They want the new Palacio to be an engine for attracting “sophisticated, profitable” tourists with “higher added value and greater spending power”, which is why one of the requirements of the tender is that the hotel be a five star facility, “capable of meeting the highly specialised demand for conferences and meetings”, said the document.

In theory, the Government will oversee the aesthetics and architectural modelling of the project, which will not affect the Miró mural under any circumstances. The halls in the new building, designed especially to host professional conferences and large events, must have the latest technology and the best audiovisual facilities and scenography. Similarly, the new complex will have to provide a catering service for at least 1,800 diners.

The current surface area of the Palacio is 40,000 square metres, although since the partial remodelling plan approved in 2001, it has been allowed to increase that to 47,000 sqm; additional space that could be used to build the hotel. Moreover, the space available to construct “compatible” businesses (shops, high-end boutiques, travel agencies, etc.) will increase from 25% of the current total surface area up to 35%. The only business that the tender excludes from being housed in this space are large superstores, reflecting its goal of ensuring that the Palacio does not become a kind of shopping centre. “Other compatible uses will be permitted, but the main use will continue to be as a conference centre”, says the report.

Original story: Expansión (by Yago González)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Cooperatives Queue Up To Buy A Plot That The Treasury Purchased 30 Years Ago

16 February 2015 – El Confidencial

All eyes are focused on one plot of land in Madrid. A plot of land, which the Treasury purchased from a group of nuns for 800 million pesetas in 1985, could now, three decades later, be sold for several million euros. It is one of the largest and rarest gems left in Madrid and many of the large housing cooperatives have already expressed interest. These same cooperatives were responsible for some of the most talked about transactions in the country last year; and this deal would allow them to offer hundreds of low cost homes in the centre of Madrid, just a few metres from the Paseo de la Castellana, something that was unthinkable a few years ago.

The plot measures just over 15,000 square metres and is located at the intersection of Calles Padre Damián and Fray Bernardino Sahagún, very close to the Castellana and ten minutes away from the Santiago Bernabeu stadium and the Torres KIO. It is owned by State Heritage (Patrimonio del Estado), which in turn reports to the Treasury (Ministerio de Hacienda). The land has its own history…it used to house a convent, which was demolished shortly after the plot was acquired by the Government. Three decades later…., the plot may come back onto the market in a perfect transaction for the public coffers, thanks to the increase in land values during the intervening period.

Nevertheless, before the plot is auctioned, some administrative hurdles will need to be overcome to change its intended use. The State Heritage department has proposed a one-off amendment to the General Urban Plan for Madrid because, for this land to be attractive in the market, and for the Treasury to obtain the maximum price for its sale, its use must be residential; currently it may only be used for the collective services of the Public Administration. (…)

This one-off amendment is awaiting provisional approval by the Town Hall of Madrid and definitive approval by the Community of Madrid, according to sources from the Treasury who say that until this happens, the plot will not be put up for sale. (…)

(…)

Under the spotlight of the management cooperatives

“The size of the plot, its location, its environment, its intended suitability for construction, its scope, the potential appeal of the project that could be developed makes this plot of land a clear target that is going to generate a lot of interest”, said Leopoldo Morena, the CEO of the Ibosa Group, the cooperative manager that was responsible for one of the most important land transactions in the capital last year, when it was awarded ownership of Metro de Madrid’s depots in Cuatro Caminos for €88 million. That project, Residencial Metropolitan, which will bring more than 400 homes onto the market, with prices upwards of €2,600 per square metre, has almost all been sold (95%).

Nevertheless, the operation of the year was, without a doubt, the sale of a plot of land on Calle Raimundo Fernández Villaverde by the Ministry of Defence in a bid that was won by the cooperative manager Domo. Its offer for €111 million exceeded those made by Ferrovial, Pryconsa and Construcciones Amenabar; all of the homes in the development have already been sold. The sales price of the 355 homes was expected to start at €3,300 per square mete.

These two transactions boosted the market in 2014. According to data from the real estate consultant Irea, transactions involving land in Spain amounted to €346 million last year, which represented just 4% of the total investment in the market. A low percentage, however, in 2013, there weren’t any transactions involving land above five million euro, the threshold that Irea uses to prepare its analysis of investment in Spain (and so the deals closed in 2014 did represent a move in the right direction).

“Transactions such as the one in Calle Raimundo Fernández Villaverde, the Metro de Madrid and more recently, Amenabar’s purchase of various plots of land from Sareb, without financing, were unthinkable a few years ago”, explains Mikel Echavarren, the CEO at Irea.

In his opinion, the main players that may sign land-related transactions in Spain this year will continue to be domestic companies, developers and cooperatives, which are capable of financing their land purchases with their own funds: “There are scarcely six companies in Spain at the moment with sufficient financial capacity to finance land purchases”….

The role of international investment funds in the direct purchase of land will be practically zero, but they will be involved in the acquisition of portfolios of debt that contain land or residential developments as underlying collateral.

The plot of land in Madrid has also attracted interest from prospective house buyers, as evidenced by the fact that some managers have received requests from more than 2,000 interested parties. And it is no wonder: if the land falls back into the hands of cooperatives, they may build homes right in the centre of Madrid at very competitive prices, especially compared with those in private developments, such as the one that will start soon in Calle Juan Bravo, 3, where the prices of the luxury homes that are going to be built on the site may reach €9,000 per square metre, significantly higher than the less than €4,000 per sqm being charged by both the Ibosa Group and Domo Gestora for their recent acquisitions in Madrid.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Elena Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

BBVA And The Government Reactivate The Castellana Extension

2 February 2015 – Expansión

BBVA and San José will invest €4,800 million in the Castellana Extension / Covering an area of more than 3 million sqm in the North of Madrid, it will be the largest real estate development project in Spain. An IPO has not been ruled out.

Investment of almost €6,000 million, an area of more than 3.11 million sqm, 20 years of planning and another 20 years of development – those are some of the dizzying figures encompassed by the Castellana Norte urban development project in Madrid, also known as Operation Chamartín or the Castellana Extension.

“It is a very unique, innovative project that will result in the strengthening of the local, regional and national economy. It is the only project of its kind anywhere in the world”, said Francisco Gonzalez, the Chairman of BBVA, on Friday as he presented the plans for the regeneration of the north of Madrid, which has been paralysed for years and which will be the largest real estate development project undertaken in Spain in the last two decades.

The financial institution is the owner of 75.5% of the company Castellana Norte Madrid, the developer behind the plan. The remaining shares are held by the San José Group, whose own shares soared by 8.5% in trading on Friday.

Homes and offices

The project includes the extension of the capital’s main thoroughfare, the Paseo de la Castellana, by 3.7 km and the movement underground of the railway tracks at Chamartín station. 17,000 homes will be built on this land, of which 10% will be subsidised in some way; a financial district covering almost one million square metres will also be constructed.

The company Castellana Norte will drive the regeneration of this area, alongside Chamartín station and its adjoining railway tracks. Thus, of the total investment (€5,974 million), the company will spend €1,300 million on infrastructure and another €3,500 million on the construction of buildings. A long way off of the €11,000 million projected in the initial plans devised for the area in 2008. “The previous project was based on estimated revenues and therefore associated investment when housing was worth 40% more (than it is now)” explained Antonio Béjar, the Chairman of Castellana Norte. “The current plan addresses the shortcomings of the past and will involve a significant degree of self-financing”, he added. Sources of funding may include the entry of a new partner into the company, the use of bank financing and even the IPO of the company.

Construction of this neighbourhood, designed in four areas, will take place over 20 years and will result in the creation of 120,000 new jobs. “The project will generate economic gains of more than €3,363 million for the public administrations”, confirmed the Town Hall of Madrid on Friday.

The developers hope that the various government bodies involved in the process (the Ministry of Development, the Community of Madrid and the Town Hall of Madrid) will formally approve the project during the next few months so that work can begin on the development “at the end of this year or at the beginning of next year”.

Sustainable travel will play an important role in the new urban development, which will include three new metro stations, two train stations and 12.8km of cycle lanes. 80% of the 3.114 million square metres of land (just under the permitted buildable area) will be used for public infrastructure projects, including space for green areas equivalent to 56 football pitches.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

GMP Buys Torre Ederra From BBVA

27 January 2015 – Expansión

BBVA had acquired the building for €87.5 million in 2003 from the French group Saint Gobain Cristalería, which continued to occupy the premises under an agreement reached with the buyer.

The real estate group GMP has purchased the Torre Ederra, located in Madrid on Paseo de la Castellana, 77, following a sales process in which several investors participated, the company announced in a press release.

GMP says that it will now undertake a comprehensive renovation of the property with the aim of optimising its efficiency and sustainability, to convert it into an avant-garde building in a prime location.

In this way, GMP will promote Castellana 77 as a landmark building and will target companies looking for a prime location in Madrid.

The building covers 21,000 square metres in total, over 18 floors, which occupy 16,200 square metres. It also has five underground floors with 190 parking spaces.

BBVA appointed the property consultant CBRE to manage the sales process of the property. The real estate group, in which the sovereign fund Singapur CIG holds a 30% stake, already bought a building on Calle Eloy Gonzalo, 10 in mid-2014, whose lease ended in December, almost a year before the end of its renovation.

This transaction strengthens GMP’s presence in the AZCA financial centre, where the firm already owns a building designed by the architect Sáenz de Oiza, on the Paseo de la Castellana, 81.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake