Tag: Serrano

Luxury Brands Conquer Madrid’s Golden Mile

17 October 2017 – Expansión

Fashion labels such as Sonia Rykiel, Oliver Peoples, Tesla and Audemars Piguet are arriving on the main shopping streets of the Madrilenian neighbourhood of Salamanca, with their first stores in the Spanish market.

The Spanish real estate market is enjoying good times, with investors interested in buying assets and commitments from all kinds of brands to open stores on the country’s main shopping thoroughfares. This interest is very apparent in the Madrilenian neighbourhood of Salamanca, the capital’s luxury shopping area, with the arrival of numerous new brands, such as the car firm Tesla (…).

The exclusive brand behind the 100% electric cars has taken over a store on Calle Serrano in Madrid, just a stone’s throw from Puerta de Alcalá, as Expansión revealed on 2 September. Specifically, Tesla has leased a 275 m2 store, at number 3 on the famous street along the Golden Mile (…).

“The Golden Mile in Madrid is a sought-after area for the majority of the luxury brands that decide to move to the capital. This means that sections  (of the street) that were less appealing until now, such as the uneven side of the road and the bottom section of the street, no longer have as much availability as they used to in previous years. Examples of this are the case of Tesla at number 3, and Malababa at number 8”, explain sources at the consultancy firm Ascana.

Tesla and Malababa are joining Kenzo and Audemars Piguet, the latest luxury brands to open stores on the famous Madrilenian thoroughfare (…).

Other sought-after streets

The commitment to the luxury market does not end on Calle Serrano (…). Adjoining streets, such as Calles Ortega y Gasset, Lagasca and Claudio Coello are also welcoming new international brands. “The interior of the Salamanca neighbourhood has seen the departure of traditional businesses, which cannot afford the current rental prices, and their replacement by premium brands. Not all of the brands can afford to pay for a store on the best stretch of Serrano; such premises are only available to 10% of firms”, says Ignacio Acha, Associate Director of Retail & High Street at Cushman & Wakefield.

“Claudio Coello is continuing to consolidate its position as one of the main thoroughfares in the Salamanca neighbourhood. Several brands are planning to open stores on that street, such as Sonia Rykiel, at number 79, Max Mara Weekend at number 63 and Pedro Miralles, at number 58″, say Ascana’s sources (…).

For brands like that, a store on Serrano or Ortega y Gasset is very expensive. The difference in price between the best store on those streets and on Claudio Coello could be up to three times”, says the Partner at C&W, the consultancy firm that has advised Sonia Rykiel on its operation.

In addition to the upcoming store openings on Claudio Coello, Ortega y Gasset has been selected as the location of choice by another international brand for its debut in Spain. Specifically, the glasses firm Oliver Peoples, owned by the luxury Luxottica group, has taken over the premises on c/Ortega y Gasset, 4, where it will open its first store in the country.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vastned Buys Its Sixth Retail Store In Madrid For c. €10M

21 December 2016 – Expansión

The Dutch group Vastned is continuing to expand its real estate portfolio in Spain. The company has just acquired its sixth retail outlet in Madrid for around €10 million. The property, which has a surface area of 600 m2, is located at number 37 on Calle Fuencarral and is leased to the sports clothing and equipment brand Décimas.

Following this operation, Vastned now owns three stores on Calle Fuencarral; it already owned number 23 and 25 on the Madrilenian street. “Fuencarral is one of the most sought-after retail areas for operators, investors and domestic brands looking to expand their businesses due to its high footfall. As a result, store rents and prices per m2 in the area are on the rise”, explained Enric Vial, CEO at Retail Prime Locations, which advised Vastned in the operation.

Vastned owns another store on Calle del Carmen, next to Calle Preciados (the most expensive retail street in Madrid), as well as on Calle Serrano 36, which is leased to the luxury firm Ferragamo. In November, it purchased another store, located on Calle Ortega y Gasset, for €16 million, which is leased to the luxury shoe designer Jimmy Choo.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Ruiz)

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

Amancio Ortega’s RE Jewels In The Heart Of Madrid & BCN

26 March 2015 – Expansión

The largest shareholder of Inditex has an extensive real estate portfolio that includes properties and retail stores on the two most desirable streets in both cities.

They are the most sought-after streets in Spain for any real estate investor. On the one hand, Paseo de Gracia, in Barcelona, the star shopping street in the Catalan capital. On the other hand, the Paseo de la Castellana, in Madrid, an object of desire for any investor and a prime office location. As such, both have piqued the interest of Amancio Ortega, who owns more than ten buildings on the two thoroughfares.

Through Pontegadea, the company that the founder and majority shareholder of Inditex channels his investments through after closing his Sicavs, Ortega has purchased six buildings on the Catalan avenue and another five on the Madrid street.

In the case of the Paseo de Gracia, the most recent acquisition was made last year when Ortega purchased an office building located at number 1 on the street, on the corner with the famous Plaza Cataluña, for €44 million. This space, which has been leased to Banesto until now, will be converted into an Iberostar Hotel. A few months earlier, he acquired the commercial premises in the same building for €80 million, which are leased to Apple (see picture above). That US multinational is not Ortega’s only illustrious tenant; others include Fnac, Baker & Mackenzie, Burberry and Google.

In March 2012, Pontegadea acquired another building also on the Paseo de Gracia. In that case, Ortega’s company paid Sacyr €53.5 million for the building located at number 56. Measuring more than 9,000 square metres, it is leased to the British textile manufacturer Burberry. The Inditex owner is also the landlord of the building at number 93.

Madrid

The purchases made in the last decade have made Amancio Ortega one of the largest property owners on Madrid’s main thoroughfare: the Paseo de la Castellana. The owner of Zara joined the select club of property owners in that area in 2004, when he acquired number 92 (that same year he made a joint purchase with Metrópolis of an office building on the Paseo de Gracia, 16, which was converted into luxury housing). On the Castellana, Ortega also owns number 35, which he acquired in 2005; and number 79, the former headquarters of Axa, which he renovated to create a new office building with a shopping area, now leased to Fnac and Habitat.

But, undoubtedly, the jewel in Ortega’s crown in Madrid was acquired at the end of 2011, when he signed an agreement with FCC to purchase the Torre Picasso. He paid €400 million for the skyscraper that sits in the heart of the city’s financial district, just a few metres from the Paseo de la Castellana – a record figure for a single building, second only to the €815 million that the then Caja Madrid invested in the Torre Foster.

Nevertheless, it was not the first time that Pontegadea had paid so much in a real estate transaction. At the end of 2007, Amancio Ortega paid €458 million to Santander for the acquisition of ten buildings located in several Spanish cities, which included Castellana, 24 and Paseo de Gracia, 5.

These two great Spanish streets are just an example of Ortega’s extensive property holdings, which also include buildings leased to Inditex companies, such as for example Serrano, 23, in Madrid, which is leased to Zara. In the last full financial year (2013), Pontegadea’s assets were valued at €4,519.5 million and they generated a profit of €93.3 million, compared with €70.5 million a year earlier.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake