Tag: Pontegadea

Pontegadea Leases Seven Floors in Torre Foster to Amazon

20 July 2019 – Richard D. K. Turner

After buying part of the headquarters of Amazon in the United States, Pontegadea has sealed another deal with the American e-commerce giant, leasing seven floors of offices in the Torre Foster to the firm.

Pontegadea, the investment vehicle of Amancio Ortega, the founder of Inditex, leased the space, totalling 11,550 square meters for between 23 and 28 euros per square meter.

Mr Ortega acquired Torre Foster almost three years ago when the tower had been fully leased to the oil company Cepsa.

Original Story: El Confidencial – Ruth Ugalde

Photo: Pontegadea.

El Corte Inglés Puts a RE Portfolio Worth Between €1.5bn & €2bn Up For Sale

21 December 2018 – Expansión

El Corte Inglés is preparing to shatter the real estate market. The distribution giant has engaged PwC to sell a mega-portfolio containing 130 properties with a valuation of between €1.5 billion and €2 billion, which would represent the largest divestment undertaken by the company to date.

The operation includes a large variety of assets, all of which are non-strategic, and includes shopping centres (not large department stores), logistics warehouses, supermarkets, offices and land. Once the period for receiving offers has closed and depending on the offers themselves, El Corte Inglés will reserve the right to reduce the size of the portfolio. According to market sources, the firm’s intention is not to find a single buyer but rather to slice up the assets into packages.

Real estate portfolio

The company chaired by Jesús Nuño de la Rosa is whereby accelerating the divestment plan launched to reduce debt with a view to obtaining an investment grade rating from the ratings agencies over the medium term.

El Corte Inglés is one of the main owners of real estate assets in Spain, with a portfolio worth more than €17 billion, larger even than those owned by the large Spanish Socimis, Merlin and Colonial, whose asset portfolios were worth €12.2 billion and €11.2 billion, respectively, as at June, and those of the large real estate companies such as Amancio Ortega’s Pontegadea, whose assets were worth €8.8 billion at the end of 2017.

With this large exposure to property, El Corte Inglés is taking advantage of the investor appetite in the market for real estate assets to clean up its balance sheet. Last year, real estate investment reached a new record with transactions worth €18.7 billion, including corporate operations, which represented an increase of 46%. Excluding purchases by companies, the investment figure also reached a historical maximum of €10.8 billion, according to data from CBRE.

In the framework of this plan, this summer, the company sold its centres in Parquesur and La Vaguada, both in Madrid to Unibail Rodamco, the largest operator of shopping centres in Europe. Those assets have a surface area of 20,000 m2 each and were sold for €160 million.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo & V. Osorio)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Impact Hub Opens its 4th Co-Working in Madrid Spanning 2,300 m2

28 November 2018 – Eje Prime

Impact Hub is expanding in Madrid. The co-working company has just opened its fourth centre in the Spanish capital, a space spanning 2,300 m2 in the Justicia neighbourhood, which is home to 250 work spaces. It is the company’s second opening in the city so far this year, according to a statement by Impact Hub.

The co-working office is located in the Barceló area, in the heart of Madrid, and is distributed over three storeys. In addition to the work spaces, the property houses fourteen meeting rooms of varying sizes for events and meetings.

This new opening follows another that the company completed in April in Chueca, where it has a centre spanning 2,000 m2 on Calle Piamonte. Nevertheless, the company’s expansion activity will not end with this fourth centre.

During the first quarter of 2019, Impact Hub will open its fifth centre in Madrid in Torre Picasso, as revealed by Eje Prime. That co-working office will occupy 2,000 m2 of space in the property owned by Pontegadea, which has leased the commercial premises in the iconic skyscraper to the company.

When it opens in Torre Picasso, the company will have more than 9,000 m2 of flexible office space and will positioned as the fourth player in the co-working sector in Spain. The company’s first two centres are located in the Las Letras neighbourhood.

Antonio González, Director General of Impact Hub Madrid, highlights that his company aspires to be “a bridge between diverse organisations to join efforts and talent towards a common goal: that of generating a positive impact from the field of entrepreneurship and innovation.

In Madrid and Barcelona alone, the market for co-working offices grew by 71% to September, according to data from a report about flexible working spaces compiled by the consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Zurich Buys an Office Building in Plaza Cataluña from Sum Capital Spain

25 October 2018 – Eje Prime

The Zurich Group has assured itself of a space in the heart of Barcelona. The Swiss group has purchased an office building in Plaza Cataluña from Sum Capital Spain, the property developer behind OneCowork, a chain of co-working offices that will remain as the tenant of the property, according to explanations provided to Eje Prime by sources close to the operation, whose consideration has not been revealed.

The asset, located at number 9 Calle Estruc, between Plaza Cataluña and Portal de l’Àngel, has a surface area of 1,648 m2. The property is distributed over five storeys with a terrace (and an average surface area of 250 m2 per floor). It will be completely occupied by the coworking chain created by Uri Nachoom, the sole administrator of Sum Capital Spain.

Nachoom is a familiar face in the Catalan capital’s real estate sector as the former co-owner of the Salamanca Group holding company, the firm that relaunched the Marina Port Vell marina and which guided the growth of OneCowork, a company that is going to invest €150 million in the opening of forty centres all over Europe by 2023.

Now, the Israeli businessman has decided to sell this property under the sale&leaseback method, taking advantage of the interest in the Spanish office market from large funds and insurance firms. The operation has been signed through REX Spain, one of the Zurich Group’s subsidiary companies, and has been advised by the real estate consultancy JLL (…).

It’s not all about the 22@ district in Barcelona 

The office market in Barcelona is not all about the 22@ district. Although the city’s technological hub accounts for most of the current investments, Zurich’s purchase of the OneCowork building highlights the interest that the city centre is continuing to generate. Other large players such as Hines, Emesa and Pontegadea have benefitted in recent months from the interest of some companies and startups to work in the heart of Barcelona.

At the beginning of October, WeWork leased two spaces in the centre of the Catalan capital (…).

Also, since May, the real estate company owned by Amancio Ortega, Pontegadea, has been the landlord of Lidl in its building in Plaza Cataluña, where the Zara flagship store is also located. In total, the German supermarket chain leases 3,155 m2, distributed over four storeys.

Original story: Eje Prime (by J. Izquierdo & B. Seijo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Corpfin Capital Real Estate will Debut 5 Socimis on the MAB in 2019

26 September 2018 – Voz Pópuli

Corpfin Capital Real Estate Partners is planning to debut five new Socimis on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) under the name Inbest before September 2019.

By the time they make their debuts, the Inbest Socimis will have an investment volume of almost €400 million. The Socimis intend to carry out investments with an average volume of between €50 million and €60 million to acquire properties located in commercial areas of Madrid and Barcelona, as well as in the main provincial capitals, and to provide them with added value and convert them into retail premises and flagship stores for major brands.

The management company of Inbest Socimis is currently in the process of becoming a management company that will be regulated by Spain’s National Securities and Markets Commission. It is chaired by Javier Basagoiti (pictured above), founding partner of the firm together with Carlos Lavilla and Patrick Gandarias. Basagoiti founded Corpfin Capital Real Estate in 2008 in conjunction with Felipe Oriol. Ana Granado, who joined the firm as the Managing Director last year, after working at Santander, Aguirre Newman and Deloitte, will lead the Inbest team, which will comprise 13 professionals in total.

Inbest will finish this year having raised €200 million during the year from various investors and plans to end its investment period in December 2021.

Corpfin Capital Real Estate’s real estate operations include the rental to Apple of its store in Valencia, a residential building that was renovated and whose use was modified to commercial, which was subsequently acquired by Pontegadea, the investment company owned by the Zara founder, Amancio Ortega; the renovation of a old bank branch in San Sebastián, which has now been converted into a shopping arcade that is home to major fashion labels; and the purchase of the premises that used to house the former Nebraska cafeterias in Madrid, establishments that are now occupied by McDonalds and VIPS.

Through Inbest, Corpfin Capital Real Estate wants to take advantage of the boom in the commercial real estate sector, which reported record investment figures in 2017.

