Tag: premises

24 New Shopping Centres Will Open In Spain By 2020

15 September 2016 – Inmodiario

The shopping centre sector grew by 2% during the first 6 months of 2016 in Spain, which can expect to see 24 new centres opening over the next 3 years. In this sense, the shopping centre market will gain 100,000 sqm in additional space in 2017 alone. Moreover, Spain was the second placed country in Europe in terms of visitor number growth to shopping centres during the second quarter of the year, with an increase of 1.1%, behind only Switzerland, with a rise of 1.8%.

“Shopping centres are the main benchmark in the retail sector in Spain, which means that it is crucial that they follow a gradual increasing trend, and that that is in line with the rest of the sector”, said Gerard Marcet, the founding partner of Laborde Marcet, a company that manages real estate investments.

The shopping centre sector comprises up to 549 facilities and 84% of premises have a surface area of less than 300 sqm. The sector generated 330,000 new jobs in 2015, when it managed to increase sales by 6.3% compared to 2014, and reach the €41,000 million threshold. In fact, shopping centres account for 18% of the retail sector (by market share) in Spain.

Investment in the shopping centre sector in Spain amounted to €1,900 million in 2015, meanwhile investment in non-residential retail real estate assets amounted to €3,050 million, compared to €1,848 million in 2014. During the first half of this year, the figure amounted to €1,120 million, i.e. 32% of the total.

In this sense, it is worth noting that US private equity funds accounted for 22% of the transactions involving shopping centres in Spain.

Original story: Inmodiario

Translation: Carmel Drake

Restaura’s Former Directors Launch A €60M Fund

16 August 2016 – Expansión

AKM is transforming itself into an investment entity manager, regulated by the CNMV, and is finalising the September launch of a fund amounting to €60 million, which aims to buy and renovate residential buildings in Madrid and Barcelona.

The firm is led by Xavier González, who was executive Vice President of Restaura. One of its other founding partners is Fernando Conde Arriera, who was Commercial and Marketing Director of the same real estate company. The executive management team of the new management company also includes Lorenzo Abascal and Stephen Koen, both former Directors of Andosins, a holding company owned by the Cerqueda family, which in turn owns the Andorran bank Andbank, together with the Ribas family.

Since 2013, AKM has launched three funds with a combined capital value of almost €63 million and its portfolio contains a dozen real estate assets in Madrid and Barcelona. In the capital of Spain, the firm owns, amongst others, residential buildings located on Calles Francisco Silvela 65 and Menéndez Pelayo 41, as well as a complex of 14 properties on Arganzuela-Santa María de la Cabeza, containing 214 homes, 31 premises and 224 parking spaces.

Original story: Expansión (by J. Orihuel)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hines Buys Five Guys’s New Outlet On Gran Vía 44 For €40M

22 January 2016 – Expansión

The US real estate company Hines has acquired the retail premises at number 44, Gran Vía in Madrid for €40 million. The property has just been leased to the US hamburger chain Five Guys, which has signed a long-term contract to open its first restaurant in Spain there.

The premises have a surface area of around 900 m2, spread over three floors, and Five Guys expects to open its first Spanish outlet in the summer (2016). The US chain has more than 1,300 fast food outlets all over the world.

Hines has purchased the asset from the Spanish real estate company Grupo Baraka and has executed the transaction through its fund Hines Pan European Core Fund, which recently made its debut in Spain with the acquisition of another retail premises for around €38 million. That property is located in the centre of Barcelona and is leased to Desigual.

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Luxury Brands Compete For Space On Spain’s Golden Miles

19 November 2015 – Expansión

The war between the major brands for shops on the golden miles of Madrid and Barcelona is intensifying and it is becoming increasingly difficult to secure premises on these streets, where rents cost more than €230/m2/month.

Calle Serrano and Paseo de Gràcia have become the exclusive territory of the large fashion houses. In recent years, big names in fashion, accessories and jewellery have been taking over the best premises on the golden miles of Madrid and Barcelona and in 2015, boosted by the economic recovery, they have completely taken over these shopping streets, where average rents now cost €230/m2/month.

This year, more than half of the operations recorded in the commercial districts of Madrid and Barcelona have involved fashion houses and jewellery firms. Eleven operations have been completed on Madrid’s golden mile, compared with fifteen in Barcelona, which has welcomed 12 new brands to the city, according to the latest report by Ascana.

Polarisation

“Desirable streets are getting increasingly better, whilst the worst streets are still suffering from the crisis”, says the founding partner of Ascana, Eduardo Rivero. The growth in tourism and the beginning of the recovery for local consumers has spurred on the large brands to position themselves in the best locations.

According to Rivero, the arrival of Prada, Louis Vuitton and Versace, and the expansion of Gucci, on Calle Serrano, is enticing the other luxury brands to follow suit. “We are talking about more affordable luxury” says the consultant – “the high-end luxury firms, such as Chanel and Hermés, are staying put on Calle Ortega y Gasset”.

Increasingly, the Paseo de Grácia is being split into three sections: luxury brands at the top (of the street), mid-range brands in the middle section and more affordable brands at the bottom end (closest to Plaza Cataluña).

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake

INE: Home Foreclosures Drop By 6.5% To 17,800 In Q1 2015

8 June 2015 – Cinco Días

During Q1 2015, 30,952 mortgage foreclosures (i.e. procedures to force the sale of properties resulting from unpaid mortgages) were recorded in Spain’s property registries. Of those 30,952 procedures, 17,780 related to homes, i.e. 6.5% fewer than during the first quarter 2014. The foreclosure of individuals’ primary residences amounted to 8,802, i.e. 6.9% fewer, according to data from INE.

The statistics institute highlights that not all mortgage foreclosures are the result of the legal removal (eviction) of owners from properties, and that in some cases, a single property is subject to several foreclosure procedures. The Bank of Spain has other statistics relating to evictions.

In general, non-payment results in foreclosure after a period of between six and 12 months, therefore the foreclosures completed during Q1 2015 related to mortgages that stopped being paid during the first half of 2014. Moreover, in addition to the 17,780 home foreclosures, INE recorded 10,316 other (foreclosure) processes involving premises, garages and offices and 1,361 relating to rural properties.

Most of the mortgages that result in the seizure of homes were signed during the last few years of the real estate bubble: 21.1% were signed in 2007, 15.2% in 2006 and 11.8% in 2008. Mortgages signed in those three years account for 48.1% of all foreclosures, although we should take into account that at that time, more than 100,000 mortgages were being granted per month, compared with current volumes of 20,000 per month. In relative terms, the worst year is still 2007, with 0.3% of the mortgages that were signed that year being foreclosed during Q1 2015, followed by 2008, 2009, 2013 and 2012 (between 0.21% and 0.25%).

By region, the effect of the real estate bubble is also leaving is mark: the highest rates of home foreclosures form a rainbow in the shape of the Mediterranean Coast. Andalucía leads the ranking (with 0.29% of the mortgages foreclosed last quarter), followed by Murcia (0.25%), Valencia (0.25%), Cataluña (0.23%). In the País Vasco, the rate is 0.02%.

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake

Versace Returns To Madrid’s Golden Mile

8 June 2015 – Expansión

Opening on Serrano / The luxury brand returns to the capital’s most exclusive shopping district, after closing its first store there a decade ago.

One of the leaders in the luxury fashion industry is returning to Madrid. The Italian firm Versace has just signed the lease for a store on Madrid’s exclusive Calle Serrano. The opening of the shop means the return of the firm, which closed its first stores in Madrid and Barcelona in 2005.

The company led by Donatella Versace has already taken the first steps in its return to the Spanish market with the opening of a store in Puerto Banús (Marbella) and on Paseo de Gracia, 85 in Barcelona.

Now, it has just signed the lease for a shop located on Calle Serrano, 16, where its neighbours will include other luxury brands such as Longchamp, Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton and Loewe. (…)

The store is currently being refurbished following the departure of its previous tenant, the Catalan firm Custo. Prior to that, it was occupied by another Spanish fashion group, Hoss Intropia. Following the refurbishment, which has been commissioned by the family office that owns the building, Versace will have a store with more than 500 m2 of space in the most exclusive shopping district of Madrid. As such, experts forecast that the firm will pay a rent of around €1 million per year.

The arrival of Versace is not the only big move happening on the city’s Golden Mile over the next few months. The firm Macson, which specialises in menswear, will take over from Massimo Dutti at Serrano, 17. Macson, which is headquartered in Madrid, will become the tenant of the store measuring 550 m2, after Inditex’s high-end brand moved to number 46. The change at that address (Serrano, 46) will be from one brand of Amancio Ortega’s group to another, since Zara used to lease the property, until it opened its flagship store at number 23, Calle Serrano. The opening of that property, a year ago, marked the launch of Zara’s first flagship store in Spain, following the opening of several flagship stores around the world, including in New York, Milan and Shanghai. Another Spanish firm, Mango, is also preparing to open its own flagship store on one of Spain’s most expensive retail streets.

Availability

“The completion of the refurbishment work has given way to frenetic change, with 24 new store openings in 2014 alone, and with very limited levels of availability, which has caused rents to increase, to reach €220/m2/month”, explain sources at Ascana.

There are currently three stores in the same building (Calle Serrano, 7) that are awaiting tenants. In total, the three premises have a surface area of 10,000 m2, which will undoubtedly be snapped up soon given the furore currently surrounding Madrid’s Golden Mile.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Investment In “Locales” Reached €1,330M In 2014

14 May 2015 – Expansión

It is not just shopping centres that are attracting interest from investors. High street shops (or “locales”) are also in demand. This is evidenced by the investment made in such premises last year, which amounted to €1,330 million, i.e. €330 million more than in 2013, according to Aguirre Newman.

The main investors were family offices, followed by investment funds. This year, new purchasers such as Socimis and funds specialising in retail premises are expected to enter the market. “There will be a change in terms of demand towards locations outside of the large cities and main high streets”, say sources at the consultancy firm.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

CBRE To Invest €600M In The Spanish Market In 2015

16 March 2015 – Expansión

Real estate assets / The former subsidiary of ING is looking to improve its portfolio through refurbishments and asset purchases.

After more than two decades in the market, the fund manager CBRE Global Investors has become a major player in the Spanish real estate sector thanks to its intense asset rotation policy.

The company, which manages property in this market (primarily shopping centres) worth €2,000 million, closed the sale of various assets last year: Urbil, in Guipúzcoa, which it sold to Axa Reim for €60 million; Alcalá Magna, in Madrid, which it sold to Incus Capital for €85 million; Gran Vía de Vigo, which it sold to the US fund Oaktree for €100 million and Modoo, in Asturias, which it sold for €45 million.

In 2013, CBRE Global Investors was involved in the first major sale of a shopping centre following the outbreak of the crisis, when it sold Parque Principado in Asturias for €141.5 million to the British real estate company Intu Properties. “Between 2008 and 2014, we rotated the portfolio we had created during the previous two decades. Thus, we sold Parque Principado, which was a mature asset, but we purchased other assets. In total, we bought and sold assets worth €1,000 million last year”, explains José Antonio Martin-Borregón, CEO at CBRE Global Investors in Spain and Portugal.

The (property) management company made its first investments in Spain between 1992 and 1993 and three years later, it opened its first offices. Through its five funds, it currently manages 19 shopping centres, including Bilbondo in Bilbao; Vallereal in Maliaño (Cantabria) and Parc Central, in Tarragona. “We started out as the investment vehicle for National Nederlanden, which wanted to invest in properties outside of Holland that were not for its own use. We have maintained this philosophy for 20 years. Our traditional clients are institutional investors”. The latest addition to the portfolio was La Zenia in Alicante, which was acquired using money from the Alaska pension fund.

Advantages

The goal of the Head of CBRE Global Investors is to repeat the transaction volume (recorded last year) during 2015 but with a greater focus on purchases. “We would like to close transactions amounting to €1,000 million this year with a 60:40 split in terms of purchases and sales”, he says. “We have a portfolio of mature assets and therefore we are interested in buying properties that we can add value to”.

In total, the (property) manager expects to invest €930 million in Spain and Portugal. “Demand exceeds supply, which means that prices have increased and new rules are in play. It is not going to be as easy (as it once was) to target successful investments”.

Nevertheless, the Head of CBRE GI does not fear competition from the multitude of investors and institutional funds that have arrived in the Spanish market attracted by the decrease in real estate prices and the expected economic recovery. “As a (property) manager, we try to maximise the opportunities that the market offers, leveraging on our competitive advantage, which is our local knowledge”, says Martín-Borregón. “As a (property) manager, we have more access to capital, which allows us to move (more) quickly to close transactions”, he adds.

The (property) manager is also considering investments in premises (shops/stores) on the street and in strengthening its logistics platforms (it already owns 15). “We will buy logistics assets in new areas and we will sell old warehouses”, he explains.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sabadell to Locate Its Madrid Headquarters in Las Tablas

26/08/2014 – Expansion

Banco Sabadell tidies up its real estate in Madrid. At present, the entity‘s main branches are scattered around the capital, housed by eleven rented or owned buidings.

The bank decided to gather all its services in one place – the Las Tablas neighborhood. It is predicted that Sabadell‘s 550 employees will move there in January. The operation will bring €2 million savings on rental payments annually.

The new headquarters of Sabadell in Madrid will be placed in the old premises of Vodafone encompassed by the Parque Empresarial Castellana Norte (the North Castellana Business Park). The phone operator had moved to a building on the Avenida America street, developed by Sabadell‘s servicer Solvia itself. Once Vodafone occupied the property, the bank sold it to British fund London & Regional for €117 million. In turn, Sabadell assumed the rental agreement of the Las Tablas building the operator had with the GMP Group, the property‘s owner.

Technical Fields

The entity has awarded Aguirre Newman with the new office space design and with coordination of remodelation works. They are expected to complete by the end of the year and the move-in will take place in January. The Las Tablas headquarters will host experts in technical fields, like the risk, market analysis, transactions and services, excluding direct relation with the customers.

Sabadell aims at emptying the spaces it currently rents, such as the property situated at 90 Serrano Street, the unit at 141 Paseo de Castellana St. and the Henri Dunant building.

The entity also strives at adding value to its own properties like the NatWest headquarters on the Principe de Vergara St., where it wants to save the ground and the first floors and put the rest of the building up for sale. To give more examples, the bank possesses a unit on the Velazquez St., the one at 71 Serrano St. (the Banco Urquijo building, Sabadell‘s pride), some facilities in the district of Embajadores, on the Conde Penalver St., as well as the properties located at 135 Castellana and at 67 Serrano.

 

Original article: Expansión (by Sergi Saborit)

Translation: AURA REE

GLL Fund Buys Gran Via C&A Store For €55 Mn

13/05/2014 – Expansion

 Foreign funds continue with their gambling on the Spanish real estate. One of the most recent examples is the purchase of a German fund that acquired a shop of C&A brand on the Gran Via Street in Madrid. GLL Real Estate expects to receive a 5% return from the 2.500 square meter unit.

The C&A store is found at 48 Gran Via Street on the ground floor of a new construction building. The upper part of the property consists of luxury homes. It is the only building built along the street within the past sixty years.

The exact amount paid for the property remains uknown, however sources from the market estimate that the operation may have brought a €55 million gain to the seller. Last year, GLL Real Estate bought a BBVA´s office situated on the Paseo de Gracia Street in Barcelona. A year earlier it also acquired headquarters of Planeta on the Paseo de Recoletos Street in Madrid.

 

Original article: Expansión (by M. A.)

Translation: AURA REE