Tag: sales price

Green Oak Sells a Batch of 5 Assets in Madrid for €74M

21 January 2019 – Eje Prime

Green Oak is divesting assets in Spain. The US fund manager specialising in real estate has disposed of a batch of five office buildings in Madrid, for which it has received €74.3 million in total, almost €9 million more than the appraisal value of the properties. The five assets formed part of the portfolio of Gore Spain Holdings, the Socimi owned by Green Oak, which has been listed on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) since January 2017.

Last Thursday, Green Oak formalised the sale of 100% of the company Inversiones Pukaki, through which it controlled four office buildings in the Avalon Business Park. Barings acquired those properties for €57.8 million in total, although the valuation of the buildings amounted to €47.2 million as at December 2017.

Green Oak had owned the four buildings in Avalon, a complex located at number 65 Calle Santa Leonor, since July 2015. The buildings sold to Barings (which owns 100% of the park following the operation) have surface areas of 3,671 m2, 5,077 m2, 6,304 m2 and 6,119 m2, respectively, amounting to 21,172 m2 in total.

GreenOak purchased this batch of assets from Banco Santander for around €40 million. According to data provided by Green Oak, the valuation of the properties was revised at €47 million on 31 December 2017, on the basis of an appraisal compiled by CBRE.

The US fund manager has divested another asset, also included in the portfolio of Gore Spain Holdings. On Friday, the company signed the sale of the company Inversiones Malvinas, through which it controlled another office building, located in Alcobendas.

The company has divested the property located at number 7 Avenida Bruselas of the Madrilenian municipality for €16.5 million. The valuation of that asset amounted to €18.26 million as at 31 December 2017, based on an appraisal also performed by CBRE.

That asset has a gross leasable area of 6,361 m2 spread over six floors. The building, constructed in 2002, also has three underground floors for parking and is home to five tenants (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by P. Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Atlético de Madrid Expects to Close the Sale of the Calderón Plots in Early 2019

20 November 2018 – Eje Prime

Atlético de Madrid is proof of the importance that property can have when it comes to financing activity. The football club has decided to take out a mortgage backed by the Wanda Metropolitano stadium to secure its €200 million refinancing with Inbursa, the financial entity controlled by Carlos Slim, according to reports from Palco 23. The intention of the Board of Directors is to convert that debt into a long-term liability and obtain better conditions than those signed when the financing plan for the new stadium was modified. In parallel, the club is preparing the sale of the plots of land on the site of the Vicente Calderón, scheduled for the beginning of 2019.

The €200 million refinancing plan and the sale of the plots alongside the Manzanares River are closely linked. Two years ago, the Mexican bank offered the financing necessary to finish the building work at the Wanda Metropolitano, after FCC, the construction group that it also controls, refused to charge for its service through the delivery of units for urban development at the Vicente Calderón.

The contract allowed the parties to cancel the loan with the sale of the plot or with the payment of annual instalments for four seasons, which made the repayment of the loan very short term, in the middle of the expansion of the sports area. In the end, the club has committed to extend the term and so the liquidity injection that will result from the sale of the Calderón will not be used to repay the debt, but rather to make more resources available for the club’s daily operations, as well as for new projects and to access to the transfer market,  if necessary.

Sources at the club indicate that the second real estate operation will probably not be signed until next year, after the municipal government of Madrid failed to provide its definitive approval of the urban planning project until last week. “We think that the uses will be converted into plots and registered in the name of the club at the beginning of 2019, which is when we will proceed with the sale”, they said.

Obtaining all of the permits is the guarantee that the property developers will be able to undertake their projects without any problems. The definitive plan establishes 33,339 m2 for residential use, with a buildability of 132,344 m2; of that capacity, 13,234 m2 in total will be reserved for social housing properties. Tertiary use land will span 14,705 m2, with 13,893 m2 for public amenities and just over 73,000 m2 for green space and others.

The new owners will have to assume the urbanisation costs of €42.22 million, including the €22 million required for the demolition of the former Atléti stadium, without affecting the M-30 road, which passes under one of the stands. It is unknown whether the football club and the Mahou brewery or the future owners will assume that price, and what impact that will have on the final sales price (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by M. Menchen)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Paraguayan Magnate Buys Luxury Development on c/General Oráa 9

8 April 2018 – El Confidencial

A new Latin American investor has entered Spain’s luxury residential market. The person in question is Carlos Gill Ramírez, a businessman who was born in Paraguay and who also has Venezuelan citizenship. He has just purchased the high-end development at c/General Oráa 9 in Madrid from Platinum Estates, according to sources.

This sale is the first divestment that the Asian fund has carried out in Spain and forms part of the asset rotation policy that it has launched for its first Spanish fund, to focus on raising and investing €500 million in its new vehicle.

For Gill, this acquisition represents the first step in his growth plans in the country, where he has constituted the company Sari Holdco with a view to continuing to star in operations that will allow him to create his own real estate empire. Uría has represented the Latin American businessman in the purchase of General Oráa and Garrigues has represented Platinum, whilst Engel & Volkers has acted as the advisor.

Having obtained all of the necessary authorisations from the Town Hall of Madrid, construction of this luxury development is almost 70% complete. It will allow the transformation of this building, dating back to 1926, into 10 high-end homes, measuring between 348 m2 and 409 m2 each, plus two penthouses measuring 500 m2, with 250 m2 dedicated to a solarium and private swimming pool. The sales prices range between €3.6 million and €10 million per home.

Since Platinum acquired this development from the Catalan firm Renta, four years ago, it has always been said that it would be aimed at Latin American buyers interesting in owning a home in the Salamanca neighbourhood. Nevertheless, nobody imagined that a businessman from the other side of the Atlantic would also end up taking over the entire project, with the objective of finishing the construction work and putting it on the market.

Industrial wealth

Born in Paraguay, in July 1956, aged just six, Carlos Gill moved with his family to Venezuela, where he ended up being an honorary counsel for his native country. After studying Dentistry at the Central University of Venezuela, the businessman participated in important restructurings such as those of Banco Unión, Mercedes-Benz Venezuela, Grupo Corimón, Banco Capital, Banco Canarias de Venezuela and Bancentro Banco Comercial.

He is currently the President of Grupo Corimón, a Venezuelan corporation that operates in the paint, chemical product and flexible packaging sectors. The firm claims to be the largest conglomerate of its kind on the entire sub-continent and its shares are listed on the Caracas Stock Exchange.

Moreover, four years ago, Gill purchased a controlling share of Ferroviaria Oriental, the company that operates the railways in the east of Bolivia and, months later, he did the same with the country’s western network, by acquiring Ferroviaria Andina from the Chilean firm Luksic. Recent operations include his purchase of Bridgestone Firestone Venezuela.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Union Investment Puts Marsans’ Former HQ up for Sale

16 January 2018 – Expansión

The fund Union Investment, which is headquartered in Frankfurt, has decided to cash in one of its most high profile real estate assets in Spain.

The firm has put the Edificio Pórtico in Madrid up for sale. Designed by the architecture studios SOM and Rafael de La-Hoz, this office building is leased in its entirety to several companies including Pullmantur, Redexis Gas, Nautalia, Beam España and Pepsico, amongst others. Nevertheless, it is well-known because it housed the headquarters of the tourist group Marsans for several years. The company created by Gerardo Díaz and Gonzalo Pascual purchased the property in 2009 from Hines and Monthisa for an amount that was never disclosed. Years later, Marsans reached an agreement with Union Investment to sell the building for €115 million through a sale & leaseback contract, whereby the tourist group remained as the tenant paying a monthly rent of more than €700,000.

A year later, Marsans received an eviction notice due to the non-payment of the rent, and it abandoned the property in 2011 once it had filed for liquidation. The departure of its main tenant did not represent a problem for Union Investment, which soon found replacements.

Currently, the building, which has a gross leaseable area (GLA) of 27,000 m2 spread over eight floors, is leased in its entirety. That, together with the quality of the property and the stamp of two recognised architecture studios, raises its appeal in the market.

For the sale, the German fund has engaged the real estate consultancy CBRE, which has already started to reach out to the usual investors in the office market in Madrid. The sales price amounts to around €130 million, say sources in the know, and the operation is expected to be closed during the first half of this year.

Investment in offices in Spain amounted to €2.21 billion in 2017, according to JLL, down by 20% compared to the previous year.

Lack of supply

That decrease was much more marked in Madrid, which although continued to lead the investment market in Spain, with investment of €1.374 billion, suffered a decrease of 38% in 2017 with respect to the previous year.

“Nevertheless, that reduction was not due to a decrease in investor interest, but rather a lack of supply, given that the two previous years saw record figures”, explains Borja Ortega, Director of Capital Markets at JLL (…).

Meanwhile, Union Investment is one of the largest investment fund managers in Germany. In Spain, its recent operations include the sale of the Área Sur shopping centre, located in the Cadiz town of Jerez, which it sold last year to a joint venture controlled by Axa IM-Real Assets and the Portuguese real estate company Sonae Sierra for €110 million. At the global level, the German firm manages assets worth more than €250 billion.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Axiare Sells its First Building for €30M

20 December 2017 – El Economista

Axiare Patrimonio has sold the building located at number 15 on Calle Fernando El Santo in Madrid to a domestic investor for €30 million. The company had held this asset in its portfolio for three years, as required by the law governing Socimis.

According to a statement issued by the firm on Wednesday, the sales price represents an increase of 82% with respect to the acquisition price and a 5% increase compared to the most recent valuation, dated June 2017.

This prime property, which houses the headquarters of the Argentinian Embassy and Consulate is located next to the current residence of the Argentinian ambassador to Spain.

The building’s façade dates back to the era of its construction and the property comprises six storeys, with a total surface area of 3,254 m2 and 42 underground parking spaces.

The CEO of Axiare Patrimonio, Luis López de Herrera-Oria, said that his company’s first divestment “represents a clear success story for Axiare Patrimonio. Moreover, the sales price is further evidence that the market values our active management strategy very highly”.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake

First 100,000 m2 Of Land at Vigo’s new Logistics Platform Will Be Sold for €50/m2

28 November 2017 – Inmodiario

The councillor for Infrastructure and Housing at the Xunta de Galicia, Ethel Vázquez, has attended a meeting held by the Commission for the Monitoring of the Industrial Logistics Platform in Salvaterra-As Neves (PLISAN), where it was agreed that the tender to sell the plots contained therein should be convened before the end of the year. An incentive will be offered to entice buyers: the first 100,000 m2 of land will be sold at a discounted price of €50/m2.

At the meeting, which was also attended by other representatives from the Xunta, as well as from the Port Authority and the Free Trade Zone Consortium of Vigo, it was also agreed that the companies that sign up to PLISAN will be able to access the land with surface rights equal to the conditions applied to parks by the Xunta. They are awarded for 30 years, extendable for another 30 years, with an annual fee of 1.5% of the sales price during the first 2 years, and the option to request an initial 1-year grace period; then, 2.5% during the next 2 years; and 3.5% from the fifth year onwards.

Moreover, the attendees at the meeting agreed to start the creation of a management company for the future maintenance of the facilities at the logistics platform. Vázquez Mourelle said that in terms of work, the construction of the general systems has now been completed.

The councillor specified that the activity, which required investment of €11 million, involved the construction of the roads, lighting and pipework necessary for the supply, sanitation, electricity, gas and telecommunications systems, which will serve all of the companies that set up shop on the plots in the PLISAN area.

In terms of the construction of the sewage treatment plant, the plans and construction were awarded together, for a combined amount of more than €3 million. The plans are now being drawn up and the construction work is expected to begin in 2018.

The councillor said that the administrative procedures for the sewage treatment plant will continue to move ahead in parallel, given that the start of the construction work has now been authorised and the cost will be covered by the Galician Building Institute (Instituto Galego da Vivenda el Solo). In this way, in December, the tender will be published for execution during 2018, with an investment of around €6.3 million.

At the meeting, a decision was also taken to approve the tender for the urbanisation of the logistics-business area that the Free Trade Zone Consortium of Vigo is going to build. Technical approval is currently being processed for the project to develop 400,000 m2 of land, work that will require the investment of more than €12 million. Like in the case of the water purification plant, the plan is for the contract for the construction work in the logistics-business area to begin in December, and for the work itself to be carried out in 2018.

Original story: Inmodiario

Translation: Carmel Drake

Torreal, KKR & ProA May Force La Caixa To Sell 100% Of Saba

10 November 2017 – Expansión

The European parking lot market is at boiling point. Following the sale of Empark earlier this year to the Australian fund Macquarie, now comes the turn of Saba, the other Spanish leader in the sector, controlled by Criteria (La Caixa). According to financial sources consulted, the firms KKR, Torreal and ProA, which together own 49% of the company, have resumed the plan to sell their shares. Unlike in previous processes, on this occasion, the conversations with investors revolve around the sale of 100% of the company, given that, by agreement between the shareholders, they may force La Caixa to sell its controlling 50.1% stake.

According to preliminary estimates, the valuation of the company could reach €1,150 million. Until last December, the company’s financial debt amounted to €545 million. Sources at Saba declined to comment on the news.

The parking lot group closed 2016 with turnover of €222 million, compared to €225 million in 2015, when its revenues still reflected income from its logistics parks. The company, a spin-off of Abertis, constituted in 2011, obtained an EBITDA of €103 million and earned €4 million from its ordinary activity in 2016 (€32 million with the gains from the sale of its logistics business to the Socimi Merlin).

Two hundred thousand parking spaces

The group manages 195,000 parking spaces across Spain, Chile, Portugal and Italy and employs 1,400 people. Its last major operation was the contract it won in 2014, with a bid amounting to €234 million, to manage the parking lots in Barcelona through a joint venture with the city’s Town Hall.

Potential buyers for Saba include the large investment funds that specialise in infrastructures. Sources in the market say that the investment firm Arcus, which manages a portfolio of assets worth €17,000 million, is looking at this opportunity. KKR, Saba’s third-largest shareholder, purchased the parking lots of the Dutch firm Q-Park earlier this year for almost €3,000 million. Meanwhile, Ardian and Predica also put the French market leader Indigo up for sale this year; that company has strong interests in Spain and is worth around €3,000 million.

There have been other smaller transactions in Spain, such as the agreement signed by Oak Hill to acquire Isolux’s best parking lots and the sale of Parkia to First State for €300 million.

Saba, which is chaired by Salvador Alemany, suffered a major setback this summer after losing the bid for Empark. The parking lot group, whose vocation since its constitution has been to make its debut on the stock market, had wanted to absorb Empark to acquire critical mass for its stock market debut. But its offer was lower than the one presented by the Australians, which, according to the market, bid around €900 million.

Following that setback, the minority shareholders have reactivated the sales plan. Specifically, the shareholders’ agreement lapses in November and the funds have a drag along clause to force the other shareholders to sell. The timeframe for looking for interested investors runs until May 2018 and if Criteria does not want to sell, then it has the right of first refusal to buy the shares that it does not control at the same price agreed with the investor (…).

Original story: Expansión (by C. Morán, I. Abril and M. Ponce de León)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Realia & Pryconsa Buy Two Plots Of Land From Ministry Of Defence

5 October 2017 – Expansión

The incessant drip feeding of operations in Madrid involving the purchase of land on which to build homes is continuing. In this case, the stars have been the real estate companies Realia, controlled by Carlos Slim, and Pryconsa, owned by the Colomer family. The plots were put up for sale by the Ministry of Defence in July for a combined sum of €40 million.

The first is a plot for residential use, located on the outskirts of Alcalá de Henares. Measuring 14,395 m2 and with a buildable surface area of 44,755 m2, the asking price amounted to €27 million, according to the real estate portal Addmeet. In the end, Realia paid €27.524 million for the plot.

The second plot sparked even more interest. Located in Vicálvaro and measuring 13,723m2, it has a buildable surface area of 19,000 m2. The Ministry of Defence put that plot up for sale for €12.6 million. In the end, the plot was awarded to Pryconsa for more than €15.12 million, almost 20% more than the original asking price.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Investors Are Buying More Homes Than Ever

12 September 2017 – El Mundo

House and rental prices are experiencing a robust increase, which means a perfect combination for the yield on homes to grow and the residential market to attract investors. In this context, according to the XXV Housing Market Report prepared by the Tecnocasa Group and the Universidad Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 28.7% of the second-hand house purchases closed during the first quarter of 2017 were made for investment purposes.

In fact, the volume of investors buying homes is higher than ever recorded by Tecnocasa and has almost doubled since 2013 (16.3%). “Investors are still finding good opportunities, as well as generating high returns from renting homes out”, says the study.

Tecnocasa took the opportunity to perform a detailed analysis of the investor profile. The first noteworthy fact is that this buoyant demand is coming from people who are older than those typically buying their first home. Specifically, more than half of the investor buyers are aged 45 years old or above. In terms of their employment status, 37.38% are self-employed, 36.18% have permanent contracts and 14.66% are pensioners. The self-employed and pensioner cohorts are both purchasing more for investment purposes than for their primary residence (11.96% and 10.28%, respectively). In terms of the nationality of the residential investors, Spaniards exceed foreigners hands down (85.9% vs. 14.1%).

The large increase in investors, to record levels, is not complaining at the sight of the juicy returns that homes are generating in comparison to financial products, given that the price of money is fixed at 0% and shows no sign of rising. Meanwhile, according to the Bank of Spain, the average home in Spain generates a return of 9.5% – a percentage that reaches the double digits only for tourist properties in certain areas of large cities. Of that gross figure of 9.5%, 4.3% comes from the rent itself and the remainder represents the gain from increasing sales prices.

That is because second-hand house prices rose by 8.24% YoY during the first half of the year, according to the study by Tecnocasa, which works with real prices of sales completed by the company itself. Moreover, the market has entered a positive spiral, which has seen second-hand house prices rise for six consecutive 6-month periods. Above all, in large cities such as Barcelona and Madrid, where second-hand properties are the most expensive in the country, costing €2,754/m2 and €1,970/m2, on average, respectively.

According to Tecnocasa, the significant presence of investors in the market is positive. “If it is true (as some people say) that a new bubble is starting to grow, it will be very different to the previous one (and much less harmful) given that it will not be based on loans, but rather on savings”, says the firm. In this sense, the real estate company stresses that 33.1% of primary residence purchases are paid for in cash, a figure that soars to 78.4% in the case of investors (…).

Moreover, the market for second-hand homes seems to have significant upwards potential, given that prices are currently 48.1% below the peaks of 2007, when the average price per square metre exceeded €3,500/m2.

Original story: El Mundo (by Jorge Salido Cobo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

RE/MAX: The RE Recovery Is Spreading Across Europe

12 June 2017 – El Mundo

The real estate market is growing, not only in Spain, but also in Europe, according to the Housing Report compiled by RE/MAX Europa. This improvement is being reflected in high levels of demand and rising prices, a trend that looks set to continue over the coming months in the property sector of the Old Continent. The good borrowing conditions and the incentives, especially for those buying their first home, are two of the main factors that are driving this growth.

Specifically, in Spain, house prices are stable, with potential for growth. “The increase in wages in Spain, the access to financing, as well as the political stability are posited as the most important factors for driving this upward trend in prices”, explain RE/MAX Europa.

Specifically, since 2015, the sales prices of family homes, as well as of flats and apartments, have increased by 4.5% on average in urban areas, where the average price per square metre has risen from €1,651/m2 to €1,727/m2. House prices in urban areas are expected to increase by 1.8% in 2017 and by 1% in the case of properties located in small towns.

And the picture is even more buoyant in the rental market. Prices per square metre have risen by 9.8% in the large cities and by 7.7% in small towns. In this way, the average monthly rental cost in a Spanish city amounts to around €800/month, whilst in the smaller towns, that figure stands at around €600/month.

The recovery of the real estate sector at the European level is based, above all, on low interest rates and, therefore, loans that are accessible to the public. This situation is “currently being seen in almost every country in Europe”, said the study. “That is resulting in higher demand, which is driving up prices in almost every segment and area”, it adds.

In Slovakia and Estonia, for example, thanks to these favourable conditions, there has been a significant increase in the construction of new homes, said RE/MAX Europa. In Malta, there has also been growth in the rental market, due to the rising number of overseas employees living on the island. Markets such as Portugal, Greece and Scotland “have been recovering really well over the last few years and are now showing clear signs of stable growth, with the prospect of more transactions in the future”.

Cities are improving

The experts at RE/MAX confirm that between 2015 and 2016, sales prices rose for apartments and family homes. In particular, prices per square metre rose significantly in the case of urban apartments, specifically, by 13% in certain cities in Lithuania, Germany and Luxembourg. The sales prices of houses in small towns also rose and are expected to increase by 4% in 2017 in Austria and Estonia. Nevertheless, prices are predicted to remain stable in France, Greece and Switzerland.

Rental prices also increased in 2016. Specifically, by 10% for urban apartments in The Netherlands, Romania and Spain, and by 16% in Malta. The experts at RE/MAX predict that rental prices will increase or remain stable in the majority of Europe during 2017.

One of the most important criteria in determining differences in prices is location. According to Michael Polzler, CEO of RE/MAX Europa, “the sales prices of apartments vary by 64%, depending on whether a property is located in an urban area or in a small town. For family homes, that difference amounts to 44%”.

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake