Losantos Invests €50M to Become the King of the Last Mile

12 November 2018 – Expansión

The real estate group, Allegra, chaired by Mario Losantos, has acquired several plots in recent months on the outskirts of Madrid to develop projects relating to the logistics sector and to increase its commitment to e-commerce in Spain. These operations will allow it to have a very active role in the business known as “the last mile”, the critical part of the distribution of products purchased online, which involves transporting them from the final warehouse to customers’ homes.

Before the summer, the group acquired a logistics park in the town of Villaverde, to the south of Madrid, which was leased to the group On Time Logistics last week. The plot, measuring 30,000 m2, contains a warehouse measuring 17,000 m2 and a cross-docking platform measuring 8,000 m2.

Moreover, the group has closed the purchase of two plots of land in the north of Madrid, very close to the facilities of Amazon, the largest online operator in the world. Both plots have a buildability of 40,000 m2 and have involved an investment of €30 million.

The three operations undertaken in Madrid will take the total investment figure to more than €50 million, once all of the platforms have been constructed. The Spanish group started to invest in logistics centres a while ago in the USA and the UK. In recent weeks, the group has purchased a new platform measuring 89,000 m2 in Hampton (Virginia) to continue with its international expansion. That park is leased to the urgent parcel operator Fedex. Sources close to the group indicate that over the coming weeks, the firm may acquire another platform in Chicago, which is also operated by Fedex.

In the United Kingdom, Allegra has recently purchased two platforms in the cities of Telford and Durham, bringing its investment in the British logistics sector in recent years to €30 million.

The Spanish company, whose portfolio of real estate assets amounts to around €1 billion, has invested €250 million in the logistics sector. The group also owns commercial premises and residential buildings in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Portugal, amongst other countries.

Original story: Expansión (by Amparo Polo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Elix Buys a Building in Barcelona for €4.1M

26 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Elix VRS is continuing to grow its portfolio as a listed company. The Socimi, led and founded by Jaime Lacasa and Jorge Benjumeda, has acquired a building in Barcelona for €4.1 million, according to a statement filed by the company with the Alternative Investment Market (MAB).

The purchase of the property, located on Calle Consell de Cent of the Catalan capital, has been financed in part by the company’s own funds (45%) and in part by a loan (55%). The loan, granted by CaixaBank, has a five-year term and a quarterly repayment schedule.

This operation follows the acquisition of four buildings in the centre of Barcelona that the company carried out in August for €34 million. The new assets of Elix VRS, controlled primarily by the property developer Elix and the funds KKR and Altamar, are located in iconic areas of the Catalan capital.

During 2018 and after just one year of life, the Socimi already has 25 projects underway in Madrid and Barcelona. With this volume of operations, the real estate company is going to put more than 300 homes on the market. Six of these projects are new build and the other 19 are renovations.

Elix’s plans involve buying around forty buildings by 2021 to subject them to comprehensive renovations and place the homes on the rental market once they have been renovated. These rents will fee the Socimi, which plans to rotate the portfolio of assets that it builds every three years.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Habitat Invests €19M in the Development of 72 Homes in Madrid

17 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Habitat is expanding its portfolio of land in the Community of Madrid. The real estate company chaired by Juan María Nin has invested €19 million in the development of 72 homes in the municipality of Collado Villalba. The company plans to start marketing the assets at the end of the year.

The homes will have storerooms, 108 parking spaces, common areas, green spaces and gardens. The future urbanisation, located between Avenida de las Eras and Calle Adelfas, is the fifth land acquisition that Habitat has made in the Community of Madrid. Specifically, the plot has a surface area of 6,300 m2.

In recent months, the Catalan property developer has acquired more than 27,500 m2 of land in the region for the construction of new residential developments. It already has a presence in the Madrilenian municipalities and neighbourhoods of Valdemoro, Móstoles and El Cañaveral.

Similarly, the operation forms part of the land acquisition plan that Habitat launched after being absorbed by the US private equity firm Bain Capital in December 2017. The most recent purchase by the company was made in September. As Eje Prime reported, on that occasion, the real estate company invested €10 million in the purchase of two plots in Santander for the development of 62 homes.

The property developer is planning to build more than 9,000 homes over the coming years in different phases of development. Its residential portfolio is distributed across various parts of Spain, primarily Andalucía, Levante, Cataluña, Madrid, the Canary Islands and Cantabria.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Savills & HomeAway: 60% of Second Homes are Bought to Let

17 September 2018 – Eje Prime

Buying a second home with the objective of putting it up for rent. Currently, that is the main reason why more than 60% of owners around the world acquire an asset of that kind, according to a study prepared by Savills and HomeAwayTM.

“In a low-interest rate environment, investors look for assets that generate income”, says Paul Tostevin, associate director at Savills and the person responsible for the report. The situation has changed in recent years, given that, for example, at the beginning of the 2000s, only 14% of second homes were purchased with the objective of letting them and not for personal use. During the credit crisis, that figure increased to 19%.

The average purchase price of a second home in the Spanish market was €245,000 in 2017. Nowadays, almost 40% of owners obtain profits from their properties and approximately 30% partially cover the expenses associated with the asset.

In terms of the location of the asset, less than 5% of the second homes owned by Spaniards are located overseas. The main regions where they do own second homes in Spain include the Canary Islands (12%), the Costa del Sol (9%) and the Balearic Islands (9%). The increase in the arrival of international tourists in recent times has caused the owners of these homes to lease them more frequently to be able to obtain income.

In terms of the rest of Europe, the study reveals that Brits purchase the most second homes outside of their own country. Only 24% of their properties are located within the United Kingdom, 19% are located in France and 16% in Spain.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Blackstone Buys 50% of Testa from Merlin, Santander & BBVA

17 September 2018 – Eje Prime

Blackstone is strengthening its commitment to Spanish property. The US fund, which has been very active in the domestic real estate market in recent years, has just completed the purchase of 50.01% of Testa from Merlin, Santander and BBVA, according to a statement issued by the parties.

Testa is the largest manager of rental homes in Spain, with 10,615 real estate assets in its portfolio and a turnover of €85 million in annualised gross income. Most of the shares of the Socimi, which has been listed on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) since July, will now be owned by Tropic Real Estate Holding, a company managed by Blackstone.

One of the largest shareholders of the company, the real estate firm Merlin, has pocketed €321 million from this operation, which means valuing the own funds of Spain’s largest Socimi at €1.895 billion. With the funds obtained, the company led by Ismael Clemente plans to reduce its debt, within the framework of the company’s objectives.

Following Merlin’s exit from the company, Acciona Inmobiliaria, the real estate investment arm of the energy firm, has been left as the main domestic shareholder of the listed company.

Testa’s homes are primarily located in Madrid, although the firm also has a presence in other major cities in the country such as Barcelona, San Sebastián, Valencia, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Valencia and Palma, amongst others.

Testa, created in 2001 by the construction company Sacyr, invested €228 million in March in the purchase of 4,500 homes from the BuildingCenter, the real estate arm of CaixaBank. Moreover, following its incorporation onto the MAB, one of its largest shareholders, Acciona Inmobiliaria studied the possibility of becoming a reference shareholder of the Socimi.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Tomás Olivo set to Acquire El Mirador Shopping Centre in Gran Canaria

13 September 2018- Eje Prime

General de Galerías Comerciales is bidding exclusively for the largest retail space in the Canary Islands. Eroski, the owner of the Mirador de Jinámar, is holding exclusive negotiations with the company owned by the Murcian businessman Tomás Olivo, the Socimi General de Galerías Comerciales, with a view to selling the asset. The offer is expected to amount to around €45 million, according to sources close to the operation speaking to Eje Prime.

Valued at between €45 million and €100 million, General de Galerías Comerciales is not the only company that has expressed interest in the shopping centre in Gran Canaria in recent months. In fact, Eurofund’s investment fund offered €46.6 million in July for the asset, which opened its doors to the public in 2010.

Although sources at General de Galerías Comerciales have indicated to Eje Prime that the process is still “in its infancy”, sources in the sector explained that the operation is causing controversy because the company owned by Tomás Olivo has offered less than Eurofund’s bid.

The Mirador de Jinámar is a commercial area promoted by Eroski and the property developer Ambrosio Jiménez. The shopping centre spans a total surface area of 50,000 m2, of which 11,300 m2 is dedicated to the largest hypermarket that the cooperative distribution company belonging to Corporación Mondragón owns in the Canary Islands.

Since November 2010, the Mirador de Jinámar has been home to a total of 120 stores. Spread over two floors, some of the tenants of the property include firms in the Inditex group (its Zara store has a surface area of 2,000 m2), H&M, the Cortefiel and Primark brands (the latter’s store spans 5,000 m2 making it the Irish company’s largest in the Canary Islands).

The complex is located in Jinámar, a neighbourhood located between the municipalities of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Telde, the two most important cities on the island. The complex also has a parking area with capacity for more than 40,000 vehicles.

In a second phase, which is still pending, the centre is planning to expand its offer to include 45,000 m2 of additional space, which will be allocated to DIY and homeware firms (…).

General de Galerías Comerciales, on the hunt for new assets

Controlled by Tomás Olivo,  General de Galerías Comerciales made its debut on the MAB in July last year, to become one of the largest Socimis by capitalisation in the sector. The company has twenty years of experience undertaking its activity right across the value chain, from the purchase of land to the management of assets.

The main assets in its portfolio are retail parks and shopping centres in Spain, such as La Cañada (Marbella), Mediterráneo (Almería), Mataró Parc (Mataró), Gran Plaza (Almería), Las Dunas and Nevada Shopping (Granada). The company also has an extensive portfolio of residential assets and retail premises, as well as land, primarily in the south of Spain. When the company made its debut on the MAB, its portfolio of assets was worth €1.9 billion (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by B. Seijo and P. Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Urbania Developer: Panamanian Capital Promotes 20 Developments in Valencia

31 July 2018 – Eje Prime

Numerous Spanish real estate entrepreneurs crossed the pond when the Spanish property sector crashed at the end of the 2000s. One of the property developers who got on a plane when the walls of the real estate sector were starting to crack in Spain was Juan Antonio Claveria. That Valencian businessman is now back on his home turf with Urbania Developer, a Panamanian real estate company that is planning to “have up to twenty projects under development over the next three years in the Community of Valencia”, explained Claveria to Eje Prime.

The Spanish businessman is the CEO of Urbania Developer, a company listed on the Panamanian stock market, which he created last year together with his partners, the local investors Yasser Williams and Omar Fricentese. “The company’s share capital is 100% private”, highlighted Claveria.

The three have recently teamed up with the Valencian builder José Vicente Roig, who has included the assets of the former property developer Patrimonios del Levante in the group. With those, the real estate company has launched its growth plan in the Community of Valencia, where the firm already has eight projects underway or on the verge of being executed.

“We are interested in towns with between 200,000 and 300,000 inhabitants”, explains Claveria, who is also attracted to “those suburbs that have between 40,000 and 80,000 inhabitants, which are well connected by metro”. Public transport links and the proximity to the capital of Valencia are the key aspects of the investment policy that Urbania Developer is going to carry out. It is turning its back on the overheating of prices that is being recorded in the centre of the city.

Torrent, Paterna, Mislata, Benimamet and Paiporta are the towns on the outskirts of Valencia where Urbania Developer has residential projects underway at the moment. Nevertheless, “we are now finalising the purchase of new plots of land”, said Claveria, who indicated that his company could close around half a dozen operations soon.

Moreover, the property developer has already expanded its business to the south of Valencia with the purchase of a “small plot” in Alicante. Size is important for the company, which projects developments comprising “between eight and thirty homes”. “In Castellón, we are also looking at plots”, said the businessman, who wants to focus solely on the Community of Valencia in this first phase of his arrival in Spain (…).

Currently, the property developer has more than 5,000 homes built or under construction in Panama, the epicentre of the company’s business,  as well as in Paraguay and Nicaragua. In the Panamanian market alone (“the Switzerland of Latin America”, according to Claveria), the property developer manages 2.2 million m2 of residential land spread over 18 projects.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Hines Acquires Mediapro’s HQ in 22@ District for €90M

19 July 2018 – Eje Prime

Hines has scored a goal in Barcelona’s 22@ district. The US fund has completed the purchase of the Imagina building (owner and tenant of the asset) for €90 million. The property is located at number 177 Avenida Diagonal in the Catalan capital.

The complex, which spans more than 50,000 m2 spread over two properties, is owned by the company Mediacomplex, in which Imagina, the parent company of Mediapro, holds a stake, and the Town Hall of Barcelona.

Imagina holds a 66.7% stake in this office complex, which is located very close to Torre Glòries, owned by Merlin Properties, and the two Luxa buildings, owned by Catalana Occidente and leased to Amazon and WeWork.

Hines is strengthening its presence in Barcelona with this purchase. Last year, the US fund purchased the Popular’s headquarters on Paseo de Gracia for €90 million, which it is going to convert into a mixed-use building containing 5,000 m2 of office space and 3,000 m2 of premises for commercial use.

Similarly, this operation reinforces the interest from investors in the 22@ district. In recent months, the technological district in Barcelona has welcomed the arrival of tenants of the calibre of King, the creator of Candy Crush, and Glovo, which is going to move its offices to the Catalan capital to a facility measuring 1,200 m2.

Nevertheless, the star building is Torre Glóries. The iconic building is going back on the market this year after a comprehensive renovation and has already welcomed technology giants such as Facebook and Oracle, which has confirmed its entry into the property this very week. Hines is one of the largest funds in the world with more than USD 100 billion in assets.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Savills IM Buys a Hypermarket in San Sebastián for €48M

23 May 2018 – Expansión

The fund manager Savills Investment Management (Savills IM) has purchased a hypermarket in the Garbera shopping centre in San Sebastián for €48 million.

The agreement, closed with an international institutional investor, has been completed in an off-market operation.

The investment, made by Savills IM on behalf of the European investment fund European Retail Fund (ERF) reflects a net yield of approximately 5%.

The hypermarket has a total surface area of 14,200 m2 and is operated by Eroski.

Specifically, the hypermarket is located on the ground floor of the Garbera shopping centre, which is owned by Unibail Rodamco. It is the dominant shopping centre in the region, according to the fund manager.

Fernando Ramírez de Haro, Director General at Savills Investment Management for Spain and Portugal, said that, with this operation, the fund manager is growing its footprint in the Iberian Peninsula, with a regional portfolio of assets under management amounting to almost €500 million.

“Spain and Portugal are a strategic priority for 2018 and the next few years, both for Savills IM and for its clients and strategic partners. To that end, we are going to continue studying the market in an active way and we are convinced that we will be able to bring to fruition several investment opportunities over the coming months”, added Ramírez de Haro.

Savills IM, with offices in almost twenty cities around the world, was managing assets with a total value of approximately €16.6 billion at the end of last year.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Mazabi’s Socimi Silicius Acquires an Office Building on c/Velázquez (Madrid)

21 May 2018 – Press Release

Silicius Inmuebles en Rentabilidad, the Socimi managed by Mazabi, has purchased an office building in the heart of Madrid’s CBD, on Calle Velázquez, 123.

The property, which has been renovated recently, meets the requirements of the investment policy established by the shareholders and represents another step in the Socimi’s growth phase, ahead of its debut on the stock market. The acquisition has been conducted entirely using own funds.

In the heart of Madrid’s CBD, the property has an above ground gross leasable area (GLA) of 2,346 m2 (offices and a commercial premise) plus 30 parking spaces. Currently, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors are available for rent; they are completely open plan and have a surface area of 300 m2 each. This is a highly visible property thanks to its location at the junctions of Calles Velázquez and María de Molina, and the floors enjoy lots of light (with 15 windows per floor). The property is currently in the pre-certification phase of obtaining a sustainability stamp.

This is a firm step forward for the Socimi as it advances its growth phase. The company, which specialises in long-term rental assets, is continuing its growth phase with the acquisition and contribution of new assets to its existing portfolio, following its policy to invest in diversified assets that generate stable rental income.

The Director-General of Silicius, Juan Diaz de Bustamante, said that “the purchase of this asset is a good example of the ideal asset for our portfolio, given that it meets the necessary requirements set out in our principles: to back conservative investments over the long term, as well as to ensure diversification and asset liquidity in order to pay an annual dividend to shareholders”.

With a very defined investment policy, Silicius is currently evaluating the purchase or contribution of properties worth approximately €500 million (commercial premises, out-of-town stores, shopping centres, office and hotels in Spain). The volume of investment/contribution per property amounts to between €5 million and €30 million.

Currently, Silicus owns assets worth €120 million, which generate annual rental income of approximately €6 million. The company’s assets include several commercial premises in “prime” locations with long-term tenants (Paseo de la Castellana, Velázquez, Blanca de Navarra and Paseo de Yeserías), a multi-tenant office building on c/Virgen de los Peligros (in the historical centre of Madrid), an office building on Calle Obenque, 4 in Madrid (with a façade overlooking the A-2) and a hotel with a long-term lease in Conil de la Frontera (Cádiz).

Silicius is a Socimi, managed by Mazabi, specialising in the purchase and active management of profitable assets that generate stable rental income over the long term for investors, providing them with an annual dividend (…).

Original story: Press Release

Translation: Carmel Drake