14 July 2019
A major German investment fund, KanAm Grund, has acquired eight buildings in Barcelona, in a deal reportedly worth 100 million euros. All are currently leased to the Catalonian government.
The seller, the French investment giant Axa IMRA, originally acquired the assets, together with another five buildings, from the Catalonian government in 2013 for €172 million. At the time, Spain was still mired in the real estate and financial crisis and the sale had been the cash-strapped administration’s second attempt to offload the assets. As part of the agreement, the Catalonian government agreed to remain in the properties for twenty years.
The buildings included in the deal consist of the Conselleria de Justícia, on Calle Pau Claris; the Citizen Service Office on Calle Carrera; the General Subdirectorate for Initial Employment Authorizations, on Calle Puig i Xoriguer and the headquarters of the Institut Català de les Dones (ICD), on Plaza Pere Coromines. The remaining buildings include the headquarters of the Institut Obert de Catalunya, on Avenida Parallel, the Territorial Judicial Archive of Barcelona, on Calle Roger de Flor, the headquarters of the General Directorate for Language Policy, on the Portal de Santa Madrona and the Employment Office on Calle Doctor Joaquim Pou.
Axa retained five of the larger assets in the portfolio: the offices of the Conselleria de Justícia and the headquarters of the Agència de l’Habitatge de Catalunya, both on Calle Aragón; the Conselleria de Enseñanza, on Via Augusta, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Food and Natural Environment, on the Gran Vía, among others.
Original Story: El Confidencial – E. Sanz / M. Lamelas
Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner