Tag: residential use

Junta Awards Plot for Construction of 88 Social Housing Properties in Córdoba

20 March 2018 – Diario Córdoba

The Junta de Andalucía has awarded one of the two plots of residential land in Córdoba destined for protected housing that were included in the most recent offer for the sale of real estate assets by the Agency for Housing and Rehabilitation in Andalucía (AVRA), which will enable the construction of 88 social housing properties in the O-3 Residential Sector of the provincial capital. The plot, measuring 4,656 m2 and with a buildable surface area of 9,462 m2 over the ground floor and six storeys, has been awarded for €1,687,103, according to reports from the Junta itself in a press release.

The sale of this plot comes in addition to the sales that the Agency has been formalising in Córdoba over the last three years, where it has managed to dispose of 11 units of residential land in the O-3 sector, for a price of €11.3 million, with capacity for the construction of 710 protected homes, some of which are going to be promoted by private companies and others by municipal initiatives.

The total number of protected plots sold in Córdoba since 2015, including the plot that has just been awarded, now amounts to 12 plots for the construction of 798 homes, with a combined surface area of 54,817 m2. These plots have been awarded for €13 million in total.

The regional delegate for the Ministry of Housing and Development, Josefina Vioque, said that “sales of regional plots of land were reactivated at the beginning of the legislature after the Ministry decided to recover this activity as a strategic axis in the management of its public assets”.

Original story: Diario Córdoba 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Colonial Buys 110,000 m2 of Land in Méndez Álvaro (Madrid)

10 January 2018 – Eje Prime

Colonial is getting out its cheque book to inaugurate 2018. The Socimi led by Pere Viñolas has reached an agreement to acquire two plots of land with a buildable surface area of 110,000 m2 in the Méndez Álvaro area of Madrid. The group plans to build two office complexes on the plots, which are located next to Repsol’s headquarters and close to Atocha train station.

The land operation is one of the most important that Colonial has undertaken in the Spanish capital since the Cuatro Torres, according to El Confidencial. The agreement has been closed off-market, directly with small landowners.

This move will lead to the definitive launch of the urban planning project in Méndez Álvaro, which received the green light last year for the development of 129,700 m2 of land, with a buildable surface area of almost 250,000 m2, split between residential (185,313 m2) and tertiary use (61,771 m2) (…).

Specifically, Colonial has purchased one plot with a surface area of 90,000 m2, located next to Repsol’s current headquarters, and a second plot, also close to Atocha station, measuring 20,000 m2.

The acquisition of the two plots has cost €185 million. The total investment in the project, including the subsequent development of the two office complexes, will amount to €355 million (…).

The emergence of the Socimi in this operation suggests that in the end, there will be a greater weight of offices in the area, taking advantage of the dual-use (residential and tertiary) assigned to the plots that border Calle Méndez Álvaro.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aelca, Ibosa, Amenabar, Pryconsa, Libra & Princeton Compete For Calderón Plots

18 November 2017 – El Economista

Atlético de Madrid has already received its first offers from investors interested in acquiring the plots of land adjacent to the Vicente Calderón stadium. The sale represents the largest land operation currently underway in the centre of Madrid and the football club is taking advantage of that fact to try to find a buyer willing to pay double the current prices in the area.

According to several sources in the sector, the companies that have bid to acquire these plots of land include the property developer Aelca, in which Värde holds a stake. It is the only one of the four large real estate companies still in the process, given that Neinor, Aedas and Vía Célere have all ruled out participating in the operation, due to its high price.

The same sources state that Grupo Ibosa is another one of the firms that is pushing ahead with the purchase process; and it is doing so with the backing of a fund. Similarly, the property developers Amenabar and Pryconsa have also submitted bids, as has the cooperative manager Libra Gestión.

The British family office Princeton is another name that appears on the list of investors interested in the Calderdón. That firm arrived in Spain at the beginning of 2015 and since then has closed several residential operations as well as a handful of others of a tertiary nature.

CBRE, which is advising the operation, will receive the binding offers at the end of November, with the aim of trying to close the sale before the end of the year. Atlético de Madrid wants to repay Carlos Slim on time for the more than €160 million that he loaned the Club, through the company Inbursa, to finance the works on the new stadium, Wanda Metropolitano.

The land up for sale is divided into three plots (RC-4, RC-7 and RC-8) and together cover more than 63,000 m2. The largest space corresponds to private residential use and the rest to tertiary use. The amount that Atlético de Madrid expects to receive for this operation, according to real estate sources in the know, comes to €200 million, which places the price per square metre in a very high range, of around €3,300/m2. In this way, the c. 480 homes that will be constructed on the site, will have to be sold for around €6,000/m2 if the operation is to be profitable for the buyer. It is precisely these figures that have deterred the large listed real estate companies, as well as those that have financial backing from funds, given that they must fulfil the returns they have promised to their shareholders and investors in every operation.

First obstacles

Although the project known as Mahou-Calderón, which encompasses the sale of these plots, has already received provisional approval from the Town Hall of Madrid, it is still awaiting definitive approval from the Community of Madrid’s Urban Planning Committee, which has four months to analyse the one-off amendment to the PGOU, and the Community of Madrid’s Governing Council, according to José Manuel Calvo, a Councillor for the Town Hall of Madrid, in an interview for the El Economista’s Inmobiliaria magazine.

Nevertheless, on Wednesday, it was revealed that the Ministry for the Environment and Land Planning had identified a “calculation error” in the buildability coefficients, and has urged the municipal technicians to correct the errors in order “to prevent the operation from being susceptible to being challenged in the courts in the future”, said sources from the Ministry to EP.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Trinitario Casanova Sells Large Plot In North Madrid To Gestilar-Morgan

13 November 2017 – El Confidencial

It has taken Trinitario Casanova more than a year to make his move since he became a landowner in Valdebebas, one of the main areas of development in the north of Madrid. But in the end, he has acted and he has done so with one of the new stars in the market, the joint venture created by Gestilar and Morgan Stanley. The parties are currently finalising an agreement, which, if nothing goes wrong, will be signed this week and which will result in the sale of all Casanova’s residential plots.

It was in the spring of 2016 when the owner of the Baraka Group purchased Parque Empresarial El Olivar, a company owned by the Cort Lagos family. With it, he acquired 114,000 m2 of land, spread over eight residential plots, plus one for industrial and commercial use that by itself measured 46,000 m2.

Since then, Casanova has been focused on removing the company from the bankruptcy situation that it fell into four years ago and which had reached the liquidation phase when Baraka appeared. This objective was achieved on 27 September, when the Mercantile Court number 5 of Madrid resolved “to declare the reactivation of the dissolved company Parque Empresarial del Olivar”, according to the ruling to which El Confidencial has had access.

With this sentence in his hand, Trinitario has been able to sit down and negotiate, with ease, to sell the three residential plots that he still owns in Valdebebas, given that the other five were auctioned off before Baraka managed to purchase Parque Empresarial and were pre-awarded to Grupo Amenábar and Premier. The party chosen by the businessman as the new owner of his land is the joint venture that Gestilar and Morgan Stanley have created.

The property developer owned by the García-Valcárcel family has been analysing these plots in Valdebebas for a while, and other giants, such as Castlelake, the fund behind Aedas Homes, had also expressed their interest in the past. The negotiations accelerated following Parque Empresarial’s exit from bankruptcy and last week, they managed to reach the point of agreement, according to the sources consulted.

As El Confidencial revealed, Gestilar and Morgan Stanley have constituted a joint venture, which they plan to endow with €100 million, whose vocation is to acquire plots of land over the next four or five years. They plan to build around 1,000 new homes thereon, a figure that equals the entire portfolio that Gestilar currently has under development.

An important portion of this plan may be achieved only with the success of the operation in Valdebebas, one of the most sought-after areas in Madrid, and therefore in all of Spain, but also one of the areas most affected by legal uncertainty. For years now, the courts have been ruling against the way in which this development has been carried out, which has forced licence granting processes to be suspended on several occasions.

Trinitario Casanova, who took on the debt of Parque Empresarial when he acquired the entity, will continue to be present in the development, as he will retain control of the 46,000 m2 industrial and commercial plot, where he wants to boost the activity of his construction company Trabis, an aim that is always behind the real estate movements of the Baraka Group.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Junta De Andalucía Puts 777 More Industrial & Residential Plots Up For Sale

7 November 2017 – La Vanguardia

The Ministry of Development and Housing, through its Agency for Housing and Rehabilitation in Andalucía (AVRA), has launched a new supply of residential and industrial land for sale, spanning 900,500 m2 and distributed over 777 plots across all of the provinces in the autonomous region.

According to a statement from the department led by Felipe López, this latest supply comes after the current legislature has already sold plots with capacity for 1,473 homes, mostly social housing properties, and a total of 287,282 m2 of land for residential and industrial use.

In its last land offer of the year, the Ministry of Development and Housing highlights that it is seeking to sell land that already received planning permission from AVRA – and therefore, which is ready to build on – during the years before the crisis, like on the previous occasions since it resumed this activity at the beginning of the current legislature. With this, the Junta wants to boost the construction of homes, especially social housing properties, and to encourage investment in the business fabric using the industrial land on offer (…).

According to the Ministry, the recovery of the management of AVRA’s land has allowed it to sell plots since 2015 whose combined sales price amounts to €50.2 million. The Agency has used the funds raised to boost new initiatives aimed at facilitating access to housing for those families with the fewest resources (…).

The bidding opens on 27 November

The new supply of land that the Junta is putting up for sale comprises land spanning 900,500 m2, distributed across 777 plots, with a combined total price of €117.6 million. 430 of the plots are for industrial and tertiary use, spanning 529,123 m2, whose combined price amounts to €40.6 million.

The residential land supply comprises 114 plots, spanning 97,134 m2, for 1,482 social housing properties, with a total price of €23.5 million; and another 220 plots, measuring 270,127 m2 for 1,559 private homes, with a price of €53.4 million. The Director General of Real Estate also owns another 134 plots for private residential use, with the capacity for 53 homes, whose management has been entrusted to the AVRA. These plots have an asking price of €3.8 million. The residential development plots are distributed across all eight of Andalucía’s provinces.

In addition, the sale includes 269 garages (€3.2 million), 112 premises (€15.2 million) and 10 storerooms (total price of €45,532) (…). Specifically, the date scheduled for the opening of bids is 27 November.

Original story: La Vanguardia

Translation: Carmel Drake

SVP Global Buys Defaulted Mortgage Associated With In Tempo Skyscraper

7 November 2017 – Expansión

The investment fund SVP Global has reached an agreement with Sareb to buy the defaulted debt associated with the In Tempo skyscraper, the largest residential building in Benidorm. According to financial sources consulted, SVP Global has purchased a package of debt worth around €110 million, secured by the second tallest residential property in the EU, whose property developer, Olga Urbana, has filed for creditors’ bankruptcy.

It is one of the largest debt operations associated with a single real estate asset in Spain. SVP Global is a fund specialising in this type of operation and has around $6,900 million under management through its various vehicles. The In Tempo building is an unfinished project (although more than 90% of the construction work has been completed) measuring 192m tall and containing 47 floors for residential use.

The construction of In Tempo has given rise to a long-standing legal dispute. After launching the development of the tallest residential property in Europe in 2006, its property developer Olga Urbana had planned to finish the work in the middle of 2009. But, with the outbreak of the real estate crisis, the building work ended up being subjected to continuous delays and obstacles due to problems with the construction companies and suppliers. Although the construction work continued, in a fashion, under the control of Caixa Galicia, which financed the development with a €100 million loan, the financial crisis put an end to the construction work, which was never finished.

In 2012, the loan from the former savings back was transferred to Sareb, which at the end of 2014 and in the absence of an agreement between Olga Urbana’s shareholders, decided to enforce the creditors’ bankruptcy, with a total debt of €137 million. As part of that process, the judge approved the auction of the almost-finished building with a value of just over €90 million. Nevertheless, the offers were very low and so Sareb decided to exercise its preferential right to take ownership of the property.

Original story: Expansión (by C. Morán and A. C. Álvarez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bilbao To Build 13,000 New Homes In Growth Areas

16 October 2017 – El Correo

Bilbao is fine-tuning where the city is going to grow in the future. The next General Urban Development Plan (PGOU), the instrument that will regulate the city’s development over the next thirty years, is reserving land on which 13,000 new homes are going to be built, in some of the most prominent areas of the city.

Specifically, it confirms the construction of 8,500 homes in Zorrozaurre, Punta Zorroza – a project that has not been defined yet – and Bolueta, where a lack of demand has forced the local government to convert a residential tower that was already designed in the plans into VPO (social housing) properties. The remaining 4,500 homes are planned for Elorrieta, Olabeaga, the Irala area –spread across industrial units still pending reclassification – and the “lid” of the Abando underground station.

The preview of the PGOU, which was unveiled to the public on Friday by decision of the local PNV-PSE Government, considers that the figure of 13,000 homes has “the capacity to support a similar number of inhabitants” to the number living in the city today – 342,481 residents, according to the latest report from Eustat. The population, which has been ageing and in progressive decline for the last decade, represents one of Bilbao’s future challenges.

Another challenge facing the next PGOU is the balance of social housing and the rate of growth that respects the environment, especially in the case of mobility. In this sense, the urban planning rules include several operations to eliminate obstacles, which have been requested repeatedly by citizens: the Rekalde section of the motorway viaduct – a project that also depends on the Diputación – and the placing underground of roads in the neighbourhoods of Zorroza and Olabeaga. The latter neighbourhood has opted to “exclusively” develop residential when the goods line disappears.

Original story: El Correo (by José Mari Reviriego)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Gran Roque Capital Buys 3 Residential Plots Near The Calderón

16 October 2017 – El Confidencial

The Venezuelan Capriles family has closed another real estate operation in Madrid. Gran Roque Capital, the company controlled by Miguel Ángel Capriles and his cousin Áxel Daniel Capriles, has purchased three plots of buildable land from Prosegur just 500m from the site of the future Operación Mahou-Calderón. The Capriles family has paid around €25 million for this land, which does not require any kind of urban planning modifications, given that it is assigned for residential use according to the General Urban Planning Plan (PGOUM) for Madrid dated 1997, according to sources in the market.

The acquired land comprises three plots (measuring 592 m2, 593 m2 and 3,542 m2, respectively) spanning a combined surface area of 4,723 m2 and a buildable surface area of almost 8,800 m2. Two of the plots (the smaller ones) are vacant, but the largest one is currently occupied by a building that Gran Roque will have to demolish before it can build the new homes on the site. The land purchase operation has been advised by Knight Frank, which, nevertheless, declined to comment on the transaction.

The new residential project (…) will involve the construction of around 80 homes of different kinds, which will be sold for between €5,500/m2 and €6,000/m2, according to sources at Gran Roque, although, they emphasise that the project is still at a very embryonic phase. According to data from Idealista, the price of second-hand homes in the area stands at around €3,300/m2, however, some properties are currently on the market for between €4,000/m2 and €5,000/m2, whereby exceeding the peaks of 2007 (€3,980/m2 in the district of Arganzuela).

This operation represents an about-turn in Gran Roque’s investment strategy in the Spanish capital, where to date, it has opted for plots in prime locations and for projects involving super luxury homes. Its most recent project is in El Viso, opposite the bunker that constitutes the residence of the President of ACS, Florentino Pérez.

500m from the Calderón

This transaction is particularly important in the market given that the price paid for the land, around €2,900/m2, and the prices at which the future homes will be sold, will undoubtedly serve as a benchmark for the future sale of land in the so-called Operación Mahou-Calderón (…).

Experts in the sector consider that a price of between €1,500/m2 and €2,000/m2 would be appropriate for the area (…).

New build homes close to the Vicente Calderon are in short supply. One of the few projects underway is being led by Neinor Homes, which is constructing a 72-home residential project: Riverside homes, for €3,500/m2, a price significantly lower than the properties that Gran Roque is planning to build. Like most of the new builds currently being constructed in the capital, these homes are being targeted at middle and middle/upper-class buyers. Of the 51 homes that will comprise the future 20-storey tower, which will be 72 m tall, 49 units have already been sold.

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain’s Newest RE Companies Have Assets Worth €4,900M+

24 April 2017 – Expansión

The Spanish real estate sector is enjoying a new phase of growth following its unprecedented crisis. Whilst over the last two years, we saw the boom of the Socimis, specialising in rental properties, 2017 looks set to become the year that the property developers bounce back.

Or at least that is according to the ambitious business plans that the six large companies –Neinor Homes, Aelca, Vía Célere, Aedas, Kronos and Metrovacesa Promoción y Suelo – have put in place, with the aim of benefitting from the growing increase in house sales, and the significant demand from buyers.

To that end, the companies have not hesitated to invest several thousands of millions of euros to create portfolios of land on which to begin their developments. These six developers alone now own assets worth €4,924 million, mostly buildable land, ripe for development. In total, these companies own 6.9 million m2 of land.

Leadership

The entity Metrovacesa Promoción y Suelo stands out on this list of new property developers. The real estate company is looking to recover its sceptre as the Spanish real estate king, after selling its property portfolio to the Socimi Merlin Properties. Owned by Banco Santander, BBVA and Popular, the company currently has 472 homes under construction across 17 developments. Nevertheless, its greatest strength lies in its portfolio of land, which, spanning 2.3 million m2, makes it the largest owner of that type of asset in Spain. Moreover, sources at the company state that its portfolio may increase “considerably this year”, following the contribution of “high-quality land” by the shareholders.

Currently, the land allocated for residential use only is worth €1,050 million. Moreover, it has a portfolio of tertiary land (for offices and shopping centres) worth €325 million and it is already developing a 10,000 m2 office building in Madrid.

Meanwhile, Neinor Homes stands out for its asset value and because it has the largest volume of development activity. Last month, the company, led by the investment fund Lone Star, became the first real estate developer to debut on the stock market in a decade. It did so with a portfolio of assets worth €1,120 million, including land with a surface area of more than 1 million m2. The bell first rang on 29 March, with 4,002 homes under construction across 60 developments.

Vía Célere is following a similar strategy to Neinor. The Madrilenian real estate company is set to become one of the large property developers after it was acquired by five funds, led by Värde Partners, and following its merger with its counterpart Dos Puntos. The new Vía Célere has a portfolio of land spanning more than 1 million m2, with 2,494 homes under construction.

Meanwhile, Aedas Homes, with 1.35 million m2 of land and assets worth €1,100 million, has positioned itself as one of the leading players in the sector after just a few months of life. Led by the fund Castlelake and advised by the team at Merlin, Aedas is currently building 1,510 homes. This year, Aedas has set itself the objective of launching 28 developments and continuing to invest in land purchases. (…).

Another one of the new companies aspiring to the throne of the large property developers is Aelca. Created in 2012, the fund Värde owns a 75% stake in this property developer, which, in turn, owns a portfolio of land measuring between 700,000 m2 and 800,000 m2. Aelca currently has 2,200 homes under construction across 43 developments.

Finally, Kronos Homes is, currently, the company with the smallest portfolio of land. Nevertheless, its shareholders (a group of overseas investors) plan to invest €1,000 million before the end of the year purchasing land on which to build 4,000 homes.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Inversis Puts Bancoval’s HQ In Madrid Up For Sale

7 April 2017 – Expansión

Inversis – owned by the Banca March Group – has engaged Deloitte to sell Bancoval’s headquarters – located at number 20 on the Madrilenian street Calle Fernando el Santo – , which runs perpendicular to Paseo de la Castellana, in the heart of the capital’s financial district.

The property has an above ground surface area of almost 2,700 m2 and is seven storeys tall. It also has two underground parking floors covering an additional 700 m2.

The asset is expected to be worth more than €15 million, according to market sources.

The building, constructed in 1967, was renovated in 1998 and received a special mention in the prizes for urban planning, architecture and public works from the Town Hall of Madrid in 1999, in the refurbished building category.

Moreover, the sale and purchase agreement will include a lease contract with Bancoval, which assures the buyer that the tenant will continue to occupy the property.

Investor interest

Inversis, which purchased the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)’ Spanish subsidiary last year – and subsequently renamed it Bancoval – is taking advantage of the boom in the real estate sector and investor interest in the sector, in general, to generate some cash from the sale of a non-strategic asset. (…).

The building that houses Bancoval’s headquarters is expected to spark interest amongst the Socimis, as well as with family offices, property developers and international investors, given its excellent location (in the Almagro district) in one of the most sought-after areas of Madrid, given the shortage of prime products there.

Moreover, this building could be renovated for office or residential use given that it already has licences for both.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake