Tag: rental contract

Cuatrecasas Buys Another Asset On La Diagonal For €7M

13 July 2017 – Eje Prime

Emilio Cuatrecasas is on a roll on Barcelona’s Avenida Diagonal. The lawyer’s family office, Emesa, has redoubled its commitment to the avenue with the acquisition of the headquarters of the Ophthalmology Institute for €7 million. This purchase follows its recent acquisition of 31,000 m2 of land in Project Finestrelles, located in Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona), where it plans to build six office blocks.

The building in question this time, which used to house the headquarters of Grand Tibidabo, has a surface area of 2,000 m2 and is located at number 632 on La Diagonal, at the intersection with c/Sarrià. The property has a long-term rental contract with the clinic, which currently belongs to the Quironsalud group.  The property used to be owned by the former owner of the Ophthalmology Institute in Barcelona, Andreu Coret, through the firm Inmo 632, according to Expansión.

In recent months, the investment arm of Emilio Cuatrecasas has made several acquisitions, including of number 444 on La Diagonal, for which it paid €35 million. That property, known as the Majorica building, has three façades overlooking La Diagonal, Paseo de Gràcia and Calle Còrsega, and until December last year, it housed the offices of the law firm Cuatrecasas.

Last summer, Emesa also completed the acquisition of a unique asset. The investor group purchased the Ullastrer Palace, in the Baix Empordà area, with the aim of promoting a premium hotel chain. The estate, known as Can Romaguera, is currently being restored and offers up to 2,500 m2 of space for hotel use, with an investment of €7 million.

The asset portfolio of Emesa, which is led by Ferran Forrellad, is completed by a building at number 191 on Avenida Diagonal, which houses the new headquarters of Cuatrecasas; number 579 on Avenida Diagonal, where Emesa’s headquarters of located; two office buildings in Mas Balu and a logistics park in El Pla de Santa María, in Tarragona.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Tomás Olivo Buys Cortefiel Building In Granada For €29M

3 July 2017 – Ideal

Last week, the owner of General de Galerías Comerciales, businessman Tomás Olivo, purchased the property known as the Cortefiel building on the corner of Reyes Católicos and Gran Vía, in Granada, owned until now by BMN. The price of the operation amounted to €29 million for a property that dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, which houses the aforementioned textile firm on the ground floors and offices on the upper levels. According to sources at Galerías Comerciales, the new owner intends to continue the lease contract with Cortefiel and subject the upper four floors to a “new renovation”, but no further details have been provided about the project at this stage.

The Cortefiel building – as it is known popularly – dates back to 1908 and at the time cost 500,000 pesetas. The property development group was formed by bankers Manuel Rodríguez-Acosta and Enrique Santos, architect Francisco González Arévalo and industrialist Juan López Rubio, amongst others, and the original idea was to use the property as a hotel to compete with the Victoria and the Washington Irving. But the Hotel Colón never took off and the building was later split into rental apartments. On the ground and first floors, La Paz warehouses set up shop, owned by the fabric merchant Ramón García Ruiz, who over time, ended up taking ownership of the whole property. (…).

The former Caja General de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Granada acquired the building in 1984 for 250 million old pesetas to avoid it being taken over by a foreign entity. That entity then invested another 300 million pesetas on the renovation and on 28 November 1991, the iconic building was unveiled again, to coincide with the savings bank’s centenary celebrations. (…).

Following the merger, the building was transferred to BMN’s estate, and that entity is now selling the property for €29 million – almost 5,000 million old pesetas – and the historical Cortefiel building is passing into the hands of Tomás Olivo, who also owns the Nevada Shopping Centre.

In parallel, Olivo has ruled out the acquisition of Serrallo Plaza, an opportunity that sources had been speculating about for several months. (…).

Original story: Ideal 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Social Housing Tenants Can No Longer Buy Their Homes In Madrid

22 June 2017 – El Confidencial

The Community of Madrid will abolish the framework that allows tenants of social housing properties to be granted an option to buy their homes. In other words, those who wish to access a subsidised home may now only do so on a rental basis or as owners, but they may not rent and then subsequently purchase the home that they have lived in as tenants, in a change to the legislation applicable until now. That is according to the draft bill that will be presented today in the plenary session of the Assembly of Madrid and which will grant tenants greater guarantees in the event that their homes are transferred or sold to a third party.

According to José María García Gómez, Director General of Housing and Renovations at the Community of Madrid, this decision is motivated by “the change in the cycle that the housing market in Spain has experienced, which means that in some areas of Madrid, the price of private housing is less than the price of social housing. Nowadays, this option is not as attractive, it is a system that has been made obsolete and which goes against the real estate cycle, hence the decision to eliminate it”, he added.

In fact, according to data from the Community of Madrid, “only 10%-15% of those who choose to rent with the option to buy end up exercising that right. In some cases, this happens because the tenants are unable to obtain financing, but in other cases, it is because they prefer to continue to rent”, he said. “The majority are renewing their rental contracts, whilst others have left their homes”.

According to sources at the Community of Madrid, the new measure will enter into force once it has been published in the Community of Madrid’s Official Gazette – the plenary session will be held today, where the measure is expected to be approved – but the same sources clarify that it will not affect those developments or plots of land that have already been granted that classification.

No more sales of subsidised homes to vulture funds

The new rules will also include two changes that are intended to protect tenants. To understand them, it is necessary to explain that although some subsidised homes are owned by the town halls and regional governments, others are owned privately (…).

When homes are owned by the Community of Madrid, they may not be sold to third parties other than the tenants or their successors. However, according to José María García Gómez, “the intention of the government led by Cristina Cifuentes (pictured above) is that not a single social housing property be sold. Nevertheless, in the event that a decision is taken to sell, then the tenants would have the right of first refusal. In other words, they would have preference over any other buyer”, he explained. “The idea is to avoid selling off public assets”.

By contrast, in the case of homes that have been constructed by private developers, the new law establishes a preferential acquisition right for legal entities with “a recognised commitment to the management of subsidised housing for social purposes, with the obligation for the new owner to abide by the conditions, terms and maximum rents established, subrogating the rights and obligations (…)”.

These measures will prevent these subsidised homes from ending up in the hands of the so-called “vulture funds”, for example, like has happened in the past (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vocento Sells ABC’s HQ In Madrid To Axiare For €35M

27 December 2016 – ABC

On Friday, the Vocento Group announced that it has reached an agreement to sell the headquarters of the ABC newspaper, located on Calle Juan Ignacio Luca de Tena in Madrid, to the Socimi Axiare for €35 million, according to a statement sent by the group to Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

Vocento reported that it has signed a five-year rental contract with Axiare, which will allow it to continue to occupy the property as the tenant. The operation is expected to generate net profits before tax of €22 million for the company.

The company stated that the operation forms part of its strategy to optimise its existing real estate portfolio. The consultancy firm Aguirre Newman participated in the operation as the real estate advisor.

Original story: ABC

Translation: Carmel Drake

Freo Buys An Office Building In Madrid For €15M

14 October 2016 – Expansión

The German fund Freo, which opened offices in Madrid and Barcelona at the end of last year with the aim of investing in the Spanish market, has completed its first purchase. The private equity manager has acquired an office building on Avenida de Manoteras in Madrid for €15 million. The property, known as Edificio Orion, used to be owned by the German fund manager Triuva, formerly known as IVG Institutional Funds.

The asset, constructed in 2001, is located at number 26 on the Madrilenian street and has a surface area of 7,300 sqm. According to sources in the real estate sector, the offices are fully occupied and currently house twelve tenants in total, including Whisbi Technologies, Sacyr, TPI Edita, Tento and several companies from the ACS Group. The operation will generate a return of 6% for the buyer.

Team

Freo is a private equity fund manager that also has its own investment vehicle. It was founded in Frankfurt (Germany) twenty years ago and has offices in all of Europe’s major cities.

Last year, Freo hired Daniel Mayans, former Director at GE Capital Real Estate in Spain, as the CEO of its Spanish subsidiary. It also appointed Óscar de Navas, who also came from the US multinational, as the Vice-President of Investment at Freo for the Spanish market. The firm’s purpose is to look for buildings such as Orion to add value to them, in terms of investment by renovating the offices, as well as in terms of returns by making improvements to the rental contracts.

Investment focus

That is the goal of the most international funds, which, given the shortage of assets in the most central areas of Madrid and Barcelona and the strong pressure to buy, are acquiring assets in more peripheral areas of Spain’s largest cities. Other funds that have recently made purchases on the Manoteras thoroughfare include: IBA Capital Partners, Axa Real Estate, Lone Star and Blackstone, as well as the Socimis Trajano Iberia and Merlin Properties.

The seller of the property in this case, the company formerly known as IVG Institutional Funds, which has been called Triuva since 2015, is the largest institutional real estate fund manager in Germany, with 45 funds in total. The subsidiary in Spain and Portugal manages assets worth €300 million, which have a combined surface area of 78,000 sqm.

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake