Tag: Sambil

The Owners of Sambil Outlet Enter Spain’s Luxury Residential Market

4 April 2018 – Expansión

Having arrived in Spain in December 2012, the Venezuelan group Sambil, controlled by the Cohen family, has just launched its second project in the country. Whilst in the case of the first, its activity involved the purchase and subsequent transformation of the M-40 shopping centre – located in the Madrilenian town of Leganés and closed after it filed for bankruptcy – into the largest shopping outlet in Spain, it is now placing its focus on the luxury residential market.

Sambil has purchased a building located on Calle Ramón de la Cruz, in the heart of the Salamanca neighbourhood of the Spanish capital. After investing €11.5 million on that acquisition, the Venezuelan group has just launched its plans to create 14 luxury homes, with between two and four bedrooms.

“A year and a half ago, we purchased this small building, as a taster, to gain knowledge about the market. There we are going to build 14 luxury apartments, with a total investment of €24 million”, explains Alfredo Cohen, Director General of the Sambil group.

For its design, the company has engaged the architect Carlos Calero and the interior designer Ricardo de la Torre, whilst the marketing will be led by The Corner Group. “We expect the construction work to begin in May and to be completed two years later”, say sources at the company. The work will include the comprehensive renovation of the building, preserving the protected features such as the façade and the stairway. “We will undertake the construction work ourselves, given that we are builders”, said Cohen.

The homes will have a minimum surface area of 160 m2 and will span up to almost 300 m2 for the largest properties; they will cost between €1.5 million and more than €3 million for the penthouse. “There are going to be 14 super-luxury homes with common terrace areas with a jacuzzi, gym, sauna and robotic parking, amongst other services”.

A real estate giant

Founded 40 years ago by Salomon Cohen Levy and led today by his children, Sambil is one of the largest owners of shopping centres in South America. Most of its establishments are located in Venezuela, where the company is still working despite the problems in the country (…). Outside of Venezuela, the company, which has also developed hotels and other real estate complexes, has projects in Puerto Rico and on the Caribbean island of Curaçao.

In addition to the project in the Salamanca neighbourhood, Sambil is working on new opportunities in the Spanish market, both in the commercial and residential segments. “As a construction company we look at everything, but what we would most like to do is to build more Sambil centres”, said Cohen.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Merlin Resurrects The ‘Opción Shopping Centre’ In Alcorcón

5 October 2017 – Expansión

A beach area, a dive centre with a 15-metre deep pool, a rockodrome, and even a “mini-city for cars”. That is the innovative commercial proposal with which the Socimi Merlin Properties wants to recover the former Opción shopping centre.

Located in the Madrilenian town of Alcorcón, this establishment was one of 18 shopping centres that the real estate company acquired when it merged with Metrovacesa last year. Inaugurated in 2002, Opción was one of the shopping centres that fell victim to the economic and real estate crisis, which caused it to close its doors in 2009. Since then, Metrovacesa has considered reopening the property several times, but in the end, its new owner is going to finally re-launch the extinct centre.

Merlin’s project, known as X-Madrid, will include a different retail offer to the version typically provided by Spanish shopping centres. Spread over three floors, the ground floor will include several spaces dedicated to playing outdoor sports, such as beach volleyball and parkour (the sport of traversing environmental obstacles by running, climbing, or leaping rapidly and efficiently), a skateboard circuit, a rockodrome and a CrossFit centre.

In addition, X-Madrid will be home to Madrid’s first dive centre, with a 15-metre deep pool, which is deep enough to certify the most varied of licences, whereby avoiding the need for would-be participants to travel to the coast. In addition to the sports area, the ground floor will include a space dedicated to the world of cars, motorbikes and bicycles, as well as an ecological supermarket.

At street-level, the complex’s directors plan to open a fashion and restaurant area, including the now famous food trucks, an artificial beach and a large square (The Show Place), which will host events.

On the top floor, they are going to open a technological area, a chill out space and a cinema, as well as an area to practice extreme sports. By way of a nod to the original project, X-Madrid will also contain an area known as The Antimall, which will house a selection of tattoo shops, vintage clothing stores, as well as collectors’ items, design pieces and other items of interest.

“Nowadays, we need spaces focused on current consumers, who are looking for more technological, urban and ecological shopping and leisure experiences. X-Madrid has arisen with them in mind, and from the desire to offer something different and daring”, explains Luis Lázaro, Director of Shopping Centres at Merlin Properties. In total, the Socimi, led by Banco Santander, will invest €30 million in the project, which will include the comprehensive renovation of the building to create a retail space spanning more than 39,000 m2 of shopping area, as well as 2,100 parking spaces.

The remodelling work will begin shortly, with 70% of the retail space already reserved; the centre is expected to open in time for Christmas 2018.

With the X-Madrid project, Opción will be put on the list of centres that have been restored following their closure during the crisis, as happened with Avenida M-40 (Madrid), which has now been converted into a shopping outlet by the Venezuelan group Sambil.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sambil Outlet Opens Largest Shopping Outlet In Spain

27 March 2017 – Observatorio Inmobiliario

The Sambil Outlet Madrid was inaugurated on Thursday (23 March), it is a new shopping centre concept that combines fashion outlets with restaurants, leisure and other services. With a gross leasable area (GLA) of 43,500 m2, it is the largest outlet centre in Spain and the first European project undertaken by the Venezuelan group Sambil.

According to its developers, the total investment in the shopping centre amounted to €59 million and at the time of opening, it has an occupancy rate of 85% of the GLA. It contains 130 retail premises in total and has 2,400 parking spaces. There are plans to open charging points for electrical vehicles. Sambil Outlet Madrid will create almost 2,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Ricardo and Alfredo Cohen, Directors of the Sambil Group, participated in the inauguration ceremony. They stated that “our commitment to this market is serious and we will soon be exploring new avenues for investment in this country”.

Other attendees at the inauguration of the new centre included Javier Ruiz Santiago, Deputy Minister for the Economy and Innovation, María José Pérez-Cejuela, Director General of Trade and Consumer Affairs, both from the government of the Community of Madrid; Santiago Llorente, Mayor of Leganés; and a large number of councillors from the municipal corporation. Ricardo Fontana, Minister-Counsellor of the Embassy of Venezuela, also attended, along with representatives of the country’s main retailers.

The fashion space, which accounts for 51% of the total surface area, is home to brands such as Outlet from El Corte Inglés, For & From (Inditex group), Fifty Factory (Cortefiel group) and the Outlet Sport (Intersport group), amongst others.

The food area will house the largest Simply Hypermarket in the Community of Madrid. The leisure space will include a 12-screen Odeon cinema and the largest wind tunnel in Europe, the Hurricane Factory, which will open within the next few weeks. The restaurant section will include a Burger King, Foster’s Hollywood and Grupo Vips restaurants, amongst others. There will also be an area dedicated to services.

Original story: Observatorio Inmobiliario

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

Sambil Plans To Open 6-8 Shopping Centres In Spain

29 September 2016 – Mis Locales

The Venezuelan Sambil Group plans to open a network of between six and eight shopping centres in Spain and does not rule out expanding its business to other markets in Europe.

Nevertheless, before embarking on its new projects, the company will focus on establishing what is, for now, its only centre in Spain: the Sambil Outlet in Leganés (Madrid), which will open its doors on 24 March 2017, after more than four years of construction work. It will become the largest outlet and leisure space in Spain with a gross leasable area of 43,000 sqm.

The new centre, which will open on a site on the ill-fated M-40 and in which Sambil has invested around €55 million, will create around 1,500 jobs and require additional investment of between €25 million and €30 million to equip the premises for each brand.

According to Cohen (Director General of the Sambil Group), the company has chosen Spain to make its first foray into Europe because it was “ideal” from both a cultural and language perspective, as well as because it has a lot to offer in the corporate field and is attractive again for overseas investors.

“It is a rapidly-growing, mature and legally secure market, which needs entrepreneurship”, said Cohen, who stated that the country “has all of the tools to continue outperforming other markets around the world”.

The Executive highlighted that a company such as his, which is family based and has its headquarters in Venezuela, does not travel “7,000 kilometres” to open one shopping centre, and he added that in Spain his company’s focus is very much placed on the most populous cities -Barcelona, Sevilla, Bilbao, Valencia, etc-.

Although the group is strongly committed to the “outlet” format, it does not rule out opening “traditional” shopping centres in some of the cities, although, in both cases, they would be accompanied by leisure and restaurant facilities.

In this sense, he highlighted that the Sambil Outlet will have the largest wind tunnel in Europe and the most modern cinema screens, which will be run by the Odeon chain, which is working to make cinema-going more “accessible”.

Moreover, it will house the largest Simply (Alcampo) supermarket in the Community of Madrid.

The company thinks that between 5 and 6 million people will pass through the doors of its centre in Leganés during its first year of activity. It has faith in the success of the “outlet” format combined with leisure, which is currently fashionable in countries such as the USA (…).

“Post-crisis, the Spanish consumer is much more rational than emotional” stated the Director of Sambil in Spain, Arnold Moreno, who confirmed that the centre will open with an occupancy rate of at least 80%.

Sambil Outlet will have stores from discount brands such as For&From (the Inditex group’s footwear label), Mango, Fifty Factory (Cortefiel), Décimas and Xti, as well as “low cost” fashion stores.

The Sambil Group has constructed more than 500 residential buildings and offices and owns a portfolio of eight hotels and thirteen shopping centres – ten located in Venezuela, one in the Dominican Republic and one in Curaçao.

Original story: Mis Locales

Translation: Carmel Drake

JLL: Inv’t In Retail Sector Falls By 27% In H1 To €1,278M

20 September 2016 – La Vanguardia

Real estate investment in the retail sector – which includes shopping centres, retail parks and other premises – decreased by 27% during the first half of the year to €1,279 million, as a result of the shortage of products in the market, according to data published yesterday by the real estate consultancy JLL.

Despite the decrease in investment during the first half of the year, the firm expects the full year to close roughly in line with 2015, when investment exceeded €3,000 million. Moreover, it does not detect any negative impact as a result of the political instability in Spain at the moment.

Spain accounted for 7% of all retail investment in Europe during the first half of 2016, to stand in fourth place in the overall ranking.

High street stores and shopping centres accounted for 25% and 23% of total investment in H1 2016, respectively, well below the 48% that each one of those segments represented a year ago.

Despite the decrease in investment, JLL is convinced that the fall is not indicative of a deceleration in the market. The number of operations completed during the first half of the year amounted to 38, exceeding the 23 signed a year earlier.

Nevertheless, the average size of those transactions decreased by half to €40 million. Most, 18, corresponded to high street stores, amounting to €310 million in total, compared with 14 operations amounting to €860 million in 2015.

Socimis accounted for 16% of the total investment with €106 million.

In terms of rents, Paseo de Gracia recorded an increase of 11.6% to €240/sqm/month, although Portal del Ángel in Barcelona was crowned the most expensive street in Spain after rents there increased by 8.3% to €260/sqm/month.

In Madrid, Preciados is the most expensive street, with rents of €255/sqm/month, following an increase of 6.25%. It is followed by Serrano (€240/sqm/month and an increase of 6.7%) and Gran Vía (€230/sqm/month, up by 4.5%).

The forecasts indicate that rents in Madrid will increase by 2.4% p.a. during the period 2016-2018 and by 1.7% p.a. in Barcelona.

In the case of shopping centres, rental prices reached €88/sqm/month and forecasts show that they will increase at an average annual rate of 2.2% between 2016 and 2018.

During this period, new shopping centre openings are expected to double after hitting a minimum of 343,000 sqm between 2013 and 2015.

Project highlights this year include: Parque Nevada (Granada), Sambil Outlet Madrid and Fan Mallorca Shopping. Between now and 2018, the following centres are also expected to open: Plaza Río; Open Sky Center; Viladecans The Style Outlets; Torre Village; Palmas Altas and Torrecárdenas.

According to the Director of the Retail Department at JLL, Sergio Fernandes, there are increasingly more players interested in developing new centres from scratch, as well as significant interest in both the sale and purchase of new centres.

JLL also highlighted the growing trend in terms of the opening of flagship stores, as well as the shortage of quality space, which is forcing retailers to convert other spaces from residential, office and leisure use into commercial properties.

One of the most noteworthy operations of this kind is the opening of a 5,000 sqm Zara store on Castellana 79 (in the building that previously housed Fnac), which is due to open at the end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017.

JLL expects returns to continue to be compressed over the next few months and that the average value of the shopping centre market will grow by 5.6% p.a.

Original story: La Vanguardia

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain’s Largest Outlet Centre Will Open In March 2017

19 September 2016 – El Economista

Sambil Outlet, the largest outlet and leisure centre in Spain, located in Leganés (Madrid), will open its doors at the end of March next year, after an investment of €55 million and more than four years of work to prepare it for occupancy.

The new facilities, which will include the largest wind tunnel in Europe and will have a gross leasable surface area of 42,000 sqm, will open on the site of the ill-fated “M-40” shopping centre, which had remained closed for years before it was acquired by the Venezuelan group Sambil at the end of 2012.

“Fortunately, the project is going well despite the economic fluctuations in Spain. When we first got involved, the crisis was still very much alive”, explained the Director of Sambil España, Arnold Moreno, in an interview. He also said that the objective is to open the centre with an occupancy rate of at least 80%.

Sambil Outlet, which will provide direct employment for around 1,000 people, will generate another 1,500 indirect jobs and will house brands such as Inditex (with a shoe store), Mango, Fifty Factory (Cortefiel), Xti and Mustang. It is the Venezuelan group’s first project in Spain, but it will not be its last.

“It is our first foray into Spain. Financially, it would not be feasible for us to have just one centre in the country, given that our headquarters are located more than 7,000 km away”, said Moreno, who also indicated that his company is considering several alternatives in this regard.

Logically, in terms of possible locations for a new Sambil outlet, “we are looking at other major cities”, such as Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla and Bilbao, but given that we are a family company and not an investment fund, we are being “very cautious”.

“We are convinced that, following the crisis, the Spanish population is demanding an excellent price/quality relationship, it wants smart purchases. There has been a change in this respect, people are taking more care with their spending”, said Moreno, who, by way of example, explained that in the last year just two new shopping centres have been opened compared with 150 outlets (where surplus high-end branded products are sold at low prices).

As for the extent to which the economic situation in Venezuela may affect the firm’s expansion in Spain, Moreno explained that, although it may weigh down on future operations, we have “been experiencing shortages for seventeen years, this situation is nothing new for us”.

“Our local businesses are still functioning but a very low efficiency because the country has a lot of economic, political and social problems”, he lamented. The Sambil group specialises in the construction of office buildings, homes, hotels and shopping centres.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spanish Real Estate Snapped Up by Latin American Fortunes

20/10/2014 – Expansion

Southern American businessmen have not missed the good times the Spanish property market is living right now. As the latest example of a large purchase sealed in the country may serve the investment of the Coto family, the owners of the most famous supermarket chain in Argentina.

At the end of this summer, the Cotos (through their property holding company) bought a building located at number 16 of the Paseo de la Castellana street in Madrid. Prior to the acquisition, the 4.116 square meter property housed headquarters of Icex. The family paid €20 million for the office building with view to converting it into a high-end residential block.

Furthermore, at the end of 2013, a group of Mexican investors led by Moises El Mann purchased 253 banking branches fully rented to Banco Sabadell for €290 million from Moor Park. Another Latin American group, Sambil, bought the M-40 retail park in Madrid to revive the property and establish its first outlet in Europe which will open next year.

In May, Mexican family Aramburuzabala, the hier of the Modelo beverage group, acquired the Madrid headquarters of IBM situated on the Avenida de America avenue. They paid €130 million for the property to Morgan Stanley.

Patricio Palomar, Research director at CBRE which advised the Cotos on the Castellana building purchase, assures: ‘Spanish market undoubtedly seduces the Southern American investors due to the closeness our language and culture respresents, as well as the family ties they sometimes have in Spain.’

The last to get on the real estate opportunity train to Spain was Jorge Perez, the owner of a large part of Miami skyline properties. Owning an over $3.1 billion worth of assets, the businessman is at the verge of sealing its first investments in the country, amounting to €120 million. In total, the Argentinian investor of Cuban descent wants to spend €500 million on the Spanish real estate.

 

Original article: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: AURA REE

Sambil to Invest €50 Mn & Create 2.000 Jobs

22/05/2014 – Expansion

 Venezulean Sambil with 50 year experience on the market has decided to make a huge jump to the European continent. After eyeing Spanish opportunities since 2010, it decided to buy the Avenida M40 shopping center in Madrid at the end of 2012.

The property is situated in Leganes near Madrid, adjacently to the M-40 ring road, and formerly belonged to fund Sonae (50% owned by Portugese Sonae Sierra). Since going bankrupt in 2011, the shopping park has remained closed.

Arnold Moreno, director of Sambil in Spain, explains “the property´s price and localization seemed very attractive to us, as every day around 120.000 vehicles pass by the center”.

Sambil paid €17 million for the 140.000 constructed square meter shopping mall with commercial area of  44.000 square meters and 2.400 parking spaces. “We are going to invest another €12-13 million in the building refurbishment until a cap of €45-50 million input. At opening, about 2.000 people will get a job in the center”.

The new establishment will open its doors in October or November 2015, just before Christmas. One of the greatest attraction of the shopping mall will be the “windoor” or “indoor skydiving”. Moreover, outlet shops will occupy the entire first floor of the building, while the second floor will be converted into a passable terrace.

 

Original article: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: AURA REE