Caledonian Buys 10,000 m2 of Land in Central Madrid For Residential Development

14 September 2018 – Eje Prime

Caledonian has increased its land portfolio in Madrid, but this time it has done so in the centre of the Spanish capital. The property developer has purchased a plot spanning 10,000 m2 in the Chamartín district of the city centre. The company plans to construct a residential development on the site, which it will add to the two that it already owns in the municipality of Pozuelo de Alarcón.

The objective of the construction company is to convert an industrial plot into a residential one. On the site, located on Calle Javier Ferrero, the company is planning to build different types of apartments with between one and four bedrooms.

Like on other occasions, Caledonian is going to collaborate this time with the architecture studio MK27, led by the Brazilian Marcio Kogan, to carry out the design of the urbanisation. The development will also have common areas with a gym and indoor and outdoor swimming pools.

The company, founded in 1998 by Enrique López Granados, plans to start work on the construction of the homes at the beginning of 2019. The project managers confirm that the construction work will take approximately one year.

Caledonian’s turnover in 2017 amounted to €25 million. The firm focuses its activity on the north-west of Madrid with projects that include several residential developments containing more than thirty homes.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Habitat Buys 1,278m2 Residential Plot in El Cañaveral (Madrid)

17 July 2018 – Habitat Inmobiliaria

Habitat Inmobiliaria, the company dedicated to the development and construction of residential projects, has signed the acquisition of a plot of land measuring 1,278 m2 in the neighbourhood of El Cañaveral in Madrid. On the plot, which has a buildable surface area of 4,100 m2, a new residential development is going to be constructed containing 41 homes. The total planned investment in the project amounts to around €8.5 million.

The new development will comprise 41 homes with storerooms and 62 parking spaces and will also have green space, a swimming pool and common areas. Marketing of this new real estate development will begin in the first quarter of 2019.

The future urbanisation is located within the new El Cañaveral neighbourhood, in the municipality of Madrid. El Cañaveral is located between the neighbourhood of Vicálvaro in Madrid and Coslada, and has excellent access to the M-45 and R-3 motorways, which allows its residents to travel to the centre of Madrid by car in just 20 minutes. Moreover, it is close to the Renfe stations of Coslada and Vicálvaro.

Specifically, the plot where the development is going to be constructed is located on Calle María Pita, in an area that is seeing a great deal of urban development and where all of the necessary amenities are being planned, such as schools, nurseries, a doctors’ surgery, shopping centres and supermarkets.

This operation forms part of the land acquisition plan that the company has launched and that in recent months has seen it purchase plots in Collado Villalba and Móstoles, both in Madrid. In total, the company has more than 1,400 homes under development, as well as one of the most significant land banks in Spain, which is being strengthened by new additions.

Original story: Habitat Inmobiliaria

Translation: Carmel Drake

Ministry of Defence Puts 2 Plots in Madrid & Málaga Up for Auction for €30M

19 February 2018 – Eje Prime

The Ministry of Defence is continuing to divest land in Spain. The government agency has decided to put two more plots up for auction, one in Madrid and one in Málaga, for €30 million. The operation has been published on Addmeet and the auction will take place in April.

The first of the assets is located at number 82 Calle Arturo Soria, in Ciudad Lineal (Madrid). That plot has a surface area of 6,438 m2 and a buildable area of 23,861 m2. The typology of the land, which will go on the market for a price of approximately €25 million, is for equipment, according to explanations provided by sources at the platform for real estate auctions.

The second plot is located in Málaga, in the Hacienda Cabello neighbourhood, and will go up for auction for €4.4 million. The future owner of that land, which has a surface area of 6,270m2, may construct a residential building on the site, measuring more than 8,750 m2.

Last October, the Ministry of Defence sold two residential plots in Madrid. The auction of that land, located in Vicálvaro and Alcalá de Henares, generated revenues of €43 million for the Ministry.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Lar España Raises Valuation Of Its Asset Portfolio By 20%

10 July 2017 – Expansión

After several years creating large asset portfolios, the Socimis are now immersed in the management of their portfolios. Lar España, the listed real estate investment company created by the real estate company Grupo Lar, was the first of the four largest Socimis to debut on the stock market, in March 2014, and it made its debut without any assets on its balance sheet. Three years later, the company now owns a portfolio worth €1,448.2 million, according to a statement released last week.

That figure is 20% higher than the price that Lar España paid for those assets, in other words, the Socimi has increased the value of its properties by €235 million through its management. “The increase reached at the end of this year is particularly significant – if we compare the figures with those seen at the end of June 2016, the values have risen by 9.3%”, said the company.

Type of assets

The €1,500 million in assets owned by Lar España include, above all, shopping centres, with 16 assets worth more than €1,000 million, up by 15.2% compared to their collective purchase price. In recent months, the Socimi in which the fund manager Pimco holds a stake has invested €255 million in the purchase of two shopping centres, Parque Abadía in Toledo and Gran Vía de Vigo, as well as in 22 other retail premises throughout Spain.

In the case of the office portfolio (the Socimi owns five office buildings), its value has increased by more than 27% to €178.6 million, whilst its logistics properties have appreciated in value by 31.6% to €83.3 million.

Nevertheless, the highest increases in value were recorded by the Socimi’s projects under construction: four in-progress developments are now worth €145.4 million, up by 40%. The most noteworthy of these is the Lagasca 99 development. In January 2015, Lar España decided to make an exception to its strategy of investing in rental assets by acquiring a residential plot in the neighbourhood of Salamanca in Madrid. To this end, it invested €100 million, together with Pimco, on the purchase of a plot of land with a buildability of 26,000 m2. More than half of the 55 homes on that site have already been sold.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Foro Consultores: Land Prices Soar In Certain Pockets Of Madrid

13 February 2017 – El Confidencial

Land prices are soaring, house prices are rising, the buying frenzy is gaining momentum in some areas and in certain developments…Is history repeating itself? Are we witnessing the gestation of a new real estate bubble, albeit not on a national scale, but nevertheless in certain areas of the country. That is what seems to be happening in some neighbourhoods of Madrid. But, the answer, for the time being at least, seems unanimous: not yet.

Buildable land, in other words, land that is ready to be built upon, is running out and, across Spain, there is barely enough land left upon which to construct the 1.5 million homes estimated to be required to supply the market for the next 8.6 years. In Madrid, the land will run out in just over 6 years, according to the latest report from the appraisal company Tinsa. It identifies a worrying shortage of this type of land in areas of expansion to the north of Madrid, as well as in certain specific points of the metropolitan area, such as Pozuelo, Villanueva de la Cañada, Coslada and Rivas. In some of these areas, according to warnings from Tinsa, there will be no buildable land left within 12-24 months. This situation has, unsurprisingly, led to sharp increases in land prices in certain areas. And these rises are concerning the sector. Where are these first warning signs starting to sound?

Valdebebas

The large real estate development in the north of Madrid, which was launched at the height of the crisis and which has fallen victim to numerous legal setbacks, has become, in the eyes of the residential sector, a clear example of the extent to which land can become a very sought-after, as well as a very dangerous, asset.

“Without doubt, it is one of the areas where land prices have grown significantly. In 2014, they ranged between €750/m2 and €900/m2, whereas nowadays operations are being closed for more than €1,200/m2 and €1,300/m2, and the perception in the market is that land can no longer be sold for less than €1,400/m2”, explained Vicente Quintanilla, Director of the department for Investment and Land at Foro Consultores. According to this expert, “this trend generates significant tension in terms of the prices of new builds, which are being sold for €3,000/m2 in certain developments”. (…).

Pozuelo, Aravaca…

Another market where prices have also risen significantly is the municipality of Pozuelo de Alarcón, where Sareb sold land for around €1,000/m2. (…).

Indeed, the supply of land in Pozuelo has completely run out and families in need of homes are heading to other markets, such as in Boadilla del Monte, a cheaper alternative. According to data from Foro Consultores, the gap in prices is very significant. “To give you an idea, a family home or chalet in Boadilla costs around €450,000 on average, compared with between €700,000 and €1 million in Pozuelo.

Scarce and sought-after plots of land have also seen sharp price increases in recent years. “In El Camino de Barrial, in Aravaca, land prices have risen from €1,200/m2 in 2014 to around €2,000/m2 now. (….).

Boadilla del Monte, at boiling point

Boadilla del Monte is another one of the markets that has experienced a huge boom over the last two years. And there, it has not been due to the scarcity of land, but rather because of the strong demand from families who, as described above, cannot find homes in Pozuelo de Alarcón.

“For family home plots, land prices have increased from €400-500/m2 in 2014 to €800-900/m2 in2016, say Foro Consultores. (…).

Euphoria in Méndez Álvaro and rises in El Cañaveral

In the heart of the capital, where land is noteworthy due to its absence, land prices have increased considerably. In 2014, buyers paid €1,000/m2 and in a recent operation, whereby Adif and Renfe sold a plot to Vía Célere, the price paid amounted to around €1,900/m2. (…).

This increase in land prices is not exclusive to the area to the north of Madrid (…). The price of more affordable land and cheaper homes has also risen significantly in recent months.

Such is the case of El Cañaveral, in the east of Madrid, where “last summer, land prices amounted to around €360-370/m2 and now plots are going for €450-500/m2” (…).

Finally, all of the experts lament the fact that during the crisis, no agreement was reached to manage land, which has resulted in this significant shortage and in the inevitable increase in prices. They advocate greater agility in terms of urban planning, especially where the shortage is leading to a bottleneck in the market.

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Adif & Repsol Sell Residential Plot In Madrid To Vía Célere

14 November 2016 – Expansión

The Madrilenian real estate company Vía Célere has been awarded a plot of land, with a buildable surface area of 14,859 m2, for €29.15 million, which the railway manager and the oil company put up for sale in Méndez Álvaro (Madrid).

Specifically, Vía Célere will pay €29,157,830 for the plot, located in the Méndez Álvaro area, next to Repsol’s headquarters in Madrid.

The plot, which has a surface area of 2,107 m2 and a buildable surface area of almost 15,000 m2, was put on the market in July for €27 million. The deadline for the presentation of offers closed on 2 November and on Friday, the vendors announced the winning candidate.

Until now, the plot of land was owned jointly by Adif (42%), Repsol (21.5%) and the Compensation Board of Méndez Álvaro (36.5%).

This is the second operation that the real estate company Vía Célere has completed in just a week. On 5 November, the company chaired by Juan Antonio Gómez-Pintado was awarded a plot of land located in the district of Moncloa-Arava, which the Directorate General of Heritage, which forms part of the Ministry of Finance, put up for auction.

For that plot, which has a buildable surface area of 11,230 m2, the real estate company paid €19.6 million.

Vía Célere is one of the most active property developers in the residential market. Created in 2010 by Juan Antonio Gómez-Pintado, it owns two other plots in the centre of Madrid, which it acquired in April, and has several projects underway in Barcelona. It is also marketing six developments in Brazil, in the capital and in several other cities.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Grupo Insur Buys 2 Residential Plots From Sareb

20 August 2015 – Málaga Hoy

Grupo Insur, has acquired 2 residential plots of land in Marbella, through its subsidiary IDS Residencial Los Monteros, whereby expanding its presence in the capital of the Costa del Sol.

The plots of land are located in the ‘Urbanización Altos de los Monteros’ (pictured above), which is known for having a low building density, but lots of villas. It is located in the north east of a prestigious enclave, surrounded by the Río Real and Santa Clara golf courses, as well as by green areas. The maximum permitted buildability of these plots exceeds 50,000 m2 (covered area) and the permitted building type is “Mediterranean town” (i.e. attractive, white-washed, low-rise houses).

Grupo Insur has plans to develop an attractive residential project on these plots, aimed primarily at the international market. The first developments are expected to begin in 2016.

In addition, the group is currently promoting and constructing four developments in Marbella – three in the popular Urbanización Los Naranjos de Marbella containing 67 homes; and a fourth, containing 44 homes, in La Cerquilla de Banús, known as Alminar de Marbella.

Original story: Málaga Hoy

Translation: Carmel Drake