Tag: Plaza de España

VP Finalises Opening of Flagship Hotel in Madrid’s Plaza de España

24 November 2017 – Expansión

The hotel chain, VP, which is going to debut its Design brand in Madrid in Plaza de España in January, is looking to export its model to other European capitals.

Five years after its arrival in Madrid’s Plaza de España, with the purchase of the buildings at numbers 3, 4 and 5, VP is putting the finishing touches ahead of the inauguration of what will be its flagship property in the capital: the VP Plaza España Design.

“Design is the new collection that VP is launching with Hotel Plaza España in Madrid and we hope to expand it to other European capitals soon”, explains Pedro José Alonso, the Director of the Hotel, speaking to Expansión.

This establishment has been built on the foundations of several buildings that were illegally occupied for years and which once housed offices, an aparthotel and the headquarters of Telefónica. VP purchased the assets in 2015, from the liquidated real estate company Monteverde, for €22 million.

After demolishing the old buildings and constructing the new property, work that was carried out by the construction company Tilmón, the family group is now preparing to unveil its flagship hotel, planned for the middle of January, to coincide with the tourism fair (Fitur). “It has been a pharaonic project. We have incorporated some very exclusive designs that we have had to import from other countries and as a result, the construction work has been delayed by a few months”.

The Hotel VP Plaza España Design will have 214 rooms of different kinds spread over 17 floors, as well as a spa, gym, its own car park and a sky bar with 360º views. Moreover, it will have a restaurant on the ground floor leased to Grupo Larrumba. Both the sky bar, Ginkgo, and the restaurant, Botania, will be independently accessible to facilitate entry for clients not staying at the hotel.

This hotel wants to become a benchmark for MICE tourism (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) and will have 1,400 m2 of space for events. “Madrid needs infrastructure in the heart of the centre for this kind of tourism. The existing supply is located on the outskirts”.

Alonso explains that the hotel, which will employ 150 people, will provide a distinctive artistic and decorative offer with works from Pere Grife and Jan Hendrix.

Regeneration of the area

A few months after the debut of the hotel, the Town Hall of Madrid will begin work to regenerate Plaza de España, which is expected to start in the spring of 2018. “Plaza de España has been a black mark (on the landscape) for several years. I am delighted about the project and we form part of this regeneration work”, he says.

Moreover, the facelift of the central square will happen at the same time as the arrival of large domestic groups such as RIU and international players such as Hyatt and Four Seasons: “Their arrival is excellent news for Madrid. Those brands attract their own tourism; they help us to specialise and raise the bar”.

In terms of prices, Alonso says that rooms will be offered from €220 up to “as much as the client is willing to pay”. And he adds; “Madrid is a city that deserves to have different prices to those on offer until now, which were beneath it. In our case, we have a great building, an excellent location and a commitment to service and people. That will allow us to charge prices commensurate with those of a five-star hotel.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Valliance Puts Asset Portfolio On Madrid’s Gran Vía Up For Sale

17 November 2017 – Eje Prime

Valliance, the real estate services company specialising in investment operations, is reactivating the real estate sector on Gran Vía. The company has been selected to coordinate the sales process of a real estate portfolio comprising residential and commercial properties in one of the most iconic buildings on Gran Vía, Madrid.

Located between Plaza de Callao and Plaza de España, a Madrilenian family office has engaged Valliance to sell three residential units and five commercial assets.

All of them are located in one of Gran Vía’s most well-known buildings, which was constructed in 1923 and which has a comprehensive listing. “The scarcity of assets of this kind for sale on Gran Vía means that this portfolio represents a great investment opportunity”, explains Belén Díaz, Director General at Valliance in Spain.

Valliance is a real estate services company that specialises in real estate investment, divestment and value-enhancing operations. It advises on the buy- and sell-side of all kinds of real estate assets, including offices, shopping centres, retail premises, logistics warehouses and hotels.

The firm works in the Spanish market, as well as in the United Kingdom through a partnership with Lambert Smith Hampton. It also collaborates with partners in Lisbon and other European capitals to render its services. The company is also the capital markets arm of Gesvalt.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hyatt To Open Its New 5-Star Hotel In Madrid In December

6 November 2017 – Cinco Días

Nine years after it stopped managing Hotel Villa Magna, the North American hotel chain Hyatt, is finalising its return to Spain and will benefit from first-mover advantage in the battle between the luxury hotels in Madrid. It will be the first to open, but close behind it will be followed by the five-star Four Seasons hotel in Canalejas, the four-star RIU hotel in Plaza de España and the five-star Starwood hotel in the former Hotel Asturias.

The hotel will be located in the heart of Gran Vía, will have 159 rooms (of which 10% will be suites with views over the iconic street) and will be very focused on tourists with a high purchasing power. Gonzalo Maggi, Director of the hotel, highlights that it will be the first hotel to operate under the Centric brand in Europe. “The main features of the brand including being at the centre of the action. We are targeting clients who want to explore, get to know the city and discover new things and who want to use the hotel as a launch pad for their stay”, says Maggi, who admits that the building work is being accelerated to ensure that the hotel will be ready to open in December to take advantage of the Christmas rush.

Maggi defines the client that his hotel is targeting as “lifestyle”, which serves, in his opinion, to differentiate its offer from those of the other operators that are going to compete with Hyatt. “We are going to target people who place a lot of importance on design, fashion, the people they share space with and the gastronomy they seek. We are going to position ourselves in the high-end segment. Of the scale of traditional five-star hotels, we are going to aim a bit lower, but in the highest range of the new establishments”, he says. Another feature of the chain is the food. “We are going to have a music studio in the hotel lobby specialising in vermouths, a restaurant with international food and a rooftop bar, which will open in the first quarter of 2018”, he says (…).

The Director of the Hyatt Centric forecasts that to start with, 40% of the hotel’s clients will come from the USA, where the brand has been established for 60 years and is very well known. The rest will come mainly from three European countries (France, Germany and the UK) as well as from certain Asian countries. Maggi does not rule out that the hotel will also spark interest in the domestic market, despite its high prices, given its good location.

The director of the hotel highlights that Spain represents a very interesting market, as shown by the opening of the Park Hyatt in Mallorca a year and a half ago, although he is sure that the main opportunities are in Madrid and Barcelona (…). Asked about the hotel moratorium, he says (…) “as soon as they let us build there, we will launch ourselves into that market. It is a fantastic city and has a great deal to offer”, he says.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Carlos Molina)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Riu Gets Green Light For Its Renovation Of Edificio España

22 September 2017 – Eje Prime

After a very drawn out negotiation process and having being passed from Wanda to Grupo Baraka and then to the hotel chain Riu, Edificio España has finally received the green light for its renovation. The Town Hall of Madrid has granted the building permit to allow Riu to start to refurbish its Riu Plaza.

Sources at the Town Hall’s Sustainable Urban Development (DUS) department, explain that the Activities Agency granted the authorisation yesterday, which, given the complexity of the construction work, establishes a program of approval comprising two phases: firstly, the restoration work will be performed, and then the definitive licence will be granted for the inauguration of the hotel, according to EFE.

The first phase of the building permit covers work to conserve the façades, external work to recover recesses, the dismantling of embellishments and the replacement of windows and railings, as well as partial restructuring work, refurbishment and restoration for the adaptation of the existing structure and the dismantling of protected interior elements.

On the other hand, the second phase includes the definitive licence for the inauguration of the hotel activity and the retail space, with the performance of partial restructuring work, construction of internal partition walls and facilities, and external work to assemble the identifying elements of the hotel and the planned retail space, according to sources in the team led by José Manuel Calvo.

Located in the central Plaza de España, the property was constructed by Spanish architects Julián and José María Otamendi between the years 1948 and 1953, and it was the tallest building in Spain at the time. The Chinese multinational Wanda acquired the iconic building with the aim of opening a hotel, luxury homes and a shopping centre, but to that end, it wanted to pull down the existing structure and then reconstruct the façades at a later date, something that the municipal Government refused to allow.

In the end, Wanda sold the building to Grupo Baraka, owned by the Murcian businessman Trinitario Casanova, who visited the property together with the mayor of Madrid and who promised to build a hotel with two swimming pools and a shopping arcade, in collaboration with Riu.

The hotel chain then reached an agreement with Baraka to acquire 100% of Edificio España, and so it will be the entity responsible for undertaking the construction work, in two phases.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hotel Chain Riu Ends Up Acquiring Edificio España

2 June 2017 – El Mundo

The soap opera surrounding the sale of Edificio España in Madrid reached its finale yesterday morning, with the completion of a three-way operation, which saw the Chinese Group Wanda official sell the building’s deeds to the hotel chain Riu. The hotel group reached an agreement with Grupo Baraka to acquire 100% of the property and to subsequently undertake the necessary renovation to convert it into the first hotel in Spain to operate under its Riu Plaza brand.

All of the parties met at the notary’s office yesterday morning in Madrid, and once the purchase of the property from Wanda by Grupo Baraka (which held the initial purchase rights) had been formalised, the latter sold the property to Riu Hotels & Resorts. The consideration paid amounted to €272 million, according to the consultancy firm JLL, which has advised the sale.

“Our strategic plans include opening a Riu Plaza hotel in Spain and this opportunity in Madrid, in an unbeatable location and in an iconic building, completely fulfil all of our requirements,” said Carmen and Luis Riu, CEOs of Riu Hoteles. “The operation had been on the cards for several months before the option opened up of Riu acquiring 100% of the building. After analysing that opportunity in detail, we decided that we didn’t want to waste it”, explained the directors.

Trinitario Casanova, President of Grupo Baraka, will take responsibility for leasing the retail space, measuring 15,000 m2, where several department stores will be opened.

The building work could start today

After hearing of the sale, the Councillor for Sustainable Urban Development at the Town Hall of Madrid, José Manuel Calvo, said that the new owner of Edificio España could start the building work to consolidate Edificio España right away. The licence to undertake the structural work was granted on 31 March and its terms are “not affected” by the identity of the building’s owner.

The processing of the permit to open a hotel in the skyscraper will take a bit longer. Sources at the Palacio de Cibeles (the Town Hall) predict that the green light will be given for the construction of the establishment in “the autumn”, given that the municipal technicians and Baraka’s architects have been working together on this project for several months now.

In terms of the retail surface area, which will be housed on the lower floors of the property, in Plaza de España, the presentation of an affidavit is all that is required to start the refurbishment work.

The hotel

The future Hotel Riu Plaza will occupy 24 of the 27 floors in Edificio España, whilst the remainder will be used as retail space. The establishment will have approximately 650 rooms and will be a 4-star property.

The hotel will also have a space measuring more than 1,800 m2 for events, which will include an open plan room measuring 1,500 m2, with 6 m high ceilings, which will become a unique space in the centre of Madrid.

The establishment will also have two restaurants, a rooftop swimming pool, where there will also be a Sky Bar and an additional space for events, spanning more than 900 m2.

Original story: El Mundo (by Luis M. Ciria, Marta Belver and Roberto Bécares)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Baraka Wants To Double Edificio España’s Value In 3 Years

19 December 2016 – El País

The Murcian group Baraka, led by the businessman Trinitario Casanova, has completed its purchase of Edificio España from the Chinese group Wanda. The historical property, located in Plaza de España in Madrid, will be sold for €272 million, which is €7 million more than the Asian firm paid Banco Santander for the property back in 2014. Nevertheless, following the renovation work, the building is expected to be worth €532 million, according to a report by JLL filed with the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The owner of Baraka, Trinitario Casanova, will hand over a cheque amounting to €272 million, within the next three months (before 31 March) for the building, which the Chinese group Wanda is selling for almost the same price at which it purchased it from Banco Santander (€265 million). (…).

The President of the Chinese group, Wang Jianlin, who is the richest man in China, decided to sell the building to Baraka because the Murcian holding company promised that it would make a fast and secure payment to ensure the quick sale of the building, according to several sources.

Under the terms of the operation, Baraka has now paid Wanda €6 million by way of deposit and has made the commitment to pay another €14 million by way of guarantee when the public deed is signed before the notary. It will then pay the remaining €252 million.

Meanwhile, the consultancy firm Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL), which led the negotiations between the two companies, submitted a technical report to Wanda, which the Chinese Group has sent to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The report explains that, following the renovation work, the building will be worth €532.5 million. If this is the case, Baraka will earn almost twice as much as it spent to acquire the building in just three years, which will represent a profit of almost 100% of the capital employed for the purchase.

The Murcian businessman Casanova, who has been investigated for an alleged fraud of €6 million against the Tax Authorities and who was sentenced to one year in prison in 2008 for altering the value of shares in Banco Popular, is keen to renovate both the outside and inside of the building. Its architects have been working on the plans for months and the construction work will begin at the beginning of January, said Casanova in October.

The façades of Edificio España will remain in tact, as required by the Town Hall of Madrid, whilst the changes to the interior will serve to accommodate a large luxury hotel from 2019 onwards (probably operated by the Hard Rock Café chain). This hotel will have 600 rooms and a lease contract of 30 years. Those are Baraka’s intentions at least.

The first three floors and the basement (a space measuring up to 15,000 m2, of the building’s total surface area of 71,000 m2) will be let to retail groups.

Few changes

“The building will remain practically the same as it used to be. It will be cleaner, more beautiful and restored, but aesthetically it will be the same”, said the businessman in his most recent official appearance before the press. (…).

Original story: El País (by Luca Constantini)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Gran Vía: The New Showcase For Flagship Fashion Stores

5 September 2016 – Expansión

Along the one-hundred year old Gran Vía, fashion houses and hotels are now competing with restaurants, cafes, theatres and cinemas to occupy space on the sought-after street in Madrid. The thoroughfare was known as the Madrilenian Broadway in its heyday, thanks to the profusion of cinemas and theatres that it housed and which, to a lesser extent, still remain today.

In the race to set up shop on the busiest thoroughfare in Madrid, the largest brands and more contemporary designer hotels now occupy buildings that were formerly inhabited by banks, insurance companies and large cinemas.

In this sense, the size of the buildings on Gran Vía, makes them more attractive assets for fashion chains to house their large flagship stores than, for example, the properties on Calle Preciados. According to a calculation by the consultancy firm CBRE, in 2014 and 2015, real estate investment on the street amounted to €1,100 million.

Undoubtedly, the most significant operation in recent years was Pontegadea’s purchase of the property at Gran Vía, 32 in January 2015. The investment arm of Amancio Ortega, the founder and majority shareholder of the retail giant Inditex, paid €400 million for the asset. And that is the building that Primark chose to locate its flagship store, which occupies five storeys over 12,400 sqm. The megastore has become a tourist attraction in itself and there were traffic jams and queues at its doors during the first few months after its opening.

Following this example, other brands have opened stores on Gran Vía in the last year. For example, the fashion accessory chain Parfois and the Spanish jewellery firm Tous, have taken up residence at numbers 42 and 38, respectively. In addition, the cosmetics firm Nyx and the sports brand Adidas both opened new stores at numbers 21 and 36 of the Madrilenian street in the spring of 2016.

Moreover, the stretch of Gran Vía that runs from Plaza de Callao to Plaza de España has been revitalised in recent months, with the arrival of the gift and accessories chain Ale-hop at number 74, the perfume store Druni, at number 61 and Axa’s purchase of the Rex cinema building.

The future renovation of that building, alongside the refurbishment of the controversial Edificio España, which has changed hands several times in the last two years, will also help to reactivate this final stretch of the street.

Other important transactions on Gran Vía have involved the premises at number 44, measuring 500 sqm. That property, which used to house a branch of Bankia, was acquired by Hines at the beginning of the year from the Baraka group – the current owner of Edificio España – for almost €40 million. Meanwhile, the Socimi Saint Croix acquired another property on Gran Vía – specifically the building located at number 55 – for €13 million in March this year.

The size of the buildings on Gran Vía makes them ideal properties for flagship stores.

Original story: Expansión (by R.Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Baraka Group Agrees To Buy Edificio España For c. €265M

20 July 2016 – Expansión

The Baraka group, controlled by the businessman Trinitario Casanova, has reached an agreement with the Chinese group Dalian Wanda to acquire Edificio España in Madrid, according to reports by the El Mundo newspaper.

The holding company is finalising the details of the operation, which is expected to be completed after the summer. Casanova’s offer, which is understood to amount to around €265 million, reportedly exceeded the bids made by the other interested parties, including the Chinese firm Fosun, Hemisferio and Platinum Estates.

According to reports, Baraka is undertaking a significant expansion program. It recently acquired a plot of land measuring more than 10 million sqm in Valdebebas (Madrid) for around €75 million.

The “for sale” sign went up over the iconic Edificio España building in January, when Wanda engaged the real estate consultancy JLL, which has not confirmed the operation, to find a buyer.

The Chinese group, controlled by Wang Jianlin, the richest man in China, opened the door to the possible sale of the building after discrepancies arose with the Town Hall of Madrid regarding the renovation of the building. Wanda’s plans, which included the construction of a luxury hotel, a shopping centre and homes, clashed with the demands of the Town Hall, which insisted on the conservation of the front and side façades of the building, as established by the law governing the protection of historical buildings. In any case, Wanda has maintained contact with Madrid’s Town Planning team, in parallel with the sales process, and last met with them on 14 June.

The Chinese group paid Banco Santander €265 million in June 2014 for the building. Now, it is on the verge of selling it for a similar amount.

Wanda’s future divestment of Edificio España comes shortly after the Asian holding company announced its purchase of the UCI Odeon group – which owns the largest cinema chain in Spain.

After several years trying to sell the British Odeon cinema chain to AMC Theatres, Wanda’s subsidiary in the USA, the private equity firm Terra Firma announced the deal on 12 July. The price of that transaction amounts to GBP 921 million (around €1,100 million), of which GBP 407 million relates to the debt held by UCI Odeon, which the buyer will take on.

One of UCI Odeon’s main assets, to be taken over by Dalian Wanda, is the chain Cinesa, which is the largest film company in Spain with 535 screens across the country. In total, the chain owns 2,236 screens in 242 cinemas in Spain, the UK, Italy, Austria, Portugal and Germany. (…).

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Wanda Accelerates Timetable For Edificio España Sale

29 June 2016 – Expansión

Wanda wants to get its homework done before it goes on holiday and so has decided to accelerate the sales process for Edificio España. Following a recent visit to Spain by representatives of the Chinese group, Wanda has called on the interested parties to submit binding offers for the iconic Madrilenian property. Candidates have until tomorrow to present their final proposals.

The business conglomerate led by Wang Jianlin, which acquired Edificio España from Banco Santander in June 2014 for €265 million, engaged the real estate consultancy firm JLL to manage the sale of the property a year and a half after its acquisition. The possible buyers include the Chinese group Fosun, the Philippine group Emperador, the Hong-Kong based firm Platinum Estates and the Spanish RE manager Domo. Sources at JLL declined to make any comments about the process.

During their stay in Spain, the representatives of the Chinese group met with some of the candidates and revealed certain information about the property, located in Madrid’s Plaza de España, as well as about the company Renville Invest, which is the immediate owner of the building.

In addition, although the positions adopted by the Town Hall and Wanda, regarding the approach to the renovation of the property, seem irreconcilable, the Chinese group is still in contact with Manuela Carmena’s urban planning team, according to sources at the Town Hall. Specifically, the councillor responsible for the Sustainable Urban Development department, José Manuel Calvo, met with Wanda’s representatives on 14 June to discuss the project for remodelling Edificio España.

The main obstacle in the negotiations between the municipal team and the Wanda group lies in the Town Hall’s demand to preserve the façade of the property, as required by law, a position opposed by Wanda, which had been hoping to demolish the building and reconstruct it.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Telefónica Considers Offers Worth €50M+ For 2 Buildings In Madrid

4 May 2016 – El Confidencial

The countdown has begun. Telefónica has received the first offers for two of the buildings that it currently has up for sale in Madrid. Two buildings that it is selling together and for which it hopes to receive offers amounting to at least €50 million. According to sources, the properties in question are located on Calle Irún, 15 (measuring 10,000 m2) and Calle Alcántara, 25 (measuring more than 7,000 m2). The latter currently houses Telefónica’s Research and Development department.

Both of the assets are very well located and have sparked a great deal of interest amongst investors. The first is located just a stone’s throw from Plaza de España and Príncipe Pío train station and may be converted into homes in the future.

The second is situated just 500 m from Calle Goya and Plaza de Manuel Becerra. In both cases, Telefónica will remain as the tenant for 10 years, with the option of extending the lease contract for five more years.

These buildings form part of a long list of properties on the market or already sold by the telecommunications operator, which has recorded revenues of €200 million from the sale of properties in the last two years.

Real estate divestments

The listed company designed a real estate efficiency plan for 2014 and 2015, which included the sale of nine buildings that, in light of imminent technological changes, will become completely obsolete within less than a decade, whilst the revenues obtained could be used to finance the investment required to adapt to the new times.

Telefónica will continue as the tenant of the buildings – which is known in real estate jargon as a “sale & leaseback” arrangement – for between seven and 10 years, which means that the new owner will have both of the buildings at its disposal once the lease contracts have expired.

Following the disappearance of analog technology and the digitalisation of all of its equipment, the operator has been forced to divest its non-strategic assets. And that is precisely what it has done over the last two years.

In August 2015, it sold two buildings in the centre of Madrid for €42 million. A few months before that, it sold another five buildings, located in Madrid, Bilbao, Valencia and San Sebastián, for €65 million.

On this occasion, unlike in the cases of previous divestments made by the operator, Telefónica has decided to sell the two buildings as a single lot, which has been valued at €50 million, rather than finding an interested buyer for each property. The sale mandate is in the hands of Aguirre Newman, which has declined to make any comments in this regard.

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake