Tag: retail complex

Lar España has already Leased 60% of Palmas Altas Shopping & Leisure Centre (Sevilla)

17 May 2018 – Inmodiario

Palmas Altas is progressing well. More than 60% of the gross leasable area (GLA) in the shopping and family leisure complex, which is owned by Lar España, has already been leased. Specifically, agreements have now been signed to occupy 50 stores, which span 42,581 m2. The shopping centre will have 100,000 m2 of retail and family leisure space in total and comprise almost 150 stores.

The Socimi expects to lease more than 90% of the complex by the end of 2018. Lar España forecasts that Palmas Altas will generate annual rental income of around €15 million from the lease of its stores.

Those who visit Palmas Altas will find an extensive offering of leisure, fashion, household goods, restaurants and entertainment at Sevilla’s largest retail and leisure complex. That will be complemented with public spaces and a lake spanning 6,000 m2. Specifically, 60% of the total surface area will be dedicated to commercial space and 40% to restaurants, leisure, sports and green space.

Lar España has reached agreements with major brands, such as Mercadona, which will manage the complex’s hypermarket, and MediaMarkt, which will open a large store dedicated to the sale of household appliances, IT products and consumer electronics. The leisure offer will include Yelmo’s latest generation cinema screens and an Urban Planet space measuring 3,000 m2, which will include a wind tunnel and aquatic activities around the lake, amongst other options.

In the restaurant area, highlights will include Five Guys, McDonalds, 100 Montaditos, Starbucks and Friday’s, as well as several Andalucian operators. The fashion brands that have already confirmed their presence in Palmas Altas include Primark, Levis, Jack & Jones, Diechmann and Foot Locker (…).

Progress of the construction work

The work to build Palmas Altas, which began in August 2017, has already completed the foundation phase (…). In total, almost 30% of the project has been finished.

The Palmas Altas project will result in the creation of 4,800 jobs. Of those, 1,500 are related to the construction of the retail complex and the remaining 3,300 will be permanent jobs. This represents a significant wake-up call for the economy and creation of jobs in Sevilla: in fact, Lar España prioritises the contracting of local suppliers for the construction and maintenance of its assets.

The total investment in the development of this commercial and family leisure complex will amount to €250 million, which represents the largest urban planning investment in the city in the last decade and the Socimi’s most valuable asset to date.

Original story: Inmodiario

Translation: Carmel Drake

Town Hall of Córdoba Approves New Shopping Centre

20 December 2017 – Eje Prime

The Town Hall of Córdoba has authorised the installation of a large retail space, with an investment of €30 million, after three years of paperwork.

Rabanales 21 has finally been given the green light to open a shopping centre on its site. Rabanales Plaza could finally become a reality after three years of paperwork and institutional obstacles. On Tuesday, the plenary session of the Town Hall of Córdoba approved a change to the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU), which will allow the installation of a commercial complex in the Cordoban technological park, according to ABC Sevilla.

In total, €30 million will be invested in Rabanales Plaza, which is expected to generate 400 new jobs. The plot for the new complex spans 18,000 m2. The owners of the complex tried to build a commercial business in the city in 2015, on the Las Quemadas plots, but the crisis put an end to that venture.

Now, and after the technological estate filed for creditor pre-bankruptcy in February, the Town Hall has accepted the opening of a new retail centre, for whose land Rabanales 21 will receive €1.5 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Real IS Returns to Spain With Purchase of Terrassa Plaça

12 December 2017 – Eje Prime

Real IS is returning to Spain with the acquisition of an asset that has only just opened. The German investment fund has reached an agreement with the property developer Citygrove to purchase Terrassa Plaça, a retail complex on the outskirts of Barcelona that was opened just over a month ago. It is the first property that the German company has acquired on its return to the country, where it used to invest before the crisis. To this end, the company has recently opened an office in Madrid, with the aim of expanding its asset portfolio in the country, according to a statement issued by the company.

The operation, whose amount has not been disclosed, involves a complex with a gross leasable area (GLA) of 29,466 m2. Inside, Terrassa Plaça is home to brands such as Sprinter, Gifi, Globo and the restaurant chain La Tagliatella, amongst others.

Real IS has a presence in five European countries. For this deal, it has been advised by Savills on the real estate side and by the law firm Monereo Meyer Marinel-Lo, on the legal side.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Corpfin Buys 2 Retail Premises in Madrid & Vitoria

11 December 2017 – Eje Prime

The Socimi Corpfin is continuing to add new assets to its portfolio. The company, through its vehicles Corpfin Capital Prime Retail II Socimi and Corpfin Capital Prime Retail III Socimi, has purchased two retail premises in Madrid and Vitoria, according to a statement issued by the company.

At the end of November, Corpfin formalised the purchase of a store located at number 15 Calle Posats in Vitoria. The acquisition of that asset involved an investment of €1.06 million.

In Madrid, the company has also grown its portfolio of retail assets. In September, the Socimi acquired the store at number 68 Calle Velázquez from Banco de Madrid. That operation, whose consideration has not been disclosed, was formalised through a mortgage with CaixaBank and the company’s own funds.

Corpfin Capital Prime Retail Assets Socimi operates with the vehicles CCPR II Socimi and CCPRIII Socimi, raised in 2013 and 2014, respectively, with an estimated lifespan of between six and seven years.

According to the company, “the two vehicles will invest in around fifteen assets, with a maximum investment amount per asset equivalent to 15% of the total of the funds”. “The forecast combined total investment is €100 million, split between CCPR II, with €30 million and CCPR III, with €20 million, and a target leverage rate of 50%.

Moreover, the company also operates in the real estate sector through its vehicle CCPR Retail Parks. That fund specialises in retail assets, primarily retail parks, involving a high management component. According to the group, the estimated diversified investment for that fund is between twelve and fourteen operations, with an average investment volume of €3 million per operation, including land, capex, acquisition costs and marketing. To date, the fund has committed half of its planned investment.

Corpfin’s most recent operations through CPRP have involved the purchase of a plot measuring 4,345 m2 from the General Foundation of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. For now, Corpfin has signed a contract to open an Aldi supermarket on that site, which will occupy a surface area of more than 1,200 m2 and which will be that chain’s first establishment in the municipality. The remaining land is still being marketed.

Other operations carried out by the fund are the Las Moruchas Retail Park in Ávila, inaugurated in June 2016, and the construction of a new retail complex in Alcorcón (Madrid), which is currently under development.

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

C&W: RE Inv’t In Retail Sector Exceeded €4,300M In 2016

2 February 2017 – Finanzas

Real estate investment in the retail sector – commercial assets – in Spain exceeded €4,300 million in 2016, up by 22% compared to the previous year, thanks to the completion of 45 operations, according to the Marketbeat Retail España report, compiled by the real estate consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield.

The study indicates that much of this investment came from overseas investors, particularly in the case of shopping centres.

Nevertheless, overall, domestic capital increased to account for 67% of financing in 2016, compared to 8% in 2007, due to the rise of the Socimis.

The CEO of Cushman & Wakefield in Spain, Oriol Barrachina, said that retail is one of the “clearest” indications that the market has become globalised.

Moreover, Barrachina commented on the need to increase “transformation” and “diversification” to generate wealth “in other neighbourhoods”.

In relation to retail complexes, the report indicated that they covered a total surface area of 16.8 million m2 – 66% of the total “stock” – spread across 672 locations.

More specifically, shopping centres covered a surface area of more than 11 million m2, with the addition of 175,000 m2 in 2016.

Regarding this year, the Director of Retail Leasing at Cushman & Wakefield in Spain, Cristina Pérez, highlighted the “positive trend” expected in the sector, thanks to the construction of another 100,000 m2 of space, with two centres in Madrid (Sambil and Plaza Río 2) and another one in Barcelona (phase 2 of Glòries).

In terms of retail parks in Spain, the supply now exceeds the European average, with a total surface area of 2.8 million m2.

In terms of high street premises, the head of the area, Robert Travers, explained that it has reached “historical highs”, thanks to the improvement in the economy, growth in tourism and rising consumer confidence.

Moreover, Travers noted that the luxury sector is suffering from a “major” change, following “eight years of euphoria”, due to the effect if terrorism, concerns over the Asian markets and a rise in taxes in China.

In this sense, the Head of High Street confirmed that the growth in luxury stores in Spain is going to be “moderate”.

Cushman & Wakefield’s report also contains information about the boom in e-commerce – which has grown globally by30% since 2007 – and its effect on the real estate sector.

Pérez underlined that it is now necessary “to offer a different social experience” to get “people out of the house” and visiting shopping centres in person.

The Head of Retail Leasing acknowledged that 77% of Spain’s shopping centres “need some kind of improvement”, including modifications to bring them closer to the e-commerce segment.

Original story: Finanzas

Translation: Carmel Drake

Lar España Invests €250M In Mega Retail Complex In Sevilla

17 November 2016 – Expansión

Yesterday, the Socimi Lar España Real Estate presented its largest investment project to date, which will be built in Sevilla. The project will involve the construction of the Palmas Altas retail and leisure complex, which will be built on a plot of land measuring 123,500 m2 in the Andalucian capital. It will create 3,300 jobs in total, with a further 1,500 jobs during the construction phase.

The company expects the construction work at the site, which is located next to the district of Los Bermejales in the south of the city, to take approximately two years, which means that the largest shopping centre in the city, and one of the largest in Andalucía, will likely open in the spring of 2019. (…).

Almost two hundred brands have already said they want to open stores in the future shopping centre, the design of which prioritises sustainability and accessibility, according to its developers. The commercial and leisure area will cover 100,000 m2 of the plot, and will have space for 150 retail units, cinemas, green areas and restaurant spaces with various cuisines on offer, as well as children’s playgrounds, look outs, and a 6,000 m2 lake for recreational use, sporting activities and cultural events. (…).

The Socimi Lar España currently owns 26 real estate assets, worth €1,201 million in total. Of those, €901 million correspond to the fourteen shopping centres that the group owns in 13 provincial capitals all over Spain, including Madrid and Barcelona. It also owns four office buildings in those two cities, worth €168 million.

Original story: Expansión (by Nacho González)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Belgian Fund Ascencio Finalises Purchase Of Parque Abadía

8 November 2016 – Expansión

The Spanish real estate market is starting to welcome new players. After two years during which opportunistic funds and Spanish Socimis have been responsible for the lion’s share of investment operations, 2016 has seen several institutional investors and companies enter the market.

Such is the case of Ascencio. The listed Belgian real estate company (SIR, according to its French acronym), which specialises in well-located commercial assets with first-rate tenants, has decided to place its focus on Spain.

After years focusing on the Belgian market (where 62% of its assets are located) and France (which accounts for 33% of its portfolio), Ascencio arrived in Spain in March with the purchase of three premises in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona, leased to the chain Worten, owned by the Sonae group. In this first operation, Ascencio spent €27.3 million, a figure that it is going to almost triple with its second transaction in Spain, given that the Belgian firm is the favourite to buy the Parque Abadía retail complex in Toledo.

Parque Abadía, which has a surface area of 64,000 m2, is the most important retail establishment in the province. With a retail surface area covering more than 54,000 m2, its main tenants include Alcampo, Decathlon, Media Markt, C&A, Conforama, Kiabi, Merkal and Norauto. Leroy Merlin also operates and owns a store in the complex, which has a surface area of more than 9,000 m2.

Inaugurated in November 2011, the retail complex has 2,680 parking spaces. Last year, Parque Abadía received more than six million visitors, and that figure is expected to be even higher in 2016.

Several investment funds and Socimis have expressed their interest in the property. Nevertheless, Ascencio’s offer, amounting to €80 million, is the best positioned, say sources close to the process.

The vendor is the British fund Rockspring, which has been focusing its investments in Spain on logistics centres in recent months, including the purchase of assets as well as the development of new establishments.

The sale of Parque Abadía is expected to be closed before the end of the year, according to sources in the market. Ascencio currently has funds amounting to €600 million to invest in the three European markets in which it has a presence, and has named Spain as its primary focus.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Lar Buys 3 Stores In A Pamplonese Retail Park For €8.45M

27 July 2015 – Mis Locales

Savills, one of the leading international real estate consultancy firms has advised Värde Partners on the sale of three stores in the Parque Galaria retail park in Pamplona.

The most important operators in the province are located in this retail complex, which includes brands such as Media Markt, Leroy Merlin, Conforama and Kiaba, as well as the E.Leclerc hypermarket and the La Morea shopping centre, which is regarded as one of the 20 best shopping centres in Spain with tenants such as Primark, Zara, H&M, C&A, Cortefiel and a 12-screen cinema.

Salvador González, Head of Retail Investment at Savills, said that “this transaction forms part of Värde Partners’ strategy to divest its non-strategic assets, and also gives Grupo Lar the opportunity to increase its portfolio of retail premises, whereby raising its profil in the retail park sector”.

Original story: Mis Locales

Translation: Carmel Drake