Tag: residential development

Habitat Inmobiliaria to Build 79 Homes in Collado Villalba (Madrid)

5 June 2018 – El Mundo

Habitat Inmobiliaria has acquired a plot of buildable land in Collado Villalba (Madrid) measuring more than 6,600 m2 on which it is going to build a new real estate development comprising 79 homes and 119 parking spaces distributed over a single 4-storey block. According to a statement from the company, which specialises in the development and construction of residential projects, the two- and three-bedroom homes, will have a useful surface area of between 74 m2 and 94 m2 each, and will all have a terrace. The urbanisation will also have extensive green spaces and a swimming pool.

The future urbanisation is located in Collado Villalba, on Calle Cañada Real, on the corner of Santa Teresa de Jesús and bordered to the south by the Guadarrama River. The area is fully equipped with facilities, schools, nurseries, a doctors’ surgery and supermarkets, and has excellent access to the A6 motorway with connections to Madrid in less than 20 minutes.

The marketing of this new real estate development will begin over the coming months and the scheduled date for the start of the construction work is the third quarter of 2019. In terms of delivery, the homes are expected to be ready by the second quarter of 2021.

Habitat Inmobiliaria indicates that “the acquisition of this plot forms part of the land acquisition plan that the company has launched and which will be added to the more than 1,000 homes that it already has under development”.

Original story: El Mundo (by S.V.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Núñez i Navarro Builds a Prime Residential Development on Paseo de Gracia

30 May 2018 – Eje Prime

The industry stalwart Núñez i Navarro wants to generate returns from some of its old investments. The company has started work on the renovation of one of the buildings that it acquired in Barcelona before the crisis to convert it into a residential property. The asset is located at number 125 Paseo de Gracia, one of the most prime areas of the Catalan capital for the residential sector, as sources at the company explained to Eje Prime. Moreover, Núñez i Navarro has more than a dozen new developments under construction and on the market.

The group, founded more than 65 years ago, expects to begin handing over the new homes at the end of this year. The building, which used to house offices, will comprise around twenty apartments with between one and three bedrooms. These homes, whose average price has not been revealed, will be mainly targeted at international clients and will be available for rent.

Núñez i Navarro acquired this property during the process to buy a batch of assets at the end of the 1990s. The company purchased a portfolio of four buildings in Barcelona from the insurance company Eagle Star for €26.6 million. That lot contained three buildings on Paseo de Gracia, at numbers 125, 127 and 129, as well as the property at number 641 Gran Vía de les Corts Catalanes (…).

“This project on Paseo de Gracia joins the twenty or so other renovation jobs that Núñez i Navarro has carried out in Barcelona, highlights of which include the Andreu Tower, also known as La Rotonda, the Torre Enric Cera, the Casa Lleó i Morera, Hotel 1898 on la Rambla, the only colonial style hotel in Barcelona, Hotel Gran Vía, and the Can Trías de Bes farmhouse in Sant Joan Despí, amongst others”, explain sources at the group (…).

Diversification 

Although the group’s main business is residential, the company has diversified somewhat over the years in order to generate new revenue streams. The company has a major presence in the office sector in Cataluña, with a particular concentration in the city of Barcelona. For example, its portfolio contains assets such as number 35 Paseo de Gracia (Casa Lleó Morera) and number 20 Plaza Cataluña.

The group is also strong in other businesses such as industrial warehouses, car parks and hotels (…).

Financial information 

The company, the largest unlisted real estate firm in Cataluña, saw its profits soar in 2016 to €33.1 million, compared with €12.9 million in the previous year. In this way, the group returned to positive growth, coming close to its best ever result, recorded in 2007, when it generated profits of €48.6 million (…).

By contrast, Núñez i Navarro’s turnover worsened in 2016. The company generated revenues of €110 million, down by 5.1% compared to the same period a year earlier, when its sales amounted to €116 million. The company’s consolidated own funds amount to €595 million.

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Oaktree Joins Forces with Sabadell to Promote Iberdrola Land

17 May 2018 – El Economista

Oaktree and Sabadell, through its subsidiary Bitarte, have requested permission from the European Commission to constitute a joint venture through which they will dedicate resources to residential development in Spain. Most of this new joint venture’s portfolio, at least initially, will comprise land that the US fund is going to buy from Iberdrola Inmobiliaria, which has declined to comment in this regard.

According to experts in the sector speaking to this newspaper, Oaktree is going to close the operation to acquire at least five plots of land worth approximately €100 million during the course of this month. As soon as the US fund’s alliance with Sabadell has been approved, the land will be integrated into the new company, whose purpose is going to be to continue growing through new land acquisitions.

Sabadell has chosen its subsidiary Bitarte, an instrumental company dedicated to the world of real estate, to carry out this association with Oaktree, although its stake in this new company is going to be managed by Solvia Desarrollos Inmobiliarios, the arm of the bank that is responsible for property development. The entity constituted that firm, which owns land worth around €1.2 billion when it completed the carve out of Solvia Servicios Inmobiliarios.

According to explanations from the same sources, Sabadell’s role in its alliance with Oaktree will be that of industrial partner with experience in the property development market, and so the fund will have a financial role, contributing the majority of the capital.

Assets

At first, the possibility was raised of an alliance between all three parties, which would see Iberdrola not only contribute assets, but also hold onto a stake in the company, and for that deal, the figures that were bandied around at the time amounted to around €130 million.

In the end, the alliance will be signed between the fund and Sabadell, and so the electricity company will contribute somewhat fewer plots. Of the chosen sites, in the absence of the definition of the final plots to be transferred, one in Móstoles (Madrid) stands out, where Iberdrola has already started work on a residential development project: Villas del Sur 2. This development comprises 22 terraced homes with three and four bedrooms and a private garden.

The other plots selected are located in Salamanca, the Costa del Sol, Pamplona and Pozuelo de Alarcón. This is a small part of Iberdrola’s land portfolio, which owns assets with a buildable surface area of 3.5 million m2. Specifically, the real estate company is working on the construction of more than 330 homes located in different places around Madrid, Murcia, Santander and Valencia.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vega Sicilia’s Owners Enter Real Estate Sector with Pavalgan

4 May 2018 – Eje Prime

From wine to real estate. The Álvarez family, owners of the Spanish winery Vega Sicilia, have created Pavalgan, a real estate company through which they will convert unique buildings into luxury homes. The company has already closed its first project in Valladolid.

Pavalgan is going to make its debut with a building dating back to 1860, located at number 5 Calle Claudio Moyano in Valladolid capital. Marketing of this residential development will begin shortly, according to Cinco Días.

The new real estate company is going to be led by one of the sons of Pablo Álvarez, CEO of Vega Sicilia, Juan Carlos Álvarez Esteban, who will be advised by his Project Director, the architect Miguel Maldonado. The first project is going to be carried out by Rafael Robledo’s architecture firm, which specialises in the renovation of old buildings.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aelca Debuts in País Vasco with Development of 311 Homes

15 March 2018 – Expansión

Aelca, the property developer controlled by the US fund Värde and the founding team, has made its debut in the País Vasco with the launch of a development comprising 311 homes in the town of Barakaldo (Vizcaya).

The company, which also has a presence in Cataluña, Madrid, Málaga and the Community of Valencia plans to hand over the first homes in 2020.

Specifically, this residential complex is going to be built in four phases. The first phase, marketing of which has already started, comprises 90 high-rise homes and 22 family properties. The construction of this first phase will begin in September this year and the first units will be handed over in the third quarter of 2020, explains the company. The second phase will comprise 119 homes, the third phase 40 units and the final phase 40 homes.

The firm constituted in 2012 by Javier Gómez and José Juan Martín, both now CEOs of the group, closed last year with a profit before tax (PBT) of €25.5 million, up by 154% and revenues of €132.2 million, up by 27%, and is preparing to continue growing through purchases.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Goldmans & Oaktree to Bid for €100M Land Portfolio that Iberdrola will Auction on 28 Feb

22 February 2018 – Voz Pópuli

On Wednesday 28 February, Goldman Sachs and Oaktree are scheduled to submit binding offers for a portfolio of land owned by Iberdrola Inmobiliaria. The subsidiary of the multinational energy company has thus started one of its largest asset sales processes in recent years, coinciding with the recovery of the sector and the voracious appetite shown by international funds for land in the Spanish market.

The two US investment banks have expressed their interest in what is considered, in the Spanish real estate sector, to be a very good portfolio of land. It is ready for the construction of more than one thousand homes in locations such as Madrid, Málaga and Granada (more than half), as well as Navarra, Salamanca, Murcia, Cantabria and Valencia. The valuation of the plots amounts to around €100 million, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

The sources consulted warn that if the offers prove to be unsatisfactory, the door will be opened to other investment funds “who are queuing up to participate in the operation”. In total, the plots, owned by the subsidiary of the group chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán, that have been put up for sale span a buildable surface area of 126,000 m2.

Iberdrola Inmobiliaria, with which Vozpópuli made contact yesterday, denies the existence of this operation. Nevertheless, two different sources consulted by this newspaper confirm that Banco Sabadell is also participating in the process. According to the sources, Solvia Desarrollos Inmobiliarios, the subsidiary of the financial institution, is going to create a joint venture with the buyer of the land to construct homes, whilst Iberdrola Inmobiliaria is expected to retain a minority stake in the new company.

The Spanish energy group created Iberdrola Inmobiliaria in 1991. The company managed to survive the greatest crisis in the history of the Spanish real estate sector – the one suffered following the burst of the bubble at the end of 2007 – and now owns a portfolio of assets worth more than €1.7 billion. Moreover, it is a highly respected manager in the sector.

Just before the start of the economic and financial crisis, Iberdrola Inmobiliaria undertook significant investments in projects in Spain, Mexico and Bulgaria. In 2015, Iberdrola injected €616.7 million into its real estate subsidiary through a capital increase of €154.2 million and the rest as an issue premium. In 2016, Iberdrola Inmobiliaria recorded revenues of €63.8 million and profits of €3.2 million, according to the latest accounts filed in the Mercantile Registry to which this newspaper has had access through Insight View.

According to those same accounts, the Board of Directors of Iberdrola Inmobiliaria, chaired by José Sainz Armada, led by Emilio Sánchez Castellano and in which Ignacio López del Hierro participates as director, did not receive any remuneration in 2016, but they were paid for out-of-pocket expenses amounting to €196,000 (€206,000 in 2015). The CEO and four other directors earned €1.25 million

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Alberto Ortín)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb Seeks to Integrate its Residential Business into a Listed Property Developer

22 February 2018 – Cinco Días

Sareb has started on a road that it has not yet explored in its short life. The so-called bad bank is evaluating the possibility of entering the residential property development business with a bang, as it plans to team up with a partner in the sector, in exchange for providing land to a joint venture company. That is according to several sources familiar with the process that has reportedly just started.

According to the sources, Sareb has started a process to divest land and developments in progress for around €800 million, which would result in the largest transaction in the history of the entity.

But on this occasion, the managers of Sareb are seeking to use a new formula, which would involve it contributing land to the share capital of a large property developer, be it one that is already listed or one that is considering its market debut. In return, it would enter the residential property development business and benefit from the high profit margin generated by the house construction business.

The operation is in its initial phases and several sources explain that the size of the land portfolio that Sareb wants to put up for sale may still vary, as may the formula for entering the share capital of the real estate company that ends up winning the tender. Sources at the entity declined to comment.

In any case, Sareb would enter the share capital of the property developer with the final aim of the joint venture making its debut on the stock market, which would allow the bad bank to easily divest its stake in the market in the future, in the same way, for example, that Santander and BBVA have done in the case of Metrovacesa’s return to the stock market.

The intention of the entity is to enter as a minority shareholder, ceding the management, of one of the large real estate companies that are currently starring in the new upward cycle in terms of residential development.

This would be a very similar operation to the one carried out by Santander and BBVA with Metrovacesa. In recent years, the banks have been increasing the property developer’s portfolio by contributing land from their balance sheets in exchange for stakes in the company’s share capital. For example, in July last year, the two banks injected land worth €1.1 billion into Metrovacesa through a non-monetary capital increase.

According to the sources, entering the share capital of a property developer would allow Sareb to benefit from the upward cycle in the housing sector since that business generates high profit margins on the construction of homes, much greater than those generated on the simple sale of land portfolios.

The idea could be summarised by the integration of all of Sareb’s residential and land development business by a property developer, to gain a long-term partner.

Only a limited number of candidates have been invited to participate in the process to become Sareb’s strategic ally, around six potential partners, according to the sources.

The perimeter of the assets, worth around €800 million, would make the operation the largest undertaken by the entity chaired by Jaime Echegoyen (pictured above). Until now, the largest direct sale was the so-called Eloise portfolio, which was acquired by Goldman Sachs, for €553 million. Initially, Sareb even considered a larger contribution of land, worth up to €1.2 billion, but the experts consider that such a volume would be too difficult for any partner to digest.

In fact, the candidates to integrate Sareb’s assets are very limited because of the volume of the operation. All sights are set on the large listed companies in the sector, such as Neinor, Aedas and Metrovacesa, as well as on the other property developers that are backed by international funds, which are not currently trading on the stock market. In the case of the latter, the formula whereby that company ends up on the market would have to be analysed to facilitate the liquidity that would allow Sareb to divest over the medium term. In that case, the list is much more extensive: Aelca (Värde), Vía Célere (Värde), Gestilar (Morgan Stanley), Q21 Real Estate (Baupost), Inmoglacier (Cerberus), Habitat (Bain Capital) and ASG Iberia (Activum).

In terms of the timings fixed by the entity, the sources indicate that the operation will be closed before the summer, although they acknowledge the difficulty of the process to complete the finishing touches of the negotiations to find a strategic partner.

According to sources in the sector, the timings may also be determined by Sareb’s intention to pre-empt other major land operations that are expected to take place over the next few months.

Such is the case of Blackstone, which acquired 51% of Popular’s property portfolio, assets worth around €10 billion. Cerberus is also expected to be active in the market, through Haya Real Estate and Anida – after acquiring 80% of BBVA’s portfolio worth €5 billion – and, finally, Bain Capital, with Liberbank’s property.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

ActivumSG Launches New €500M Fund with Projects in Marbella & Salamanca

22 January 2018 – Eje Prime

The international group ActivumSG is continuing to back its business in the Spanish market. The company, which operates under the brand ASG in Spain, is launching a new €500 million fund to make real estate investments across Europe, according to explanations provided by the company to Eje Prime. Some of the first projects that have already been financed thanks to this fund, the fifth to be promoted by ActivumSG, include three projects in Berlin and three in Spain, located in Marbella, Salamanca and Estepona.

This new fund promoted by ActivumSG is one of the group’s most important in terms of investment, with funds raised mostly from investors that have already participated in the group. Of the €500 million, the fund has already committed more than €200 million in Spain and Germany.

In the Spanish market, ActivumSG has already launched Project España, located in Salamanca. Initially baptised as Project Victoria, the fund has now started construction on this luxury residential development in the centre of the city. “The project involves the demolition of an office building located at number 5 Plaza España to convert it into a high-end residential property, comprising 27 apartments”, say sources at the German company.

The second project that ActivumSG is going to promote with this new fund is Parque Central, in the centre of Estepona. The German fund is already finalising the details to start work on the construction of this residential development, which will span 12,600 m2 and which is already being marketed.

Finally, the fund is working on Project Sierra Blanca, in Marbella. That project, which is in its preliminary phase, will be located in the neighbourhood of Sierra Blanca, in Marbella, and will involve the development of 40 luxury homes, with gardens and parking.

The latter two projects are located in the province of Málaga, one of the main tourist destinations in the south of Spain. ActivumSG has been advised in the acquisition by the group’s Spanish subsidiary, ActivumSG Iberia, which is currently being led by Brian Betel, former Director of Cerberus Iberia Advisor and Citibank.

ActivumSG’s team in Spain is completed by Víctor Pérez Arias, former Director of CBRE; Juan Alonso Bartolomé, a director who has worked for companies such as GE Capital Real Estate and ING Real Estate; Alejandro Adan Manes, who joined the firm from Axa Real Estate; Carlos Molero Sánchez, formerly of PwC and KPMG, and Ignacio Gaytan, who previously held the position of maximum responsibility at Grupo Lar, amongst others.

ActivumSG in Spain

Currently, ActivumSG’s portfolio in Spain comprises a dozen assets, with the exception of two that have been divested in recent months, located in Manuel de Falla and Santa Leonor, both in Madrid (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

TM Buys 165,000 m2 of Land in Benidorm

8 January 2018 – Eje Prime

TM Grupo Inmobiliario is starting 2018 with the largest purchase in its history. The property developer specialising in the construction and sale of large residential developments on the Mediterranean Coast has acquired 165,000 m2 of land in Benidorm. This purchase represents the company’s largest investment in land since it was created in 1969.

The acquired land is located one road back from the beach Playa Poniente in Benidorm and most of it will be used to build homes. The first properties are expected to go up for sale in the summer of 2019, which means that the first phase of constructed homes would be handed over in the middle of 2020.

This operation, the fourth undertaken by TM in the Alicante municipality in the last three years, not only completes the sales forecast per the company’s strategic plan for 2015-2019, it also assures its activity in the area for the next 10 years. The project will involve the development of around 1,200 homes in residential developments targeting both the domestic and European market, according to explanations provided by the group in a statement.

During this period, the company expects to invest around €260 million, over several phases of execution lasting two years each. Since 2015, TM Grupo Inmobiliario has successfully carried out the development, execution and sale of other developments in Benidorm, namely: Ocean Drive, Sunset Drive and ‘La Ermita del Mediterráneo’ in El Tosal.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

‘Valencia Parque Central’ Reorganises City Centre Plots to the Benefit of Adif & Sareb

18 December 2017 – El Confidencial

The large urban planning operation to reorganise the railway access in the centre of Valencia has an aristocratic influence. The public company responsible for carrying out the project, Valencia Parque Central (VPC), and the city’s Town Hall have just finalised the reparceling of the land that has been released for the execution of the project’s first phase, which comprises the construction of a large park, the train access channel and the generation of residential building. Two aristocratic families have been included in the restricted group of owners of land susceptible to being built on – the Prat Dupuy de Lome y Puigmoltó family (…) and the Gómez Trénor Trénor family (…).

The Prat Dupuy de Lomes and the Gómez Trénors share plots with Juan Giner, a Valencian businessman, who has appealed the reparcelation (…).

Giner, the Prat Dupuy and the Gómez Trénor are among the few private owners that have held onto their plots on the site affected by the Parque Central PAI. In reality, the main beneficiary of the large urban reorganisation project is Adif, the Ministry of Development’s railway infrastructure company, to which almost 90,000 m2 of buildable space has been awarded, either directly or indirectly, with an estimated value of almost €40 million (…).

VPC and Adif have started to market the plots corresponding to phase 1A; they are located around the Joaquín Sorolla AVE train station and on the other side of the first stretch of the garden area, in accordance with Kathryn Gustavson’s plans. The idea is that the funds obtained from the profits resulting from the reclassification will help to finance the first round of work to adapt the railway access channel, as agreed by the Ministry of Development, Íñigo de la Serna, the councillor for infrastructure, María José Salvador, and the mayor Joan Ribó (…).

The VPC’s Board of Directors still needs to meet to agree the calendar for the plot auctions and the structure of the sale (whether the plots should be grouped together or sold individually). Meanwhile, Adif is already looking for buyers for the three plots that it has been awarded directly, initially worth just over €13 million and with a buildable surface area of 27,000 m2. Sources at the tripartite company admit that local investors and developers have expressed interest in the plots, which are all developable and which are located in the heart of the city centre. Lots of players are expected to participate in the bidding. The plans for this first phase involve the construction of 1,0000 homes and retail premises.

A hotel for Sareb?

Although Sareb has been given a lot less land than the Ministry of Development, it has also ended up winning from this first reparcelation (…). For the time being, it has been awarded a plot measuring just over 300 m2, but with a buildable surface area of 3,100 m2. The asset has an unbeatable location, right next to the Joaquín Sorolla AVE train station, and so it is likely that it will house a residential development, or a 70-room hotel, according to predictions from Sareb’s analysts.

The entity is open to receiving offers (it has already rejected some bids) for the plot, but it is also interested in developing the plot jointly with a partner in the property development or construction sectors (…). The public company VPC has valued Sareb’s plot at €1.57 million (…).

The local property developer Urbem and the firm Inmobiliaria Martínez Segura have also been awarded a residential plot measuring 219 m2, with a buildable surface area of 1,859 m2, which will likely house a residential development. Other players that have been awarded plots include the Planells Solers (Bronces Mestre) and the Giner Serras, who are related to the Ferrando family (Gesfesa).

Original story: El Confidencial (by Víctor Romero)

Translation: Carmel Drake