The trend of the major brands is to occupy large retail spaces in the main shopping areas of cities, leaving smaller establishments and those set away from the prime areas, whereby opening a niche in the market in which Inbest is specialising. The consolidation of the e-commerce sector has also influenced this change in trend.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Alberto Ortín)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Amancio Ortega’s RE Business is Worth Almost €9bn

23 July 2018 – El Mundo

Amancio Ortega is continuing to expand the perimeter of his real estate empire. Pontegadea, the investment arm of the Inditex creator, grew by 2.8% at the end of 2017, to reach almost €9 billion (€8.759 billion) and that, despite the fact that its profits decreased by 13%, to €1.475 billion due to donations made to his foundation.

Pontegadea groups together both Amancio Ortega’s stake in Inditex as well as his real estate investments. According to the accounts filed with the Mercantile Registry of La Coruña, the company closed 2017 with a net profit attributed to the parent company of €1.475 billion, 13% less than a year earlier, due to donations amounting to €350 million made to the Amancio Ortega Foundation, a large proportion of which are devoted to the fight against cancer.

Specifically, the Foundation donated €320 million to the purchase of state-of-the-art cancer equipment, which is going to be installed in public hospitals across all of the autonomous regions.

At the end of last year, the assets of the Pontegadea group were worth €29.028 billion, its net equity amounted to €21.006 billion and its business volume reached €25.721 billion.

In addition to Torre Cepsa, which it purchased for €490 million and the building at Gran Vía 32, Ortega owns several other office buildings in Madrid such as Torre Picasso and the Castellana 79 building, which houses the largest Zara store in the world.

The Zara property portfolio

Meanwhile, Pontegadea Inmobiliaria recorded revenues (primarily due to rental income) of €385 million, up by 13.6% compared to a year earlier, and the fair value of its portfolio of assets, set by an appraiser, was €8.759 billion, up by 2.8% compared to a year earlier.

51% of the real estate revenues come from European markets, 46% from America and the remaining 3% from Asia, according to the annual accounts, which reflect that Pontegadea’s real estate investments amounted to €629 million in 2017 and at the end of the year, they amounted to €6.913 billion: €1.688 billion in Spain and the remaining €5.225 billion overseas.

Of the investments outside of Spain, €2.681 billion correspond to investments in America, €2.191 billion to Europe (excluding Spain) and €353 million to Asia.

Pontegadea Inversiones, the parent company of the Pontegadea group is chaired by Amancio Ortega and its first Vice-President is his wife, Flora Pérez.

In addition, the company’s directors include José Arnau, who is also a director of Inditex, and Roberto Cibeira, in turn, the CEO of Pontegadea Inmobiliaria.

The Inditex group, owner of fashion chains such as Zara and Massimo Dutti, recorded a net profit of €3.368 billion in the last financial year (which closed in January), up by 6.7% compared to a year earlier, and its sales amounted to €25.336 billion, up by 8.7%.

Original story: El Mundo 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Merlin Invests €55M to Reposition its Assets in Azca (Madrid)

24 May 2018 – Expansión

Merlin has launched an ambitious renovation plan for two of its buildings located in the heart of Madrid’s financial district, the Azca complex, one of the capital’s most important commercial and business areas.

Specifically, the Socimi led by Ismael Clemente is going to invest €55 million to refurbish the building located at number 83 and 85 Paseo de la Castellana and another property located in Plaza Ruiz Picasso. The company plans to start the renovation work in 2020.

In the property located at numbers 83 and 85 Paseo de la Castellana, the company is planning a complete renovation of the façade and entrance lobby, which will have a triple height ceiling. Similarly, the refurbishment of the building will include the common areas and other installations.

This building, the current headquarters of Sacyr, has a surface area of 15,254 m2 spread over the ground floor, 11 above ground floors and two underground floors. The aim of the Socimi is to strengthen the space dedicated to retail.

Comprehensive renovation

The Socimi will invest €25 million in that renovation project, which will require almost the entire building to be vacated. “It is one of the best buildings in Madrid and we hope that it will be the doorway to the future reconfigured Azca that we are working on”, said Ismael Clemente, CEO of Merlin, speaking a few days ago at the General Shareholders’ Meeting. In addition, Merlin will invest €30 million to reposition the property in Plaza Ruiz Picasso and to create a building with “the most extensive and best-equipped floor space in all of Azca”.

That asset, which has a surface area of 31,576 m2, will have dual access, from Calle Trías Bertrán and Plaza Ruíz Picasso, and will contain various retail spaces. “This building is almost invisible at the moment but that situation will change after the renovation. The location is crying out for it”, said Clemente.

The director explained that the property has an “exceptional” parking provision for an office building, given that, initially, it was conceived as a shopping centre. Merlin is working with the Spanish architecture studio Fenwick Iribarren to renovate this building (…)

These two buildings owned by Merlin live alongside Torre Titania, the skyscraper owner by El Corte Inglés (…). Meanwhile, Castellana 81 and Torre Ederra, located at number 77 Paseo de la Castellana, are owned by the Socimi GMP; Torre Europe is controlled by Infinorsa; whilst Torre Picasso belongs to Pontegadea, the investment vehicle owned by Amancio Ortega (…).

The Landmark I Plan

The renovation of these two properties forms part of a larger project, the Landmark I Plan, which comprises a total investment of €250 million in office buildings over the next four years.

Within the framework of the Landmark I Plan, Merlin is going to handover Torre Glòries in Barcelona and Torre Chamartín. Over the next few years, the Socimi is also going to renovate the properties located at numbers 38 and 40 Calle Alcalá, Castellana 93, Alfonso XI and Princesa 5-7 in Madrid;  as well as Diagonal 605 in Barcelona; and Monumental and Marqués de Pombal 3 in Lisbon.

“Over the next 12 to 18 months, there is going to be more demand than supply in the market due to the volume of obsolete products. At that point, rents will enjoy a sweet moment, and will move significantly upwards”, say sources at the Socimi.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Pontegadea Lets 3,000 m2 of Office Space in Barcelona to Lidl

2 May 2018 – Eje Prime

Pontegadea, the real estate company owned by Amancio Ortega, is continuing to make its investments in Barcelona profitable. The group has just closed the rental of some of its office space, spanning more than 3,000 m2, to the German supermarket giant Lidl, according to market sources speaking to Eje Prime. Pontegadea has rented part of a building that it owns in Plaza Catalunya, in the centre of Barcelona, which it purchased from BBVA in 2013 for more than €100 million.

Lidl is going to occupy four floors in the building, which together span a total surface area of 3,155 m2. Currently, the building, which was originally intended to house the corporate headquarters of a large group, is being marketed on a floor by floor basis. On the lower storeys, the property is home to one of the flagship stores that Zara has in the centre of the Catalan capital.

Following this rental operation, which has been brokered by the real estate consultancy firms JLL and Forcadell, Lidl is going to sublet the space from BBVA (given that, for the time being, the rental contract is in the name of the banking entity) in order to locate its offices in the centre of the city. The property is going to house the e-commerce and CRM teams, which will serve the group’s business throughout Europe. Although the most iconic part of the building is located in Plaza Catalunya, the building’s entrance is located at number 13 Calle Bergara.

In this way, Lidl is continuing to generate work for the real estate sector in Spain. As Eje Prime revealed, the German supermarket chain has recently put up for sale its portfolio of real estate assets in the country. More than 109,000 m2 of retail space, industrial assets and land, which the German giant has acquired since it first arrived in Spain in 1994 form part of the package put up for sale by the company.

To carry out this operation in Spain, where the company is also purchasing new land, Lidl attended the Barcelona Meeting Point real estate fair in October, where it had one of the largest stands in the room, which it used to explore real estate agreements, including the sale of part of its property portfolio (…).

Lidl has been operating in Spain for more than 22 years, during which time it has invested almost €2.6 billion in the purchase of land, retail premises and store openings. Now, the company has initiated a new phase of expansion and so it is looking for properties, including both industrial and commercial land (…).

The office business is growing in Barcelona 

Leasing of office space grew by 20% in Barcelona during the first quarter of 2018 with respect to the same period in 2017, and forecasts indicate that this business is going to continue to grow over the coming months. The city recorded a leasing volume that was 17% higher than the quarterly average for the last five years, whereby confirming the strong demand.

Of the 125 operations signed during the first few months of the year, 7% corresponded to contracts for spaces spanning more than 2,000 m2. Most of the space leased (47%) was signed in New Business Areas, with the leasing of new space by companies such as PepsiCo and Securitas, which moved into a stock that today has an occupancy rate of 93%, as revealed by Eje Prime.

Meanwhile, the Paseo de Gracia-Diagonal area and city centre closed the quarter with a joint market share of 37% of the total space leased. The remaining 16% opted for projects located on the outskirts of the city (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Deka Completes Purchase of 16 Inditex Stores in Spain & Portugal for €400M

31 January 2018 – Eje Prime

An agreement has now been reached between Deka and Inditex. The investment fund has purchased 16 retail stores in Spain and Portugal from the Inditex Group for €400 million. Fourteen of the premises are located in Spain. The company founded by Amancio Ortega will continue as the tenant in all of the establishments, which include several Zara shops.

The German company is whereby acquiring a package of stores located all over Spain: from Madrid (on c/Preciados and in Puerta del Sol) and Barcelona (c/Pelayo) to Palencia, Córdoba, Albacete and Málaga.

Through this operation, Inditex is reaffirming its strategy to operate almost all of its stores under rental contracts. Currently, 98% of its establishments are managed in that way.

It is worth highlighting that the retail assets sold do not belong to Pontegadea, the real estate arm of Amancio Ortega, which has been involved in several operations in recent weeks. Highlights include the segregation of its rental activity and a €100 million capital increase, as well as the appointment of Iñigo Bengoechea as the legal representative of several of the companies that make up the family office.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Mango’s Owner Sells H&M Store in Burgos for €12.6M

11 January 2018 – Eje Prime

The property will continue to be occupied by H&M after the operation. The Swedish retailer leases the 3,000 m2 building, which Mango purchased at the end of the economic crisis for €8 million.

Mutualidad General de Abogacía is adding new assets to its property portfolio. The company has acquired the building that houses the flagship store of the Swedish giant H&M in Burgos for €12.6 million, according to sources close to the operation. Until now, the property had formed part of the portfolio of Punto Na, the real estate company owned by the businessman Isak Andic, founder of the Catalan fashion chain Mango.

The property has a retail surface area of 3,000 m2, spread over four floors. The operation, which has been brokered by the real estate consultants Torit Allocation and Otto Capital, will allow Mutualidad General de Abogacía to fatten up its collection of retail assets, which account for 30% of the group’s total portfolio. Following the acquisition, the fashion chain H&M will continue to operate in the store, whereby guaranteeing the Mutua de los Abogados a profitable long-term tenant.

The building is located on the corner of number 1 Plaza de Santo Domingo and number 2 Calle Moneda, and has a façade measuring 66 m. The store is located next to several Inditex and Mango shops, as well as a large El Corte Inglés department store.

Punta Na acquired the building at the end of the economic crisis for €8 million. Until then, the building had been occupied by the historical Caja de Ahorros Municipal de Burgos (…).

In recent years, the owner of Mango has been growing his portfolio of assets by buying up retail premises. Although the businessman’s real estate company is Punto Na, Andic also operates in the retail sector with Punto Fa, which is the company through which he operates Mango.

Thus, like Amancio Ortega has done with Pontegadea, the founder of the Catalan fashion chain, owned assets worth €1.329 billion in 2016 and his objective was to continue to increase his portfolio by acquiring retail premises to lease them to large fashion retailers, which tend to sign long-term lease contracts (…).

The lawyers’ mutual society, a not-for-profit organisation that offers investment solutions for legal professionals, owns a large portfolio of properties all over Spain. The entity has 44 assets under management, spanning a total surface area of 271,816 m2, of which 89% are occupied by tenants (rental arrangements).

By type of assets, 53% of the portfolio comprises offices, 20% hotels, and the remaining 27% is split between retail premises, nursing homes, industrial assets and parking lots.

In terms of the geographical distribution, most of the portfolio’s real estate assets are located in the Community of Madrid, specifically, 29 assets. The other properties are located in Barcelona, where it owns 4 assets; plus it has around ten more buildings in Alicante, Almería, Bilbao, Granada, Málaga, Salamanca, Santander, Sevilla, Lérida, Valladolid and Vigo.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake