17 June 2019 – Eje Prime
Emesa has completed the sale of a logistics warehouse spanning 32,000 m2 located in Valls (Tarragona) to the US fund Blackstone for €18 million, as part of its mission to divest its non-strategic assets.
The warehouse does not currently have a tenant and will have to be renovated before being put up for rent.
Original story: Eje Prime
Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake
5 June 2019 – Cinco Días
The US fund Blackstone is negotiating the purchase of Torre Tarragona in Barcelona from UBS, according to several sources in the sector. The deal looks set to become the third major operation in the city’s office market this year after Naturgy sold its headquarters to Colonial and Telefónica sold its Diagonal 00 property to Emperador.
UBS Global Asset Management acquired Torre Tarragona in 2015 for €72 million from Omega Capital, the family office owed by Alicia Koplowitz. Now, having invested €10 million in a comprehensive renovation, the Swiss bank is hoping to sell the property for between €100 million and €110 million.
Torre Tarragona is located close to the Sants train station in the Catalan capital and spans a surface area of 18,150m2 spread over 19 floors. It has 250 parking spaces and its main tenant is Pepsico, together with other companies, such as the technological firm Acens (a subsidiary of Telefónica), Quercus and the laboratory Gentic.
Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)
Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake
3 June 2019 – La Vanguardia
In recent years, the US fund Blackstone has invested €3.5 billion in the Spanish hotel sector through its specialist manager HI Partners, making it the largest hotel owner in Spain and the third largest in Europe after the Swedish firm Pandox and the French group Covivio.
HI Partners was created four years ago and owned 17 establishments by the time Blackstone acquired it in 2017 for €640 million. A year later, the US fund launched a successful takeover bid for the Socimi Hispania, which gave it control of another 45 hotels.
According to Alejandro Hernández-Puértolas, Partner and CEO of HI Partners, the firm now owns 62 establishments in Spain, with around 18,000 rooms. By region, 53% of its rooms are located in the Canary Islands, where it has 25 establishments, 26% are in the Balearic Islands (18 hotels) and the remaining 21% are located across the Peninsula above all in the Costa del Sol, Valencia and Cataluña.
HI Partners is headquartered in Barcelona and has offices in the Canary and Balearic Islands. It employs 100 professionals and its hotels are managed by 19 different operators including Marriott, Barceló, Hilton, Melià and Ritz Carlton.
Original story: La Vanguardia (by Rosa Salvador)
Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake
8 April 2019 – Eje Prime
Terralpa Investments is planning to invest €250 million in Spain over the next three years. The group, owned by the Mexican magnate Rodrigo Lebois (Unifin) and José Ramón Liñero (Terrafondo), is planning to focus its activity in Madrid, but is also interested in investing in other provincial capitals and internationally recognised cities across the country, such as Ibiza and Marbella.
The group completed its first operation in Spain in 2017 through the company Aralpa Inversiones, when it acquired the building located at number 11 Plaza del Marqués in the Salamanca neighbourhood of Madrid for almost €50 million.
As a result of that project, Terralpa Investments was created in February 2019, to focus on the development and renovation of prime homes. It is already working on its first operation, the purchase of number 5 Calle Monte Esquinza, in Madrid, for €14 million. That building contains twelve homes and the plan is to renovate the property in its entirety, starting this summer ready for delivery at the beginning of 2021.
Original story: Eje Prime (by Marta Casado Pla)
Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake
5 April 2019 – ABC Sevilla
Ybarra y Compañía is going to invest €7 million in the construction of a 4-star hotel in Sevilla, which will have a total surface area of 5,000 m2, comprising 4 storeys and 105 rooms.
The company has already submitted a request for the building permits for the establishment, which is going to be built on the corner of Avenida de la Palmera and Calle Cardenal Bueno Monreal, on the city’s golden mile.
The property developer plans to inaugurate the hotel in the Spring of 2021, ahead of the Easter and Feria celebrations, which attract thousands of tourists to the city each year.
Original story: ABC Sevilla (by María Jesús Pereira)
Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake
4 April 2019 – El Confidencial
The fund Twin Peaks Capital is on a mission to convert Iberia’s former offices in Barcelona into 21 super luxury homes. The prices of the new properties at number 30 Paseo de Gracia are expected to go on the market for between €11,000/m2 and €15,000/m2. The penthouse might even fetch €19,000/m2, breaking all previous records in the Catalan capital and even higher than the most expensive prices in Madrid.
Twin Peaks Capital purchased the neoclassic style building from the former Agrupació Mútua in 2017 for €25 million. The property spans a surface area of almost 4,000 m2 distributed over five storeys, plus an attic, and the future homes will measure between 80 m2 and 270 m2, with first-rate finishes, plus common areas with terraces and a stunning swimming pool on the roof.
The properties will be marketed by BNP Paribas Real Estate and 25% of the development has already been sold, mostly to Catalan buyers and investors. The homes are expected to be ready during the second quarter of 2020.
Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)
Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake
1 April 2019 – El Confidencial
Arcano has just acquired the property at number 32 Calle Espronceda in Madrid, which previously housed the EFE Agency for several decades.
The firm’s new real estate fund has just purchased the building, which spans 8,000 m2, for more than €40 million from the fund Eurostone, where it plans to promote 50 luxury homes. The property is distributed over seven floors and has more than 200 parking spaces. Moreover, it has already been granted all of the licences necessary for the redevelopment work.
The operation has been advised by Colliers, Doble Dígito and TC Gabinete Inmobiliario and partially financed by CaixaBank.
Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)
Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake
18 March 2019 – Preferente
The Luksic family is going to reopen the Hotel Adler in Madrid with BBVA as its main tenant, after the bank closed a rental agreement to occupy three floors of the property, spanning almost 1,600 m2.
The wealthy Chilean family purchased the iconic property, which is located on the corner of Calles Velázquez and Goya, in the heart of the Salamanca neighbourhood, from the Vázquez family for €27 million.
The new tenant is expected to move in during Q4 2019 since the building work is still in a very initial phase. BBVA is going to open a new multi-functional office/branch in the property.
Original story: Preferente (by R.P.)
Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake
16 March 2019 – Crónica Global
The Spanish Government has authorised the sale by public auction of a set of offices, storerooms and garages in central Madrid, known as the Eurocis complex. The complex, which comprises 94 registered assets spanning an office surface area of 45,937 m2, plus 396 parking spaces, 1 commercial premise and seven underground storerooms, is located in the Salamanca district in the block bordered by Calles María de Molina, Núñez de Balboa, General Oraá and Castelló.
The asking price is €196 million and candidates have two months to submit their offers in closed envelopes. Until last year, the complex used to house several departments of the Ministry of Finance, but its urban planning classification means that it could be used for private purposes in the future. The future buyer is expected to completely renovate the building and convert it into modern offices or a large shopping centre.
Original story: Crónica Global
Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake
7 March 2019 – Eje Prime
IBA Capital Partners and Angelo Gordon have joined forces to purchase the Barajas 1 office building from GMP for €37.5 million. The property is located at number 29 Calle Trespaderne in Madrid, has a gross leasable area of 29,173 m2 and includes 204 parking spaces. Its main tenants are SGS and Vodafone and the advisor to the operation was CBRE.
The purchasers are planning to renovate the building, modify the façade, renew the common areas, remodel the vacant homes and adapt the technical facilities.
Original story: Eje Prime
Translation: Carmel Drake
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