Tag: Rockspring

Rockspring Buys McCann’s HQ in the 22@ District of Barcelona

25 January 2019 – Expansión

The owner of the Mercadona logistics platform in Sant Esteve Sesrovires is now investing in the office segment in Barcelona.

International investors are continuing to back the office segment in Barcelona to benefit from the boom in demand and the growth in rents that are being recorded in the sector. The latest player to invest is the British fund Rockspring – which has formed part of Patrizia Immobilien since last year – which has purchased an office building located in the 22@ district, the area that is registering the highest demand. The amount of the operation could reach €12 million, according to sources in the sector.

The property, located at number 123 Calle Ciudad de Granada, on the corner with Calle Tánger, was the former headquarters of Laboratorios Kin until that company moved to other offices on La Diagonal. The manufacturer of dental hygiene products, which used to own the property, carried out a comprehensive renovation project, which involved its change of use from industrial to offices, and it put it on the rental market. Savills Aguirre Newman was engaged for its marketing and was also responsible for searching for an investor (…).

In May last year, the property was leased in its entirety to the multi-national advertising company McCann, which left Edificio Planeta and opened its corporate headquarters in 22@, where it occupies a surface area of 3,000 m2.

The useful surface area of the offices amounts to 2,740 m2, spread over four floors measuring 650 m2 each and an attic spanning 140 m2. The rental price agreed with McCann amounts to €16.50/month (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Asian Funds Seek Local Allies to Enter Spanish Real Estate Sector

19 January 2019 – Expansión

Asian investors are joining forces with firms such as UBS, AXA and Savills IM to gain weight in the office, logistics and retail segments, where they still have a limited presence.

Spain has become a key destination for international investors interested in real estate assets, and Asian capital is no stranger to this buying fever that has boosted the sector in the country over the last five years. These investors, who are used to large volume operations, are now trying to gain a foothold in Spain through alliances with large European managers, such as UBS, Rockspring, AXA and Savills Investment Management, which will allow them to participate in smaller-sized operations and enter other sectors such as the office, logistics and retail segments.

The incorporation of new investors, capital funds and Chinese, Japanese and Korean family offices, amongst others, at the hand of the large European managers that are already present in Spain and know the local market well, offers them the possibility of arriving in the country by assuming less risk.

One of the most recent examples is that of the Korean fund manager Igis Asset Management, which, through Savills Investment Management, closed the purchase of Nestlé’s headquarters in Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona) last October for €87 million. That operation followed others such as the purchase of the Madrilenian Zielo Shopping Pozuelo and that of the office building located at number 2 Calle Santa Bárbara, both through funds managed by UBS, in turn, financed by Asian capital, amongst others.

Indirect investment

(…). These alliances followed the trickle of mega-operations undertaken in Spain in recent years. The most significant include the deal involving the Philippine group Emperador, which purchased the Torre Espacio building in Madrid, one of the skyscrapers that forms part of the Cuatro Torres complex, from Villar Mir, for €558 million.

Another operation that revolutionised the market involved the Chinese holding company Wanda, albeit ephemerally, as it had to abandon the project just three years later. The group purchased Edificio España (Madrid) from Banco Santander in 2014 for €265 million and sold it in the summer of 2017 to RIU, its current owner (…).

Those two Asian investors were joined by the sovereign fund of Singapore GIC, which, through the Socimi P3 Logistics Parks, acquired a foothold in the logistics market in Spain, one of the segments with the most potential.

Investors from Asia are therefore one group of overseas players who are committed to the country, but they are not the only ones. According to a report compiled by Savills Aguirre Newman, international capital was the major star in 2018, accounting for 70% of the €10.8 billion transacted, the largest percentage since the start of the market recovery five years ago (…).

By origin, investors from Europe and the USA account for almost 57% of the domestic and international investment total and 85% of the volume of operations from overseas. Asia is ranked in third place (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Patrizia is On The Hunt for New Purchases in Bilbao, Sevilla & Valencia

10 December 2018 – Eje Prime

Patrizia Immobilien is confirming its interest in the Iberian real estate market. The German investment manager, which has been present in Spain and Portugal since 2015, has set itself the short-term objective of entering Bilbao, Sevilla, Valencia and Oporto, through the purchase of new assets, according to comments made by Borja Goday, the Director General of the company in the Iberian Peninsula, speaking to Eje Prime.

Until now, the company has invested €870 million in total in real estate in the Spanish and Portuguese markets. Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga and Lisbon are the cities in which Patrizia is already present, “with minimum investments of €15 million but where that figure could exceed €500 million if the operation is worth it”, explained the executive.

In fact, the manager participated in the process to acquire one of the office buildings that comprise the Cuatro Torres Business Area in Madrid. Moreover, the company not only invests in the office segment, it is also committed to other markets such as the residential, retail, hotel, logistics and alternative asset segments (including student halls, complexes for the elderly and parking spaces).

Currently, Patrizia’s asset portfolio in Spain includes Serrano 90, located on Madrid’s golden mile and Gran Vía 21, also in the Spanish capital, which houses a hotel and a retail premise. Nevertheless, the latest major operation by the manager on the peninsula was the purchase of an industrial plot spanning 66,424 m2 in Toledo for €37.5 million. The other three logistics platforms that the company owns in Spain are located in Madrid and Barcelona.

Patrizia and its great interest in Spanish property

With its headquarters in Madrid and a staff of eleven, Patrizia arrived in Spain just three years ago. “At the end of 2017, we purchased Triuva and Rockspring, two companies that already owned assets on the peninsula”, explained Goday, who added that “the rapid growth of the group in both the Spanish and Portuguese markets is due to those two acquisitions”.

“Spain is still an attractive market, we still have demand and that is why we are launching new operations on such a frequent basis”, said the director. Since the beginning of the year, the manager has been on the hunt for capital from Spanish institutional investors, although, as Goday explains, it is not an easy task, since “they do not invest from one day to the next”.

One of Patrizia’s other plans on the peninsula is to strengthen its presence in the rental market. “It is a segment that we like a lot and for that reason, if we find an appropriate residential or office building, then we would not rule out buying it”, explained the executive. Nor does the group rule out alliances with Socimis or the acquisition of a property developer to grow in the Spanish residential sector. In this sense, Goday says that “a good opportunity has not presented itself yet” and that “it would all depend on the quality and location of the land that they own”.

Patrizia is currently present in more than twenty European countries, including, besides Spain and Portugal, important markets such as Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium and Luxembourg. The group’s main focus of activity is Germany, where it launched its activity 32 years ago and where it is a listed company (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by B. Seijo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

C&W: 50% More Logistics Space Was Leased in Cataluña in Q1

5 April 2018 – Eje Prime

The logistics sector is continuing to let out more and more space. This is shown by the data for the leasing of this type of asset in Cataluña, where demand for logistics space grew by 50% during the first quarter of the year with respect to the same period in 2017. During the 3 months to March, 187,000 m2 of logistics space was leased in the Mediterranean region, according to data from the consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield.

The amount of space leased during the first quarter was also 73% higher than the average quarterly volume for the last five years. In total, 18 transactions were closed in Barcelona alone during the 3-month period, 38% more than the thirteen operations that were signed during the same period a year before, explains Savills Aguirre Newman in a report.

By area, 44% of the operations were completed in the Barcelona and Baix Llobregat regions. Similarly, the volume of logistics space leased also grew in counties such as Vallès, which accounted for 38% of the total demand in Cataluña during the period, and in other areas with logistics activity such as Camp de Tarragona, Penedès and Girona.

Of the operations signed since the start of the year, the rental by the food group Mercadona of 29,000 m2 of logistics space in Sant Esteve Sesrovires (Barcelona) stands out. That plot, located on the Can Margarit industrial estate, is owned by the British fund Rockspring.

In addition, the average size of the space leased during the first quarter grew by 8% to reach between 10,000 m2 and 12,000 m2. According to Gloria Valverde, Director of the Industrial Logistics Area at Savills Aguirre Newman Barcelona, “the number of large operations exceeding 25,000 m2 seems to be in line with the available supply since there are few projects that offer such volume at risk for a single operator”.

Prime rents in Barcelona currently amount to €6.50/m2, which represents a YoY increase of 8%. This increase in rentals is conditioned by the lack of Triple A products, the best quality, and the increase in demand from the main operators, which could cause rents to continue rising over the coming months.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

INBISA Doubled its Logistics & Industrial Construction Volume in 2017 to 250,000 m2

21 March 2018 – Press Release

INBISA Construcción continues to be a national leader in the execution of industrial-logistics projects, exceeding 250,000 m2 of constructed space in 2017, more than double the figure it recorded in 2016.

The team specialising in the Industrial-Logistics operations area is strengthening its organisational structure in order to continue leading high-quality projects and its commitment to clients.

In 2017, INBISA Construcción doubled the volume of constructed square metres built in the logistics and industrial area, taking the total for the year to more than 250,000 m2. That figure added to the company’s historical cumulative total means that it has built more than 1.5 million m2 of space in this sector.

The significant growth of the INBISA group’s construction company, which has historically played an important role in the industrial-logistics area, is happening in the context of clear consolidation in the sector at the national level, especially in Madrid and Barcelona.

INBISA Construcción plans to continue increasing its business volume in this area during 2018, supported by the positive outlook for the market.

Logistics platforms and complexes are products that are continuing to spark interest amongst investors, mostly international players. Large funds are buying logistics land, including even some spaces that exceed 100,000 m2, some with operators and others not, something that was more unusual in previous years (…).

The company’s most recent high-profile logistics projects include those undertaken for BCM in Getafe, for GreenOak and Rockspring in Corredor del Henares, for the Port Authority in Bilbao, for Axiare in Sevilla and for Goodman in Barcelona.

Original story: Press Release

Translation: Carmel Drake

Patrizia Wants to Buy a Property Developer to Become Rental Giant in Spain

8 February 2018 – El Economista

Over the last six months, the German real estate fund manager Patrizia has closed three acquisitions that have turned it into the new property giant in Europe, with assets under management worth around €40 billion.

With a solid structure, the firm is pushing ahead with its plans to grow in Spain through the purchase of a property developer. “A few months ago, we were analysing two operations. We are still looking and would love to close something this year, because we have the funds and the desire”, explained Borja Goday (pictured above), Head of Patrizia Immobilien in Spain, who added that what he is looking for is “a company that is well-balanced in terms of the team and its bank of land”.

“Much of the development that we would be looking to carry out would be focused on homes for rent”, highlighted the director, who added that Patrizia’s objective is to become one of the major players in the rental market in the country.

In fact, the fund manager already has extensive experience in the residential market in some of Europe’s main countries, where it manages the rental of more than 50,000 homes.

In Spain, this business is still emerging, and there are just three large companies operating. “We want to introduce the institutional model that already works so well in other European markets, such as in Germany, and we are backing this segment because we think that the business in Spain will have an institutional base in 10 or 20 years”, explains Goday, who firmly believes that the 23% of the population that currently chooses to rent a home in Spain will grow significantly over the coming years.

Whilst it continues the search for a property developer, the fund manager will take its first steps into the residential rental market in Madrid, where it is finalising the acquisition of a property. “We are also negotiating the purchase of another building, which needs renovating, like we did with our project on Calle Claudio Coello 108, where there is just one home left for sale”, revealed Goday.

Investment strategy

The growth plans of the fund manager, which is finalising the process to integrate Rockspring, Triuva and the Danish firm SPI, are not based solely on the residential market.

“Our portfolio is very diversified, both geographically as well as by asset type, given that we have a presence in the hotel, office, high street retail and logistics segments”, said the director.

Following its recent acquisitions, Patrizia has established a portfolio worth around €1 billion in Spain and is positioning itself as an overseas real estate manager with one of the largest teams in the country, comprising 14 professionals.

“One of the major factors that differentiates Patrizia from other fund managers is that it does not invest in a country unless it has a local team with experience there”, stressed Goday.

“With these three operations, we have doubled our portfolio at the European level and we will now start to look more actively at the shopping centre segment, where we can add value”.

Moreover, the German firm, which works with investors from all over the world, wants to raise Spanish capital. “We are a wonderful partner for institutional investors and family offices who want to get involved in the real estate sector, since we give them the opportunity to also invest in Europe and to do so alongside a listed firm like Patrizia”.

Although the fund manager has doubled its volume of assets, it is committed to maintaining the same profile as always. “We are very comfortable closing operations of between €15 million and €100 million, because we think that that range is very well adapted to the reality of the current supply in the Spanish market”.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Rockspring Leases 29,000 m2 Warehouse in Barcelona to Mercadona

5 February 2018 – Eje Prime

Mercadona is increasing its commitment to the logistics sector. The Valencian food group, which was very active last year, especially in its own autonomous region, has signed a rental agreement with Rockspring to lease a logistics warehouse measuring 29,000 m2 on the outskirts of Barcelona.

Mercadona is going to move into a logistics park in Sant Esteve de Sesrovires that was promoted by the investment fund manager Rockspring and the Goodman group, and which was inaugurated last March.

The asset has granted a Breeam certificate, which guarantees the sustainability of the warehouse and that its construction was undertaken in accordance with respect for the environment. According to Business Inmo, the property will be occupied in its entirety by the Spanish food distribution company.

This operation strengthens the commitment of the company led by Juan Roig to extend and renew its logistics portfolio. A few days ago, the group announced that it is going to invest €80 million on the expansion of its technological centre in Valencia. Also in its home region, last October, Mercadona signed the purchase of the largest plot in Parc Sagunt, after acquiring a logistics space measuring 358,270 m2.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Amazon’s Rise Boosts Logistics Leasing In Madrid

12 July 2017 – Cinco Días

Amazon has become the indisputable star of the new wave of expansion being seen in the logistics real estate sector in Spain. By way of example, in the last six months, the US e-commerce giant has starred in two of the largest operations in the sector. The first, involving a warehouse measuring 34,000 m2 in Martorelles (Barcelona) and the second, the largest during H1, in Getafe (Madrid), where it has leased 58,125 m2 of space in total (…).

According to the consultancy firm JLL, the volume of space leased in Madrid, including this deal, has doubled in one year in terms of square metres, to exceed 380,000 m2. Meanwhile, Barcelona continues at the same high rate seen in 2015 and 2016.

“In Madrid, a significant amount of demand has been contained in the market – it was forecast in previous years and has now flourished”, explained Pere Morcillo, Director of Industrial and Logistics at JLL. “All of the large users of logistics space were aware that their warehouses had very high occupancy rates and that the need for new space was imminent”, he added. Another reason is the economic dynamism in the country, after the hard years of crisis, together with the new models of consumption.

“The record level is due to the growth of the Spanish economy, which is based on the growth of exports and domestic consumption, as well as on imports and the growth of online businesses”, said Luis Lázaro, Director of Logistics at the Socimi Merlin Properties.

It is precisely these listed real estate investment companies (Socimi), created from 2014 onwards, and international funds, that have provided the sector with the necessary investment to undertake new projects to construct logistics warehouses. (…). According to the head of JLL: “We have seen Socimis such as Lar and Axiare, and in particular, Merlin, enter the market to buy land. Their logistics investment objectives are so ambitious that they are having to create the stock that didn’t exist before to be able to incorporate it into their portfolios”.

Besides the Socimis, funds such as P3 Logistics Parks, Rockspring, GreenOak, Logicor (sold by Blackstone to China Investment) have starred in the majority of the transactions and new developments seen in Spain in recent months.

Indeed, P3 Logistics will be responsible for Amazon’s macro turn-key project in Illescas (Toledo), a plan that should see the light within the next few weeks with the award of the work tender.

Data from the consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) also reflects the record investment in Madrid. “Logistics operators are responding to a general climate of major activity in consumption and industrial production”, says the report issued by the consultancy. “The new lease contracts are focusing on the first and third rings (around Madrid). Parcel distributors are active in the first ring, primarily in Getafe and San Fernando. Meanwhile, in the third ring, operators are looking for large spaces (spanning more than 20,000 m2) with good locations for high volume logistics. In this segment of the market, the rental price plays a key role”.

This ring contains several key sites, such as Cabanillas del Campo, on the A-2 motorway close to Guadalajara. Similarly, Illescas, on the A-42, which is starting to establish itself through the Amazon project and other warehouses, such as those leased to Toyota and Michelin. In Cataluña, C&W highlights the sites at Camp de Tarragona and Vallès Oriental, which account for two-thirds of the space leased in Barcelona’s area of influence.

In terms of forecasts, the director at Merlin believes that the trend in the logistics sector will continue to be positive. (…).

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Lar Buys A Shopping Centre & 22 Eroski Stores From Rockspring For €111M

29 March 2017 – Inmodiario

The Socimi Lar is continuing to build up its collection of assets. It has spent €111 million buying the Parque Abadía shopping complex in Toledo and a portfolio of 22 Eroski stores, from the British fund Rockspring. It has completed these purchases entirely using its own funds, just one week after securing bank financing amounting to €104 million.

Parque Abadía, which Lar has purchased for a price of €63.1 million, is the largest retail space in Castilla-La Mancha, with a gross leasable area of 54,100 m2 – of which 37,114 m2 forms the subject of the transaction – and currently has an occupancy rate of 100%. It is the most iconic retail complex in the area, with retailers of the calibre of Alcampo, Media Markt, Decathlon, Leroy Merlin and Kiabi.

The location of Parque Abadía is another one of the asset’s strong points. Specifically, it is located on the motorway between Madrid and Toledo, which makes it highly visible and means that it can be accessed very easily. Parque Abadía is just ten minutes away from Toledo’s city centre and more than 300,000 people live within half an hour of the shopping centre by car.

Meanwhile, the 22 stores that Lar has purchased for €47.6 million are completely occupied and operated by the Eroski Group. They have a combined surface area of 28,822 m2 and the portfolio is very diversified from a geographical perspective.

Ten of the stores are located in the País Vasco – the area in which the retailer has its highest market share -, seven are located in the Balearic Islands, two in Navarra, another two in Cantabria and one in La Rioja.

The incorporation of these assets into Lar’s portfolio is allowing it to grow in the retail asset space. It now owns more than €1,000 million retail assets, which account for 75% of the Socimi’s total assets.

Lar owns 31 real estate assets, whose value amounts to €1,385.7 million, of which €1,072.4 million correspond to 16 retail spaces located in Madrid, Toledo, the Balearic Islands, La Rioja, Vigo, Valencia, Sevilla, Alicante, Cantabria, Lugo, León, Vizcaya, Navarra, Guipúzcoa, Palencia, Albacete and Barcelona.

Original story: Inmodiario 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Amazon Revolutionises The Logistics Sector

9 February 2017 – Expansión

The boom in e-commerce and the arrival of the large distribution giants, like Amazon, have caused a genuine tsunami in the real estate market and in the way we understand logistics. Logistics assets – which were, until recently, the ugly duckling of the sector – have really blossomed and now represent one of the investment segments with most potential, given their risk-return relationship, according to the experts.

Operators are increasingly looking for more large logistics warehouses on the outskirts of cities, which they combine with distribution centres situated on ring-roads to make deliveries on time and on budget.

“The effect is a reflection of new consumer habits and online purchases, as well as of consumer expectations, which require products to arrive on time and to be easily returnable (inverse logistics)”, explains Antonio Montero, Director of the Industrial-Logistics business at Aguirre Newman.

Alberto Larrazábal, National Director of Industrial and Logistics at CBRE, said that there has been an increase in the e-commerce market. “Operators are increasingly demanding more logistics and distribution space. In Madrid and Barcelona, 400,000 m2 and 700,000 m2 of space was leased, respectively, in 2016 and e-commerce accounted for 25% of those amounts.

Javier García-Mateos, Partner in Financial Advisory at Deloitte said that “retailers are starting to use their own establishments in cities as logistics and distribution points for e-commerce”.

García-Mateos also said that there is greater demand for the development of cross-docking warehouses (which reduce the time needed for logistics operations and which can be adapted to the needs of e-commerce) in the vicinity of the main urban nuclei. (…).

“Logistics spaces are moving increasingly closer to cities, there are even warehouses inside city centres. These are points where companies can serve their customers in the fastest and most effective way”, said Luis Guardia, Director of the Logistics and Industrial Area at JLL.

Guardia also explained that the major department stores are also committed to opening “regional hubs” to get closer to the major urban nuclei.

Development activity

In terms of investment, Larrazábal considers that the logistics and industrial sectors are becoming more fashionable by the day. “Large funds and private investors will end up acquiring these assets”, he said.

Over the last three years, investment volumes have grown considerably, to reach more than €800 million last year.

One example of this investor appetite is Merlin’s purchase of Saba Parques Logísticos – the company that groups together Saba’s stakes in five parks – for €115 million.

“The logistics market is interesting as it allows the Socimis to diversify and add new assets to their portfolio that generate returns not afforded by the other assets at the moment”, said García-Mateos. Other operators that are committed to this market include Logicor (Blackstone), Zaphir, Prologis, Rockspring, GreenOak and the joint venture between Colony and Neinver.

In the same way, experts indicate that development activity has resumed. “Developers and investors know that there is latent demand in high quality logistics assets and this is encouraging them to buy land and build assets”, said Montero

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake